Chapter One: Nyssa

 

T he Oldwood forest still smelled of frightened rabbits and lilac flowers.

Nyssa lived and hunted in the Oldwood every single day, and she never got tired of these smells. They calmed her, made her feel right at home prowling among the trees, just like the rest of her kin. Normally wolves that ventured away from Gray Creek would hunt, forming tiny packs to chase down deer or other meaty animals. But this wasn’t the case for Nyssa. Not yet, anyway.

In her beautiful blonde wolf body, she drifted through the tall, thick trees dodging falling crisp fall leaves and gliding over the earth. A chill crept up on her skinny, thin hair, causing her to shiver and sneeze.

Remus always pointed out how adorable her sneezes had been, ever since they were children. The comments always embarrassed her, especially since his inhibition to keep quiet around others failed more often than not. Her brother had even told Darius on occasion, pointing at her with a finger she wanted to twist and break; but there was an up-side to her brother’s teasing, he got Darius to look her way.

What was Darius doing right now? Nyssa wondered. Was he patrolling Gray Creek? Letting young wolf shifters challenge him to duels over Alpha status? Spending time with Amara, his cat shifter mate?

That last thought created angry butterflies in her belly, so Nyssa shook her head and moved on from her spot in the forest.

Darius...even after two years of him owning Alpha status within the Pack, Nyssa still loved him. More so than she would ever admit to anyone, save maybe her idiot brother. Nyssa had never been a woman to simply go after what she wanted, not before the events of two years ago, she supposed. Now that she actually had the confidence to speak up for herself, the opportunity to grab the shifter she’d had a crush on most of her life finally slipped away. It hurt, beyond what words could describe; that combined with the fact that she’d lost her stubborn father. It had been an endless well of seething emotions since Orpheus the Vampire was killed two years prior.

She didn’t blame Darius for what he did, killing her father in the duel that ended up being the moment their future changed for the better. Her father probably would have gotten them all killed, or worse. If Remus had had a backbone, maybe he could have dueled their father...but Remus was unprepared and frightened like a rabbit when Gavriel had forced the issue. Whatever the case, Nyssa couldn’t shake Darius from her mind, and that annoyed her.

A tingle down her spine alerted her to the presence of something coming up on her from the south. As the thing came closer, she realized it was another wolf. A dark tawny colored wolf bounded through the foliage, coming to a sliding, happy stop before Nyssa, his mouth open and tongue hanging out, panting.

Nyssa rolled her eyes. Lowell. Of course, he had followed her into the forest. The man followed her everywhere after they unexpectedly saved each other from Changelings during Orpheus’ battle at Gray Creek two years prior. She never meant to find him, cornered by three Changelings, nor had she meant to snap a twig that caused those black-furred Changelings to spin on her, their teeth frothing with a feral wildness.

And yet that’s how it’s turned out. There was nothing she could do about it.

Turning from Lowell, Nyssa pranced off down a slope, her paws kicking up tiny pebbles and pressing into the soft grass. Lowell gleefully shadowed her, watching her the whole way while they descended the slope. Finding the thin river where she had begun her exploring that morning, Nyssa growled at Lowell to stay put behind a wide-trunked tree while she shifted back to her human form and grabbed the satchel filled with her clothes from under the cover of a robust boulder by the side of the river. A few insects crawled over the bag as she pulled it out into the bright midday sunlight, and she swatted them off, twitching at the creepy crawling sensation that rippled through her hand. Standing up straight, Nyssa elegantly pulled on her undergarments, leather trousers and light brown tunic, leaving her feet bare so that she could feel the lush grass and dirt on the soles of her feet. She often found the tickling to be refreshing, almost therapeutic, as she trudged through her world. When she was finished, the only skin left showing when her slender arms, and fair, nymph-like face.

“Alright, Lowell, you can come out now,” Nyssa called reluctantly. The once-wolf stalked out as a spiky-haired, handsome man, his broad shoulder filling out the thin shirt, his muscles clearly defined, his light blue eyes stark against his pale skin. She looked him up and down. If Lowell was anything, eye-candy would probably be his role for her at the moment. There was no denying his good looks, as much as she didn’t want to mate with him.

Lowell grinned at her, his sharp teeth on display. “Like what you see?”

Scoffing, Nyssa went and crouched by the tiny river, the sound of the flowing water soothing her mind. “If I said yes, what would you do?”

Light-footed, Lowell snuck up and leaned over her shoulder, his scent overpowering her nose. He smelled like a bonfire, hot and raging. “I’d ask for you to become my mate once again. What’s the point in letting this-” he gestured to himself “- go to someone else? Besides, you’re still mateless.”

“And in no rush to find one,” Nyssa retorted. It was true; her feelings for Darius made it difficult to see any other male in a positive light. Darius was simply larger than life now, almost untouchable, even for her. Lowell, as handsome and as charming as he could be on a good day, simply couldn’t live up to the image of a man like Darius. She didn’t want to admit that to him, though her expression betrayed her in the water’s surface.

