003 - A Gamma's Kiss

SHAILA.

My name is Shaila Rivera. I was born into a family of shifters. And tonight I was expected to shift for the first time. 

Santos, my older brother, also a pack warrior, told me that he wouldn’t be at my shifting tonight because he was scheduled to man the border on the other side of the territory, but he said there was nothing to worry about as the Gamma and the other warriors would be there to help me.

And that made me worry more.

Shifting for the first time should be a happy moment, but I was filled with anxiety. I was terrified of making a fool of myself in front of Gamma Carlos.

I’ve had a thing for the Gamma for as long as I can remember. I had a crush on him even before I got my period, but no matter how many times I tried to get his attention, he never paid attention to me.

So the last thing I wanted to do tonight was to embarrass myself in front of him. What if I couldn’t shift? What if I did something wrong and it affected everyone?

So many things were running in my head that I totally forgot to grab one of Santos’ big shirts that he set aside for me to use while shifting.

Although it was common for shifters to be naked, the confidence usually came later on when they’d been shifting a lot already. First-timers like me, at least the females, would usually have a big shirt covering their body while waiting for them to shift. But I totally forgot it and it was now eating up my confidence because soon I would have to strip naked. And there were too many males around.

And Gamma Carlos was here. What if he saw my body and mocked me because I wasn’t as perfect as the females he was dating?

I know I should be focusing on my shifting, but how could I when I see him looking at me from time to time? If this was another day, I would welcome the attention, but not tonight when I just wanted to disappear so no one would notice me.

But I guess I underestimated him. Carlos offered his shirt for me to use, and all of a sudden, my night was suddenly beginning to improve. His strong, masculine scent was surrounding me, and although it was not enough to ease the pain of shifting, I was happy that he allowed me to destroy his shirt so I didn’t have to be naked.

Plus, he held me in his arms while I was enduring the agonizing pain before I totally shifted. I felt I had won a jackpot. It was too good to be true. And when I shifted, he was the first one to hold my wolf. 

"Run with them. Take Beta Paul too. I’ll stay behind and wait for Andrea." Carlos told Gabriel, and my heart sank. Maya and I wanted to run with him, but we did understand. It was his responsibility to make sure everyone shifted first. 

I whimpered softly before turning around, reminding myself that there would be other days when I could ask him to run with me. But I knew I was just fooling myself. There was never an occasion that I was able to get the Gamma alone to myself. So with a heavy heart, Maya walked toward the other two wolves, who had already shifted and prepared ourselves for our first full moon run.

Beta Paul shifted at once and sent out a group mindlink that he would be leading the pack run tonight. Since no other rank wolves were running, he informed us that as soon as he started running, I and the other two newly shifted male pups should follow him right away before Gabriel and the rest of the warriors followed us.

I took one long glance at Gamma Carlos. He had his back on me as he talked with Alpha Caspian and Andrea. I let out an internal sigh before I focused my attention on the pack run. As soon as the signal was out, Maya waited for the Beta wolf to run, and she immediately sprang forward and took her first run.

For a moment, I was able to forget about my disappointment. The wind ruffled my fur, and the smell of the forest and the night breeze soothed my senses. I felt exhilarated to be running on my paws under the full moon. When the moon finally became visible in my eyes, I tilted my head up and gazed at it, sending a prayer to the Goddess, hoping that whatever fate she would give me once I turned eighteen would heal my heart. Hopefully, the mate she would give me would be enough to make me forget about Gamma Carlos.

I smiled weakly before I accelerated my pace. I was being left behind by the other two pups already, and I was slowing down the warriors behind me because they were not allowed to leave me behind. But Maya kept slowing down.

'Are you tired?' I asked her. I knew this was her first run and it was not a surprise if she would get tired easily.

'No. Hugo is coming.' She answered excitedly, and my heart started beating erratically. 

Not long after, Gamma Carlos’ wolf, Hugo, was already beside me. He was looking straight ahead, but he was running at my pace. Soon, the two warriors behind us overtook us and started running fast, leaving us behind.

'How about Maya and Hugo go for a run together? Just the two of us?'

'What do you mean?' I heard what he said and I knew what he meant, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

'Turn left, I’ll follow you.'

'But won’t they come looking for us?' I asked him like I was hesitant, but I was already turning to the left.

'No. I’m the Gamma, remember? They know you’re safe with me.'

I smiled internally as I continued running, all the while my heart was bursting with happiness knowing that Hugo was just a few paces behind me. Carlos was giving me his attention tonight. What more could a simple girl ask for?

We stopped by a little stream, and Carlos urged me to drink water as he did. After a while, we were just playing, nipping, and licking each other’s fur, and I couldn’t be happier. I wondered if he was enamored with Maya as much as I was with Hugo. 

Although I was happy that he seemed to like Maya a lot, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy because he would never be like this with my human. I was so consumed with my own thoughts that I didn’t notice I had already shifted into my human form and coiled my arms around my knees, pulling them closer to my chest.

Hugo whimpered in front of me, and I smiled, but he just stared at me as I reached out my hand and tapped his neck, only to realize that it was my hand, not my paw, that was holding him.

"Aaaah!" I shrieked in embarrassment as I scrambled to my feet and ran around the big tree, hiding behind it as I mustered up all my energy to shift back into my wolf. I couldn’t believe I was sitting naked in front of Carlos, and I tried to pat him, which probably exposed my breasts to him.

"Shift! Shift now!" I was concentrating hard but nothing was happening, just Maya telling me she could not shift anymore.

"Shaila…" Carlos’ warm voice reached me and it let me know he was just on the other side of the tree.

"I can’t shift. I’m trying to shift."

"You won’t be able to. Only Alphas and people with strong bloodlines can do a double shift on their first full moon. You will just exhaust yourself."

"I’m sorry…" I mumbled under my breath. I didn’t know how I would emerge from the tree now.

"Sorry for what?"

"I don’t know."

"It’s okay. I’ve seen naked females, Shaila."