Start Living Now

I woke up just before dawn, listening to the birds as they started their day. Today, I planned on putting some distance between myself and the borders of my homeland. I had only just passed the river on the edge of Quinault territory yesterday. As soon as I was out of sight from the river, I Shifted into my wolf Form. My scent was erased by the water, so it was safe to Shift. It felt good to be on four legs again.

I knew that I had at least seventy miles to travel until I reached La Push, the Quileute’s territory on the Olympic Peninsula. I remembered that from the history lessons I took when I went to school on the reservation. That wouldn’t be too bad. There’s plenty of coastline and forest along the way, just in case one of Niko’s cronies got a whiff of my scent, and I needed someplace to hide. I could make that trip in an hour or two.

Once I got past La Push territory, I'd head north and swim across the channel between Canada and Washington, and rest a bit by Victoria. Vancouver was just too far to swim to. To get to Juneau, my destination, I’d have to travel up the Peninsula, about one thousand miles away. It would take ordinary humans about six days to get there, but then again, I’m nothing near ordinary.

I could run most of the trip, and fly when I needed to. It’s a good thing Shapeshifters who can Shift into more than one Form get a big dose of energy when they Shift from one Form to another. You really never get tired, your body just gets achy, like the way your muscles feel after a good workout. But since I could Shift back and forth, I would have to rest only for a couple hours each day. If I time it right, hopefully I would get to Juneau in four days, five tops. And if Niko was still forming his hunting party, he'd never reach me in time.

As long as I didn’t get caught while in the Quileute’s territory, things would be fine. I’m saying this as an assumption, because if my people can Shift, who knows if the Quileute’s can too? If there are Shapeshifters in that area, I hope they aren’t as fast or as smart as I am.

I really don’t want to get into a fight with others, human or unique. If I did, Niko would definitely be able to track me down. No, getting past La Push would require some sneaking, and leaving no signs of a trail. I could do that as long as I didn’t get caught.

I started to head north. After a couple of hours, I was well past this little town called Queets, and was on my way to Kalaloch. The names didn’t bother me; a lot of the towns around here have some sort of connection to the Native American tribes in the area. And there were at least twenty different kinds of Native American tribes around here.

It wasn't the names that bothered me. The people did. I tried to stay out of their way as much as possible; if somebody saw a wolf the size of a small horse, I guarantee they would freak out. And if they saw an eagle the size of an average sized-dog, somebody would try to hunt it down or catch it, no matter what the hunting laws said.

I couldn’t help but think of my old pack as I was running past the towns and surrounding forests. Unfortunately, I’m smaller than the other wolves from my old pack. The others towered over me, whether they were human or lupine. I was only 5'8" when in my normal form, and as a wolf, the tallest I could get was 6'9", which was short for shapeshifters.

But I was faster and smarter than the rest of my former packmembres. I had better control over my temper, too. That's what made be a better leader than Niko. He's a good strategist, but I'm better. He couldn't really control his temper when something bothered him, either. That caused him to think irrationally. It didn't help that I had taken his title away.

As the granddaughter of the oldest Elder on the reservation, I was the direct descendant from the last leader of the original Shapeshifter pack; my great-great grandfather was the last leader. And since the shifting gene can sometimes skip a generation or two, I was the rightful heir to the Alpha title. Niko was the original leader, because he was the first of my generation to Shift. But that all changed when I began Shifting. At first, he wasn't happy when he found out, but he quickly got over it. He had to.

I wasn't as strong as most of the pack members. I’d rather have brains over brawn any day. I was the most distinctive when it came to appearances. When in my wolf Form, my fur was a rich honey-brown color, and the scar on my right shoulder was jet black. As an eagle, my feathers looked more golden than honey-brown. My scar was still jet black, and my feathers rarely grew over it. I had gotten that scar when I first started Shifting. I was fifteen. I was the second teenager to Shift on the reservation.

Thinking about that scar sent me into a flashback, to see my past...

***

It was raining. I had come down with a really bad fever, and my grandfather had me locked up in my room all day. My grandpa, better known as Pops, was my guardian ever since my parents died in a car accident when I was five.

I was sohot. My body felt like it was on fire. I was always thirsty, and I couldn’t talk at all. Niko, who was a few months older than me, had just turned sixteen. He came to my grandpa’s house the minute Pops gave him the call. He didn’t come see me, though. He waited outside.

I had finally been able to stand up, and I was making my way to the kitchen; I was so hungry! I could probably eat until there was nothing left in the kitchen, and I'd still want more.

