Welcome to the new year.

New year, new me. Literally. This year will be my year of METAMORPHOSIS.

This year I will turn 15, and no one can roll their eyes at me and complain about me being a pup anymore.

To be specific, I'm referring to my mum who liked to tell about my latest exploits to the beta's mate and then they would laugh with their hands over their mouths and say, "pups!"

It's the way they deal with my "phase of life" as they call it - as if they couldn't wait for me to outgrow it.

But this year, they won't be able to say it anymore. Well at least, not at me. I will be 15. This year I will shift. Probably.

Actually, I don't really want to. I mean I want to, but I don't want to. It's complicated.

Most werewolves have their first shift at 15 or 16. So while it's painful and I'm one of those who prioritizes pain avoidance, I prioritize not being embarrassed even more.

I don't want to be that girl in my pack who hasn't shifted yet. I happen to know such a girl personally, so I'm not making it up. (Evelyn's 17!)

To be honest, I hadn't noticed at all until last year. My friends and I were just hanging out with the big teens feeling cool and all that, when Evelyn said she had to leave early.

When I asked her why, she shrugged and said quietly, "I have to see the pack doctor."

So I asked her why again. She shrugged and left.

So I asked the other girl there, Marissa, who shrugged and told me, "She hasn't shifted yet so she has to go get checked every month."

Everyone in the group got quiet suddenly. I didn't know how to respond. I didn't even know that could happen.

When I got home, I immediately told my mum what I thought would be shocking news.

It didn't shock mum like I thought it would. Mum just mumbled, "Oh yes, Evelyn. Poor girl. Her mum told me, but I thought it was getting better. Maybe I should go visit her mum and see how she is doing."

My mum wanted to visit Evelyn's mother, even though it's Evelyn who couldn't shift. So it's that bad.

I kept quiet again, and my mum retreated back into the kitchen somewhat deep in her own thoughts.

But after knowing this, I couldn't help but notice that I've never once saw Evelyn in her wolf form. Or how even though she was always smiling and surrounded by friends when I did see her, she only hung out exclusively with members in our pack.

And how her friends were all nice to her, just a little kinder and more helpful.

I realized two things: firstly, our pack must be made of the kindest wolves in the world, and secondly, Evelyn was being pitied.

I'm also starting high school this year. My Dad had decided to put me in this old school on top of a wooded hill.

It's beautiful, yes, but none of my pack would be there. I was pretty bummed.

I've spent all my childhood in a different school from the rest of my pack.

My previous school was at West Mountain. It was a small red bricked building surrounded by green meadows.

Half the kids there were from other packs. The other half were human. They watched different TV shows, they played different games,

I spent most of the time waiting for it to be over so I can go home.

On the very last day of school at West Mountain, I walked out and passed the fences, I looked through the gaps in the hedges and I thought to myself with a smile, "I'm free. I'm never going to have to step into the other side of this fence ever again!"

When I told my mum about it, she laughed, "Oh Sam, it's school, not a prison."

Really? I hadn't noticed. Hahaha.

Now, I will be going to my new prison at Winderhill.

My dad is the Alpha of our pack. He chose it. That was the only reason.

Winderhill is an hour by train from our pack.

The principal of Winderhill was very pleased Alpha Kingsley took the trouble to send his daughter all the way to her school.

Dad told us over dinner how she was crowing about how jealous the principals of the other schools were, how they asked her "What's so special about your school that Alpha Kingsley chose to send his daughter there?"

Following that, a Beta and another Alpha from other packs also enrolled their sons. Word gets around.

I was mortified. I hate that my father went to meet her in person first. I hate to wear "the Alpha's daughter" name tag. I hope I don't ever meet the principal personally, I really hope she doesn't single me out in front of the other kids about it.

Flashback to the vice principal in West Mountain coming into the classroom, in the middle of class, no less. He was a big man and he loomed over the little desk that I sat at.

"So, how do you like this school?" His loud voice boomed in what I supposed he thought was a friendly way.

I remembered just managing to choke out, "It's good."

When I did dare to look up, he was leaving the class with a wave of his hand, "Very good, carry on."

The form teacher closed her gaping mouth and continued working out the math problem on the blackboard. The kid next to me whispered "Are you someone special?"

After the lesson the teacher came up to me and asked me, "How do you know the vice principal?" I think I answered something to the effect of, "My dad..."

My dad. It's always my dad.

"One day you won't be called Kingsley's daughter anymore. I'll be called Samantha's Dad."

This is just something my dad likes to say. My dad, the Alpha who established our pack from the debris of the great war and after that spearheaded the restructuring of the Lycan educational system. Yeah...No pressure.

So anyway, new year, new school, and my own wolf, and now that I think about it, about a thousand new and old ways things can go wrong.

Happy New Year to me.