Iris

Scarlet POV

A 5' 9" slender built, blonde curly hair, bright blue-eyed woman stands directly in front of me. Determination in her eyes, not one once of fear, good, I don't want you to have any fear. That means she will fight with all her might and won't hold back. We circle each other, each of us waiting for the other to make the first move, which I will not. I never make the first move, that is always their mistake thinking I will rush my attack. Nope, not going to happen. No one other than my father knows about my skills since he has paid for all of my training since I was a little girl. We have had many talks about what my role is going to be here when I shift for the first time. I am worried that the 'pack' as he calls them will not accept me. He says that all I need to do is prove myself to them. Proving that I am strong enough physically is not the problem, it is being mentally strong enough that worries me.

Blondes makes the first move as she swings her right fist at me, I spin around and deliver a kick to the back of her leg that makes her stumble a bit, but not enough for my liking. After she has gained her footing back, I decide it is my turn to make the first move. Faking a right punch, she lends, and I take my opportunity to hit her in the ribs with my left fist causing her to gasp for breath possibly cracking a rib in the process. This is training but dad told me not to take it easy on anyone I was sparring with that they all could handle what I could dish out. So, I am taking this chance to let out all of my frustrations that have been building up due to the man in my dreams. Me being temporarily distracted with my daydreaming hunk blonde gets a hit in on my right hip. I counter her grabbing her foot and using her momentum against her slamming her down rolling her into a leg lock but before I can get it fully locked in, she wiggles her way out, along with kicking me in the face busting my lip in the process. I guess playtime is over, time to get back to business. I roll into a protective stance as she kicked me not knowing what she was planning.

Turning I see her I see her rushing towards me, and I start to run at her, just before we reach each other I drop down to the ground and slide under her grabbing hold of her back foot forcing her to face plant in the dirt. She rolls to her back and kicks me loose, popping up to her feet sending out a round house kick that barely misses my head. Back flipping to miss her kick I bring my foot up connecting with her cheek with a crunch knowing that I just broke her nose in the process. Planting my feet back in the dirt I start throwing punches starting with left, right, left, right, and then deciding I am done playing ending with a round house kick to her head knocking her out. Standing over her I place my foot on her chest when a deep growl makes its way up from the bottom of my chest. Looking up I see everyone with their heads bowed including my siblings and stepmother, the only one standing straight is my dad looking proud of me.

As I start to relax and calm myself down people slowly start to look up towards me in shock, dad walks to me and puts his hand on my should and announces, "Your future Alpha, my daughter Scarlet." I see everyone either clapping or fist pumping the air when I catch a glimpse of my stepmother stomping off back to the pack house. She can play nice all she wants but I know that she hates me.

"Thanks dad, I really needed that"

"I know sweetheart, you are more like me than you think. I still need to blow off steam every now and then too" he states with a chuckle. I never thought about how much like him I am.

"Okay dad I am going to take a shower before lunch is served. I will see you later." With that I walk off heading towards the pack house.

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Later that night as I settle down to go to sleep I take a deep breathe knowing that I will have the same dream once my eyes close. I have had the same dream every night since I moved here, I long to see the face of the man in my dreams, but once I get to the point where I am close enough to see him I am jolted awake. I have spoken to the pack seer and told her about my dream, the only she offered was the advice to mediate before I sleep so that my mind is open. Tonight is going to be the first night that I try it, I can only hope for something to be revealed in my dream tonight. I decide to take residence in the middle of my bed, legs crossed, and taking slow deep breathes to clear my mind of the days worries. Taking deep breaths I picture myself in the meadow that I always see in my dreams, flowers blowing in the breeze, scent of pine and lavender.

"Open your eyes my child"

"Who are you?" Where am I am?

"Child, you are physically still in your room on your bed. Mentally you are in your dream with me."

"Who are you? Can I see you?" I look around trying to see who is with me, her voice is very calming to me.

"Not yet my child. I need you to listen for a moment. My name is Selene, I am the mother to all wolves, the Moon Goddess."

"But I do not understand, I do not have a wolf."

"You will when you are ready my child. Your wolf is an incredibly special one and I want to introduce you to her before you receive her. Scarlet you are incredibly special to all my children. I can not explain in detail to you, but I need you to prepare your self for what is coming."

"I completely do not understand."

"You will in time Scarlet. Your destiny will be clear in time. But what I need you to know is that I have chosen a special wolf for you and for your mate. Your wolves are previously mated and have been together for an exceptionally long time. I need you to trust your wolf." As the Selene finishes talking I feel something wet nudge my hand. "Ah there she is. Scarlet I do not normally do this but I want you to met your wolf spirit. This is Iris, she is an incredibly old and incredibly wise one. But she is incredibly special to my heart. So please take particularly loving care of her and always trust her. She will be able to teach you everything you need to know."

"Hi there," I reach my hands out and Iris puts her head in between them as to let me know that it is okay. Iris is pure white with a purple hue that shimmers in the light. "You are unbelievably beautiful Iris. I do not know how to describe what I am feeling right now but I can already feel the trust we have for each other."

"Scarlet it is time for me to go now, but please remember that I am always here for you even if you can not see me. Iris will lead you to where you need to be so please prepare for what is coming."

"There is a lot of this world that I do not understand, but I will always try to do my best." I look around and Selene is gone. Iris is still with but starts to walk towards the trees on the other side of the meadow. So I start walking in the same direction to catch up with her. "Iris, I do not understand what's you want me to do." She stops just at the tree line and whines. "Okay, is there something here I need to see?" She again just whines. So I sit beside her and just wait. Listening to the sounds of the trees, the slight breeze that makes the leaves rustle on the ground. She whines and nudges my head turning it towards something. I catch a glimpse of movement and see a midnight black wolf step out from behind a tree. He is so black that his fur shines blue when he walks. I know there is no need to be scared because Iris is sitting and waiting, not moving, not stressed with his presence. The black wolf is huge, twice the size of my dads wolf.

He walks up to Iris and licks her face and she stands up and wraps her head around his neck and that when it clicks. "Iris, is this is your mate? Well, our mate?" Suddenly the black wolf stands and pranced over to me. Even standing he towers over my head. I reach my hands up and run my fingers through his fur and quickly snatch them back, he lowers his head and has a look of sadness in his eyes.

"What was that? It felt like an electrically shock running through my body." I rub my hand up my arms and feel the black wolf push his head into mine releasing that electric shock again, but this time it feels warm and inviting and I can not help but grab onto him and embrace him fully, finally understanding what was happening. It is the bond that my dad had describe to me, how could I forget that. "The bond. I feel the mate bond." He licks my face, wags his tail, and radiates happiness, that same happiness is flowing through to me.

"Iris, do you know his human? Can we find him? I need to get to him, something is wrong or something bad is going to happen. I do not know how to explain it. Iris we need to get to him and now. Can you stay with me?" She stands and runs away and starts to howl followed by the black wolf's howling. I take off running following her and the next thing I know I am back in my room on my bed.

"IRIS! Iris where are you?"

'No need to yell'

"Where are you?"

'I am inside you Scarlet, Selene allowed our bond to surface early. We will never part now. But will you please stop yelling at me, it is giving me a headache.'

"I'm sorry." I can not help but look around the room searching for her.

'Scarlet I need you to listen. We need to find our mate. And Now'