what was making all the noise, but they dove back under the second they scented what we truly were.
Only when we were deep in the forest, surrounded by thousands of trees on all sides, did we slow to a halt. As always, Austin and I were on the same track. We were twins, and twin shifters that were born, not transformed, always had a more unusual connection than most could even begin to comprehend.
He was my other half.
The other part of me.
Sure, we had our own thoughts, opinions, and autonomous responses, but where things of this nature came into play? It was like two minds working as one.
Because fall was approaching, the trees were turning. The leaves were dying, and the branches were sparser than they would have been just three weeks ago. Through those bare canopies, I could see the night sky, the blue moon’s glow hitting us.
Carefully, I placed the woman on the ground.
She barely weighed anything, and that had nothing to do with my strength either. She wasn’t a good candidate for a shifter, and that added to my concern. Not only were we helping her without aid from the pack, but we were going into this without her being strong enough for the change.
It would be so easy to shift, to call on our brethren, but if we did that, we might trigger the awakening wolf inside the strange female, and that was the last thing we could afford. The creature was already going to awaken furious and starving, but if we cornered it too? If it awoke fearing for its safety? We were beyond screwed.
Eli
The moon had a potent scent that night. It was always that way when it was a blue moon.
Blue moons were iconic in all facets of human culture, but to the supernaturals? Blue moons were magical beyond a non-supe’s comprehension. They were moments of power and spirituality, which I experienced more than most as alpha of my pack.
Tipping my head back, I inhaled deeply, appreciating the heady aroma of magic in the air. Some said blue moons thinned the veil, creating a gateway between this realm and the next. I’d never believed that, though I, more than many, was aware of exactly what they enabled to manifest.
“Eli? It’s time.”
The omega’s voice was soft, polite. She was always that way. Her duty was to the pack, not to me. Politeness was all I merited from her for that reason. She tended to the emotional wellbeing of our community, and it was going to be difficult over the next few days without her.
My mouth tightened as I turned around to face her. As expected, she was the only one of the council who was on her feet, the rest were on their knees as my position demanded.
Casting a glance over Merinda’s face, I saw no expression, no concern or even fear, but I felt it for her.
“You should wait,” I rasped. “You shouldn’t push this.”
“The blue moon is a portent. It would be churlish to ignore it.” Merinda’s crinkled face was filled with a peace I didn’t share. Her eyes were tired, not from lack of sleep, but from age, and her wrinkles were layered on top of more wrinkles…so there was no denying her age. No denying that she’d lived a long life and deserved to rest.
But…
“The pack needs you.”
She smiled at that. “The pack always needs us. However, you will find your omega in the upcoming days. You know that’s how it works.”
There was no one else whom I could imagine becoming the omega. Our pack was strong, healthy, but there was no omega within the ranks, other than the one I was looking at now.
We had four hundred members, and over a hundred and eighty of them were female. Half of that number were of childbearing age. A pack’s strength was founded on its female population, because for every ten boys that were born to a shifter couple, only three girl children ever saw the light of day. We had to even up our numbers by transforming humans, but we’d been blessed with a large quantity of naturally born female wolves.
Some might say we were lucky, gifted even, but I saw no reason or rhyme as to why we were so fortunate.
Omegas were always female and were usually mated to the alpha of the pack. Of all the females among my people, I knew of none who could slip into Merinda’s role. None who had the patience or the temerity