Hello lovelies and welcome to my new story. I've not read many shifter fics before, so I'm really hoping that it's not like anyone else's, and if it is I have wasted almost 13 hours writing it down and typing it up [insert eyeroll here]

I do not own Twilight or the characters. I just like to play with them.

Pulling up to the school I took a deep breath and rest my head on the steering wheel, closing my eyes against the constant onslaught of dreary grey skies.

I had only been here forty eight hours and I already missed the sun.

My parents moved us to the middle of butt fuck nowhere because in exactly one week I turn eighteen and am expected to find a mate.

Let me tell you a little about myself before we get completely off track.

My name is Bella Swan and I am a shifter of the wolf variety. I am almost eighteen years old and I'm next in line to become the Alpha of this pack. The only problem in the elders eyes: I'm a girl.

I was born in California and grew up in the desert plains of Phoenix. I don't know any of these people and I'm meant to be their next leader.

The pack has been led by our family for over two hundred years, when my great-grandfather overthrew the old Alpha in the early 1800's.

Oh, that's another thing about us, we live exceptionally long lives.

This is the first time I have been around other wolves that were not my mother and father. My dad forfeited his role as Alpha and smuggled my mother away from the pack when she was pregnant with me. There was a war going on between our pack and a neighbouring rival pack for territory and my dad was scared that mom would get hurt in the crossfire and lose me.

It had taken mom quite some time to fall pregnant with me, despite the fact that she came from a long line of strong Alpha bitches, and that's also why I'm an only child.

Another rare feat within our pack. Everyone has at least one sibling, except me. It was typical for the females to bear twins.

My wolf was silver with white eyes, a stark contrast from human me who had dark eyes and dark hair. She also had a black crescent moon at the base of her throat. Mom said I had been blessed by the moon goddess to receive such a beautiful wolf.

I had to present her form this coming weekend in front of the entire pack during my induction into pack life. Dad said it's so when we're in wolf form the others will be familiar with me and won't attack, but I'm not sure if I one hundred percent believe him. I have a feeling there is a hidden agenda to all of this and I want to get to the bottom of it.

A knock on my car window had me jumping and blinking my eyes against the harsh light. A short girl, with a heart shaped face and black hair, was grinning and waving at me through the glass.

I groaned internally. She was way too chipper for this time of day.

I cracked open my window and shivered at the cold air that blew through my car. "Can I help you?"

"No, but I'm here to help you. My name is Alice and I've been assigned to show you around today. I've been watching you sit here for the last ten minutes and you weren't moving so I got worried."

Does this girl not need to breathe? I swear she said all of that without taking a single breath. "Sorry but I'm waiting for my cousins. They're meant to be doing that."

Alice let out a small peal of laughter. "That's me silly. I'm your cousin. Esme is my mother. She's Aunt Renee's twin."

Understanding dawned on me. Mom said something about her sisters kids yesterday, but not really knowing who they were I neglected to pay attention.

I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck and climbed out of my car, putting my glove covered hand into Alice's bare one.

"Wow. You really don't like the cold do you?" She laughed again.

"I grew up in the desert Alice, what do you think?" I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her.

She let my attitude roll off her back and linked her arm round mine, leading me towards one of the large brick buildings.

The immediate amalgamation of smells that assaulted my senses did little to put me at ease. If anything I felt like I couldn't relax at all. Every set of eyes were on me and it appeared that all of their wolves were wanting to come out and sniff me. It was unsettling.

Every class I sat in their eyes were still on me. I couldn't even distract myself with the class work because it was all material I had covered before in my home schooling lessons.

Lunch was excruciating. Alice -and her twin Emmett- were part of the popular crowd and sat at the largest and noisiest of the tables in the cafeteria. Alice took it upon herself to introduce me to everyone. I could only recall half a dozen names. It was easy for them, they only had to remember one name. I had to learn many. I couldn't even escape to the library because I didn't know where it was. I could feel my stress levels rising and my patience thinning.

As soon as the last bell rang for the day I bolted from the classroom and out to my car. I managed to avoid Alice and Emmett too.

I sat down in my car, locked the doors and breathed a sigh of relief. What a day.

I cranked the heating and peeled out of the parking lot.

