Secrets of the Starnik

Chapter 6: I Love You More

Sitting outside her den, Myka was winding down from hers and Jack's intimate moment that occurred a few moments ago. It was the day after she turned Aria into a squirrel, and she knew she'd still be there. All day, Jack sensed her anger and jealousy towards the human; she wanted to take action but seemed to be cautious about it. She hardly slept the night before, shuffling around and sitting around the den constantly and therefore waking him up. It wasn't until this morning she awoke him again, this time for something he didn't truly mind being woken up for that he realised she needed some tension released. She was practically mating with him before he was even awake.

And that was their morning so far, two full hours of pleasure and loving. She still had her own task of getting pregnant as well as getting rid of her sister for good. So she killed two birds with one stone, they worked on her getting pregnant and she relieved some stress. Everything else in-between was a bonus. They haven't washed; they haven't done anything yet to disguise their morning activities, all for a specific reason. She looked back into the den, Jack stretching off his aching muscles while groaning and seething, both he and she went all out this morning, admittedly, getting rather "freaky". It made her giggle, seeing him like this. It made her think back to memories of them both in the time they've known one another, back when they were just friends. They've known each other since they were pups, starting their little gang with Clare and Gary. They had play dates together whenever she came here with Karl, Lexi and Tony for wolf speak classes. They came here often, and not always for the classes, just for Myka to see her friends for a week or so before they went home again. Never did they think they'd fall in love. But it wasn't exactly luck either; it was an awkward moment really. She couldn't help but lunge at him when she came into heat while he was motivating her to hunt through his bets.

He finished and walked towards her, a tired and worn out look spread across his face. "Oh, is my little hubby all tried out?" She teased.

"Defiantly, what drove you this time?" He chuckled while kissing her before sitting beside her.

"You, going all Empathic on me and going insane." She giggled.

"It's all a bonus." He chuckled. "So what were you going to do today?"

"I was going to see Dakota and Chance, then maybe go back to see mom and dad later on."

"Please don't tell me you have a thing against Aria?" He complained.

"What makes you think…?" She started to retaliate when that stupid realisation came over her. She couldn't lie; really, she couldn't, not to him anyway. "Don't answer that." She added. "But seriously, I just want to see my mom and dad, we had a little argument last time and I wanted to patch things up." He looked at her sceptically, straining his ability to the best he could. She was hiding something, but her words spoke the truth. "I'd like you to come with me."

"To see your brother? You know he still has a thing against me." He scoffed.

"That was a long time ago, I'm sure he's over it." She giggled and taking his paw in her. "Come on, I need to see Chance."

Chance and Dakota were in their den. She stood with her back towards her mate, looking down and organizing piles of wild herbs, leaves, sticks and flowers. She was the pack's healer after all, with her x-ray eyesight; it was common sense for her to be. The white and black she-wolf reeked of the same scent her mate did who laid on his front, his head up and his fore paws crossed as he watched her, a particular part of her. She hummed to herself as she did a count of her things, her body slightly bobbing along to the tune she had going in her mind. Some human song she once heard a while back that she just couldn't get out of her mind. Dakota could take his eyes off her, more so her hips that swayed and wiggled from across the den and faced him. Yeah they had a fairly rough day yesterday, but it was all cleared up later on that night in the form of words and intimacy. The intimate part being the source of their argument in the first place. She had a bet wit Myka and she was determined to win it, and Dakota just didn't want to play along with it that morning, a big mistake. Never get in the way of a she-wolf in heat who wants to mate with you, for she will be a force worse then a thunder storm.

But now that things were a little happier, and she had a reason to be much happier, he grinned to himself as he watched her. Her snow white fur, black left ear and right paw, she was just amazing in every possible way. She continued to hum as she looked back at him, feeling she was being watched constantly and it was starting to bug her. Dakota didn't even seem responsive of her looking back at him; he was still focused on her rear. She wriggled a little morning, giggling gently when his head followed it. Males, they can't think straight while around a she-wolf in heat, let along control their actions sometimes. Dakota maybe good at controlling himself around hormonal she-wolves, used to being around his sister and mother constantly, but there were times were he wanted to mate with her and she didn't, and therefore it didn't happen. She looked back down to her collection, still giggling while she hummed that tune again. Dakota sighed, this picture was just perfect. Sure their marriage was getting off pretty quickly; after all, they've only known each other for a not even two months, yet here they were trying for a family. It really was love at first sight; he did marry her only the day after they met.

