Wolf of Choice (The Shifters and Sorceresses Trilogy Book 1)

by Shay Laurent

  We made our way back around the bushes and over to our stuff. There was a mouse on my blanket. I squealed. ‘Get it off!’

  Dom broke into laughter, clutching his stomach and scaring off the mouse with his big guffaws. ‘You... are afraid... of a mouse. You’re a... Shifter... a wolf... maybe even a Sorceress.’ He sat down on a small rock to catch his breath.

  I waited until he was done, much more relaxed now that the mouse had disappeared. ‘Everyone is afraid of something, you know.’

  He grinned, wiping the tears of laughter from his cheeks. ‘Not me. I’m not afraid of anything.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Yeah, sure you’re not.’

  Too anxious to talk much more I laid down on my mat and pulled up my blanket. Once Dom had pulled himself together and changed his wet clothes, he snuggled into his own covers, too, though I noticed the smile hadn’t left his face as he stared up at the traces of sky. I turned my gaze to follow his. The darkness betrayed the late hour.

  I tensed where I lay. I would Shift soon.

  Will I? Maybe nothing will even happen. No, I smell like a Shifter. Surely I’ll change. But, if I change does that mean that I won’t be a Sorceress? That I won’t be like mum and won’t have any magic? Ugh! I don’t even know what I want.

  As I sifted through my thoughts, my stomach felt more and more rocky, as if I was going to be sick. I could feel the change coming. I turned to Dom, my dad’s instructions about Shifting alone for the first time running through my head.

  ‘I think I might go for a walk.’

  He looked at me, his expression serious again. ‘Do you want company, or do you want to do it by yourself? I mean, when I Shifted for the first time, I had my family there. But, whatever you want is cool.’

  I considered his words but what Dad said just kept coming back. I shook my head. ‘I think I’ll go myself. I just... Just in case, you know?’

  He nodded and I started to stand up. Before I made it all the way, he reached out and grabbed my hand lightly. I paused and looked down at him.

  ‘It really will be okay. And I’m here for you, no matter what happens.’

  I felt pressure build behind my eyes and I smiled softly. ‘Thank you, Dom. It means more than you know.’

  He let go of my hand and I walked away, following along the stream until I found a large rock by the water. Bending my knees, I jumped up and sat on top of it with my legs crossed, then focused on my breathing like Dad had taught me. Centring myself. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

  Sitting with my eyes closed and hands resting in my lap, I began to feel a slight shiver over my body. It felt just like it had been described in a Shifter book I’d read. I opened my eyes and saw a shimmer starting to form in front of them. I closed my eyes, unsure if I wanted to see. The shiver became more intense. Not as though I was cold, but like I had too much energy trapped inside my body. I felt it to some degree all over my body, but mainly around my face and my hands.

  Then, it stopped. Eyes still scrunched, I did a mental body scan. It almost felt like nothing had changed. Disappointment ripped through me and tears broke through my closed eyelids.

  I’ll never be able to run with my Pack.

  I clenched my fists, hissed, and immediately released them as a sharp pain stung my hands. The smell of blood wafted to me. Eyes wide, I looked down at my hands. My fingernails had lengthened and sharpened. Claws. I had claws!

  Dom burst into the clearing. ‘I smelled blood! Are you okay?!’

  I was clearly out of it. Surely I should have sensed he was coming before he crashed into the clearing. ‘I, uh. Yes? Maybe? I don’t know. I, uh, have claws?’

  I held my hands up to show him. He walked closer, inspecting them. When he was a couple of metres away, he froze. ‘Woah! You also have pointed ears, sharper teeth and glowing amber eyes. That’s crazy!’

  ‘I... do?’ Instinctively I raised my hands to my ears. I didn’t know what to think. I wasn’t a wolf, but I was something. My earlier worry returned along with panic that I would look ugly like this. I tried to push the latter thought down.

  ‘I’ll never be able to run with the Pack like this.’ My voice broke and my vision blurred through my tears as I resumed looking down at my hands, too embarrassed to keep my eyes on Dom.

  ‘Well, you never know what could happen. Besides, you look like you have enough energy bouncing around that you could keep up. Maybe. Why don’t you give it a try?’

