Shun

When I walked back in the dojo, I found that my grandfather had fallen asleep in his room. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, fair that you get to sleep and I have to get woken up to help you with chores. I ignored my thoughts and went back to the task at hand. In the hall closet, I pulled out a couple of blankets and pillows and placed the on the back of the couch.

Then I moved into the kitchen and gathered up some bottles of water and other things and put them in a plastic grocery store bag. I went back for the blankets and walked back outside with all of the items. My feet trudged through the snow, leaving footprints behind me.

I got back to the storage building and saw that Lila was still inside. Her wary eyes told me she still wasn't sure if she should trust. What else do I have to do for her to understand I'm not her enemy? I placed the stuff I brought her on a box.

"There's some blankets and pillows, and there should be enough food and water in there to get you through the night." She thanked me, but didn't make a move towards the stuff. She's not going to move until I leave. I turned around and was about to walk out of the building, but was stopped by her. She asked me, "I don't think I caught your name."

I thought back our previous conversation, and all I had gotten out of it was her fake and then real name. "Shun." She nodded her head, and was attempting to leave the building again. Once more, I was stopped by her. This time she asked me, "Are you still a new wolf?"

I mentally sighed, seeing now that even though she wasn't too sure about me, she wanted somebody to consult with. "Yeah. Been one about a week or so." I shut the door to keep the cold air out of the building, and sat down next to her on the floor. My grandfather would be out for the rest of the night, so I didn't have to worry about him looking around for me. "How long have you been a wolf?"

I asked. I saw Lila shudder, and I handed her one of the blankets I brought with me. She took it and draped it over her legs. "About two months, and I'm just now getting a hang of all the shifting." It had taken her almost two months to get a hang of her shifts.

How long would it take me? Everything had taken me twice as long so far, and I didn't want to take four months to be able to shift on my own will and not at random. "Have you been to the pack yet?" asked Lila. I thought back to the other day when Rayden had led me there, and nodded my head. "Yeah. Well, I met what I guess was the Alpha, but not the entire pack." Her eyes widened. "You met Blair?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I guess so. I started to shift back when I was brought to him, and was taken out of the pack so I could make my way back home." She leaned up and grabbed another blanket, and one of the pillows fell to the floor when she did.

"I can't believe that you were taken to see Blair. I've been with the pack a month, and I've only seen glimpses of Blair from his cave." I didn't have any clue that meeting the Alpha was such a big deal. I thought back to when I was in that cave.

In my opinion, I hadn't made a very good impression being that I was shifting back and couldn't understand what he and Wesley were talking about. I had kind of just stood there and whined in pain from what I could recall. "Since you met Blair, then I assume that you also met Wesley as well, right?"

I nodded my head and told her, "Wesley was one of the first that I met. He kind of explained everything to me while I was in a hospital, and I ran into him again earlier today." Lila nodded her head. "I didn't meet Wesley until I first came to the pack. That's when he told me about what was happening to me….I was really scared that day."

Her eyes lowered and seemed like they were trying to hold back a bad memory. I said, "Well, I was pretty freaked out too when Wesley showed up saying that I was turning into a wolf. I'm sure it's a natural reaction." Lila shook her head.

"No. That's not what scared me. I had already accepted the fact that I was turning into a wolf. It was what happened to somebody else that freaked me out." I blinked a few times and asked, "What happened?" I doubted that Lila was about to tell me about this when she barely knew me, but I could at least try.

"There was another new wolf that had found his way to the pack. He was shifting non-stop all day, and when he was about to turn into a wolf he died. Wesley later told me that could happen to anyone, and that only a certain number of new wolves make it through their first shifts. I was so worried that I would end up dying like that other guy."

I didn't have anything to say. Wesley hadn't told me about the possibility that I could die while shifting. I had shifted twice that I knew about, and both of them were extremely painful. The thought that every shift I went through could kill me, was enough to put a sense of anxiety in my mind.

I said, "Wesley didn't tell me anything about that." Lila looked at me with her gold eyes. "He might not have wanted to make you worry. He doesn't tell all of the new wolves for some reason." I could have lived a semi-happy life without knowing that I could die the next time I shifted.

I stood up from the floor and said, "It's getting late. I'm going back inside. If you need anything else, just tap on the third window down on this side of the house." Lila nodded her head, and didn't stop me from leaving this time. Snow had fallen again while I was in the storage building, and it had covered up my tracks from when I brought Lila that stuff.

I stomped the snow off of my shoes when I got inside, and closed the door behind me. I scanned around the room and saw that my grandfather was nowhere to be seen. Good. He's still asleep. Instead of going back to my room, I sat down on the couch in the living room.

For some reason, I went back to what Lila said about me still having my family. Was it really that big of a deal to still have those who are close to you? It must have been for those who gave it all up. I still didn't want to let go of the things that made me who I was. If I did, then I'd never be able to live with myself in peace again.

