Connie

Lucas was the first to start the conversation again, "So, I never knew about these lands, it was like it just wasn't on my radar, I mean I had never thought about what was out here. Do people ever come here? Do the police ever come to check what goes on out here?" he enquired.

"No, this land is werewolf territory, humans don't come here," I began to explain. "I read it in a book once, and it explained it like this: Werewolves have lived in their own communities for as long as humans have lived in theirs. For as long as history can remember, the human leaders have been obliged to prevent humans from interacting with werewolves, they know that any disagreement between the two races would not end in the humans' favour. Werewolves conduct their business amongst the humans but live out their lives out of sight from the humans and, for the most part, humans are unaware of the existence of werewolves. There have been many occasions where a werewolf has revealed its nature to a human, but the human world will quickly treat the human as mentally unwell, eccentric, or attention seeking if they try to expose the werewolf world."

"So then, is it like magic, the reason no humans come out here? Is there a magic barrier or something?" Lucas asked.

"No, not magic," I continued to explain. "I believe I read about this in a human werewolf relations report, about how the human leaders will control the masses now that religion has lost its influence. The human leaders use what they called, "Media Manipulation" and "Subliminal messaging" to deter any interest in the werewolf territories."

"That actually makes a lot of sense!" Lucas says, nodding his head.

"Yeah, it does, but it's kind of embarrassing, insulting even," Amelia giggled.

We all giggled at Amelia's comment and kept walking.

"We had planned to shift into our wolves and run for a couple of hours, so that we can get to where we are going in good time. I am guessing neither of you have ever seen a werewolf shift?" Adi asked Amelia and Lucas.

They both shook their heads.

"My wolf has spoken about it, and asked me to let him come out, but whenever I start to let him take over, it doesn't feel right," Liam said.

We all looked at each other, wolves don't usually ask to come out until after the blood ceremony. Unless the person has waited too long for their blood ceremony, which isn't heard of in a pack because we always make sure it is done. Even if a person is in prison for the worst crimes, the blood ceremony is seen as a basic right. Plus, a werewolf isn't considered an adult until the blood ceremony is completed, so they cannot even be judged as an adult until it is completed.

"Liam, exactly how old are you?" I asked.

"I am seventeen and ten months old. Why? Is that ok?" He asked, with a concerned look to match ours.

"You should have received your blood ceremony 10 months ago, your wolf might start trying to shift without your permission if he becomes impatient, we should find you a pack as soon as possible so you can have your ceremony," I explain.

"You mentioned the blood ceremony earlier, what exactly does it involve?" he asked.

"It's a very simple ceremony. A senior pack member cuts their hand and you cut your hand, and then you push the wounds together. The senior wolf invites you into the pack and you accept," I explained.

"How old are you, Emilia?" Oli asked.

"I am 16 years and 2 months old, is that ok?" She asks with concern plastered all over her face.

"Yes, Amelia, you have plenty of time. The two of you are at an important time in a werewolf's life, it's your coming out years. You see, a werewolf will first meet their wolf companion around their 16th year of life. When they turn 17 a werewolf comes of age, and a blood ceremony, usually with a pack elder, helps to bond the human and wolf in one body, so that the transformation can be synchronised. Transforming without the blood ceremony can kill the human or the wolf or both. Then finally, if the bond is complete and when a werewolf turns 18, the Moon Goddess gifts them with their mate," Oli explained.

"Well, you have a lot to think about," Adi says "For now, we need to make plans to cover ground. We will shift and carry both of you. It is a good experience, the cubs love riding on the adult wolves. Because you two never got to do that, now is your chance," Adi says with a nostalgic chuckle at the end.

Amelia and Lucas looked at each other, big smiles grew over their faces and their eyes grew wider. They were lost for words. We looked at them and giggled a little.

Adi started to remove her clothes. Lucas quickly spun around to face the other direction. Amelia looked at the sky and at the ground, anywhere but at Adi.

Adi giggled "Nudity is natural, and a normal part of life as a werewolf, but you will get used to it. And Lucas, I will be carrying you so make sure you don't touch any of my flowers!", She said, right before her bones began to contort and hair sprouted from her back.

Like most warriors, her shift took no more than 2 seconds. I had never seen Adi's wolf, I had heard stories, but never seen it for myself. She had the largest wolf in the Valley, definitely the biggest I have ever seen. She came up to my shoulders and was jet black, her coat was so dark and shiny that a blue hue reflected off it. Her eyes were equally as dark, but in contrast, she emitted a calming aura and moved as elegantly as a swan. She still had an arrangement of flowers on one side of her head, which looked very out of place on the magnificent creature.