Sighing at her response, Lowell sat cross-legged next to her. “What is that, my hundredth attempt at trying to mate you?”

“Ninety-eighth.”

“Oh, so you’re counting now, are you, Nyssa?”

“Only because it helps me pass the time. I’m hoping you’ll stop at a hundred attempts.”

Lowell bellowed in laughter, his voice echoing over the water and bouncing off the swaying trees all around them. “Does a songbird stop singing simply because it’s sung a hundred times? I think not! Just like a songbird, I’ll keep singing until you cave. You’ll be mine eventually, Nyssa.”

Despite her stance, his sentiment made her smile. “If you could actually sing, I might seriously consider it.”

A stunned look crossed Lowell’s face, and it became clear to Nyssa that he took her words very seriously. He stood moments later, clearing his throat, Nyssa simply staring up at him. Then he began to sing, his voice carrying out all around them...except his voice cracked, causing his tempo and pitch to mess up. A flock of cardinal birds broke from the treetops and raced away into the air, and a couple of squirrels darted away into the underbrush across the stream. Nyssa broke out into laughter at the twisted look on her friend’s face as his disturbing song came to a standstill. She slapped the ground, unable to control herself.

“Better get cracking on your vocal skill, eh, Lowell?” Nyssa asked, her now grumpy friend crossing his arms and peering back down at her.

“One day!” He simply said.

“Yes, yes, one day.”

Silence followed suit as Lowell sat back down and Nyssa stared at her image on the river’s surface. Ebbing along with the flow of the water, her face distorted itself more than once, but every once in a while her image stayed true, and Nyssa was allowed to catch a glimpse of herself. Her long, curly blonde hair cascaded down to the edge of her neck, her deep blue eyes blended in with the water, and her light skin glistened in the sunlight. Her image reminded her of stories her father used to tell her and Remus when they young, stories about woodland nymphs and wolves chasing each other for love. She smiled at the memories; only a very few would ever remember Ulrick as a gentle father from time to time.

As if reading her mind, Lowell mimicked her smile. “You really do appear like a magical, lovely nymph living in this forest. I swear, I thought you were some sort of angel when you appeared to me two years ago. Oh man, I’m way too sappy, aren’t I?”

Nyssa giggled. “The very fact you said that says you are.”

Movement out of the corner of her eye snapped her to attention and to her feet, causing Lowell to mimic her.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Black fur…” Nyssa whispered. “A stray Changeling?” She hadn’t gotten a good look at whatever passed them by, but the thing’s scent began to drift towards them, filling her nostrils. The smell was thick and heavy, like charred leather. The scent of Changelings.

Lowell noticed the scent too, because he eyed Nyssa with a frown. “What do you want to do? We could still sneak away.”

Nyssa growled. “No way! We’re chasing it, running it down. Now go change behind that tree already.”

Lowell grinned wickedly. “Yes, ma’am.”

Without waiting for Lowell to duck behind the tree, Nyssa began to strip quickly, stuffing her clothes into her satchel and shifting back into her wolf form. Lowell came back seconds later in his wolf form as Nyssa placed her satchel under the boulder. Growling low at Lowell, Nyssa pounced away, racing after the dark figure she spotted earlier.

The two wolves darted through the thickets, up and over tiny hills, following the scent. They ran and ran and ran, but it wasn’t until minutes later that they caught sight of the Changeling sprinting into overgrown vegetation. The plant life was so thick that the two got stuck trying to shimmy through. The Changeling, a jet-black small cougar, had a much easier time slipping in between the corners and holes; it caught sight of them as Lowell yelped at the prodding of a large thorn, and hissed at them both.

Usually Changelings would stop at nothing to chase after their prey, not be chased themselves. But recently the stray Changelings wandering the forest were different, more aware of their own safety. It was like they served a different master, they were not like the Changelings that served Orpheus.

Enraged at the sight of the Changeling slipping away, Nyssa tried to force her way through, but instead got tangled in a few vines, trapping her from going in any direction. Nyssa roared in annoyance as she watched the Changeling duck into a tiny hole in the earth. By the time Lowell had torn the vines off of Nyssa’s limbs and body, the Changeling was gone. There wasn’t anything else to do now except circumvent the vines and sniff the entrance of the hole and hope for some kind of lead.

Lowell nudged her coat with his nose, telling her they needed to leave. There was nothing else they could do.

Letting it go, Nyssa roared her annoyance and backed off.

She found it amazing how easily she ran after a monster. If the younger, shier Nyssa was in this situation, she never would have chased after it. She would have taken Lowell’s initial advice, snuck away while she had the chance. But she was different now. Different enough to chase after her fears. Maybe even different enough to move on from her past eventually.

Maybe.

Lowell took the lead in heading back to the river where they stashed their garments. The two didn’t dare stop to shift forms and clothe themselves, instead opting to simply grab their satchels and run for Gray Creek. If they couldn’t run down the Changeling themselves, they needed to inform their Alpha.

They needed to talk to Darius. Nyssa hoped she’d be able to stand tall in front of him.