‘I said no, now leave me alone!’
‘Come on, babe. Just a little kiss is all I’m asking for.’ Sean says.
‘Let me go, you jerk!’
Sean is holding her arms against the wall of the house. She can’t move. I walk up behind Sean and put him in a lock hold. I break his arm. Nina jumps at the sound of his arm snapping.
‘If you ever touch her again, I will kill you.’ I say as my eyes turn entirely black. There is a force inside me struggling not to kill him, not to rip his head off now. It’s overwhelmingly powerful. I have felt nothing like it in my life. I’m fighting myself as I also fight Sean down as he tries to escape. He is screaming and holding his broken arm. I fling him into the swimming pool. It’s that, or I snap his neck, and the last thing I need right now is to end up in wolf prison.
I hunch over heaving. My muscles feel as if they are growing bigger. I think I’m slowly growing bigger and stronger. I’m overwhelmed with anger, and I’m struggling to control it.
Everyone has run out of the house into the backyard to see why Sean is screaming. Everyone steps back slowly in fear as I fight myself.
There is a voice in my head.
‘Let me take over, let me kill him!’ he snaps.
I cling onto my head, ‘No stop, leave, go away.’ Finally, I fall onto my knees and feel a bone in my back snap.
‘He’s shifting!’ someone yells.
‘He isn’t eighteen yet. No one has shifted early before?’ says another voice.
‘Someone needs to go to the packhouse and get the Alpha and Luna straight away.’ Paul yells. A few people run off together towards the packhouse as I continue to fight my wolf.
The pain I’m in is immense. I toss and turn on the ground. Another bone snaps.
‘Shh, it’s okay, Magnus, you’re going to be okay,’ I hear from the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard. Nina is approaching very slowly with caution. My inner wolf relaxes for a brief moment from the sound of her voice. Then, he tries to take over again.
‘It’s okay, try to relax. Fighting your wolf will only make it more painful.’
‘How do you know that?’ I managed to say with a strained voice.
My dad told me the pain is far worse at your first shift if you fight it.
‘If I shift, my wolf might kill Sean.’
‘I won’t let your wolf kill him; the jerk already peed his pants when he ran off screaming, holding his arm.’
I can’t help but let out a small chuckle that Sean peed his pants. The pain subsides quite a bit, and I realise Nina has my head on my lap, stroking my arms that are growing fur. Completely relaxed and a few more bones snap, my face morphs into my wolf. My tongue sticks out, panting in happiness as Nina strokes her fingers through my fur.
Everyone is watching and gasps.
‘He is a pure white Alpha. Alpha’s are black?’ Zak says in amazement. I want to keep my eyes on Nina’s face, but I look down at my paws to see fluffy white fur. They’re right. My coat of fur is white.
‘Magnus, this is amazing.’ Nina says in awe. She studies my face closer and strokes her fingers down my back a few times. ‘Tell me I’m dreaming?’ she asks, looking at everyone.
Flint approaches and crouches down beside her.
‘You’re not dreaming, Nina. It’s incredible, though, and I’ve never seen a wolf this big he is even bigger than dad’s wolf.’
‘Thank you, Magnus, for saving me back there. I was looking for Moss. He had vanished. I came outside to see if he was out here and instead found Sean, who, well, you saw the rest.’ She says, trying not to sob. I step towards her and nudge her face, wiping the rogue tear away. She wraps her arms around me the best she can and cries.
‘What’s going on out here?’ Moss asks, approaching the crowd. Everyone parts creating a path. He freezes over at the sight of not just me but Nina crying with her arms around me. I let out a deep horrifying growl that makes everyone cower. Nina looks up and sees Moss. I take a few steps towards Moss, bearing my teeth and growling. He takes a few steps back, and I forward a few more.
‘No, Magnus,’ Nina says and crouches in front of me. ‘You can’t hurt him, Magnus.’ I give her a look as if to say where was he when you needed him? She hangs her head as if she had read my mind.
‘It doesn’t matter now, Magnus; regardless, Sean’s actions are not Moss’s fault.’
She was right, it wasn’t his fault, but I couldn’t help but feel he was up to no good anyway. My wolf tries to fight for complete control to kill him.
‘Magnus!’ My parents shout my name as they tie their robes on from shifting back into human form.
As soon as they approach, Moss takes the opportunity to take Nina’s arm and pull her back. I let out a growl.
‘Magnus, you’ve shifted?’ Dad says.
‘And he is pure white like my wolf.’ Mum says, stunned.
‘Have you ever seen a white male Alpha before?’ dad asks mum.
‘No, but like me, he is a direct descendant of the Moon Goddess. Perhaps my grandfather was a white wolf or a grandfather before him, or he could be the first pure white alpha wolf to exist? But either way, the Moon Goddess has bestowed this on him.’ Mum smiles. ‘You are so beautiful, my son.’ She says and hugs me.
‘Can you shift back?’ Dad asks. I don’t want to shift back just yet. Instead, I look towards the trees and let out the loudest howl the pack has ever heard.
‘A run it is then.’ My dad says. My parents shift into their wolves. My wolf is at least six inches taller than my dad’s. Everyone watches as all three of us howl in unison and run towards the woods just as Claire comes out from her house after probably changing into fifty different dresses to see what is going on.
‘Who’s that wolf, and where’s my Boo-boo gone too?’ she asks, confused.
Zak approaches her and places his hand on her shoulder. ‘You might want to sit down for this?’
Claire passes out to everyone’s amusement after Zak catches her up to speed. The wind whips through my fur. My paws pound against the dirt, my massive tongue hangs out, collecting the odd flying bug. I feel so free, so wild and powerful.
My parents are only meters behind me as we run with the wind. As we howl into the night sky, more wolves from our pack join us and howl in unison to celebrate the arrival of my wolf. Sitting on a mountain top, one by one, they line up and bow, exposing their neck, showing complete submission and loyalty. It’s midnight. I run once more through the woods before returning home to the Packhouse with my parents, Seth, Leon, Mia, and Amelia. They all shift into their human forms and wait for me to shift.
‘Relax, son, close your eyes and imagine yourself in human form, and you will shift back. It won’t hurt.’
Closing my eyes, I imagine myself in human form as pain sears throughout my body as I shift back. My howl of pain turns into a human scream.
