SAVY'S FIRST SHIFT

Savy didn't go for her training session tonight. I hadn't noticed till I found Mount Savy on my bed.

"Why aren't you at your training session?" I asked her. I thought someone was even thinking of training harder so she could protect her future human mate?

"I don't feel too good." Savy moaned.

"MUM!!!!" I hollered. Immediately all the red flags went up in my head.

Werewolves were generally very healthy. We couldn't catch a cold even if we chased one. Well, maybe we could, but we usually healed super fast. Wait, Dean did get sick more often than most wolves. I didn't, even if I caught something, it'll blow off overnight. Savy had never had a sick day in her life.

"MUM!!!" I hollered again so that Mum would know it was an emergency.

"Shhh...." Savy tried to protest. "I'll be fine. Just leave me here to die."

I looked at the quilted lump of Mount Savy in the middle of my bed and couldn't decide if her attempt at humor meant she was alright. Was she just avoiding training for some reason?

Mum burst into the room, still in her cooking apron. I think she wanted to ask what was going on, and I wouldn't have been able to answer except at that moment, I heard a cracking sound and Savy sobbing.

I think I paled in an instant. Mum screamed, "KingKong!!!" If the fear in her scream had not frightened me so badly, I would have taken a double take at my dad's pet name. 15 years, and I've never heard her call him anything but "dear".

Dad was currently still in his office at the pack house and Mum definitely didn't call him loud enough for him to hear her, but I think she had also mind-linked him an extremely panicked call, because Dad, Oh my goddess, Dad!

The sound of glass breaking made me look out of the window. Dad's large form jumped through his second floor office window, he ran across the lawn, and scaled up to my bedroom window within what seemed to be seconds. It was closed, my window, so he pretty much smashed through it. I suddenly appreciated the aptness of my mum's secret endearment for him.

Never in my wildest imagination would I have seen my dad in this light. His eyes glowing a steely grey, his wolf was on the surface and he could only growl between pants.

I didn't make any smart alecky comment about the broken window. I actually took a step back.

Then Mount Savy gasped, more crunching sounds and a shriek that made my skin crawl.

Once seeing the problem, and that neither his mate nor daughters were in whatever danger that that triggered King Kong mode, Dad reverted back to himself. He walked over to Savy, his boots crunching on the broken window glass, and then gathered mum in his arms.

"It's okay." He soothed my mum, sending various mind-links out while holding her close, "The pack doctor and the other ladies will be here soon."

"I'm just going to wait downstairs for them." I offered. And I all but ran out before I could hear another sickening sound.

I opened the door for Beta Lucas and Mrs Beta, and then for Delta Simon who was also our pack doctor, and Aunty Lily. And then again for Gamma Harry and Laura.

"Upstairs!" I told them each time and they would go, except for Beta Lucas who decided to go see to fixing the pack house office window.

Gamma Harry stayed downstairs too, "Eh, I thought it would be you who was shifting Sam."

Me too. But I didn't say that aloud. I'm actually quite relieved that it wasn't me. I think I'm afraid of pain.

~ Self preservation.

Wolfie told me, sounding somewhat miffed.

Hey, you're talking! Why aren't we shifting? I asked Wolfie a little peevishly.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Gamma Harry receive a mind link, and then pick up his jacket from the pile of jackets on the sofa nearest to the door to leave, "Beta needs me to go buy something."

I wonder what shop would be opened at this time, it's nearly 9pm. Maybe if he sped to Gate City...

I nodded, again not answering him. I was preoccupied with the conversation I felt Wolfie might actually indulge me with this time.

Well? I asked in my mind.

Sigh. Wolfie had decided to go quiet again. Always like this... I dub thee Wolf of One Liners!

I spent the rest of the hour out on the back porch, trying to escape the sounds of Savy's suffering. Alone by myself, I started getting really mad at the Moon Goddess.

I mean, first she accidentally showed me my mate's dream instead of my own. Now she accidentally shifted my little sister instead of me.

It should have been me! I was old enough, I was large enough, I was strong enough. Not Savy! I remembered reading how wolves who shifted early suffered much more pain, and had a higher chance of not pulling through.

Goddess, you shouldn't be so careless!

~ Your sister's wolf wants to see you.

Eh, what? You can talk to my sister's wolf?

Unsurprisingly, Wolfie didn't answer me.

I ran upstairs, the door was opened.

"Sam, not now." Mum said, "It's not safe. Savy just turned."

I didn't hear her, I swear.

"Sam, not so close, be careful." Delta Simon said.

I didn't hear him either. Honest!

I don't know if anyone else said anything. I didn't hear.

I'm just looking at a white fluffy wolf on the carpet of my bedroom floor. It was baring it's teeth, snarling. Savy just shifted, she was probably disoriented, and the wolf finding itself trapped indoors probably felt caged and threatened.

"Awww...." But it's Savy! "Savy your wolf is so cute!"

Unlike Savy, her wolf seemed to quite like being called cute. It's expression reminded me a bit of Jessica's baby cousin. I cooed a few more flattering nonsense about her fluffiness and whiteness. Her wolf stopped growling and became quiet.

Then I plopped myself right next to Savy, lying down so that I faced the ceiling, I used one hand to grab her under her chin. Her wolf mouthed my hand, but didn't bite. I heard the collective sigh of relief from the adults around me.