Shun

I had fallen asleep on the couch, but was woken up by howls. I started to drift back off, but another howl woke me and I remember who was outside in the storage building. Lila. I jumped off of the couch and hurried outside through the snow. My calf muscles were already burning from forcing my legs through the snow.

Finally, I got to the storage building and heard a scratching on the other side of the door. I pulled the door open, and a wolf shot out from inside of the building. Startled, I jumped back and out of the way. The wolf, that I knew was Lila, looked around and sniffed the air.

She then saw me and ran off into the woods. My brain then finally registered everything that was happening. Lila had shifted again, either from random or a somehow adrenaline induced one. Odds were pointing to the random from her still not having control of the wolf in her.

I stepped in the storage building and my eyes widened. Everything had either fallen down or had gotten knocked over. I blinked. During her shift she had definitely done some twisting and turning. I heard snow crunching behind me, and at first I thought it was Lila.

I turned around and saw my grandfather standing in front of the door, his eyes wide like mine had been. "Shun, what did you do?" I opened my mouth to tell him about Lila, but shut it back. "I-Uh.." My grandfather shook his head and sighed. "I woke up after hearing something going on out here and I find that you've wrecked the storage building." I snapped at him, "I didn't do any of this!"

He narrowed his eyes at me and asked, "Ok then. Who did?" Again, I was about to open my mouth, but stopped myself. I couldn't just tell him I found a girl in the storage building who was a wolf and had just shifted, damaging anything that was in her way.

"No answer? This needs to be cleaned up in the morning. I'm going back to bed." He mumbled something while he walked off back to the dojo. I turned back to the mess in the storage building, and groaned. Coming back here was definitely a bad idea.

Alice

Sometime late at night, I woke up. I sat up in my bed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. What time is it? I looked around and found my phone. When I turned it on, I saw that it was three in the morning. Why did I wake up this early? I was never one to wake up in the middle of the night unless there was a nightmare involved or somebody making loud noises.

I tried to lay back down and fall back asleep, but it was too late. Already, I was wide awake. I groaned in aggravation. My head and eyes were still heavy with sleep, but my body was saying that it was wide awake and ready to start the day. I hate when this happens.

I sat back up in my bed and placed my feet on the carpeted floor. When I stood up, I wobbled for a moment then proceeded to stretch my body in hopes to wake up a little more. It didn't make much of a difference, because my mind was still wanting to go back to bed.

I'll make me a warm glass of milk. Maybe that'll help. Groggily, I walked down the hall, occasionally losing my balance. I must have looked like a drunk, because I felt like one. I found the kitchen and stood in front of the massive freezer. You could have parked several small cars in it, and I wondered how much food was really inside of it.

None of us had seen this fridge before. I grabbed the handle and pulled it open. A rush of cool air slammed into me, followed by a bright, florescent light. What I saw then, would have made Dan die a little bit inside. Shelves and shelves of food as far back as the fridge could go.

Dan would have never been hungry again. I searched the shelves and finally found a large jug of milk. It was obvious to me by now that Murucho did his shopping at one of those bulk industrial sized stores like Sam's Club. I hunted around the cabinets next and found a glass, then poured some milk into it.

I left the fridge open because of the bright light it provided. The one or two light bulbs that were in it basically lit up the entire kitchen. I then found a microwave that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. I stared at it for a moment as I tried to figure out how to operate it.

I see why Murucho has people do this for him. After about ten minutes, I figured out how to work the machine and put my glass of milk inside. I shut the door and watched the milk spin in the microwave, and eventually it started to bubble as it got warmer.

The machine beeped, and I took the warm glass of milk out. I shut the fridge door when I walked out of the kitchen, and sat down on the couch in our usual sitting area that the Brawlers used. In the dark I sipped on my warm milk, then turned on the TV to try and quicken up my drowsiness. The TV was still on the news, but it wasn't just a repeated report. This was something happening now.

There was a group of people standing around in the park; all of them were gathered around something. The cameraman wedged himself between the people and got a shot of a dead wolf that had been shot. Its gold eyes were still open, and blood was soaked all around it in the snow.

Police then showed up and arrested the group and pushed them into the police cars. Murucho's uncle, one of the city officials, was standing outside in the park with a heavy jacket on.

He said in the microphone, "This is unacceptable. The hunt may not be something we truly approve of, but we're going to stick to the assigned date we have placed. If anyone decides to start their own hunt early, they will be arrested."

The reporter asked Murucho's uncle a few other things, but I could only stay fixed on the video of the dead wolf that was shot. In a few weeks, this would be all of them.

omg i didnt wake up till like 11:30. o.o that's seriously late for me. then again, i didnt get to sleep till like 2 or 3 in the morning. -shrugs-ah. it's going to be one of those weeks. i know that right now. -.- check out the poll and cover if you havent. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~