"No! Matei help!" Emilia screamed, "MATEI!" Aran leapt up and moved to Emilia, who lay with her eyes closed, yet crying and screaming.
"Emilia! Emilia, wake up!" He said shaking the small cub. Emilia awoke, eyes yellow in fear.
"Ma... Matei? Aran," She whispered. Aran pulled her into a hug as if she was his daughter, or his sister.
"You're OK. I'm here. It's OK," He whispered, rocking slightly back and forth. The young wolf was alone with no-one to look after her, so Aran took the responsibility of caring for her. He gave her a home when he offered to share his tent with her. He fed her, protected her and kept her company, all like a second big brother. Aran's sister Meinir was gone, and of course Emilia left Matei behind, so Aran knew acting as a brother to Emilia would help both of them. Alric ran into the tent, eyes yellow and black veins pulsing.
"What is it? Danger? Is everyone OK?" He asked.
"Yes, Alpha. Emilia just had a nightmare again," Aran replied. Alric's wolf faded.
"OK, well, as long as everything is alright," He said and left back for his tent. Emilia looked at Aran with sad eyes. They had returned to hazel brown colour.
"I keep everyone awake, don't I?"
"They accept it. They know that being a Cerddwyr-Tan comes with plagues and horrors of memories that shouldn't be remembered, as well as having no fear of fire. Now, go back to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow," Aran reassured. Emilia gave a small look of confusion.
"Why?" She asked. A curious little cub. Aran smiled slightly.
"You'll see."
BREAK
Sunlight streamed into the tent and almost blinded Emilia as she woke up. Summer. It had been very hot in the woods, and the wolves were shedding a lot of fur, even in human form, which was quite annoying. Full moons were shorter and extremely hot. Then of course there was water. Finding enough of it was hard, especially enough to hydrate the whole pack. Everyone had to work to find water. Emilia got up, and saw Aran had already left. She became curious again, wondering what was happening today. She walked out and immediately caught Aran's scent amongst all of the other wild Wolfbloods. Aran appeared and brought out dear meat. Breakfast. Emilia remembered the first time she had to eat raw meat. She actually quite enjoyed it. Emilia frowned at the meat as if was alive, and she had to eat it while it still breathed.
"What?" Aran asked, "Do you want something else? A pheasant, a pigeon, a rabbit?"
"What? No, it's just… I want to hunt my own food. I can't rely on you all my life to feed me," She replied, sick and tired of being useless.
"Well, you're in luck. That's what we're doing today," He said casually while Emilia munched on her breakfast. She stopped eating and looked at Aran.
"Really? Hunting? You're going to teach me how to hunt?" Emilia had been begging to hunt since she became part of the Wild Pack, but Aran was just like Matei; overprotective and wouldn't let her into anything that could be harmful to her. But that looked like it was about to change.
"Yep, so c'mon, eat, and let's go into the woods."
As soon as her food was gone, Aran and Emilia ran deeper into the woods, at wolf speed. It gave Emilia a rush, to let her wild-self run free. She was a wild Wolfblood. Just like Jana was a city Wolfblood. It seemed for the both of them, where they were born was not their true home. The complete opposite was. They slowed when they were deep enough into the woods, miles away from the safety of the pack.
"Right, hunting is usually done in a small pack, but it's always good to know how to hunt on your own, in case anything ever happens. Once you're good enough at hunting on your own, I'll convince the hunting group to let you join. I'm sure they will; they know cubs need to find their way in the world," Aran explained.
"Right, OK. So, what are we going to do?" Emilia asked, eager to begin her lesson.
"You could hunt in human form. Most of us do, but if you can't deal with it or don't have the stomach for it, you can always go wolf. Rhydian couldn't," He said. Emilia gave a confused look.
"Rhydian? As in one of Jana's old friends? He was in the wild pack?" Emilia asked, trying to remember what she had been told about Rhydian Morris.
"He was born here, but taken by humans when he was a young cub. He returned a few months after his first transformation. He hated it, so ran back to his old pack," He said.
"Maddy, Tom and Shannon," Emilia said, "And Jana followed, orders from her father. And then the whole thing about Alric killing Rhydian and Maddy stopping him and Alric disowning Jana and stuff. But eventually they forgave each other."
"Yes. It seems you are very knowledgeable about Jana's past life."
"She told us enough." Aran smiled.
"Well, enough of this nice history lesson, it's time for basics of hunting."
"Is there a handbook that comes with that?" Emilia asked sarcastically. Aran raised an eyebrow in question and curiosity, "Um… Never mind."
"Alright. First, you have to find the pray, either by scent, hearing, sight, or Eolas," He said.
"Eolas? I can't… I can't do that," She said, thinking of her previous city life.
"That's why I'm teaching you," He replied, as if everything was simple.
"How? I've been in the city too long. I can't do it. None of us can."
"You are wild at heart. You are a wild Wolfblood. You can do it. The city wolves all can too, it's just a bit harder for them," Aran said, trying to stop her from giving up completely. Aran didn't like quitters, "Crouch down to the floor." Aran and Emilia both went to the floor in an Eolas position, "Feel the nature around you. The sky, the trees, the grass, everything. Let your wolf run free. The wolf is leaving to find the one you seek. Be part of nature!" Emilia lost herself and it seemed she became nature. It was like she was the grass, she was the sky. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to the sky. Opening her eyes, they turned yellow, and suddenly she was running back to the wild pack, and she saw her alpha, Alric, but she herself was stationary, in the same place she had been before. She snapped away from it and stood up abruptly, gasping. She grinned widely at Aran, her eyes still wolf-yellow. Aran grinned back.
"I did it! I saw Alric! I saw him! That was amazing!" She said, bubbling with happiness.
"Well done! You see! You can do it!" Aran was just as happy as she was. Emilia laughed, and her eyes faded back to its ordinary hazel.
"Well, I guess we should continue, eh?" Emilia said, still grinning.
"Yes, let's continue, Wild Wolf," He said.
BREAK
Aran had taught Emilia the basics of hunting and helped her master the abilities needed for hunting, like using all the senses, Eolas, speed, strength, agility, stamina and ability to become part of nature in a different way to Eolas. When they returned to the pack, Alric immediately called the whole pack to a meeting. Alric stood on a log above the gathered pack below. Aran was by his side on the ground, as Alric's second-in-command.
"I'm sure that many of you know what time it is," He began. Most people shuffled and mumbled in agreement, but Emilia had no clue, "It is of course that time once more when our cubs must prove themselves worthy of the pack. The Rite Of Passage!" A series of cheers and hoots and howls filled the air. Emilia suddenly realised what was going on, "Our cubs will embark on a challenge only the strongest survive. The cubs that return alive and completed the challenge will be honoured and become true members of the pack. Cubs that don't complete the challenge will have two choices. To leave the pack and find a new one, or continue living in the pack as an omega!" The Wolfbloods growled. No pack ever wanted omegas. Emilia's nerves started taking over. Jana had never mentioned this. How was she supposed to complete it? Or survive? She was the least wild in the entire pack. She stood no chance, "The cubs will each have a mentor and will be trained from now to the second full moon. After that, the challenge begins!" Another collection of howls. Excitement. The other cubs howled too; this is what they'd been waiting for their entire lives. Emilia didn't howl with them. She was too busy figuring out how on earth she was going to survive.
