Chapter Two

RPOV

This is my favorite part.

The Transformation.

My body breaking apart and piecing itself back together.

It was magical.

First my tibias broke, forcing me to the ground. Next it was my back, which had to break to fit more vertebrae. Most of my bones just had to elongate, not actually break. My shoulders dislocated from their sockets, making way for my growing muscles. The bones in my hands and feet started to shift, growing out into paws and claws.

When most people witness The Transformation, they believe it to be painful. The sounds of bones snapping caused them to cringe in fear and stare at you with pity. The Transformation was anything but painful: it was pure bliss.

My face had begun to extend, growing out my snout. My eyes grew further apart, allowing me to see more, and my ears curved upwards, allowing me to hear further. I noticed the immediate change in my senses. In my human form, I had pretty decent senses, better than any normal human, that's for sure, but as a wolf…I was incredible.

My paws dug into the soft earth as I threw my head back in a howl. My howl was powerful and could be heard for miles.

I was destined to be an alpha. It was in my blood, I could feel it. Alpha isn't a genetic thing. My mother wasn't an alpha, nor was her mother. Alpha is something you're born with, and I was born with it.

Howls started being returned. I am only seventeen, but as soon as I matured into adulthood, I would need to find a pack to lead, or become a mutt, roaming until I found a pack of my own.

I know this dream well. It would always start out like this, with The Transformation. Usually, it would end after a run with the other pups, but for the past week things had changed. The pups had started running from something.

I listen, waiting for the sound of paws racing over the dampened earth. It had recently rained, the smell of storm clouds still lingered. Blurs of fur rushed by, whimpers resonating from the occasional pup.

I turned toward the direction they were running from and pushed myself into a full sprint. The distant crashing I had heard before was becoming louder, I followed it. The knot in my stomach grew tighter and a feeling of dread was threatening to take hold. I pushed myself to run faster, stretching my muscles as far as they could go, urging them to go farther.

I burst into a clearing only to be met by the sight of a nightmare.

Pricolici.

This particular Pricolici was massive. He had to be an ancient, only centuries of Moroi blood could make you that strong, and, boy, he was strong. You could tell by the ease with which he moved, lunging at the Lycanthrope that had engaged him in battle.

I could smell Moroi blood in the air, and the saturated scent let me know that the Moroi was dead.

The Lycanthrope fought with grace and power, the likes I'd never seen in any before. He was beautiful, and not just in fighting. He was larger than most, and his coat was a rich shade of chocolate brown.

Brown was a very uncommon color for Lycanthrope, we tend to all be the same shade of black, other than myself, of course. But I'm not like other Lycanthrope. I am a True Hybrid – half-Moroi half-Lycanthrope. My coat is of the purest white. Brown only belonged to a certain line of Lycanthrope in Russia, but I hadn't seen any in America.

To my surprise, the brown Lycanthrope had successfully ripped open the throat of the Pricolici and was in the process of detaching the rest of the head from the body. I stared mesmerized and in awe.

After the head was removed, the Lycanthrope launched it as far from the body as possible. He collapsed after the ordeal he had just through, exhausted, but still managed to crawl his way over to the small Moroi body that lay a few feet from him. My initial conclusion of a dead Moroi was confirmed when the Lycanthrope threw his head back and let loose the most heart-wrenching, sorrowful bellow I had ever heard.

My heart constricted and I felt the desire to mourn with him. I threw my large head back and answered his howl with my own, but mine was filled with heartache and empathy. I moved across the clearing just to be closer to him. I wanted to ease his pain.

Upon hearing my howl, the Lycanthrope's head whipped around in my direction. Seeing my approach, he got up and stood defensively in front of the Moroi's body. His head lowered and his lips curled back in a snarl.

I stood my ground, unfazed by his aggressive stance, but I did approach at a slower pace. I stared into his chocolate brown eyes, sending him calming messages. His stance lowered and he collapsed back to the ground in a heap.

I nudged his neck with my snout, rubbing my face against his. He turned into the comforting gesture and let out another mourning howl. When he turned his face back to me, I could see the emptiness and sorrow they now possess. I could imagine the life that once lived there, but it died with his Moroi.

My heart broke for this man.

I laid down beside him, giving him my strength. He was an alpha, I could feel it, but his power was fading, being locked away. He eventually closed his eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep. But as soon as I closed my eyes, I woke up.

I sat up with a groan.

