Chapter 8

KIRA:
“So, Alexia, we are here now,” I say as I take a look around the woods. Won’t lie, being in here is giving me vibes from two days ago when I was on the run away from the warriors of the Night Blaze pack, even though I am not in their territory at the moment.
‘You should try using the mind-link just as I’ve taught you. It’s going to be embarrassing if someone catches you talking to yourself,’ Alexia, my newfound spirit wolf, speaks in my head which startles me a bit. I’m still not used to this whole thing about having a living entity in me. Pretty sure it would take me a while even though I have come to accept my new identity.
“It’s sort of difficult,” I say as I bend to pick up a stick on the ground.
‘Just shut your mind off other things and you will see it would work. Takes quite a lot of practice but in no time you’ll get used to it,’
I start to consider what she says. She’s right about it being embarrassing if caught. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m not used to this whole thing just yet. Especially considering that I am not yet of age to even acquire a spirit wolf.
So, I say, “Nah, I’m not interested,” and then start to walk over to a nearby tree.
Alexia responds, ‘Stop being difficult, Kira. You know it’s for your own good.’
“I’ll only do that when I’m much comfortable with this whole idea of being a mature wolfling when I’m not even mature enough for it,” I announce with a lot of strong will attached to it. “So, first, let’s get that first shifting done and over with. Perhaps it would enlighten me into working on the mind-link,”
I hear her sigh in my head. Which means she has accepted defeat. She should learn that it’s hard to convince me to do something when I’ve already made up my mind on something else.
I eventually get to the tree in my sight and then round it before standing in front of it to admire it a little. Not a necessary admiration but it was because of the thing on it that fascinated me even till this day.
‘You should take off your clothes before the transformation takes place. You don’t want them ruined when you switch back to your human form,’
“I know,” I say, my gaze still fixed on the tree.
There was something particular about the tree. And it was that it has a sort of hole in it. The hole, according to what I know, was created to store clothing before anyone wishes to transform into their wolf form. Not just this tree, but every other tree has it.
So I start to take off my wears, starting with the shorts before going for the top. After that, I remove the band used to hold my hair in place and then pack all of that together before storing everything inside the hole. I didn’t come with underpants. Just like I always do whenever I find myself in the woods. Give me a sense of freedom while on the run.
I take in a deep breath as I look around first. No, I’m not ashamed of being nude. I’m actually nervous about how my first time is going to be. Reports have said it hurts that much and I don’t know if I would be able to bear the pain when I go through the process.
“Does it hurt?” I ask Alexia.
‘It should. But it’s nothing to be worried about,’
A scoff makes its way out of my lips. “Doesn’t sound assuring,”
So what I do is get on the ground in a crawling position. When I do, I close my eyes so as not to feel how the thing goes. I can feel my pits sweating hard already which explains how nervous I am.
‘Are you ready?’ Alexia asks me as I start to get ready to go through the transformation. My first ever.
With my heart beating so fast, I say, “I’m ready,” and when I start to feel heated up all over, I quickly announce, “Wait!”
I then get up to my feet and put my hand into the hole, taking out my shorts which I ransack through the pockets to fish out a piece of clothing. Then I put the shorts back into the hole before getting back to the crawling position I took before.
“Okay, now I’m ready,” I say before putting the piece of clothing into my mouth to act as a noise resistance.
‘Stay put while I do the rest.’
And just like that, excruciating pain shoots through my entire body. So excruciating that it feels like my whole body is being crushed.
I cannot bear it and the next thing is that I find myself screaming out loud. But the noise sounded like I was gagging because of the clothing in my mouth.
As fast as the pain starts to shoot through me is the same way that it stops. But there was nothing to show for it.
I spit out the clothing in my mouth. “Is that it?” I ask Alexia as I await the transformation into a wolf. I thought it would take place as soon as the whole thing went through.
‘Something is wrong. I can’t seem to connect to your mortal body. And it’s hindering the transformation from taking place,’
“That sounds bad,” I say, reasoning what she said. “Do you want to try again?”
‘Only if you let me to,’
“Would the pain be less excruciating?”
‘It’s still your first. So I cannot tell you that it won’t be,’
I am hesitant, but the eagerness is what beats the hesitation. So I just give into it again. But first I pick up the clothing because I still have to be mindful of the noise I would make.
The process goes on again. And just like how I felt the first time, it is going through me again. This time I do not waste time in releasing the scream of pain.
‘It’s still not working,’ Alexia says in my head soon as the pain subsided. Instantly I get up to my feet, already fed up about the whole thing.
“So much for your talk about me being special,” I say without hiding the contempt in my tone.
‘You really are special, Kira. I just don’t think your body is mature enough to handle the process.’
“Dammit!” I grit my teeth in frustration as I get up to my feet.
‘Are you okay?’
“Of course, I’m not okay. Why did you get my hopes high when you know the whole process would end up failing?” I burst out in annoyance.
‘I didn’t know it was going to be this way. I thought being able to communicate with you was tantamount to you being able to shift already. But it seems it’s just your mind that is strong enough to handle the change,’
I close my eyes, trying not to vent my anger on anything around me at the moment. Geez, this is so infuriating.
“I didn’t want any of this. I was living my life neutrally before you made me feel that I have gotten something that I was anticipating in two years time. Now that I thought it was here with me already, what did I get in return? Disappointment.”
‘But you can keep on living without it. At least until your body is ready to adapt to having one,’
“And I know that!” I yell out loud. “You do not understand how I feel at the moment so don’t try to patronize me,”
“Kira?”
Did I just hear someone call my voice?
“Kira, is that you?”
Holy cow, that’s Bradley!
“Brad, it’s me,” I respond, realizing the way I am presently isn’t any good to see.
“What are you doing there?” I hear him say and at the same time, I start to sense him approaching where I am.
Immediately I yell out to stop him from coming any further. “Don’t come here!”
“Uhm, okay," he says, stopping at the same time.
So I dip my hand into the home inside the tree and take out all of my things. Swiftly I start to put on all of it and it wasn’t I was done did I leave the back of the tree.
Bradley was backing me when I sight him. He is in his guard uniform and I can tell from the look of things that he is patrolling the woods. Probably to look for me.
“Hey, Brad,” I announce nervously which prompts him to turn around to look at me.
“Care to tell me what you were doing there?” he asks, his brows raised at me questioningly.
“Nothing,” I say, trying not to gulp down an invisible lump in my throat.
“Hmph,” he says, giving me a suspicious look. Well it’s obvious he doesn’t trust me and I understand that. “And I heard you talking to someone. Is there anyone there with you?”
Aw man. Guess I should have listened to Alexia when she told me to use the mind-link with her. My stubbornness is about to backfire on me.
“There’s no one there besides me. I was only soliloquizing or whatever it is called,” To defend myself, I decide to switch to a frown. “And what’s with the questions? Can’t I do my thing in peace?”
“Sorry, sorry,” he apologizes. “It just felt strange to hear you talk to yourself,”
I roll my eyes at him as I prepare to leave the scene. “So did my mom send you to come look for me again?”
“No, I am on a patrol around the woods with a few of the other guards. I sensed your scent around here, which I won’t necessarily call a scent, and so traced you to this place.”
“You don’t have to rub it on my face that I am not ripe enough,” with that I start to walk off from him, already pissed that he added to my annoyance.
“Kira, I’ve got a question,” I hear him say from behind me while his footsteps approach as well.
“What?”
“You have a spirit wolf, don’t you?”
And instantly I freeze in my tracks.