Skylar's POV.
Sleep didn't come easy that night. My mind seemed to be on its fastest gear and it wouldn't slow down until my body begged for rest. Even then, my dreams consisted of my fears and concerns of what could happen. Each of my dreams managed to turn into nightmares, so they all eventually woke me up. I knew tonight my body would receive no rest and tomorrow would be a dreadful and tiring day.
However, even after the nightmares passed, I could not sleep. For my wolf, Siqiniq, would not let me. She paced and paced all throughout the night. She begged me to listen to her, but I ignored her and cut off communication with her. I hate my wolf with every bit of my soul. She knows why and doesn't even not deny it. I wish I didn't have to share part of myself with a stupid wolf, but it is the debt we must pay for being werewolves. Most look upon it as a blessing, but I look upon it as a burden.
Please! Sky just listen to me this once! Siqiniq screamed at me like this all through the night.
No! Just shut up! For once in your forsaken life, shut up! I finally shouted back instead of ignoring her.
Siqiniq fell silent and I enjoyed it by getting more comfortable in bed and preparing to sleep. Do you really hate me that much? She asked quietly.
A groan sounded from me and I prayed to not wake up Leya. Yes, I really do hate you so much I wish you were never created! I mentally screamed at her and I could feel her mentally flinch at my harsh words.
Why can't we just start over? She cried out.
Not after what you did because now... now I no longer have my parents. They were killed because of you! Every word I spoke, I meant and I just hoped she felt the pain I did. Just let me go to sleep, you stupid mutt. She did not reply and I felt her cut off the communication between us. Guilt passed through me, but only for a second.
With silence in my mind, I finally fell asleep, but the dreams continued to turn into nightmares and these nightmares were worse than before. They replayed my last memories with my parents and the memories of the night they were murdered.
Eventually I gave up on sleep and got up. I got ready quietly and went outside into the cold, crisp night. Few werewolves are out tonight and I am grateful for it, I don't want many people seeing me like this. The cold breeze hit my cheek and I felt some warm and wet roll down my face. I didn't notice I was crying until my hand touched my tears. As quick as I could, I wiped away the foolish liquid.
Wanting to get away from everything, I ventured deep into the woods where I felt I could let loose. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I didn't even bother wiping them away, knowing they would only come back. My hand curled into fists as I hit the ground in anger and fury.
Why them? Why did it have to be my parents? Why them? What did they have to attack my house?
Suddenly, a familiar pain erupted within me. A weekly pain. A pain that I dread each and every Tuesday. A pain that meant I had to speak with Siqiniq. A pain that meant I had to become her. A pain that meant I must shift.
Cracking and ripping noises came from within my body. I held in my screams as I resisted the urge to shift. Though I loved being a wolf, I don't love the fact that I must speak with Siqiniq and the fact that because I resist each shift, it feels like shifting for the first time every time. Feeling your body being ripped apart and put back together is not a pleasurable thing to go through.
Skylar, if you stop resisting, it wouldn't hurt as bad. Siqiniq spoke softly, but I ignored her. I will make a deal with you. She paused, then continued without a response from me. If you allow me to be free every Tuesday night, you will never have to speak to me again.
I responded quicker than I ever have in my life. Deal. She let her hurt be shown to me for a slow second before hiding it again. I relaxed my body and allowed Siqiniq to take over.
She shifted quickly and tested out the controls by walking, running, jumping, and even climbing a tree. When she seemed satisfied, she took off sprinting at speeds I couldn't even reach in my wolf form. Jealousy stung, but I ignored it and allowed my mind to rest.
Siqiniq's POV.
It felt good--correction--it felt amazing to be back in my own skin and in control. There was only one time I was able to do this and that was on the night of Skylar's parents death, though technically I was not in control because I was ordered to do it.
I pushed away that thought that focused on everything I could sense around me. The dirt under and between my pads, the cold breeze ruffling my fur, the different scents of the forest, the different noises of bugs and other nocturnal animals, and I loved all of it. My nose picked out each and every scent as I deeply inhaled. A particular scent caught my attention. Deer. Sadly, I did not have the ability to eat that much and most of it would go to waste. However, my nose also caught onto another scent. Rabbit. Now, that could definitely settle my cravings.
Lowering my head and using my nose, guided me to the rabbit. I crouched down, lower than the tall vegetation before reaching a small break in the trees where the rabbit decided to look for a midnight snack. Rookie mistake. Paw after paw, I crept up on my prey like the predator I am. However, just as I prepared to lunge, a twig snapped under my front left paw. The rabbit, with no hesitation, took off, leaving me no chance to catch it. I growled in frustration and decided to trot through the trees, looking for more prey.
Suddenly, a powerful, strong howl sliced through the silence of the night. The howl was purely beautiful and I could not help but stop and listen to it. It drove my instincts wild. As a wolf, I relied mostly on instincts rather than emotions like humans do. With my instincts going crazy and my heartbeat speeding up, I knew exactly who that howl came from and why they howled.