Not knowing my way around this stupid hick town properly yet I managed to get lost on my way back home. Which was unfortunate because by the time I did make it home my cousins were waiting for me on the porch. I groaned inwards and my wolf growled in support. We'd both had enough of these two today.

As soon as I switched off the engine Alice was bouncing outside of my door again. I counted to five to help ease my temper some and unlocked the doors. As soon as my driver side door was opened the constant stream of chatter began. "There you are Bella. Why didn't you wait for us? Where have you been? We could have shown you the way home. Or you could have used your wolf. Why didn't you use your wolf Bella? She'll never steer you wrong."

In fact it was taking me all I had to hold my wolf back and not let her snap at Alice. My hands were shaking with the effort.

Emmett -noticing the signs- pulled his sister away from me and clamped his hand over her mouth.

I took a couple of deep breaths, allowing my wolf to calm down and for me to regain control. I stood up straight and looked her in the eye. "In answer to all of your questions Alice I didn't wait for you today because -to be quite frank- I needed some peace and quiet. I got lost along the way, which turned out to be a good thing because then I got a better view of the town and territory. And lastly, I didn't use my wolf because I'm not allowed to yet which is pissing both her and me off. Also I can't always rely on my wolf. For instance, what if I was injured and unable to shift? Or was around humans? I'm not going to expose our entire kind for the sake of saving a few minutes on travel." I walked past them and opened the front door. "How did you know I lived here anyway?"

"Our mom decorated it for your family. It belonged to our grandmother and it was passed down to your mom when she died of illness." Emmett answered, still holding on to a contrite looking Alice.

"You can let her go you know. I'm not going to lose it. What are you both doing here anyway?"

"We're here to help you plan your eighteenth birthday party." Alice was building in excitement again.

"No." I said flatly.

Alice's mouth fell open. "What?! Bella come on. It's your 'coming out' day. You get to make the day all about you and let all the eligible unmated wolves you're on the hunt for a mate. It will be magical. I've been planning mine and Emmett's since we first started shifting."

"Whoopee for you. I'm not some debutante that needs presenting to society once I'm of age. It's bad enough that I have to present my wolf to the pack at the weekend. I'm not having a party as well."

"But Bella, be reasonable. You're going to be our future Alpha. You need to show every one that you can be a member of a pack."

"I SAID NO!" I yelled as my wolf surged forward and snapped her fangs in Alice's face before retreating.

I stood there in front of a shocked looking Alice and Emmett before instinct took over and I fled. I pushed past them and out of the open front door. Not being allowed to shift I headed to my car instead. I had just managed to get the door open when Emmett grabbed me from behind.

"Bella stop. We won't tell anyone what happened, but you have to explain something to us first." He said, as I struggled in his grasp. "How come your wolf is silver?"

I stopped fighting as his words sunk in. "What? What do you mean? My wolf has always been this colour." Emmett let go of me and I turned to face him and Alice.

"Bella, there's a reason we're called the Shadow Wolf Pack. Everyone's wolf is either black, dark grey or brown." He said in a calm tone, trying not to panic me further.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"It's true Bella." Alice said. "I've studied the packs history. There's not been a silver wolf in our pack for over two hundred years."

My heart sank in my chest. Great. Not only am I unaccustomed to the packs way of life, I'm also going to stick out like a sore fucking thumb. Another thing that's going to set me apart from everyone else. Why couldn't I just be normal?

"Hey kids. What's going on?" My dad appeared from round the side of the house, covered in grease.

"Hi Uncle Charlie." Emmett and Alice said in unison.

"Hi dad. What are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just fixing up a couple of old cars in the garage. Why are you all standing out here in the drive?"

"I was just seeing Emmett and Alice off. They need to get back home and help Aunt Esme with her latest project." The lie rolled straight off my tongue.

"Right-O. Well it's just you and me for dinner tonight kiddo. Your mom is working tonight."

"She managed to get a job at the hospital then?"

"She sure did. You wanna get a pizza tonight? We still don't have much in the way of groceries yet."

"Sure dad. I'll go shopping for them after school tomorrow."

"Thanks Bells. I'll go and put our order in."

