'I look like my mom.' She thought beaming to herself. Her mom was the most beautiful woman of her generation and the only white wolf during that time. She is so happy to share that same characteristic as her, even if its just the fur.
In the next few minutes, Aria tried her new body. She walked, jumped, run, and rolled around the clearing and over the trees nearby. Everything is as normal as walking in the park. She then tried to will herself to become human again. The elders taught them in their lessons that to return back to human form they must remember how they feel and look like as humans. She tried doing this and as she willed herself she easily transformed back to human. Then she tried to transform back to her wolf form. Remembering the sensations she felt while transforming, she easily revert back to her wolf form. She is so happy at how fast she managed to be at ease with her wolf body.
Once satisfied, she went to fetch her bag. She first transformed back into human and placed her sling bag around her neck then revert to her wolf form. She giggled to herself at how it is getting easier to do this each time she does. She had already packed her things inside her bag earlier. She is planning to travel back in her wolf form to get familiar with running in this body.
***
When she came near the meeting place, Aria sensed another Lycan which seems to be in the clearing she's headed to. And when it was near enough for her to see who it was, she saw a proud lone wolf with ash brown fur sitting in one of the stones near the center. Right away, she recognized that wolf as Zach, one of the newly transformed Lycans like her. He seemed to have felt her presence too because he looked back. Right after their eyes met, Aria felt a jolt in her heart. Suddenly a lump formed in her throat and she felt like choking. She felt a pressure pushing her body down. She tried averting her gaze and suddenly the choking sensation is gone.
'What is this? What's happening?' She thought.
She tried to look once again and a word formed in her mind. Unconsciously, she spoke the word out loud.
"Alpha." She said. And all of a sudden, all the pressure she felt earlier were gone, as if it did not happen.
"Sorry Aria, what did you call me?" Zach asked. They are talking telepathically.
She calmed herself first and collected her thoughts. When she finally realized what happened, she excitedly wagged her tail. "Oh! My! Gosh! Jeez, Zach you are our new Alpha! That's awesome!" She exclaimed.
She and Zach may not be talking much right now, but when they were younger they would always play together whenever his father Uncle John would visit her father. And by visit, she meant a lot. Uncle John is her father's Beta, also known as right-hand man or second in command. They basically grew up together, almost like siblings. And at present, even though they don't hang around a lot like when they were kids, they still joke around and talk whenever they meet.
"Am I? Really?" He asked.
"Yeah, you didn't feel it?" Come to think of it, when she saw him earlier he looked like deep in thought. Maybe he is really thinking about being the new Alpha.
"Hmm, I had that gut feel after awakening but I can't still believe it myself."
"You put me through that much pressure just now and you're saying you can't believe it yourself?" She said grinning. She started walking closer. It still feel weird talking to someone more than twenty meters from you.
"Sorry about that. I guess I can't control it yet." He smiled.
She stopped for a bit, then she continued walking on four legs. "I actually feel honored right now. My Alpha is apologizing to me. Don't apologize though, you did nothing. Besides, it went away the moment I recognized you as my Alpha."
"Then I guess I must start acting as one."
"Just don't be a jerk." She reminded him jokingly.
They laughed.
It's good that their new alpha is someone she knows well and trust. Although she can't continue the legacy of her father, she knew that Zach will be a good leader of the pack.
***
Aria had pushed Zach to sit at the highest stone reserved for the Alpha. She looked at her previous seat but decided against it since she know that soon that seat will not be hers anymore. She just randomly chose a stone near the center to rest while waiting for the others. They continued chatting for a while about their past experiences and after a few minutes the third one came.
A male wolf with dark gray fur showed up. It was Dustin. And just like her, he seemed to have also felt the pressure of seeing Zach for the first time after awakening as an alpha. It was fun seeing him suffer the same way she suffered earlier. And right after he recovered he run towards their position.
"Cool man! You're the new Alpha!" That's the first thing he said after coming over to the center of the clearing. "Wait, does that instantly make me your Beta?"
She chuckled. "I don't think that's how it goes Dustin. I guess it will depend on Zach's decision in the end."
He looked surprised hearing me. It seems he did not notice me earlier because of Zach's presence. And when he looked at my direction he stared for a long time.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" She feels uneasy being stared at like that.
"Dustin." Zach called his attention.
That did the trick. He stopped staring. But he seemed a bit off compared to how jovial he was a few seconds ago. "Have you imprinted on her, Zach?" He asked.
"What the heck, Dustin?" Aria felt embarassed being the topic of that discussion and to top that she is just right there hearing them. She and Zach are just friends, almost like siblings! It would be weird to have that kind of feelings for your brother, right?
"No." Zach calmly answered his friend's question. That eased Aria's thoughts.
"That's good then." Dustin replied. Then he jumped to a stone next to Aria.
"What was that about?" Aria glared at Dustin and Zach. But when Zach looked back she felt pressured and and so she just focused her rage on Dustin. That Alpha aura thing is really scary.
On the other hand, Dustin is back to being goofy and was grinning from ear to ear. He stared back at Aria and even inched his body towards her "That's nothing. It's a guy thing. But if you want to know, I might tell." He teasingly said.
She moved back a little. She is not dense. Eversince ninth grade she sensed that Dustin took a liking on her but since he is not making any move she just brushed it off. Besides, she didn't like him in that level. And being in this situation right now, she is more certain about what she feels towards him.
Luckily they sensed another Lycan coming their way. It was Lenard. Aria had never been more excited to see the serious teenager who barely talks unless asked.
Just like Aria and Dustin, Lenard was welcomed by the pressure from Zach. The three of them watched as the huge wolf with light gray fur crouched down in agony from the pressure coming from the Alpha. The two of them giggled which to their amusement made Zach flush red. She don't know how, but though it can't be seen by others since they are all in wolf form, they know that Zach is blushing from embarrassment right now and that made her giggle more.
And then just like that, Dustin came up with a crazy idea to play a guessing game of who will be able to recover the longest from Zach's pressure from the remaining three Lycans. This received a growl from their Alpha but since he did not stop them directly, they assumed that he is just embarrassed and continued anyways. Unsurprisingly, Lenard did not join them and chose to sit in a stone on the other side of the clearing.
Soon, Chynna showed up and she did fairly well since she recovered faster that Lenard. She then readily joined them in their little game. She was happy to hear she did well than Lenard but was unaccepting to hear that Dustin did better than her. The two bickered about this for a few seconds and was only stopped when Zach said that Aria did better than Dustin. They all looked at Zach incredulously. It seems he is also curious to know how everyone responds to his presence and is taking note of everyone's reaction, he just do not want to admit it openly. And so Chynna soon made fun of Dustin because of this information.
A few moments later, Myca showed up. Like Lenard she is the serious type, but she would still hang out with Aria and Chynna from time to time. Aria find her very agreeable and easy to talk to. Unfortunately for her, she took the longest time so far in recovering. And so, Dustin who seem to want to vent what he experienced with Chynna's assaults earlier, pointed out this information to Myca when she came to their position. Aria and Chynna looked at Dustin disdainfully and soon he was scolded by Zach. Only then did he left the flustered Myca on her own.
Now, only Chloe is left to make an appearance. Chynna and Dustin are already making their bets on the side while the others are doing their own business.
When they felt another presence they all looked in that direction. Soon a female wolf with a combination of light gray and white fur came to their sight. Suddenly Zach stood up from his rock.