"For a moment, I thought I would have to do a second shift." Delta Simon joked awkwardly.

"Well, they are sisters." Mrs Beta explained.

"Sam always had a calming effect on Savy." Mum said.

Mrs Beta looked surprised at that. I didn't blame her, to my pack, I was the one who needed calming most of the time, not sweet Savy... Whose wolf looked as sweet as her person.

I buried my nose into her fur, so fluffy and wolfie smelling. Nothing like the smell of a just shifted wolf! Well, no, it's a wolf, not a baby, I'm just making that up.

"It's because she knows I'm her Alpha!" I grinned and wrestled Savy's wolf down, striding her back and grinning. Savy made no move to retaliate.

Then I lay my head on top of her wolf head, "You can be my bed. Mine is..." I looked at the torn quilt, the bloody mattress - goddess why was there so much blood? And the old wooden headboard of my bed clawed up, and the glass on the floor scattered all over the other side of the room.

"What savage beast came in and wrecked my room?" I gasped dramatically.

Savy's wolf looked down regretfully. Oh man, she's so cute. I love her. I hugged her tightly around her neck and jokingly called to my mum, "Hey mum, can we keep her?"

The adults laughed. They had taken advantage of Savy's preoccupation with me to clean up the room the best they could. Now satisfied, they were gathering their things to leave.

"Sam, can you help us lead Savy down for her first run?" Mum asked.

Oh yeah, Savy needed to run. The other ladies would run with her. I nodded. I saw mum pull open my dresser and pull out some clothes for Savy later. Laura took photos of me and Savy.

"Come on, Savy!" I got up. Savy's wolf staggered a little, her head bobbed unsteadily. I remembered how weird it was to be in a wolf body when I had to take control of the blue wolf in my dream. Oh boy, the stairs would be trouble.

Luckily Savy wasn't a very large wolf, and Dad was waiting at the landing to carry her down the stairs.

I'm quite sure my Wolfie would be much larger if my dream was anything to go by. I made mental note not to shift upstairs. I seriously don't think even my dad's king kong strength could carry me down.

Delta Simon and Aunty Lily excused themselves. My dad thanked them for coming.

Mum, Mrs Beta, and Laura brought their bags to the back of some large trees and in a short while, they all reappeared in their wolf forms. Savy's wolf was white like my mum's, just smaller, and instead of brown tea colored eyes, Savy had Dad's steel grey ones.

Savy's wolf looked happy. She ran about a bit and then barked at me to follow. So bossy.

I shook my head from the porch. "Go with Mum." I told her.

The other female wolves called her from a bit further up. Savy hesitated a bit and then decided to go with them. I watched as they disappeared into the tree line.

Dad sat on the porch next to me, "Wow, soon it would be your turn too."

I'm not sure if this was the speech he prepared to give Savy when I shifted. I smiled at him. Yeah, KingKong.

Aloud I said, "Yeah, I know."

Apparently, that was it. It was a really short speech.

"Dad?" I said.

"Yeah?" He said.

"I'm going to sleep in Savy's room tonight."

"Ah, yeah." Dad nodded, "I'll have your room repaired tomorrow."

"Can I have a loft bed?" The request sort of tumbled out before I even thought it. I guess I've just always thought a loft bed was cool.

Dad nodded, "I'll look into it."

"Thanks Dad." I said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Dad said.

I left smiling. It wasn't so much the loft bed, but the memory of my dad kingkonging through my bedroom window because he thought one of us was in trouble.

Seeing that made me realize how I've underestimated my dad's fierce love for us all this while. I mean, I knew my dad loved us, but he was always so logical and frustratingly zen. But seeing him crash into my bedroom like KingKong just made it obvious to me.

I hoped Dumbbell would crash into my life to save me one day - not that I needed saving. And if I did, I probably would just save myself. But it would be nice to know that if I screamed "Dumbbell!" (Although in reality, I had never screamed), he would have come crashing in for me too.

Was that what Jessica meant by imagining something romantic? I had always thought it should be something to do with flowers or music or sharing an umbrella in the rain, which I've heard the girls talk about but never quite understood the appeal of.

But going wolf and crashing through the windows? Yeah. That's my kind of romance.

I lay in Savy's bed and imagined Dumbbell crashing through the window. And he would look at me and say, "Why did you make me do that for? Are you stupid?"

Even in my imagination, Dumbbell can't say a romantic thing to save his life... This was my fault of course. I had no idea what someone was supposed to say after crashing through your bedroom window. Maybe a "sorry about that"?

I decided to just cut and paste the most romantic line I've ever heard in my life, which was...

Wait, let's rewind and make Dumbbell crash through the window again. Take 2:

Dumbbell: "What again? What the hell?"

Hahahaha

Again! Take 3: Dumbbell crashing through my window and he will look at me and say, "mine."

Yeah. One word. That was all I needed to hear from my mate. Of course he also had to climb up my second floor window and crash through the glass. Actions speak louder than words, you know. Hahahaha

I felt quite pleased with myself after this. I successfully did it. I imagined something romantic, with Dumbbell, no less. I felt a bit embarrassed about it, but no one would ever need to know.

I guess even Alphas can enjoy a bit of romance every now and then.