Chapter Thirty-Two

Regan’s POV

As Jasmine had said, I knew Emry would need me for his first shift. And since it was the day of the full moon, it meant that the ceremony would hold that night.

I hadn’t seen him all day.

Which was unusual since the pup barely ever left my side ever since we began our trainings.

I had just finished my work for the day and was making my way over to the healing house, where I was sure Jasmine would be, when the thought of him suddenly came to mind.

I had missed her all day and wanted nothing more than to see her, take her into my arms and bury my face into her neck to inhale her addicting scent.

But I had not seen Emry all day and that worried me.

So rather than go to find my future mate and satisfy my longing, I turned around instead to find the pup.

I caught his scent easily and began to track it.

It led me towards the woods not to far from the pack’s farm lands and I followed it to the outskirts of the pack, where the stream was, and finally to one of the trees overlooking the lake.

There, his scent was strongest around that particular tree and I looked up to see him seated on a branch.

He was looking out across the stream and seemed to be deep into his thoughts since he hadn’t noticed me.

When I normally would have played a prank to scare him, the worried look on his face told me that would not be a good idea.

So instead, I called out.

“Pup!” I called out to him, well aware of the fact that he did not like being referred to as such.

My voice jerked him out of his thoughts and he looked down at me.

“Get down here”, I ordered and waited for him to comply, noticing the ease with which he climbed down from the tall tree.

“Alpha”, he said as he landed on his feet in a perfect stance. “Is something the matter?” He asked, his expression showing concern.

I shook my head immediately.

“Where have you been?” I asked him instead of replying to his question. “I have not seen you all day”, I said.

At my question, he looked away from me and down at the grass covered floor of the woods.

“I needed time to myself”, he said quietly.

I scoffed at that.

“Careful”, I teased. “Someone might hear and think you are a warrior wolf”, I said with a smile but he neither smiled nor laughed as I hoped he would.

Instead, his expression turned more worried.

“What is the matter, Pup?” I asked. “It is clear to see that something troubles you”, I told him.

He was quiet for a moment before he finally spoke.

“Forgive me, Alpha”, he said, causing me to frown in confusion and mild surprise, since he had never apologized before and I did not know what he was apologizing for.

“What am I to forgive you for?” I asked and waited for his reply.

When it came, it was so quiet that it actually came out as a whisper.

“I am afraid”, he confessed, looking ashamed to admit it.

I watched him for a moment before reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder and bring his eyes to mine.

“There is no shame in being scared”, I told him. “Courage and bravery are born out of fear”, I said before asking. “But what are you afraid of?”

He hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Many things”, he said. “I am afraid that my wolf will not be strong enough, that I will not be strong enough for my wolf”, he confided. “I am afraid that I might not shift at all tonight. I am the smallest after all”, he said. “And I am afraid that I may never become a warrior like my Father was”, he said finally.

I took in his words as he spoke them, allowing him unburden his fears before I spoke.

“It is perfectly normal that you would be afraid of those things”, I told him.

Pausing for a moment, I pulled him towards the tree he had been on and pushed him to sit under it before I took my place as well beside him.

“I believe every werewolf had those fears before they shifted”, I told him.

He turned to me then.

“Did you have them as well?” He asked.

Despite knowing that the memories of everything related to my first shift was better left in a tightly sealed box somewhere in my mind, I still opened that box and dug through, hoping I would find the honest answers I knew were needed for the moment.

I looked out at the stream flowing before me, allowing the movement of the water to calm me as I thought of the best way to say the things I needed to.

“If I am being truly honest”, I began. “I try not to remember much about my first shift”, I told him. “I remember being afraid that day, yes. But I was afraid for quite different reasons”.

“Like what?” He asked.

I paused for a moment before responding.

“Like failing to help my mother fight off the wolves that were attacking her, even if I was just too young and did not even have a wolf”, I said and forced a smile onto my face. “Like seeing my father’s wolf laying lifeless on the blood covered floor”. As I spoke, the images flashed through my mind. “Like being unable to stop my mate from getting killed”, I told him. “I was terrified”.

Silence greeted my speech for a long moment before he spoke again.

“But even though you were terrified”, he said quietly. “You still saved us”, he told me.

I nodded before turning to him with a genuine smile.

“I did”, I said. “I do not fully remember how though. One moment I was standing, afraid, in pain and desperate for help. And the next moment I felt such overwhelming pain and I did not remember much after that. Just the feeling of a presence that was not there before when I finally gained consciousness”, I told him.

