The Beta's Daughter

16 | Amorphous

I love my Wolf form.

Most Wolves were brown or gray- black's common, too- but a lot of people say that the red, the bronze-colored, the silver, the gold Wolves are the prettiest.

I myself like my own fur- gold- but I also like white.

It's extremely rare, and there are rumors that Wolves with white fur bring luck and favor from Artemis- the goddess of the hunt and the moon- and health from Apollo, Artemis's brother, the god of healing and the sun and poetry and music (the god of a lot of stuff). Supposedly, some of these White Wolves are given gifts by the gods- seeing the future, healing with a touch, coming out of a battle unharmed; impossible things that would make the Old Wolves- the ones who still worshipped the gods unconditionally- call them the children of the gods.

Now, most of us have reverted to Christianity and have recognized this as false hope. Some of us still believe in them, and we all still- or should- respect them.

Those gods are cruel, and unforgiving.

Reid and Jacob- both of them, we're talking twins here- are White Wolves, and they're perfectly normal. Yes, their Wolves are fairly large- like little horses- but they're also graceful and beautiful.

Lily's Wolf is dark brown, like chocolate. Joss's coat, to everyone's surprise, is a creamy off-white that makes him look like Reid, though he isn't Reid's biological son.

Mel doesn't have a Wolf, and she refused to become one- and she only has one chance, every year. Despite popular belief, you can only be turned into a Werewolf on a full moon, and January- the Wolf Moon- is ideal. There are a couple ways to become a Wolf, but we usually use a bite.

Her lack of amorphous means that- in the special hour or so that all packs use to just relax- she plays with the children and the unshifted.

Boring.

But Jake and I- and sometimes Reid and Lil and Joss, who likes to run- are most often with her and the kids. Jake because he's a protective son of a bitch, and me because I'm paranoid, and it's always worth it to see Sam and Logan laugh.

And God, did they laugh.

Sam was perched on Joss's shoulders, and though he was still small, still a pup, he handled her easily.

Logan was pressed close to Jake's back, giggling as the big Wolf ran around the younger kids, his tongue hanging out of his mouth in a grin. Reid was resting on one of the fallen trees that were scattered around the forest, this one long enough to stick out into the yard.

Lil and I were laying down next to Mel, who was propped up on her elbows and braiding strands of grass together.

"This is my favorite time of day," she said wistfully, glancing at us with a grin. Lily yipped, lifting her head off her paws.

I rolled onto my back, letting my paws dangle in the air and twisting my head to keep an eye on Logan and Sami.

Reid soon pushed himself up off the tree, jumping off the trunk with a lethal grace, and padded towards Lily, only to be intercepted by a creamy young Wolf- Joss.

He crouched in front of his adoptive father, his tail wagging in the air and his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he pawed the ground, wanting to play.

Reid seemed to go from stern Alpha male to playful father in a matter of seconds, mimicking Joss's position and bolting off across the leaf-covered ground.

Jake let Logan off his shoulders, bolting off after them.

Naturally, I tore across the stretch of grass between us, leaving Lil and Mel to the kids, and heard Sam yell, "She's so fast!"

That just made my legs work harder.

Jake and I were soon neck-and-neck in the maybe-race, our shoulders brushing against each other as we ran after Joss and Reid, past the backyards of the the packs' individual housings and into the trees that surrounded our land, just south of the California-Oregon border.

Joss slowed, turning his head back towards where we came. Reid and I padded back to stand next to him, pricking our ears and straining our eyes, trying to figure out what he was looking at.

What's going on? Jacob's voice whispered across my mind, a weak and rare mind-link, which are telepathic conversations that the Wolves of Old used to communicate.

And then I heard it.

It was someone yelling, for Jake- Mel. Kids screaming, crying- someone, multiple someone's, was growling. A howl. Lily.

The message was clear: help.

Sam. Logan.

I took off, back towards the pack house, letting loose a deep, territorial howl- the howl of the mother Wolf.

Never mess with a She-Wolf's pups.

It was what they taught you on day one, as soon as you could walk. Leave the females to their young, don't pester them, don't annoy them- we're very territorial. Even human females felt this protective instinct that translated loosely to, Don't fuck with my kids.

Somebody was fucking with my kids, and this mom had a protective instinct like no other.

*

When I got to the clearing, my first thought was Rogues.

And I'd be right to assume.

We'd been having Rogue problems ever since Amy Xerxes, Mel's cousin, had come to tell us that hunters wanted to use Rogues to kill off our pack, and steal our pups- and she'd given her life for us.

Apparently, the loners liked the Xerxes' plan, because they'd been trying to take our kids from us ever since.

I burst through the trees, hackles raised and teeth bared in a snarl, barely pausing before barreling into a Rogue that was a little too close for comfort.

It cost him his life.

Reid, Jake, and Joss were at my sides, helping Lily- the kindest woman turned fierce Luna- and I form a protective circle around the Mel and the kids.

Logan reached out with one hand, his fingers brushing my fur, bringing some reassurance that he was alright.

But the Rogues had formed a circle around us, like a barrier. There were five of us- one a pup- and ten, eleven of them.

I reached across the bridge that connected our minds as a pack and whispered to Reid, Call the fighters back.

Jacob chimed in, his voice as faint as mine, but probably stronger to Reid, since they were so connected: We're outnumbered.

He cast a fierce look at me, huffing. They're on the other side of the territory.

Dammit. Why now?

I growled another warning, backing up a few paces and keeping an eye on the big gray-and-brown Wolf in front of me, his eyes hungry and alight as he took a step forward, not even a hair raised.

He was soon shouldered aside by a larger, sleeker Wolf, with a pitch black coat and cold, calculating eyes.

This Wolf was no Rogue.

He was pack.

gah! cliffhangers!
the whole mind link thing will be explained later. i know that it's a normal thing in a lot of books, but these packs don't have any real government or religion or anything like that, they're very skeptical,
and all will be explained LATER.
(questions are still vv welcome)
word count: 1200+