“Can I come in?” Nikoli voice comes from the other side of the door, seconds after he knocks twice. I sit up on the bed, straightening my hair down from my nap.
“Sure,” I call back, and he opens the door, walking in. Nikoli stops when he sees me, and smiles as he looks me over. Nikoli has a jumper on, and tight jeans that I find myself not being able to look away from.
“Did you sleep well?” he asks.
“Yeah, great. Well, not so great… with the whole ‘turning into a wolf’ thing coming up,” I admit, looking out the big window at the moon in the sky. I wonder if the moon is anything to do with wolves, like fairy tales usually make them out to be.
“We should walk to the woods. Turning inside the house wouldn’t be a good idea,” Nikoli says, diverting my attention from the window to him. He has a big black North Face jacket on and regular jeans.
“I don’t have a coat or anything with me to wear,” I reply, and he nods his head at the rucksack on the floor by the door. It wasn’t there earlier, so someone must have put it in here, or he could have brought it in while I was sleeping. My red coat is lying on top of it, and I pull my shoes on before walking over to it. I pull the red cloak on, ignoring how it reminds me of the wolf that bit me. I can’t see any blood on it, but the memories don’t leave me. I think I hate this coat.
“Tell me about yourself,” Nikoli asks me, as he holds the door open. I walk out and towards the stairs.
“I’m eighteen, and used to live in Stratford-upon-Avon. My parents died in a house fire when I was two. I was rescued, and then I lived in foster care until now.” I tell him the simple things; things he could find out by just searching me on Facebook.
“I’m sorry about your parents. I lost both of mine as well,” he says, but it does shock me a little. I’ve never met anyone who has lost their parents like me. Even in foster care, the other children are usually given up or don’t speak about their pasts.
“How?” I ask, and he looks at me for a second before carrying on walking down the bottom staircase.
“There are other shifters, and we don’t get along. There was a fight for this territory when I was five, and my parents died making sure me and my sister could escape,” he explains, a tad of emotion lacing his words. I get the feeling he doesn’t speak about his past often, or at all.
“That’s terrible,” I say gently.
“Yes, but the other shifters paid for their mistake; for stealing our land and killing our parents. I grew up and took everything my parents lost back,” he tells me. I wonder how long that must have taken him and how determined he must have been to come back here. I watch him as we reach the end of the staircase and continue down the silent corridor. I would undoubtedly use “determined” as a word to describe him.
“What other shifters are there, then?” I ask.
“Wolves and bears are the most common around here. There’s a bear shifter pack on the border of our lands, actually. When you go into the local town, you might meet some, and we have an alliance with them. Actually, I would consider the three alphas, friends,” he comments.
“So just wolves and bears?” I ask, and he chuckles as we get the end of the corridor. He opens the back door and leads me outside. I pull my coat closer as the cold wind hits me and makes me feel freezing.
“No. There are a lot of different shifters. We even have a different shifter in our pack, a tiger. Cats and wolves don’t usually get along, but I found Evlan in the foster system as a child. My friend works as a social carer and tells me if there are any unusual reportings.”
“Like a child turning into a tiger, I’m guessing?” I ask.
“Exactly. He shifted and ran off. I found him and then adopted him. Tigers are rare, and I was worried he wouldn’t fit in with the pack, but he did. Evlan is mated to one of our wolves, and they even have a baby on the way now,” he tells me. It’s clear how proud he is; I can hear it in his voice.
“You say our pack like it’s mine also, when it isn’t,” I state, as we get to the trees. Nikoli slides his warm hand into mine, and I freeze, not sure if I should pull away from him.
“Because it is ours. You’re my mate, and I’m alpha. You are the alpha female of this pack now,” he tells me. I go to respond when I feel pain in my stomach that takes my breath away. I wrap my arm around my waist as I fall to my knees.
“It’s normal. The pain will fade, Harper. You have to let go and trust your wolf. She will never hurt you as she is part of you. She is part of who you are now.” Nikoli’s strong words come through the haze, moments before everything goes blurry. The first thing I notice is the warm feeling of my body and the way everything is in black and white as I open my eyes for second before the colours of the forest and everything else slowly come back. A wolf is lying its massive black head on its paw in front of me. It tilts its head ever so slightly before I hear,
“Harper, your wolf is lovely. She is a deep brown, almost red, colour, with white-tipped ears.”
“You can talk in my mind?” I reply to the deep voice of Nikoli. The wolf in front of me stands up, stretching.
“Yes. Let’s run,” Nikoli replies and the wolf walks closer, nudging me with its nose. It’s strange to move for the first time in wolf form; it’s like walking when you’re drunk. I do stand up a little, wobbling, and look down at the ground. I can see my one brown fur-covered paw and the ripped bits of my clothes all over the field. Well, at least the coat is gone. When I look up and back into the eyes of the black wolf, I know it’s Nikoli. The glowing blue eyes are so like his. Nikoli nudges the side of my head with his and then turns around, running through some trees. My wolf runs after him, without me thinking about it or controlling my body. I can feel her, as she takes over a little, and I have a feeling she runs on instinct and not logic. I don’t know how long we run for until we come across a river. My wolf drinks from the stream with Nikoli’s and then sits back.
“We should go back, but you did well,” Nikoli tells me.
“I did?” I ask.
“Perfect for an alpha female. You’re perfect, and I’m so happy you here. That you found your home,” he tells me, and I stare over at him, seeing the bright blue eyes that look stunning, even on the wolf. We run back to the house, with me following Nikoli the whole way. He stops just outside the back door and I watch as he shifts back, his entire body faintly glowing grey, and then he is human again. The naked, perfect human body that I can’t stop looking at.
“Shift back,” he says, standing there, not one bit bothered by the fact I can see everything. Everything looks big, and I try to pull my eyes away from all the chiselled chest, and the happy trail that leads to a part of his body which is apparently delighted I’m here.
“Harper, to be human. You need to imagine it. Imagine your body,” he tells me, apparently amused. I do as he asks, imagining my long dark hair and my round face. My green eyes and pale skin, and I feel my body moving. It’s hard to explain what it feels like, other than a wave of heat caressing my body. When I open my eyes, I lift a hand in front of myself and see it’s normal. I’m back.
“Here.” Nikoli holds out a long shirt for me, and I quickly pull it over myself as he watches.
“Are you not going to put something on?” I ask him. He slowly looks me over, starting from my feet, up my legs, my stomach, and my breasts under the shirt, and then meets my eyes.
“No, Harper,” he says and opens the door, walking in. I watch his fantastic ass as he walks down the corridor. That’s a view I don’t mind seeing often.