Chapter 06: Erick and Dane

It was quite late in the evening when Erick finally arrived home, full from the meal he had back at McCaly's. He was about to climb up the stairs to his room to take a shower when his mother came out of the kitchen.

"Hello honey, joining us for dinner?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron. His mother was a beautiful woman, who used to be the previous Beta's daughter from another pack. She used to work in the town hospital as a nurse, where she usually worked the night shift. This made it easier for her to work together with her husband who likes to hunt out for rogues and trespassers to town back then. But now, she stays at home as a housewife. And she do join a couple of communities in town, just to help out.

His mother was named Luella Landis, a petite and caring woman who loved her husband and son dearly. She was also a outspoken woman with a fierce temper that can match his father's. In fact, sometimes even his father got scared of his mother if she was in a very bad temper.

Erick stopped and walked over to his mother, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Nah, mom. I'm kinda full from McClay's."

His father, Lachlan, who just walked out of the kitchen, heard Erick's words and cocked an eyebrow. "You? Full? You sure?" he repeated in disbelief.

Erick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure."

"But I've grilled some steaks," Luella said, tilting her head.

The word 'steak' made Erick drool. He sighed and said, "Fine. I'll go up and take a quick shower first. And then I'll join you."

Luella nodded, a knowing smile on her face while Lachlan went back into the kitchen, laughing.

Shortly after, the three of them sat down at the dining table. Erick helped himself to some steaks and poured some mushroom sauce all over it. He loved how his mother grilled the steaks; raw but juicy.

"Full already, huh?" Lachlan chuckled as he cut the steak on his plate.

Erick ignored him and began to eat.

"So, the next full moon will be the day you will start to shift, isn't it?" Lachlan asked, starting the conversation. "Apparently, there will be lots of pups starting to shift this year and I've assigned one of the lead shifters here to be your trainer."

Erick frowned. "Trainer?"

"Yes, every new shifter will undergo their training as a shifter so that you all will get used to using your wolves. There will be times that I will send some of you on a mission, just like the triplet shifters."

Erick's mouth dropped open to an 'o' as his eyes widened, sparkling with excitement.

Luella laughed at Erick's expression. "Someone seems excited," she teased.

"What kind of missions?" Erick excitedly asked.

Lachlan chuckled. "Now, you know that there are other packs other than us in this country. Not just other packs, but also other kinds of shifters. Well, we usually meet up to discuss on certain matters such as securities and assets. And we would need to bring some of you young pups out to the country so that you can experience the outside world."

For shifters, once they have settled down in their packs, they cannot live alone on their own. They either go feral or go join other packs. Most would leave their packs because of marriage; joining their mates. This had happened to Luella, Erick's mother. She used to be from another pack in a few towns over. But one day, when during one of the annual pack meetings, Luella had joined her father and her Alpha to the meeting. That was when she met Lachlan. They fell in love with each other at first sight, even before Lachlan's wolf, Willem, recognized her as 'mate'. Lachlan immediately claimed her and brought her over to his pack. And that was twenty years ago. They are still madly in love with each other now.

Lachlan chewed on his steak before continued on, "Coincidentally, the full moon will be after your birthday, so it should be fine. And you will have enough time to get ready for your first shift."

Erick frowned. "Get ready? Why do I need to get ready?"

Luella tut-tutted at her son. "Now, now, Erick. Don't underestimate the shifting ritual. It will be painful and you have to be ready for it, for your mind and body."

Lachlan frowned, looking serious. The shifting ritual was not a joke. It was not like any normal ritual where you would just come and change. The shifting, combining two souls into one body fully will be difficult because of the pain it will inflict, mentally and physically. "Your mother is right, son."

There were some young shifters who can sense their wolves at a young age. Erick was one of them. He already knew about Dane when he was only eleven years old.

Other young shifters could only sense their wolf when they first shift at age eighteen. That was also when the wolf would take note on whom to merged with. Wolves were prideful animals. They will only choose the strong and intelligent.

When Erick first sensed Dane, he was in school, studying. When suddenly, he felt pain in his eyes and mind. His head had hurt so much that he kept blinking. But what scared him during that time was that when he opened his eyes, it was as if he was watching from another eyes. Minutes after that, he fainted. The next moment when he had opened his eyes, he found himself in his room. And there was a sound of whimper. But it soon growled happily when it sensed that Erick was awake.

'Are you awake?' it asked in concern.

Startled, Erick had looked around him but could see no one. It was then he realized that the voice came from his head. 'Who are you?' he had asked.

'I'm Dane. I'm the wolf inside you.'

When Erick told his parents about Dane, they were ecstatic. It was a rare chance for a wolf to inhibit a pup at a young age. It could only mean that the pup (who was Erick at the time) was someone worthy and strong.

What amazed Erick more was that he was also able to use some of his wolf's powers such as super speed and sense of smell. Although, he could not fully use them until he fully shift. And he believed that his connection with Dane will be much stronger, compared to his dad and Willem.

"Well, since you've already have Dane, the pain would probably be less for you," Lachlan said.

"Again, the pain is still something you should not underestimate. In fact, there are some pups who went rogue because they can't stand the pain," he continued.

Erick inwardly shivered. "What will happen to them?"

Luella and Lachlan looked at each other. Lachlan shook his head as Luella continued eating. "You don't need to know about that now, son."

"Speaking of which, the other day, Mary told me that something had happened at the edge of the town," Luella said, changing the topic. Mary was the Beta's wife, also Hamish's mother. "What was it?"

Lachlan's face turned grim. "They found dead animals near the farm located there. Most were beheaded and the stomachs were ripped open," he said bitterly. "There were claw marks all over the bodies. It appears that it's not a work of a human, but rather animals. To be precise, rogues."

Luella gasped. Erick looked up, suddenly interested in the story.

"The weird thing was that the hearts and eyes were missing," Lachlan continued.

"That's horrible!" Luella exclaimed.

Lachlan nodded. "We'll be having a meeting about this at the next annual meeting. For now, we should only lay low and investigate more."

"I should join! I can help with the investigation!" Erick said, a look of determination on his face.

Lachlan frowned and shook his head. "No," he rejected firmly. "Wait until you fully shift and trained."

"B-b-but--!" Erick sputtered out.

Lachlan frowned deeply at Erick. "When I said, 'no', it means, 'NO'," he said firmly. "Listen to your father and Alpha!"

Erick groaned, frustrated. "Yes, Alpha." He really cannot wait for the time when he finally shift.