  I looked at him, confused. ‘Give what a try?’

  ‘A run. You know, get off that rock and see what other changes there are besides the physical ones?’

  ‘Oh. Yeah, sure.’

  Glad for the distraction, I stood, shooting up faster than I’d anticipated, but having no trouble keeping my balance. It was like I had more control or something, more awareness. I looked at my surroundings, then at Dom. I focused on his face. My vision was more acute. I had no trouble seeing the tiny smattering of freckles below his widened eyes, even while standing up on the rock and with him a few metres away.

  Inhaling, I took in the scents. It was like an overload, the lush greenery hitting me with full force. I could smell our food, and other fruit. I scrunched up my nose. I could smell poop.

  Dom burst out laughing. ‘What do you smell that I can’t?’

  ‘Poo,’ I mumbled.

  He kept laughing. Clearly amused by either the poo or my face when I smelled it. When I realised I could actually smell and probably see things he couldn’t right now, I became excited.

  ‘Hey! I can smell stuff you can’t, so my Shift at least did something. Do I call it a Shift?’

  ‘I reckon so. You look like you could bite my hand off with those chompers.’

  Embarrassed, I covered my mouth with my hand. They must look ridiculous and horrific.

  He shook his head. ‘Relax! They look cool, not weird or anything. You still look great!’ At that he turned the colour of a tomato and ducked his head.

  I felt my own cheeks heat in response. ‘Thanks,’ I mumbled back to him. ‘So, uh, think we should have this race?’

  He looked back up at me, his grin so big I could almost see his molars. ‘You bet! To the valley entrance and back?’

  I gave him a toothy grin of my own and, waving my hands as though I had a wand, gestured that he should change.

  He laughed, then all I could see was the shimmer. This time when I saw it, it really was like magic. The light that covered Dom was like a billion tiny sparks of earthy tones—browns, tans and greens—colliding with each other in a magnificent display.

  The brilliant colours faded out and then Dom stood in front of me in his wolf form. Up close, I could see that he was around half my height. Shorter than both my dad and his, but not by that much considering he was still growing.

  Dom gave me a wolfy grin and shot off through the trees. I cussed, leapt down from my rock and launched myself after him.

  It was as though I was flying. I felt light but sturdy at the same time. Movement through the forest was seamless; I weaved in and out of the trees and brush, able to study each piece of bark or leaf in my path as I moved. When it became too distracting and I heard Dom’s footsteps begin to fade, I drew my focus back to the path ahead of me.

  The light impact of my footfalls pulsed through me as I took each step. I barely touched the ground. The scents were a blur but I knew instinctively that, if I focused on them, I’d be able to separate them out easily. I needed to gain more ground so I concentrated on being light and throwing myself forward to reach a greater speed. If I had been in my human form, I’d have definitely smacked my head on a tree branch by now.

  Talk about a headache!

  The sound of Dom’s paws hitting the ground came back into range as I began to gain ground on him again. The thrill of the chase coursed through me. The idea of catching him was magnetic. I was drawn forward.

  Light filtered in through the trees ahead of me and signalled that we were close to the edge. I didn’t think it
was possible, but I increased my speed a little more, using the extra space between the trees to my advantage.

  There you are! Almost got you!

  The edge of the forest was visible now. I kept pushing myself, trying to make it despite the fact I knew it wouldn’t happen.

  I saw Dom’s deep brown fur break through the tree line into the valley and I slowed, the instinct to conserve my energy taking over.

  I broke through the clearing within seconds of Dom and saw him collapse on the ground, heaving in deep breaths, his tongue lolling out. He looked beat. I was pretty exhausted myself, but I wasn’t too tired to register his shock as he saw me, standing and breathing only half as hard as he was.

  I managed to pull my lips up into a quick grin before he began to Shift back. I stood, transfixed on the shimmer. Whoever thought Shifters weren’t magic were crazy. The earthy sparks collided with each other, causing what seemed to be mini explosions of light that shifted and weaved around each other. Then Dom was laying on the ground, his breath returning to normal. He seemed so much clearer and more defined through my Shifted eyes. He stared at me.