"Really Dakota!" Myka then exclaimed as and Jack walked into the den. He quickly shook his head and looked back at them.

"We haven't walked in on anything have we?" Jacked added with a slight laugh.

"Nope, got that out of the way last night." Chance replied. "Please, come in." She added and trotting over to Myka. The two she-wolves crossed their necks in a small hug. "So, are you?" She then asked.

"Maybe, are you?" Myka asked back. They both tried to figure it out just by looking each other in the eye, they couldn't get an answer. "No, I'm not."

"Good." Chance smiled. "Because neither am I." Chance giggled with Myka soon following.

If you haven't got the idea yet, their bet was to see you could get pregnant first. That was the bet; winner gets the honour of gloating about it and having to go through the pain of pup birth first. It was a strange deal, and the two didn't mind talking about mating and so on. Chance maybe a year older, but they didn't mind. They were sister-in-laws and the best of friends. So hence why they constantly talked about the things like they were about to next

"So, when did you two last…?" Myka asked.

"Last night." She whispered confidently.

"What about you?"

"This morning." Myka giggled. They kept conversations like this quiet; the boys didn't like talking about this kind of thing, it embarrassed them beyond belief. And that's pretty much why they were on the other side of the den. They knew they were talking about it and therefore they refused to be a part of it.

"You think they're talking about it?" Jack asked quietly.

"Of course they are." Dakota grumbled. "It's all they talk about these days."

"Look, while we have the chance, I wanted to talk to you about something." Jack then asked, he wanted to get this out of the way. "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but I was hoping we could put everything behind us and carry on with life."

"I'll always hate you Jack." Dakota grinned. "But I can live with that, I can't kill my sister's mate after all." They shook paws, a mutual understand coming between them. "But remember, I know a nice shark pool." He winked.

"Yeah, I remember." Jack nodded with a smile.

Later on that day, Aria was alone by the den, her father and step mother had gone to hunt for dinner tonight. She had been practising again all morning how to use her telekinetic gift and she was getting the hang of it. That talk she had yesterday with Lupa was just great; they got on like a house on fire, a real good one. She and Lupa had a lot in common personality wise, they were snappy, judgemental, persistent, and even a bit risky at times. Lupa wanted to see more of her, even after she left to return back to England, she wanted to keep seeing her. She could do that, she'd find her and see her, she could find anyone on earth if she so wanted.

She was bored, there was nothing to do. At first she started playing with her powers, using a rock again and trying to move it back and forth across the den space. But that soon became boring. So she started looking through the things inside the den, mostly the truck filled with all kinds of things. But that small activity didn't last long. So she walked outside the den, resting her hands on her hips and letting out a loud sigh of complete boredom. There was nothing to do around here, was it really necessary for them both to go? Surely one of them could have stayed to keep her company. No patience this girl had, so it was killing her. Soon boredom turned into slight anger, and she kicked at the burnt sticks and the pile of ash used the night before in front of the den. Ash flew up into the air, the sticks clanged and tapped as they were knocked around and she walked passed them.

She looked over the view of the valley; she couldn't see them, where had they gone? She looked back at the scattered ash she left lying around, and then to a stick that was in that pile. It had a small orange glow on the end of it, a small ember that used still used to start a fire. With difficulty of course, it would be hard. But maybe not for her. She had a power to control fire right? So could she use this? She looked around; nobody was here, so if this went wrong or it didn't work she wouldn't look like an idiot. Using what her father taught her, she picture only in her mind the stick rising, blocking out everything around her as she did. The stick was like her slave, it did as she commanded and lifted off the ground. She opened her eyes as it hovered at head height, the ember pointing skywards. But now what? What does she do now?