Pops was nowhere to be seen, but all I knew was that I needed to get food in me. I was hunched over a bowl of instant noodles when he came in. Pops touched my shoulder, and scared me. The next thing I knew, I was towering over him, somehow on all fours. I snapped.

I’ll never forget the look on his face. It was like he knew what was going to happen, but he was scared shitless anyway. As for me, well, I was terrified. I took off. I had somehow made it out of the house without damaging anything except the doorway, and I took off towards the woods. It was hard, though. I kept stumbling, and I didn’t even begin to think what was happening. I just kept running.

The next thing I knew, something knocked me down, leaving me in a daze. I looked up to see this giant grey wolf looking down at me. I mean, this guy was HUGE! He was standing over me, almost as if he was going to pounce. He was going to kill me.

I never gave him the chance. Something inside me, some primal instinct, took over. It was like an out of body experience. I could see myself attacking, but I was fully conscious as I attacked the grey wolf.

I charged at him, fangs bared. I bit and scratched and pushed that wolf around with all my might. I was damn good, too. I had him knocked on the ground more than a few times. He came at me with just as much force, maybe more. I chomped onto his neck, and shook myself as hard and as long as I could. I could taste blood in my mouth. He howled in pain, and he was a covered in bloody patches; patches being where he used to have fur. Bits of flesh were missing, and blood was flowing everywhere. I had him.

But I was wrong. He shoved me off of him, and bit my shoulder. I could feel the skin being ripped off. He bit right down to the muscle, tearing some of the tendon. It hurt like hell.

I fell to the ground. I couldn’t get up. The pain was too much. I thought I was going to die of sheer blood loss. I was surprised he didn’t rip a main artery. I was really surprised next, when I heard a familiar sarcastic voice coming in the direction of the grey wolf.

“Don’t fall asleep! I can’t carry you back to Pops’ place! You’re too bloody. I might drop you. I think I may have bitten too close to one of your central arteries.”

I looked around. I thought the voice was coming from somebody I knew. But it was inside my head. When I heard a chuckling sound, I turned my head around.

It was the grey wolf.

“Boy, do I have my work cut out. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.” That chuckling sound came again. “Well, we might as well get started. Jael, its Niko. Do you understand me?”

Niko… Nikolas…Nikolas Ahiga? What the hell? Niko was a wolf? What is going on? I can’t see straight, everything’s all fuzzy...

“Whoa! Jael! Don’t go to sleep! You have to Shift back! Jael? Jael! Talk to me!” He sounded worried.

How can I possibly talk to a wolf, for the Ancestor’s sakes? It’s impossible!

“No it isn't, just think what you want to say. Now listen to me, we have to get you to Shift back. I’ll be able to carry you back to Pops’ place then. He’ll fix us up. Understand?”

Shift back? What are you talking about? How the hell do I do that? I can’t focus! How can you hear what I'm thinking?! Everything’s…so…fuzzy…

“Shit, you’re starting to pass out on me. Ok, I’ll help you through this. To Shift back, just picture your normal self. Picture what you look like. It’s easy. Look, I’ll show you. Pay attention to my thoughts.”

Visions of what Niko looked like flooded my mind. That tall, proportionalized muscular body. The scar that looked like a bird on his left pec. Those dark, mesmerizing brown eyes, and those wavy locks of jet black hair. High cheekbones. Dazzling straight, white teeth.
And there he was, literally. He was standing before me. He was gorgeous. And then it dawned on me that he was stark naked. I turned my head away in embarrassment.

Niko laughed. “It’s ok Jael, you might as well get used to seeing me naked anyway. Now hurry up and Shift.”

Get used to it? What was this guy’s problem? But I did as he said.

I imagined myself; my brownish/black, shoulder-blade length hair. My russet-colored skin, my pear-shaped body. My nose. That small mole near my left eye. My white smile. My short height. Everything. And then I could feel myself changing. It wasn’t the most pleasant of feelings. Like live jelly worms wriggling all over your body. It was a strange tickling sensation. And there I was. Little Jael, who was growing up to be a strong, young woman.

The next thing I did didn’t really help in convincing me of that. I immediately threw up, and fell to the ground. Then I realized I was naked. I tried to cover myself up, but Niko just laughed.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed. It’s just you the way nature intended. Pretty Jael in her birthday suit. Minus the blood and whatnot. C’mon, let’s get you fixed up.”

He picked me up and ran back to my grandpa’s house.

***

That was the first time I had ever Shifted. And how I got the crescent-shaped scar on my shoulder.

I quickly brushed the forming tears away, and continued north. Now was the time to be leaving those memories behind. But I knew they would come back in my dreams.

They always did.