Elisa woke suddenly in her bed, curled up with her tail tip resting across her nose. She sneezed, shaking her head as she looked up, staring towards the window across the room. The moon filtered down through the curtains, bathing the room in a pale, silver light.
She had just woken from a strange dream. Elisa had been traveling through the forest in her feline form, moving gracefully in a way she had never moved before through the trees. Then, suddenly, she stopped, staring, as a swallow flew down from the trees, a fluffy red tail clasped in its beak.
Immediately, Elisa's hunting instincts kicked in, and she crouched down to stalk it. Her body moved like water through the tangled grass and undergrowth, her paws making no noise as she slid forward. Unable to stop a small wriggle of her hindquarters, she finally leaped. Just as her paws were connecting with the sparrow, the dream faded, and she had woken with a jolt.
Uncurling from her curled-up position, Elisa stretched, the claws on the tips of her fingers gripping at her bed sheets. She sheathed them as she sat up, resting on her knees as she rubbed at her eyes again. Her stomach growled angrily, and Elisa grimaced. Of course. Dreaming about catching and eating that swallow had made her hungry.
Swinging her legs over the bed, Elisa tip-toed out of the room and down the hallway towards the kitchen, dressed in her tank-top and sleep shorts. The socks on her feet helped to keep her quiet, and she absentmindedly tucked a lock of black-and-orange hair behind her ear as she went.
After securing a midnight snack – a spoonful of peanut butter – Elisa headed towards the back door. She opened it, revealing the lavish backyard garden, then took a deep breath of the crisp night air. As she did, her body began to change, morphing from her tall human form to a small, furry, feline body.
Her tortoiseshell fur blended in with the shadows and light of the moon as she weaved her body through the bushes and undergrowth, parting her jaws to taste the air. The scent of rain hung heavy around her, and the little round stones beneath her paws were slick with water.
The wet flowers around her released a pungent scent, reminding Elisa of the scent her Omega mother and sisters gave off. She scratched at one of the bushes and took some time to mark it, kicking pebbles underneath it after she did.
Upon reaching the fence of her backyard, Elisa bunched her muscles, leaping from the ground to the top of the fence. Her claws gripped the edge of the fence as she balanced precariously on top of it. She stared out into the dark forests beyond, pricking her ears and angling them towards the darkness. If she listened hard enough, she swore she could hear whispers, something calling for her to venture further in.
Just as she was preparing to jump down, a familiar voice stopped her, and she winced.
"Hiya, Elisa!" Elisa turned to see her sister – younger than her, a sleek black tabby – making her way towards the fence. At only ten years old, the young Omega still had a round face and bright blue eyes full of hope. She had already stopped going to school, as was customary for ten year old Lower Dynamics in Red-Tail society, and their parents were already preparing her for a life of bearing kits and serving an Upper.
Elisa herself was a Beta, which meant she was able to escape most of the indoctrination of the Red-Tail society, but she was not exempt from it. Rather, Elisa was being groomed to become a dominant Beta, the breadwinner of the family, and the one who would sire litters of kits. Even though she had more choices as a Beta, and was still allowed to go to school, it was not what Elisa wanted.
She wanted more.
"Hello Teagan," Elisa greeted her as she attempted to jump up the fence in one smooth leap. The girl hesitated, however, and clung to the top of the fence with her front paws, scrabbling at the wood with her back ones. Elisa leaned over, gripping her by the scruff to help her up onto the top of the fence. "You need to be more careful."
"I just wanted to join you," Teagan said, smoothing her ruffled fur and sitting down carefully on the fence, lifting a paw to groom her face with. "What're you doing, anyway? Mom and Dad say the forest is dangerous. You weren't thinking about going in, were you?"
Elisa shrugged. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. What's the big deal even if I was?"
Teagan's eyes went wide. "Elisa, don't you know there are vicious people out there? Terrible people, they'll rip you limb from limb and eat your innards!"
"That's just a silly story made up to scare kits," Elisa snorted. "People don't live out there. We Red-Tails own this territory, and everything around it. The only place to live is at the foot of the mountain by the river, and everyone knows it's too dangerous to live there."
The black tabby turned her head away, yellow eyes wide and worried. "Still... what if you did get hurt, Elisa? Aren't there bears and wolves out there?"
"I wasn't going to go that far," Elisa reasoned with Teagan. "Just a couple of yards in there, just to see what it's like. Maybe I'd even catch something!"
"Dad would like it if you got those pesky songbirds," Teagan said, nodding her head. "But... wouldn't they be asleep now?"
"Let me worry about that," Elisa said, putting a paw on Teagan's shoulder. "I'll be right back, I promise. You won't even know I'm gone."
Teagan still looked hesitant, even as Elisa jumped down and headed towards the treeline, past the neatly-groomed backyards and trimmed grass.
"Alright, but don't go too far!" Teagan called out, and Elisa flicked her tail to acknowledge her as she disappeared into the shadows.