She brought one hand up, readying to click her thumb and fingers together. Another thing her father once taught her, build up the energy before hand and then throw it at the object. Her eyes had a wild spark in them as well as the green, obviously. Her teeth gritted together as she struggled to focus on nothing but what she wanted to happen. Her hand started to strain as the energy built up in her, her finger and thumb being tightly press together. This was uncharted territory; she didn't know what she was doing. It was an experiment really. She snapped her fingers together, throwing that energy mentally towards that ember and keeping her hand up to support the stick better. Suddenly, that ember caught ablaze, first glowing a brighter red before erupting the entire stick into flames. Whatever she was going she wasn't stopping, she wanted to hold the small ball of fire the size of a football for as long as she could. She didn't want to lose it; she wanted to see what she could do with it.

She brought her second hand up, her eyes watering from how long she's had them open for. She made her fingers touch the fingers of her other had, like a kind of cage. The same principle applied with the stick, she thought of what she wanted it to do, using her hands would help seeing as you can imagine your hands being around the object and you're physically holding it. It helped, and as she pulled her hands to the side very slowly, the ball of flame stared to grow bigger. But she couldn't smile or laugh, her concentration would be broken otherwise.

To the right of the den, Myka and Jack appeared in a flash of green. "Mom, I'm…" Her and Jacks jaw dropped agape at the sight unfolding before them, luckily Aria didn't hear them and she continued to make the size of the ball of fire bigger, now the size of a wolf. She lowered one hand and kept the other out forwards with her palm up, imagining her hand was under it and keeping it in the air. She started walking towards it, an overwhelming sense to approach it. She couldn't feel its heat, she was standing within reaching distance and it was like it wasn't there. Ok, so there was some warmth coming from it, but it wasn't burning her. That's what was strange about it, was she was this close and she wasn't getting hurt. Its overpowering want to touch it became too great, and soon she ran her hand over the side of the flames and it quickly turned green at her touch. The entire ball of flame, now the same green her eyes were. This time she laughed a little. How was this possible? This was stuff you'd find in comic books; none of this should be real. Yet here it was, happening to her right now.

But all things come to an end at some point. Scott and Rosie came walking back up the slope with five hares split between them in their mouths, but quickly they were dropped at the sight unfolding outside their den. Myka and Jack knew they were there, but they couldn't take their eyes off the spectacle. "Aria?" Rosie asked loudly. Suddenly, the ball of fire pulsated and burst outwards, throwing her backwards and the fire to diminish along with the stick that was used to start the fire fall to the floor completely unscathed. Worried, Scott and Rosie ran to her aid.

"Aria, are you ok?" He asked and brushing her hair out her face with his paw. She was laughing, she was fine.

"Dad, did you see that?" She asked with the happiest grin. "Did you see it did you see it?" He started laughing, but because he was relieved she was ok.

"Yeah, I saw it." He chuckled and helping her sit up. "You're getting good."

"I just did what you told me, pretended that I had it in my hands and was really moving it. It worked!"

"Good job kiddo, now how about you go get cleaned up, you've got a little…on your face." He chuckled and pointing to one of many scorch and dirt marks on her face. "Go on, make it quick and I'll take you for a walk around the valley."

"Why don't I go with her dad?" Myka asked and walking towards them. "I was hoping to make up for yesterday."

"Sure honey, go ahead." Scott nodded. "Get to know one another better." Aria led the way, but before Myka could walk after her Rosie pulled her to the side.

"If you try any more of your stunts like you did yesterday, you'll be in so much trouble."

"Mother darling, like I said, I'm trying to make up for yesterday. I won't do anything nasty to her." Myka smiled cheekily and licking her cheek before walking after her sister. "Probably." She added quietly.

