I wiggled my fingers in the air around my wet head. The air twisted and contorted to my demand and began to dry not only my hair but the tiny wet spots that had formed on my light blue t-shirt. I glanced down at my jean shorts making sure that there were not any tiny wet spots caused by dripping hair. I spotted only one. My palm flattened against the jeans then I slowly moved my hand up bringing my fingers together. I sucked the tiny water droplet out of my hand and placed it in the tiny cup on the vanity. It sounded crazy but throwing away a resource like water no matter how small seemed wasteful and wrong. Plus, who knew when I might need a quick weapon.
The large square mirror in front of me was framed by small round lightbulbs that made the little droplets of water cling to my cheeks. Being an element bender means being aware of the energy in the world. Everything holds a piece of energy. Even the smallest droplet of water. To be an element bender means having a special gene that allows our body to not only attract, but manipulate the energy surrounding our bodies.
I ran my fingers through my long brown hair pulling it into a floppy bun. Small bobby pins scattered all over the pink marble vanity and I picked up two silver ones to secure the bun into place then a brown one to twist back my fringe of bangs that were just slightly too long to wear as regular bangs. Brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes looked back at me as I used my teeth to open the final bobby pin then slid it into my hair.
A booming voice echoed up the stairs and crawled its way into my room. "Lily will you please come on!"
My eyes rolled as I slipped on blue Converse style shoes. Clicking the door behind me I quickly took the steps almost two at a time and jumping over the last two altogether causing a loud thud. John grimaced and placed his hands on his hips.
"Just because it's your seventeenth birthday doesn't mean you just get to do whatever you want and stamped the house."
"Just because you are nineteen and already married doesn't mean you get to come in here and play dad." I did not think it was possible, but John's eyes narrowed more, and he stepped closer to me. I could see his alpha energy radiating from his body attempting to make me submit, but I was not an average shape shifter and he was not alpha yet. His brown hair dropped almost to his eyelashes and his gold eyes had specks of black gradually getting larger.
Abby, John's mate, placed her small hand on his shoulder. Her clear blue eyes met his and the black pools in his own eyes almost completely disappeared. He pushed her auburn hair behind her ear and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
I could not help making a fake gagging sound. "I thought we were in a huge rush to get to the movies John."
Dad placed his arm over my shoulders and shook his head at me. "Why don't you go get the twins and we'll go warm up the van." Dad was the current alpha of the pack. He stood taller than most male shape shifters and was only rivaled in energy and size by John who was quickly being groomed to take over. John was a spitting image of Dad except for silver eyes instead of gold.
"Harry! Elizabeth!" I plastered the most innocent smile on my face that I could muster, and Dad let out a long sigh.
"If I meant for someone to yell at them, I could have done that."
The twin's blonde heads came bobbing down the stairs and their brown eyes investigated mine at the exact same time. Happy Birthdays erupted from their tiny thirteen-year-old bodies. I could not help but chuckle as I gave them both a hug at the same time thanking them.
"Is Cindy or Oliver coming?"
Both shook their heads in unison. The whole twin thing got kind of creepy at times. Elizabeth bounced on her toes and her still slightly too high voice came out almost in a shrill screech. "You never know who you might meet today. After all it is way overdue." Elizabeth winked while Harry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
My shoulders dropped and I stepped back slowly. I placed a small fake smile on my lips and tried, horribly, to act like her words did not have any effect on me. Most shape shifters found their mates before their tenth birthday. It varied depending on the animal we shifted into but for wolves the goddess wanted us to be able to form a strong bond especially since we must bond together as a pack. Shifters like bears and tigers often found their mate a little later like sixteen or seventeen. Being an element bender was rare and many people did not believe we even existed, but it meant we did not know what would happen. Mom was scared I would not shift at all and then I shifted two years earlier than normal for a wolf. She found her mate at five years old, so I had expected to also find him early. Here I was though. Seventeen. Mateless. Alone.
"It'll happen in due time Lil. Don't you worry." Mom gave me a warm smile and waved us to the van. My smile turned a little more convincing as we