"Don't forget to add veggies to it!" I called after him as he retreated into the house, leaving the three of us standing in the drive. "I suggest you both go home and don't tell anyone about my wolf. I'll ask my dad about it tonight." I turned and left them by the cars, closing the front door behind me. I didn't hear them leave but when I looked out the kitchen window them and their hideous yellow Porsche had disappeared.

\/\/\/

Later that night after I had finished my homework and the pizza had been eaten, dad and I settled down in the living room. Before he got too engrossed in the sports he had out on I decided to broach the subject of my wolf.

"Dad, can I ask you something? It's about my wolf."

"Sure thing kiddo." He said, turning the volume down on the tv.

I decided to come clean about my incident with Alice and how the colouring of my wolfs fur came into question. "So you see why I'm worried. If everyone else is dark furred, why am I silver?"

"Sweetheart, while I don't condone you losing your temper like that, I commend you for reining her in so quickly. As for your fur colour I don't have any answers for you. Your mom and I are totally committed mates and there is no doubt in my mind that you are my daughter. Maybe we were just blessed by the moon goddess like your mom keeps saying." He patted me knee. "I'm sorry Bells. I really don't have any answers for you."

"It's alright dad. I'm going for a bath." I stood and made my way upstairs, hoping that a soak in some hot, bubbly water will help ease some of the tension in my body.

I lowered myself down into the fragrant liquid and let the warmth seep into my permanently cold muscles. I closed my eyes and willed my body to relax.

When I opened them again I was walking in the woods barefoot in a green gown. It was as if I was being called somewhere.

'Keep going Isabella. You're almost there.' The bodiless ethereal voice sounded in my head.

I followed the sound of the voice through the trees until I happened across a pond that seemed to glow in the moonlight.

'Go into the water Isabella.'

I stepped into the freezing cold water and waded in until I was waist deep.

'Keep going.'

I followed their instruction until the water was over my head. I didn't feel panic and I could still breathe as normal. Suddenly the water disappeared and I was standing at the entrance to a cave.

'Go in Isabella.'

I walked through the opening and found myself in a dimly lit makeshift living room. There was a hearth with a roaring fire, a small cot-like bed and a wooden table and chairs. Books of all types lined one of the cavern walls, while dried ingredients hung from the lower parts of the ceiling.

"I wondered how long it would take for you to visit me Isabella."

I spun on my heel in the direction of the voice as my heart pounded wildly in my chest. There was an elderly woman standing there. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place her.

She was wearing a white dress and her long silvery hair was braided down her back. Her warm brown eyes looked so much like my own.

"I've waited a long time for you. Almost two hundred years to be exact. I am your ancestor. My name is Marie and your great-grandfather is my son." She ushered me over to the table and chairs and motioned for me to take a seat. "Isabella, you are almost eighteen and I need you to take on my powers." She said, taking a seat next to me at the table.

"I'm sorry, what?" I finally found my voice, although it sounded muffled and far away.

"You're the next silver wolf in our pack. The first female to be born to the Swan bloodline since myself. You are destined to become a powerful leader to the Shadow Wolves. I will transfer my power and knowledge to you and guide you until your twenty first birthday when it becomes your time to take over as Alpha."

I ran my hands down my face as I tried to absorb what she was saying. "I-I don't understand." Wake up Bella! Wake up! I yelled at myself as the woman's hands inched closer to my face.

I leaned back as far as I could go but it was like an invisible force was pushing me back towards her and holding me still. Marie's hands made contact with the skin of my cheeks and a blinding white light filled the room.

I shot up abruptly and soapy water sloshed over the rim of the bathtub.

I tried to calm my racing heart as I rinsed off my body and stood from the water. What a strange dream, I thought as I wrapped myself in a large fluffy towel.

I glanced at myself in the mirror and let out a strangled scream. Marie's face was staring back at me.

"Bella? Bells you okay kiddo?" Charlie's alarmed voice sounded outside of the door.

I blinked and it was my reflection staring back at me once more. "Yeah. I'm okay dad. Just saw a spider. That's all."

"Alright. I'm heading off to bed. Night kiddo."

"Night dad." I let myself out of the bathroom and went into my room, sitting down heavily on my bed. I rest my head in my hands and replayed the dream over in my mind.

I don't know what it all meant, but I had a sinking feeling in my gut that my future was not going to be an easy one.

So what do we think? Worth continuing?

Let me know x