Page 84 of Broken Souls

“How would you describe Axe?” Ryleigh asks.

“Neither of those descriptions.” I chuckle.

***

I take off my clothes and leave them outside the back gate. I shift into my wolf and go into the forest. It's freeing to be able to run and have no worries. I usually keep my runs short and close to the residential area. But Axe says I can explore the land since there's so much. He has shown me more of our territory but it's quite large so reaching the border in a single run would be draining. I start off on a light run following one of the trails. I like following the stream so I run towards that. My wolf drinks the cool water.

My wolf's ears perk up when she hears something. I listen out and hear voices, groans, and weeping. As much as I probably shouldn't check this out in case it's a bad situation, my wolf walks me closer to the sound. I walk along the stream and see some kids in the distance, surrounding something. I walk closer and they turn to me. They're young, maybe twelve, thirteen.

“Luna,” one of the girls greets me.

I still hear weeping so I walk further around and see a boy in the middle of the group on the ground.

“He's shifting for the first time. We can't get him home,” a boy says.

I shift back and kneel down beside the boy. I flinch as he cries, knowing shifting was a painful experience. My dad was there for me. That's probably the only time he ever was.

“Here.” The girl passes me her cardigan, so I wrap it around my bottom section.

“Listen, little guy, I know the pain feels too much but you just have to breathe along with it. Let it take you. Once your wolf comes out, you'll feel stronger,” I tell him.

He gasps. “It hurts. How long does it take?”

“Well, it's a full moon tonight. You'll most likely shift in a few hours.”

“I can't take anymore.” He is curled up in a ball.

I wince knowing it's going to be bad for him. This is just the initial pain of the body contracting. Once his bones start to change, he'll be screaming.

“You can do this.”

I try to support him but I don't know how I can help in this situation. Shifting is inevitable. I mind link Axe. He gets here quickly and comes over to me, shifting and putting some briefs on.

“Hey, man.” Axe kneels down. “How are you feeling?”

“Alpha, please.” He weeps.

“Elora, can you make sure these kids get home? I'll take care of him.”

“Yeah, come on kids.”

I stand up and the kids walk with me. I pull my hair to the front of my body to cover part of my breasts since I'm walking with young boys.

“What were you doing out here at night anyway?” I ask them.

“We hang out at the stream,” a girl answers.

“Have you all shifted?” I ask.

“I have,” one boy says and one girl agrees but the other two say no.

“I don't want to after that,” a boy says, fear evident in his voice.

I prevent myself from saying “you haven't seen nothing yet.” Shifting gets much worse than what they saw.

“Why is it so painful? The shifting. Then for us girls, the marking with our mates,” a girl says, frowning.

“Don't worry about the marking. It hurts for a bit but then it turns into an incredible experience as you and your mate tie together,” I tell them.