Amelia appeared to be locked in place, completely speechless.

"You can turn around Lucas," I prompted him, and on seeing Adi he jumped backwards in shock as he grabbed Amelia's hand.

"That's her. It's Adi. I watched her change, Lucas. She just became a werewolf right in front of me!" Amelia said.

"Me next," I said and started removing my clothes. Lucas jumped and turned around again. "Oli will tell you when to turn around, so you can see some of the shift, Lucas"," I said, with a nod towards Oli.

I started to shift into my wolf. I have a large wolf, due to my Alpha lineage, a few inches shorter than Adi and pure white, with violet eyes. As hair sprouted over my body, Oli told Lucas to turn around. He saw my back crack and grow as my front paws pounded down onto the ground.

Lucas and Amelia looked at each other and smiled with excitement.

Oli stepped forward "Ok, now for the real fun part, you get to jump on. And as you are getting a free ride, you won't mind holding onto our bags?" she told them.

Adi and I lay down so they could climb on. Oli made sure they knew what to do, and where to hold on.

Then Oli shifted. Her wolf was a few inches shorter than mine, with a dark brown coat with white paws and deep brown eyes.

Lucas and Amelia did well to hold on for the entire time. We ran for nearly three hours, across grasslands, through bushland scrub and over sweeping mountains. Finally stopping when the sun was getting low in the ski.

Adi

We stopped in a forest clearing. Lucas and Amelia stumbled a little bit when they put their feet on the ground, but their smiles said more than words ever could.

Lucas spun around quickly to avert his eyes, when he saw us shifting back into our human forms.

He held my bag behind his back, trying to hand it to me without turning around. He seems to be a very sweet and respectful boy.

As we were getting dressed, Lucas's body began jolting from his midsection, his arms stretched out and went rigid, he let out a deep cry of pain. We ran to him to see what was going on.

"Lucas, what's wrong? Do you know what's wrong with him?" Amelia screamed.

His eyes were black, his wolf was trying to come out.

"It's his wolf, his wolf is trying to come out!" Oli said hastily, "I have some Poppy extract in my bag, that should help to relax him, and we should try to talk him back in, Adi you can use your aura to talk him in," she said.

I have never used my aura on another wolf before, many times others have told me that I possess the ability to do it, and that it should come naturally, but I never attempted it. Suddenly wishing I had practised this previously, I try my best, for Lucas' sake, to direct my aura on him.

"Lucas!" I tell him "Your wolf is not ready to come out, you will not shift tonight, Lucas. I promise, you will shift soon, but you will not tonight," I told him.

I heard one finger snap and pop, then another. Nails started to extend from his fingers, covered in blood as they sliced through his cuticles. I heard his nose crack and saw it twist out of alignment. His eyes began to protrude from their sockets like water balloons. He thrashed back and forth, hitting his arms on the ground. As he let out a blood curtailing scream, I could see his gums had changed from pink to black and his canines started to force their way forward, causing blood to spray from his mouth.

Oli started to put a small amount of medicine into his mouth. I tried again to flood his wolf with my aura and command him, "You cannot shift now Lucas, take control of your wolf."

It didn't take long before his body relaxed, and he stopped screaming. The transformation stopped, but his bones did not move back into place. The hair that sprouted remained where it was. The bloody nails didn't retract. Slowly his protruding eyes relaxed back into their sockets and his eyelids closed. Lucas lay on the dirt breathing heavily, exhausted and occasionally groaning through the pain.

None of us had ever seen a wolf shift without having their blood ceremony. His human form was not synchronised with his wolf form. Three fingers on one hand and two fingers on the other had partially shifted, they were elongated with an extra knuckle, thick nails had forced their way out the end of each finger and were covered in dripping blood. His nose looked broken and pushed to one side with one nostril wider. He had some patches of hair on his cheek. When he opened his eyes, there was blood pooling at the bottom of both irises, like he had been shot in the eye, both eyes. It was a horrific sight.

Amelia was beside herself "Will he be ok? What just happened to him?"

"I think seeing our wolves might have encouraged his wolf. I didn't think of it at the time. But it is the only logical answer." Oli said.

"I agree Oli. We shouldn't shift again. And we need to get Lucas his blood ceremony as soon as possible. For now, let's make him comfortable and let him sleep. Hopefully by morning he will look a bit better." Connie said.

Amelia pulls out Lucas's swag and starts setting it up. She taps on his shoulder "Lucas can you move to your swag?" he groans and crawls under his blankets. It's not long before he falls into a deep sleep.