  ‘What?’ I asked self-consciously.

  He shook his head. ‘Nothing. But, uh, do you want to Shift back before we return to the camp?’

  ‘Oh. Yeah.’ I stood for a moment and then had the embarrassing realisation that I actually had no idea how to Shift back. ‘I, um, don’t actually know how?’

  ‘Oh, right. Sorry. You just need to visualise your human form and think about looking that way. It totally gets easier.’

  I nodded and closed my eyes, my face scrunched up in concentration. Dom snickered at me. I stuck my tongue out then turned my back and tried to focus. Images flowed through my mind of shorter nails, flat teeth, rounded ears.

  Then I felt it; the shimmer, the electricity spark through me. This time, I tried to watch. It wasn’t the same as seeing Dom Shift; it was more like blurs of colours moving around. Definitely not the same as the magic I saw the Sorceresses casting in the Library attack.

  Back to normal, I grinned and opened my eyes wide. I felt really proud at having Shifted back.

  Dom spoke from behind me. ‘So... what do you think? It’s not full wolf, but it’s pretty cool!’

  I turned and considered it, but I didn’t really know what to think.

  ‘I’m a bit half and half, I think. I wish I could turn full wolf like the rest of the Pack. I mean, I’ll never fit in with everyone else. They’ll all know that I’m different. But you know, I’m glad I got to change a little bit. It’s something.’

  He nodded. ‘Yeah, I get that. It’s definitely cool. And hey, maybe one day you’ll be able to change full wolf. Maybe you can cast a spell to do it or something.’

  I grinned before I could stop myself and put my hand over my mouth. My eyes darted to Dom’s. He’d seen. My stomach was a big twist of knots. It was one thing to have no choice but to be part Sorceress, but it was another entirely to want to be one, to have magic.

  Dom’s face scrunched a little, and he looked worried. He seemed to want to say something, but perhaps he didn't want to upset me.

  My anxiety got the best of me. ‘Out with it!’

  He smiled, amused. ‘Just don’t worry so much. Shifters may hate the Sorceresses, but if they could have magic, they’d want it too. Well, that’s what I think anyway.’ He shrugged.

  I wasn’t convinced. ‘Maybe. Anyway, we should probably start walking. Wouldn’t want that Shifter to find our camp with us nowhere near it. And I don’t want any of those little rodents thieving our food.’

  He laughed. ‘All right. Let’s move it.’

  The walk back was mostly quiet. I was lost in thought about what my life would be like with the Pack when they found out I couldn’t change, whether they’d even let me stay. I mean, if the shoe had been on the other foot, I don’t know if I’d let me stay. The Pack Alpha had to put the needs of the many before the needs of just me.

  Maybe Dom will put in a good word for me or something. No. That wouldn’t be fair to ask. He’s already gonna be in enough trouble for having come with me. Especially once they learn what I am.

  That led me onto another train of thought, about exactly what I was. I knew I was definitely part Shifter, because I changed, but couldn’t have been a pure Shifter because I didn’t turn into a wolf. Being part Sorceress seemed like something I was just going to have to deal with.

  I’ll probably be the weakest of both. Half probably means less power too, if I have any at all.

  I fretted all the way back to our little camp. When we arrived, Dom decided he wanted another wash in the stream and, since I really wasn’t that bad, I decided to just get some sleep.

  I WOKE TO A BEAM OF sunlight shooting through the tree canopy. It shone almost right next to my face. I rolled my head to the side to see it hit the ground and squealed. The damn mouse was back again.

  Dom shot up and had a knife drawn in no time at all. Having smelled the rodent the second he woke up, he flopped back down onto his mat and groaned. ‘Aw, come on, Elita. It’s just a little mouse. Not like it can hurt you or anything.’

  The impact of his words were lessened by the fact that his groggy face was alight with an amused grin. He found the funny side of everything, which was equal parts great and frustrating. Though, maybe a little more on the great side, really.

  Since the sun was up and now so were we, I suggested we get moving so we could collect some food and make the mountain base today. It would be a long couple of weeks once we did. We ate a little food while we packed away our mats and blankets.