For the past week, I'd been having this same dream. I'd always dreamed of my time as a wolf, but it was always just running and leaping with my fellow pups. I was concerned about the change in my dreams and what it could mean. This was the only time I'd come close to a Pricolici, but it felt so real. I've killed a few Strigoi in my time, but never a Pricolici, they were rare and elusive. My heart ached again, remembering the brown Lycanthrope that had been too late to protect his Moroi. The ease with which he took the Pricolici down was impressive, especially considering the age of the Pricolici.

Was it real? Was any of it real?

My senior year was starting tomorrow. I was looking forward to it just as much as I was dreading it.

I've been here since I was four. I've grown up here. This is my home, and in less than a year I will be forced out and sent to live on my own. Well not completely on my own. I'll have Lissa.

Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, last of her line, is my best friend. She's been here for me since preschool. We're each other's family.

While I've never known my father, and I barely knew my mother, Lissa grew up with both parents and an older brother. They took me in when we became best friends and I accepted them as my new family. Two years ago, they died in a car accident. Both Lissa and I had stayed at St. Vlad's for a party that was happening that weekend, otherwise we would have been in that car, too. I know sometimes she wishes that she would have been in the car.

I was grateful to have Lissa with me, though, I hate that she lost her family. She had me, her best friend, and Christian, her boyfriend. He was okay in my book, but I didn't think he deserved her, but if we're going with my opinion, no one deserved Liss. If anyone did deserve her, however, I guess it would be Christian. He treated her like the princess she is.

All of my classes this year were combat training classes. I'd tested out of all of my academic classes, so the first half of my day will be spent training, then I have the rest of the day off, though, I'd most-likely use that time for more training. I was slotted to be Lissa's Guardian when we graduate and I was not going to lose her, not like the Lycanthrope in my dream.

I shuddered at the thought of Lissa's body lying there, dead. I would not allow that to happen. I had a feeling the Lycanthrope in my dream also made that promise to his Moroi.

All of a sudden, there was a shift in the air.

'We have a new Alpha on campus.' I thought to myself as I drug my body out of bed. I may not sleep much, but that doesn't me I didn't like my bed.

I slipped on running shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top. Sitting down on the end of my bed as I pulled my socks and shoes on, I thought about my running course. Usually I ran around the track at the sports fields, but today I was feeling a run through the woods. I'd cleared it this year with Alberta, the Head Guardian here at St. Vlad's, to be able to run the ward lines where the Guardian's patrol.

The woods surrounding campus were dense and saturated in the pleasant scent of pine. I found it more therapeutic to run in the woods rather than on a track.

I exited my dorm room, being sure to lock the door behind me and slip the key into my bra. I exited the Lycanthrope dorm hall and started jogging to the nearest point of the ward lines. It was barely 4 p.m., but being August and in Montana, the sun was still shining warmly overhead. I turned my face toward the life-giving star to soak up the rays.

Entering the woods, I started dodging tree after tree until I came upon the well-worn ward path and turned right. There weren't many Guardians out patrolling at this time, but the ones I did pass gave me a polite nod. None of them seemed surprised to see me, it appears that Alberta let them know that they might see me out here, that or they just didn't care what I did.

I was a remarkable student, but I definitely got into more than my fair share of trouble. Most of the time I got away with it because I did so well in my academic classes and was far more advanced in my combat classes than the other Novices. I could have graduated last year, but I wanted to wait for Lissa. If I was going to be her Guardian, it would be easier for me to graduate with her, plus I didn't want to leave her at The Academy by herself while I went and guarded someone for a year.

I'd been running for an hour and decided to be done with it, I needed a shower. My current position on the ward line was on the other side of campus from the Lycanthrope dorms, so I decided to cut across campus rather than run the rest of the line.

The feeling of Alpha power grew stronger when I neared the Guardian dorms. There were very few Lycanthrope Guardians here on campus, most were out protecting royals. The Guardians here that were Lycanthrope were all Betas, not a one of them was an Alpha. I was intrigued by the thought of a new Lycanthrope Guardian, especially if they were an Alpha.

'I wonder what brought them to St. Vlad's?'

The power that radiated from the building told me the Alpha was far too powerful to have retired to an easy guarding job at a school.

'Why would an Alpha that powerful take up a school guardian position?'

I guess I would find out tomorrow when classes start. Surely a new Guardian would be a topic all over the school. I suppose I could wait until tomorrow to see this new Alpha.