Chapter 1 - The Revelation

Melanie 

"I can not wait for tomorrow.”I exclaimed, “ Yeah, I know I can feel your excitement from over here.”Tasha chuckles while stretching on the bed.

The 13th birthday of every wolf is almost as important as their 18th birthday. It’s like the start of forever for them. At 13 each werewolf must undertake a silver bath which occurs every full moon. 

They’re to bathe under the glow of the full moon in the largest lake in the pack territory. After this bath, their wolves awaken and they’re able to communicate with them. This enables the wolves to communicate through mind link with the rest of the pack, know their roles in the pack, and prepare them for their shift at 18. 

Each role at this stage can be distinguished by their eye color. The Alpha's Eyes turn electric blue, the beta's turn emerald green, the Gamma's turn hazel, the delta's turn gray, and the omegas remain brown. The roles are as follows; The alphas are the pack leaders, the betas are the pack's second in command, the gammas are the pack warriors' head, the deltas are the pack warriors, the sigmas are the pack doctors and scientists , and the omegas are the regular wolves, which make up the bulk of the pack population. 

Having grown up as the daughter of a Sigma botanist and gamma head warrior, I have always looked forward to turning 13 because I want to follow in my mother's footsteps. I decided to retire early because I wanted to be well-rested for the activities of tomorrow. 

I shuffled through my closet to find the sleeping bag I had arranged for Tasha “ Tasha here’s the sleeping bag. I think it’s the one I used when we went camping.” She shriveled her face in disgust. "Get that disgusting thing away from me, I will sleep on the bed.” I burst into a full-blown laughing fit which further infuriated her. 

I grinned at Tasha and said, "Tomorrow is going to be so much fun. I remember after your birthday celebration, you glowed for weeks.”

I watched Tasha’s eyes film over indicating she was mind-linking someone. I stared longingly at her because I couldn't wait for all the benefits I would get from being able to communicate with my Wolf. 

"My dad is back from the pack trip; that was my mom. I need to go,” she said sadly as our plans to spend the night together just fell through. “It's okay we’ll see each other tomorrow, say hi to your mom and dad for me.” I smiled at her.

“Sweetie, I just saw Tasha leave. I thought y’all were having a sleepover,” my mom said when she opened the door. “Yeah we were but her mom mindlinked her, her dad is back, so she had to go,” I said with a forlorn look on my face. “Oh! Sweetie, have a good night okay? Tomorrow is going to be a big day,” she smiled, walked to the foot of the bed, and placed a kiss on my forehead before walking out and shutting the door behind her.

After Tasha’s departure, I guess all the excitement was finally catching up to me because I felt so tired and weak. The night unfolded with an eerie stillness as I tried sleeping, I felt so restless, before I could sleep it was almost midnight. I felt like my body was too weak to be awake before I could sleep.

7:30 am 

“ I don't believe we have any rrgggghhhh,”  gosh what the hell is that I gasped. I could hear different voices talking loudly above one another. “ arrggghh of themm,” I screamed because I felt like my head was going to explode. “You okay up there sweetie?” My mom yelled from downstairs. “ argghhs!” I screamed just before I felt like my brain just exploded and I passed out cold on the floor. 

Pounding footsteps echoed through the house as Melanie’s mom Sylvia ran to her daughter's room after she heard a crash and thud on the floor. On getting to her room, shedded found her passed out on the floor and her body temperature elevated. Panicking, she mind-linked the pack doctor Ryan. 

“Dr Ryan, I need you to find out what’s wrong with my baby girl please,” Sylvia says with a lilt in her voice. “I heard her scream upstairs and then she collapsed, when I got to her she was burning,” Sylvia explained to Dr Ryan. 

Dr Ryan who was a tall, lean man with salt and pepper hair examined Melanie. He denoted that there was no visible sign of sudden unconsciousness so she was given fluids to rejuvenate her. 

9:30 am 

The soft glow of the morning sun filters through the blinds, casting a warm light across the hospital room. As Melanie lies in the bed, her eyes closed, her face pale. Her mother, Sylvia, sits beside her, her hand gently stroking Melanie’s hair.

“I wonder if Malcolm got the cake order right because of that man…” Sylvia sat by her daughter’s side waiting for her to wake up, “Mom, you know dad can never get the cake order right,” chuckling. I smiled at her. Sylvia gasped,”Oh baby! You're awake thank the goddess, you scared me for a minute. How did you hear that,” looking at mom weirdly, “Sorry I scared you. Wait, what do you mean, you literally shouted that. I'm pretty sure everyone heard it.” 

“That's not possible, I didn't even say that out loud, I was only thinking that,” Sylvia, still very confused, prodded, ‘What’s going on? Why would she know what I’m thinking?’ she thought. “Mom, what are you talking about? I don't know what's going on, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” with a loud gasp, Sylvia exclaimed “You can hear my thoughts, by the goddess, you can hear my thoughts,” Still very confused Melanie urged, “What do you mean? I obviously can't hear your thoughts, that's ridiculous.”

“I also have never heard of a wolf who can read minds, but you just did Mel, you’re a gifted wolf,” Sylvia explained, staring at me with an indescribable look. “What are you saying mom, there are no gifted wolves. The idea of gifted wolves is just a myth. You know that,” I stared at mom incredulously, “Sweetie, gifted wolves aren’t a myth. I know in school you’ve been told that but the only reason they’re called a myth but should be called legends, is because there has been no recordings of any gifted wolves since the last 500 years.” Sylvia explained. 

“Gifted wolves only arise in the time of great unrest, so this isn't good,” Sylvia said with a discouraging expression on her face. I watched as her eyes filmed over, indicating that she was mindlinking someone. “That was your dad, he is back from the meeting with the alpha. I'm going to call Dr Ryan to know when you will be discharged so we can meet your dad.” 

Right on cue, the door opens and Doctor Ryan enters with a kind smile on his face, “Good morning Melanie. How are you?” He walks to the monitor to check my vitals. “Okay, you're vitals are stable and you're good to go, make sure you stay hydrated,” Turning to my mom he says “She’s ready to be discharged, meet Tracy at the front desk to collect your discharge papers.”

As we walk out of the hospital I feel a sudden lightheadedness because of the influx of voices. I tried tuning them out but it didn't work. “Sweetie, are you okay? What's the problem? Do you need to sit-down? Should we go back in?” Mom fires her questions while I try to steady myself on the wall, “It's all too much, the voices,” I cry out sobbing. “Oh! Sweetie, I don't exactly know what you're going through. I'm so sorry, if I could make it stop I would,” Sylvia said with a sad expression on her face, then her face scrunched up in thought, “What is it mom?” I asked, “I don't know if this could work but I was thinking about the mind link and how you could block someone from contacting you, maybe you could try it and see if that stops the influx of the thoughts,” she says.

“Okay, how do I do that?” I asked while scrunching by brows because of the headache I felt. “Well, close your eyes and picture in your mind a room with doors and windows, imagine that each window or door is an unwanted thought. To stop them from entering the room you have to close the windows and doors, it’s not going to be easy but give it a try,” she explained. As she said, I pictured the room with the doors and windows and began shutting each one, I felt the thoughts stop. My head felt so much lighter. “It worked, I can’t hear anything anymore,” I exclaimed with a smile on my face, “You have to keep practicing and don’t lose your handle on it.” She said while smiling. 

As we walked home, I felt lighter, I walked with a spring in my step excited for what the day was yet to bring. I couldn’t wait for the special birthday breakfast at home or the party later in the day.