  As we walked, we grabbed any fruit we came across. It made the trip slower, but it meant we could spend some quality time healing from the fight and our sparring match as we went. Ideally, we’d be back to one hundred per cent before we ran into any other problems, though I really hoped we’d stay safe until we made it to Crone Keep.

  Chapter 16

  It was five days into our mountain trek and we were starting to freeze. I’d resorted to pulling out several layers of my clothes and wearing them together to keep the chill out.

  Dom had discovered that it was less harsh in his wolf form because of the thick fur coat, but that wasn’t much help for me because it meant I had to carry two packs while injured. Even though I’d told him that he should stay Shifted, he’d refused. He’d made me check if it was more bearable in my “wolf” form but the cold still bit into me and, if anything, it was a little worse because of my heightened senses.

  Despite initially deciding that it would be safer to travel by night so we were less visible on the snow-covered mountains, I ended up suggesting we travel in the day time so we at least had the sunlight to warm us. Dom had begrudgingly agreed with me. So each night we found small caves within the mountains to camp in. Some had been so shallow that we’d nearly frozen anyway, but others had been nice and deep, and had sheltered us well.

  I led the way along the mountain, keeping my head tucked down and my hood up to cover my ears from the icy smattering of snow. The incline was steep enough to make me stoop a little. I peeked up as the darkness started to descend, my stomach tightening.

  I turned to Dom and shouted. ‘We need to find somewhere soon. We don’t want to be trying to make camp in the dark again.’

  ‘Yep! Let’s stop at the next one. I think I see a dark spot a little further along.’ He pointed ahead, arm unsteady in the strong wind.

  I nodded and turned in that direction. It was a good thing we could see pretty well because there was almost no chance of hearing over the howling winds if anyone was about to attack. We had to shout just to hear one another.

  As we neared the cave entrance, I heaved a sigh of relief. We’d been hiking up the mountain almost since the sun came up. My legs were getting tired from travelling every day.

  I turned back and looked at Dom, taking a quick step backwards when I realised he was watching his feet as he walked. He came to a sudden halt at my quick movement
and looked up and met my eyes. His cheeks were flushed again, but this time I was sure it was from the icy wind whipping his face.

  Once I was sure I had his attention, I pointed to the cave that was right near our current position then gestured to our weapon belts. Dom put his hand to his belt and pulled out the throwing knives. I pulled out my short swords.

  Once we reached the flat landing outside the cave entrance, we carefully placed our packs on the ground to the right. We needed to be ready to fight if there were hostiles, and it was almost impossible to scent anything with the wind blowing in the snow storm. We’d become a little more casual about it, figuring there would be no one around in these parts of the mountains, but carrying packs into a potential fight would just be a disaster waiting to happen.

  It was Dom’s turn to check the cave, so I stepped to the side and allowed him to pass. He slowly put his head around the corner to look inside. Within a second he had retreated, his face ashen. We had company.

  I pointed behind us, asking if we could go. He quickly shook his head. They were coming. Knowing it would be easier to fight inside the cave then on the edge where we could be pushed, I gestured for him to go in.

  We moved quickly into the cave front and braced ourselves. They were upon us immediately. There were three of them, two with weapons in front, and one sitting at the rear of the cavern.

  Shit.

  I had one short sword in each hand, using one to block and the other to attack. The numerous layers of clothes weren’t convenient for a fight, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now. Seeing that I wasn’t making much ground, I switched my attacking and blocking hands. I felt a rush of gratitude to Dad in that moment, for the gruelling hours he’d made me spend strengthening both arms for fighting with weapons.

  It worked and I started making progress. I sliced the arm of the man in front of me. His brown eyes became furious slits as he tried to charge at me again. Anger was not his friend. It made his next movements obvious, allowing me to use my small size to dodge under his swing. But now I had my back towards the other Shifter at the rear of the cave. Not good. I focused on my hearing and realised he’d gotten to his feet, it sounded as though he’d staggered a little. Shocked, I realised he might be the wolf from the woods and he hadn’t quite healed yet. I shook my head to focus, I was about to be surrounded. I’d be lucky to escape with my life.