Chapter 3

She stopped being hard on herself and turned to listen to him talk.

He raised his hand holding out a necklace and turned his hand causing her to grab it swiftly in hers.

Raising it to her before her eyes, she gazed at the minimalist white wolf on the necklace and the moon and turned indifferent.

"Dad"

"The shifting's tonight and you're going to become an official member of the pack."

Elaine covered her eyes, she wasn't used to this mystical experience, they were a pack of werewolves on silver spring with no access to the city whatsoever. She sighed and wore it not expecting the worst.

"That is if I shift" She spoke up, he leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"I'll take that as a yes" He pat her shoulder and hopped down to pick up the pail waving it.

She rolled her eyes and leaned over the rail, her eyes fleeted to the pole then pulled back at the eerie wooden faces. Those were wooden carvings of wolves. Her eyes lowered to the signs tilting her head as she ran her fingers over the markings.

Alpha_ beta_ Delta_ Gamma_ Omega

It made for a tall totem pole.

She grimaced at the last one, mutts, the name was scrawled across and settled down holding on to her knees reminiscing the last night. She dozed off.

"Trust me, I won't tell" Olivia held her shoulder as they walked down the park to school.

"Really?"

She nodded and scoffed "I mean, come on,"

Elaine hung her bag pack "For a moment, I thought you were gonna freak out"

Olivia smirked, she wore a white shirt, pink trousers and pink baseball boots with her brown hair up.

"Show me"

"What?"

She raised her eyebrows "Show me that you're a werewolf"

"Huh?" Elaine was in a reverie, she was drowsy and stepped back when her schoolmates laughed, Olivia's smile turned darker and she grew farther and something pulled her out of her trance.

She gasped and woke up to find the grey wolf on the boards, pushing back up, it barred its teeth and gnarled at her.

She looked down at the others working and looked up at dusk, time was running out. She sighed.

At full moon, the elders of the wolf pack gathered with the alpha male, he had white hair and was a huge deal stronger than the others. Physically too, his eyes narrowed at her.

"This, I'd like to see"

Elaine found the dark setting weird, she pulled the sides of her shirt together, the floorboards creaked as she stepped into the fort, bodies moved apart as she walked into a circle of light with others who were eligible enough to morph.

She glanced at Darla recognizing her brown fur and silver-lined eyes, a hulking beta and dad's red wolf form, Jace was something of a silver wolf himself. Bobby rode on his back asleep.

She waited and when the full moon aligned with the rift above them, she could feel the room grow colder.

They started to switch forms, contorting, muscles grew stronger, bones snapped and teeth grew out to fangs, tails emerged, bodies expanded.

She could swear she heard flesh ripping, stepping back, she gasped when a hand gripped her shoulder. Turning back to meet the ghoulish yellow eyes.

All the others shapeshifted except for her, she exhaled in relief, laughed and clapped her hands after they stepped out of the fort.

Ryan prowled outside with the others, she got looks from the others.

"Dad, funny thing, I am not a werewolf" She laughed and stepped back bumping into the alpha male.

"What's up?" She saluted turning.

Her family couldn't regulate their wolf forms at will. Sometimes she slept alone with Bobby while they were foraging the woods. She had a hard time sleeping with cradling him all the time. She laughed again, it was so hard to get over.

Her smile faded when Ryan left and Darla bowed hard enough for her to take him. He turned and smacked her face giggling, unlike her, he was used to them.

Jace was more or less irritated.

The clouds rolled in to encompass the moon, she sat outside of the house waiting on them.

The leaves and shrubs ruffled and she sat upright as Elias, the only normal wolf adopted, ambled to their front yard and curled up behind her sitting at ease but watchful.

She felt unassailable and leaned on his head, sleepy and comfortable, he wiggled it growling.

"Alright," She said pulling back.