“So, it was your wolf that saved us then?” He asked.

I nodded as a brief laugh escaped me.

“He did”, I told him. “It was him that defended our pack. I do not even remember what happened”, I confessed.

“But how did he know which one was our pack member or our enemy?” He asked.

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug and gave a lopsided smile.

“I suppose since he is a part of me, he knew”, I told him. “That is who your wolf will be. A part of you, only stronger”.

He smiled at that.

“And do not worry”, I told him, lifting a hand to ruffle his dark locks. “I will be with you every step of the way”, I promised.

He looked at me, the worry slowly disappearing from his eyes before a big smile appeared on his face.

“Now head back and prepare for tonight”, I told him. “I am sure your mother would be more worried than you are”.

“Yes, Alpha”, he said and rose to his feet. “Thank you”, he paused to say before turning and running back towards the pack.

I stayed in the peaceful space for only a short moment before going to find my future mate.

She was still at the healing house and looked as happy to see me as I probably did to see her.

I spent some time with her before Lena and Nana joined and we all spent some time together.

Afterwards, I left to get ready for the ceremony that night.

I took off my shirt and donned the ceremonial robe before making my way to the square where I knew the entire pack would be gathered and waiting.

I found Luke there, wearing his own robe that was the same color of black and red as mine, unlike the plain red ones worn by the young werewolves that were to shift that night.

The full moon would soon come out, so I gave Luke a nod to give them his speech before I came up.

“I do not have much to say”, I said loudly to the group. “But I want you to know one thing. Courage and bravery are born out of fear”, I told them, the same thing I had told Emry earlier. “So it is normal to be scared but know that you are not alone”, I said as my eyes wandered to where Emry stood. “Your pack is with you”, I said before my eyes locked with his. “I am with you”, I said before looking away and signaling Luke to begin leading them into the woods.

It was part of the pack’s ritual for the warriors to escort the young ones into the woods for their first shift. Some of them could be quite wild after their shift and we did not want to risk anyone getting hurt.

As Luke led the way, I followed behind and we arrived at the clearing we had prepared just as the full moon appeared and the screams of pain and sounds of breaking bones began.

We stood a small distance away as they shifted, letting them fully shift into their wolf forms by themselves before approaching them.

I watched Emry as he shifted, a part of me twisting as he screamed in pain with each bone that broke, but I forced myself to remain where I stood.

I gave a nod to the warriors as I saw that most of them had finished their shift, and they took off their similar black and red robes before shifting into their wolves and approaching the newly shifted young werewolves.

I did the same, taking off my robe and shifting into my black wolf before making my way over towards Emry’s wolf.

His wolf was a dark grey one with black spots around his silver eyes and one of his ears.

His wolf was small compared to the others, and was struggling to stand. We moved towards him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck, helping him until he stood steadily.

Unexpectedly, Rage began to lick behind his ears and Emry’s wolf gave a whine of annoyance.

We laughed at that, glad to see that the wolf had spunk like Emry.

We helped him take his first steps before he was itching for a run in no time.

Glad to see that Emry was well adjusted, I turned back to the others, opening the mind link so they could all hear me.

“Welcome”, I told them. “Now, we hunt!” I announced with a howl that they all soon echoed. We took off in a run, knowing that every other wolf would be following, easily tracking the scent of a deer and heading towards it.

They all followed.

Since Rage was very fast, the only person who had ever kept up with him was Luke’s wolf, Lane and occasionally, my Gamma’s wolf.

However, that soon changed because from the corner of my eye, I saw Emry’s silver eyed wolf come into view. I looked to my other side to see Lane already looking at him in surprise as he soon caught up with us.

For some reason, I felt immense pride that even though Emry’s wolf wasn’t the biggest, he was at least the fastest of his peers.

I gave a howl at that and heard it echoed from the two wolves on either side of me and one from behind, before hearing howls from a short distance behind.

I turned from the wolf behind me to the wolf on the other side of me which belonged to my Gamma and gave a nod which he understood.

He and Lane immediately broke away, running in opposite directions as they always did to set the trap ahead for our prey.

This time however, I wasn’t left alone.

The small, grey wolf came to my side, shooting me a brief look of confusion but otherwise keeping up with my fast pace as we ran.

I smiled at that.

It was time to teach the pup how to hunt.