Mate!
The mate bond had started to form and I could feel like a rope pulling my soul towards my mate's. So I released my best, strongest howl for my mate and waited for a response.
His response was full of excitement and hope and I knew he was waiting for my response. His howl was a question, he wanted to meet up with me. I have never heard a werewolf howl for their mate , but I knew the mate bond helped me to understand him.
Without any hesitation, I replied to his howl and took off in the direction of where the mate bond was leading me. Unfortunately, I needed to tell Skylar. Of course I love her because she was my other half, but she allows her emotions to dictate how she views me.
Skylar, there is something very important I need to talk to you about. She mentally groaned at me, obviously did not want to be disturbed from her rest.
What is it this time, mutt? You want to make another deal? No, not happening. Her words were harsh, but I have gotten used to it.
I do not need another deal, in fact, I am thankful for the one I have now with you. This is actually about our mate. I explained to her.
She seemed to be fully awake now. You have found my mate?
I stopped a growl from escaping. Our mate. Yes and no. He howled and I replied. He wants to meet up with us, so I am going to find him right now. I spoke slowly, not wanting to raise my voice because it would only end up in an argument.
Her mood spiked. Holy crap! I can't believe it!
My paws carried me faster than they ever had at this moment. Oh, I just wanted to see him and claim him as mine. Excitement pulsed through me as I thought about what he might look like. His howl was rather deep, so he could be a large werewolf.
There seemed to be a break in the trees ahead of me. When I broke through the tree line, I realized this was no clearing. The Snake River seemed to cut through the land in front of me and I was forced to stop. My mate's howl should have come from across the river, but I would not cross it. First of all, the territory across the river is wolf territory and I know better than to risk crossing over. And second, the river is too powerful for me, I would most likely be swept away.
Something moved across the river. My eyes were guided to a head poking over a bush. The head seemed large and it is definitely canine, but with the lack of light, I could not see exactly what it is. Despite that, I noticed its black fur darker than the night sky and its golden eyes capturing me and stopping me from moving.
Off to the side of me, I heard heavy pawsteps break a twig. As much as I did not want to, I had to tear my eyes away from the golden ones. But before I could look to see what had caused the noise, a werewolf tackled me and I heard a splash. I yelped, surprised, but quickly engaged the attacker. Because Skylar and I grew up with the gammas of the pack, we were often involved in Chase's training. I always watched intensely, so in case I needed to help Skylar, I could. At this point, all I can hope for is that these werewolves are not very skilled.
My hind legs kicked at the belly of the attacker. He jumped back and snarled. I quickly noticed he is bigger than me and could quickly over power me, so I needed to be smart about this, and that there is another werewolf, female, off to my other side, so this is a two against one. The best thing I could do was hold them off until theta wolves came around from their patrols, everyone else was most likely asleep.
The male jumped at me, but I dodged and snapped at his hind. The male recovered and looked at the female, who looked back, they seemed to give each other silent communication before looking back at me. Without hesitation, they both went in for the attack, the male jumped high and the female went low. I had no way out as they both came crashing down on me. I kicked and bit anything I could, trying to loosen their grip on me. The male gave me a large bite on my shoulder and the female dug her claws into my hind leg. I used my paws to scratch the male's face, causing him to back off. The female did not have a good hold and I was able to limp away from her.
However, they recovered quickly and came straight back at me. I heard a growl from behind me and I tried to turn to look at the source of the growl, but just as I turned to look, the werewolves attacked. One had a hold of my front left leg and scratched at my neck and the other had sunken its jaws and claws into my back. They brought me down, making me hit my head hard on the ground. My vision blurred and my mind turned fuzzy and dizzy. Pain exploded throughout my body.
Yet, they were not on top of me for long. One was pulled off me and the other let go to, I think, help its partner and not long after I heard two sickening cries before silence. My attempts to look up failed, for each movement I made was followed in pain and I tried to stop the whimpers from coming out, but again my attempts failed.
I felt a presence behind me, but I did not even try to look knowing the consequences of that movement. The creature behind laid down and wrapped its body around me as if it wanted to comfort and protect me. Its scent washed over me, it smelled of coffee beans and fresh prairie flowers, and I quickly realized the creature is my mate. Though my body is weak, I can still feel the sparks that occur when mates touch each other. It took me a moment to realize that he started licking my wounds and the blood from my white coat.
Not too far away I heard paw steps and I realized it was most likely patrol coming around. My mate quickly got up, obviously alarmed at the new arrivals, and he licked the top of my head and without warning took off. Something splashed in the river before leaving me in silence.
Hey! Packmate! Are you ok? What happened? I think one of the patrols was trying to speak with me, but I did not have enough strength to respond to them.
Sky... I wanted to talk to her, but I felt myself starting to slip from consciousness as I blacked out.