Filed to story: Secret with Betas Daughter: Skylar Story Series
I’m sure my slow controlled breaths make him think I’m lying. “Mina, why is he so close to me? It’s weird.”
“He thinks you’re playing hard to get, so keep your face straight ahead and don’t make that disgusted look you do all the time.”
“What look? I don’t have a look.”
“You do. I told you, your face says a lot more than your mouth does. Just keep it neutral though, he’s eating this innocent girl thing up.”
She giggles at me, then out loud says, “Let’s just show them so they are less confused.”
I nod and I give control over to my wo f to shift while concentrating on all the things Gentry taught us about maintaining our physical appearances while human. The popping and cracking sounds come and go so quickly, I don’t even feel it anymore. My wolf shoes out her beautiful black fur.
“Damn! Solid black, that’s pretty rare.”
Tyler sounds impressed, but I can’t be the only black wolf out there. “Can I touch you?” he asks, lifting a hand up. My wolf walks over to him, still keeping a foot of space between, she’s just as uncomfortable being touched as I am. I don’t know if that is a brand thing or an us thing, but I’m glad I can hide my facial features like this. “Alright Sky, show them how we do this.”
Mina goads me and it feels like she’s showing off a bit too. My shift back is faster. I’m not as nervous and I can feel Osiston and Nickolas’ presence nearby, their auras radiating into me to help me stay calm and do this mission. I stood up right, fully clothed a split second later.
“Oh sh*t!” Mike blurts out. “How do you do that so fast? And keep your clothes?” “Practice.”
I shrug and look over at Janice, who is standing with Robbie and just staring. “We’re ready when you are.”
I smile a sweet smile at her. I’m in my element now, she cant make me feel inferior. 1 She goes to shift and the other twenty or so people follow suit. Tyler and Mike shift and both look over their shoulders at us. We smile at each other and take offin a jog, shifting as we run. I hear a huff behind me and ‘Show off” in my ear from Nickolas.
Mina and I both just giggle and run like we have not run in forever. The wind in my fur, the dirt under my paws. I can feel my claws break into the earth the imprint my paws are making in the freshly tilled ground. The even cadence of my feet as we dart through the trees, up and down hills, over fallen logs and creeks. At one point someone nipped at one of the girls in front of me and a game of chase began. It was clear some of us could talk to each other, but not all of us, so the game was interesting. It became a battle of boys versus girls. Mina and I met up with Janice and a few of her friends at the front of the pack. Her wolf didn’t seem to mind us even if she did. We all started sprinting faster and faster, eventually outstripping the rest of the group, leaving Mina, Janice and I to get to the bonfire grounds ahead of everyone else. Janice walked over to a bag and shifted back to her human form and started to get dressed without even looking our way. We shifted and just stood there looking around waiting for the rest of the group to join us. The bonfire pit was at least ten feet in diameter, rimmed in large stones and preset with large dry branches ready to be lit. The clearing wasn’t any different from any other clearing in a forest I have seen, but it still left me with a feeling of peace. The woods have always been my safe haven and everything just feels right when I am surrounded by the trees and all other sounds are dampened by the debris on the forest floor.
“You two are really going to have to show me that trick I know everyone played it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but that is some superior level sh*t right there. Where did you learn to do that anyway?” She looks at both of us and I get the feeling she’s listening for a lie. “Just training.”
Mina shrugs. “Once we get good at shifting it’s something that those of us who chose to apply ourselves get to learn.”
Okay not a complete lie, but not exactly how this works.”
“What about you?” Janice looks at me. “What do you mean?” “Why did you put in the extra time to learn how to shift like “l don’t like to be naked in front of other people, so it seemed logical.”
I try to match Mina’s shrug, hoping I pulled it off. ‘It’s also nice to not have to carry around a change of clothes.”
I smiled at her and thankfully she gave me a smirk back. “That’s the truth. The humans don’t get it, or I would just walk around naked all the time. There’s no shame here.”
She looks pointedly at me.
“Don’t rise to it Little One. She’s baiting you and you will end up giving more information away than you want to.”
Osiston must feel my irritation, but he’s right, she’s fishing just like we are. She’s just more experienced than I am. More experience doesn’t mean better though. I just give her a small smile. Staying quiet has worked for me so far, I will just stick to saying as little as possible, then I don’t have to remember any half-truths I might be tempted to tell Thankfully the rest of the group finally catches up and some shift and change, others shift and let it all hang out. I guess when you don’t have to hide.. Some of the guys light the bonfire and everyone settles in around it. Some sitting in small groups, others milling about socializing with different groups. Mina and I decide to sit on the far side of the bonfire facing towards all of the vehicles, coolers and the path we took to get here. From here we could watch pretty much everybody since no one really ventured too far from the drinks coolers.
“Why does it feel like you two are hiding?’ Tyler walks over and holds out his hands showing us he brought us drinks. At least he heard me and it isn’t beer, although I’ve never had a mixed drink from a can. This should be interesting. “We’re not hiding, but it is less crowded over here and we can appreciate the fire better. I don’t know if we’ve actually relaxed since we’ve been here. It’s kind of nice to just sit.”
I tell him as he plants himself on the log next to me, leaving no space between us and I am on the end, so there isn’t anywhere to scoot to. “So Tyler, you’ve heard our stories, so where are you from? And why did you join the school in the middle of the year?” Mina pushes right on into questioning him, but a comment like that isn’t out of character for her here so I guess it works.
“Not a lot to tell. My pack was attacked a couple years ago, only a few of us survived. We met up with a few others who had the same issue. We have been traveling around not staying anywhere too long. Mike’s older brother came out here to go to school and said it was nice and no one really messed with rogues up here so we all came up. A few kids started school right away, some of us got jobs. We’re doing alright now.”
He doesn’t look at us while he’s talking, just stares into the fire.
“Didn’t anyone come to help your pack? Check on the survivors? I ask, remembering a conversation with Alpha Reggie during one of our training sessions.
“No one came.”
A dark look crosses his face. It’s almost like he filled with hatred at the memory. “We waited for days for rescue or help or anything, but no one came. We buried our own and did the best we could for about a month, but supplies were low and there was so much destruction that leaving became our only option.”
He stopped and took a deep breath. When I thought he was going to go on with his story he shook his head and placed a smile on his face before looking at me. “Why forestry?”
“Osiston? Nickolas? Did you guys get all of that?”
Mina asks over the link as I divide my attention talking about how much I love being outside and the warriors discussing next steps.
“You strike me as an outdoors kind of girl. I’m actually surprised you made it through lectures. You look like you are going to crawl out of your skin just sitting there.”
“I do not! I actually enjoy classes and learning, but you’re right, I prefer being out here.”
