Chapter 10: Coming of Age *Aliana*

Being a werewolf was so different from being human. So much more to experience, and so much more to learn. A tail gave me balance and claws gave me a killer instinct. At first, I felt somewhat naked having only fur cover me, and the changing was difficult to do on command. I could not seem to get the hunting right. I could not blend in as well and I had to try harder not to be seen from my prey. I was a better hunter as human, but I wanted to kill just one thing in my feral form, just to know what it felt like.

I was sitting on the balcony on top of the castle. I seemed to come here more often than I should. I would always view the scene of my father's death, hoping it would bring back a bit of him with it. The breeze that came to the balcony was the best air I have ever breathed in. It was air filled with sweet scents of all the trees and the freshness of Telaerion. When I had nothing to do and I did not feel like doing anything, I just sat on top of the balcony to think, stare at the people below and daydream about my future.

Right now, I was thinking of Asher. He had something in his eyes that caught my attention like an explosion in the sky. When he spoke, my cheeks flushed, and my heart pounded against my chest. I wanted to see this boy again. I wanted to know so much about him. I wanted him to see the new side of me, my wolf. The way his eyes glittered when he looked at me was unimaginable. It was like I did not want him to look away from me. Screaming and gasping from below me distracted me from my daydreaming and I looked to the entrance of the village to find people rushing over to a girl that had collapsed just outside of the village. I shot up and rushed down from the balcony, pushing open the castle doors and running to the girl that was lying in the dirt. It was Lerina, a girl that works in the bakery. She was so skinny, bruised, and weak. She looked so fragile. "Lerina, what happened?" Spoke her father in a panicked tone; he caressed her in his arms gently. His face desperate and worried. Lerina looked up at her father and said with fear in her voice, "Humans."

I took a long breath from sprinting and looked at Lerina, "How did you get away?" That is when she smiled slowly, "A rogue saved me." People around us gasped and began whispering unanswered questions. The healer quickly instructed Lerina's father to bring her into the healer's hut.

Soon after, my mother came running out and grabbed me, "What happened?" She had asked as she watched Lerina be taken into the healer's hut. I hesitated to respond to her, "Humans...captured her. A rogue...saved her. A rogue mother? Why would a rogue do that?" Then I thought of Asher, and how gentle his eyes were and non-hostile towards me. Was it Asher? Were rogues not monsters as we all thought after all. Then my mother broke my thoughts as she responded, "I don't know Aliana, but we may need their help for once." I stared at my mother with a curious look and wondered what she was thinking after what she had just said.

I shook my head, hoping to clear my thoughts; walking to the other side of the castle, I grabbed a bucket and shrugged my bow on my arm then stalked off towards the river to collect water.

As I was on my way to the river, I tried to change my forms. I thought about changing, but it did not work. Thought about growing a tail, claws, snout...that did not work either. I dropped the items I had and set my hands onto the ground. I figured being on all fours would give me at least some slight instinct to change. I put an image in my head; an image of me, a white wolf, and another wolf...dark black.

Before I knew it, pain shot through me, and my body shape shifted. My snout in front of me and my plushy white paws resting on the ground. The change seemed a bit less painful this time. I turned around and pushed my bow, arrows, and the bucket under a bush. Then I ran through the trees, plowing my paws into the earth, with my tail swaying behind me.

When I reached the river, I searched the other side of the trees; excited and hopeful to see Asher, but there was no sign of him, no scent. I sighed, disappointed that I did not get to see him. I pointed my snout in the air and tried to breath in the scents around me. A strange scent suddenly hit me; it seemed like it was squirrel, yet different. I lowered myself, flat on my stomach, shuffled my way towards the scent into the trees. I curved around fallen branches and avoided leaves that littered the ground. Then I spotted it. It was a large squirrel, but it was a dark red instead of a faint brown. It was twice the size of an original squirrel. I squinted at it curiously; it was planted on a tree just a few feet ahead of me. It looked like it was nibbling on something.

Then when I wanted to go in for the kill, I realized, I did not know how to begin. How to start the kill. I sighed on accident, and it was a bit louder than I had expected. The red squirrel looked at me, and when it did, it had teeth. Sharp teeth that were dripping scarlet. Its eyes were a dark green that flashed bright red. I was startled by its odd appearance and hesitated to attack it. It sat up on the tree staring at me with a wild look in its eyes. For some strange reason I got a sudden instinct to freeze. Then the squirrel let out a terrifying screech that sent shivers underneath my fur. I flinched and as I did the squirrel lunged itself at me. I yelped as its small razor teeth sunk into my throat.

I flailed my paws around trying to embed a claw into the creature. I snapped my jaws and tried to pry it off me. The squirrel was stronger than I had intended. Then my teeth hit fur and I stretched more and bit down hitting bone. I tried to pry it off me, but it only ripped more of my flesh. I felt faint and I assumed I was losing too much blood. My vision blurred and then I saw a black streak come across my sight. I felt pressure release from my neck. Blinking my eyes multiple times, trying to clear up my sight; it only cleared a little as I saw a black figure tear apart the squirrel. My body shifted back to human. My heart began to race, and my breath felt heavy and short. Pressure was back on my neck, and I started to flail, fearing something else was going to tear up my throat. Then I saw his eyes, those deep ocean eyes. I instantly stopped moving and stared into those eyes that began to calm me instantly.