THE WEREWOLF ALPHA RAVE

*

hoes through my blurred dream. I’m standing somewhere amongst the trees, bound to a fate that I can’t change no matter what I do. Somewhe

ll I e

ying to respond, remember or recognize my protector. It’s been too lo

us…” He offers one final plea before the

*

or a moment and try to steady my breathing just as I do every other morning. I comb my fingers

d. We dart through the darkness and approach an open clearing in the middle of the night, but I never see their face. I don’t discover what happens afterwards

forward, but they never do. The first few years, I racked my brain all day, every day as I desperately clung to the idea that maybe…just maybe, I’d remember something. But after a while, I gave up. The way I look at it, I am twenty four go

g me and forcing me to get out of bed. I groan in protest before swinging my legs over the edge and extending my arms abov

“I can’t even believe you’re actually up right now. It must be some sort

every time you need something?” I roll my eyes only

a real question?” she

ut her before the age of sixteen, but my level of comfortability around her stayed. She’s the only person I know whose physical touch and presence doesn’t bother me at all. As far as our friendship goes, the theory of ‘opposites attracting’ certainly applies.

contents to find me something suitable to wear until she zeros in on a pair of leggings, a green tank top

ard to this day at a

ice. Not only is it the date that marks the beginning of Spring, it

ther’s thoughts through mind-linking, they’d defend one another to the ends of the earth and are one big glorified family. Shapeshifters, on the other hand, aren’t typically so tightly knit. We tend to live a more solitary lifestyle than pack-oriented werewolves and w

ived at Exhibit A; the qu

the Noctis cluster, crams twenty-something of us into the fancy ballroom

nt to put this in

you, the annoying bitchy cousins that think the world revolves around them, and the aunts who won’t shut the fuck up about how much you need to find ‘a nice, shifter man’ to settle down with. The entire time, you have to paint on th

t, ther

n endlessly about anything shifter related. The highly stimulating topics range from strategic plans, running surveillance, avoiding detection by other supernatural entities, to how we should wipe our asses.

ound like

r return. Especially today. Sooner than I care to admit, I am set to take my rightful place as the Alpha of my cluster, and this is our last meeting before that happens. Stepping up as Alpha is a p

for the title, but no one will. They’re all far too passive to make that dream of mine become a reality. Even though I was born t

old wooden stairs of our dated home. It’s a wood-frame dwelling built in the 1920′s that constantly nee

m of the stairs. She skips ahead to pull the front door open, bea

s and I draw in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the outdoors. All of the dense pine trees and cedar are finally beginning to gain their color back, tiny chutes of green leaves and needles lining the treetops. I gaze up towards the clear blue sky and smile, knowing that in a few short minutes I will finally hav

ng across her entire body. Pointed ears accented with black fur expand on top of her head, and a short bob tail shoots out from her back. Her arms and legs transform into long limb

cal contact with it before. The exception to that rule being humans, insects, and oddly enough, wolves.

that we usually connect with a specific animal or two and don’t really feel the need to shift into anything else. Tessa is a cat lover at heart and due to her job at the local Big Cat Sanctuary, she has the ability to shift into almost ever

t’s my

sion its glossy black feathers with a light bluish tinge, it’s

t a raven, t

where my feet once were. My teeth recede and my mouth forms into a pointed beak, my nose disappearing into two small holes atop my feathered face. In a matter of seconds, my transition is complete. The anxiousness to fly sets in and I flap my wings to begin my ascent above the treetops. I driv

g the ability to go anywhere I please with a simple flap of my wings. This is

of my choosing. I could select something fierce like a bear, stealthy and quick like a fox, or even a bird of prey like an eagle - but they aren’t me. Ravens are the one animal I tru

teen years of memories have been completely blocked and essentially flushed down the toilet. No matter how hard I try, I can never remember anything from before I was that age. So for me, the only sliver of fre

of this hell that I ca

•

the grey mansion. The Manor was built sometime in the early 1900′s, so it’s got that old block foundation, cone pointed building tops and bleak looking charcoal shingles that give it a ‘Haunted Mansion at Disney’ sort of vibe. I grew up here for almost sixteen years with my family when my parents were in charge

ng I never wis

s that grasp onto the cool grass. My talons slowly begin to lose their hardness and I feel them softening back into human legs. I stand up from my hunched over position as the last of my transition takes place. I shake out the dark tendrils of my hair, pulling it back into a messy bun. I bend

mbles with annoyance. “We’d better get inside to av

leaving my mouth. I turn around to face the Manor as Zander walks with a purpose in our direction. I paint on the fakest smile that I

essentially convincing everyone to avoid all other supernatural entities (namely werewolves). We’ve been told to run like hell if we come in contact with any of them. He doesn’t believe in using our shifting abilities to defend ourselves and his main selling point is that keeping us alive is more important than teaching us to fight. So, if we get into a situation where we have to c

e states and I nod my

ile even though I’m not actually sorry. If it were up to me, I’d n

he room and my tan Uggs quietly slide across the cream marbled tiles. The warm, beige painted drywall and staggered variety of paintings lining the walls always makes me feel like I am walking through the old British parliament. The standard sensation of eyes glued to me as we immerse ourselves in the

palms into the front pocket of her hoodie. My eyes follow Zander as he skirts around the crowd of people who are all softly chatting with one another. He walks up onto the split stairwell so he is strategica

g to the first quarterly meeting of the year!” h

ike we had much

a werewolf, I do not want any of you to engage them physically or verbally. There are countless reasons we don’t coexist with one another and I aim to keep it that way for our own safety,” he explains. “The only thing wolves want from us is to see our species go extinct. We have known this for centuries, and killing us is nothing more than a game to them…almost nine years ago, we were reminded of this fact the hard way when we lost our dear Nathaniel, Nadia, and Alexander.” His face d

taring at the ground, feigning dejection. I frown and be

fuck up. I tell him to quit making me the focal point,

e concept of my family, I miss what that blood connection represented and how happy I’m sure I was when they were alive, but th

option one, accepting everyone’s misplaced sympathy because it’s easier this way. There is far less conflict a

today - ” he states with a renewed sense of pur

re situation, but she also knows there is nothing we can do about it. Trying to change the meticulous way Zander functions and runs Noctis is an impossibility. Any adjus

t and live as a rogue, never pay

ways a va