She was being half truthful, truthful by saying that she was going to show her around the valley. Although Myka herself had only lived her for about a month before she and Jack moved away, she remembered a good majority of the surrounding areas. Still, she had a hatred for the human, yet she was able to disguise it and seem interested in what she talked about. They walked to the stream where they both cleaned up Aria washed her face and Myka had a fast wash to mask some of the smell from her body. Afterwards they trekked around the forest and across the plain. Myka had one place she truly wanted to show her, and not to do something mean to her, she genuinely wanted her to see this place she had in mind. It was a carry on lesson from Lupa's the day before, a continuation of the Starnik history. The plains, nothing interesting, accept the herd of caribou which Aria found a wonder, another thing they don't have in England, only deer and they run if you come within their hearing distance so it was hard to see them. So she found these a wonder to behold. They proceeded onwards, across the plains, crossing the thin, narrow river that travelled along the middle of the plains and back on the other side. They walked onwards up a long slope going up a hill, Aria not seemingly worn out or tired yet.

By this point Myka was getting more and more irritated by her voice alone, not just the consistent amount of talking. So what if she was just a teenager, she was getting annoying, she was certain she wasn't when she was an adolescent she-wolf. So what if in human years she was only around eighteen years old, this girl was ridiculous. Aria was technically her big sister seeing as she was born first, things between them were confusing, which only added to her frustration. "So where are we heading exactly?" Aria asked as they reached the top of the slope.

"We're here." Myka answered as she walked on ahead. "This is what I wanted to show you." Aria looked around, what was so special about this cliff and the view of the valley? She didn't get it. So she asked that question. "Well, this is the place where a number of things happened." Myka answered. "Mom and dad howled for the first time in this very spot, and he wasn't even a wolf at that time. This was the same place where before that they learned to use their powers. Here they were safe and wouldn't hurt anyone while they learned. It's also the place where I was made, if you know what I mean." She winked and giggled. It sent a shiver up Aria's spine though, that she really didn't need to know.

"Ok, I still don't get why you brought me here." She replied as she followed Myka towards the cliff edge. She looked down, boy it was high, there was no chance she'd live if they fell. Last she checked she didn't have that power. She might self heal but that's ridiculous.

"This is a major place in my family's history, so it was only fitting you should get to see it for yourself." Myka then walked away from the cliff edge, leaving her sister beside it. She still didn't really understand. Sure it played a part in her father's life, but why bring her here just to tell her that.

"Ok, but why couldn't you have just told me this."

"Because one more thing is going to happen in this spot." Myka answered a she turned to face her.

"Which is?"

"You're going to die." Suddenly, she threw her paw out towards her and Aria was pushed towards the edge. But she stopped just before she went over. Her feet were still on the ground, but she leaning back over the edge, it was like something was stopping her from falling.

"Really? I'm going to die?" Aria asked. "You're going to kill me?"

"I don't have a choice; you come into my life and ruin everything." Myka answered

"You're funny." Aria laughed. "I can see why we get along so well." This drove Myka insane, they weren't getting along! She charged at her at the same time she dropped her and they both started falling. Aria screamed as they fell, spiralling out of control, Myka only laughed at her as she was able to control how she fell. She was steady and laughing while Aria spun and screamed. It was all very funny to her, and as they neared the ground se only began to laugh harder. This was all a part of her plan, she wasn't going to die, she could stop herself. Aria couldn't. The ground neared quickly, they fell faster and faster until the point came that Myka needed to react. Her eyes flashed and they quickly slowed.

That's right, both of them.

As much as she hated this girl right now, she couldn't kill her, it would only make things worse between her and her father and really she needs to be showing her that he loved her more. They came to a quick stop, hovering off the ground for a moment before falling, Aria onto her chest and Myka landing on her paws. Aria whined and sounded to the crying on the floor facing the ground, Myka was proud; she had her in her paw now. "So now, I think you need to…" Aria rolled over, her mouth open and tears falling down her face, tears of laughter. She was laughing, she in fact crying from how hard she was laughing. Myka couldn't believe it, after all that, threatening to kill her and dropping her down the cliff, she was laughing.

"That…was…awesome!" She exclaimed in-between breaths. "Let's do it again!"