"I'm so excited!!" Tatyana squealed. Ezra looked down at his travel bracelet otherwise known as a Denizen bracelet. It let them travel across all territory subdivisions without setting off any division lines.

"We'll go later today? Right guys?! The waterfall in Evergreen?" Tatyana asked excitedly.

"Curious, isn't it?" Ezra asked interrupting her as he shook his wrist and watched it jangle. The magic behind how it worked, still left him both confused and intrigued.

Tatyana pouted at him and he muttered an apology.

"Careful little ember, thinking too much about how exactly the magic in that bracelet works is going to cause your head to explode," Terrance said with a smirk. Ezra looked over at him annoyed.

Terrance shrugged, "you think too much about things."

Ezra rolled his eyes, "you think too little."

Terrance laughed, "ouch, you wound me!" Terrance playfully smirked at him and Ezra laughed.

"You both wound me, boys! You're not taking this seriously! Come on, the adults are leaving! The Denizen ceremony for Rosewood is officially over, we got the bracelets. Let's plan phase two!" Tatyana said excitedly.

They all stared at each other in excitement and nodded. Ezra quickly scanned for his father and noticed him still being surrounded by the adults in his section. Ezra smiled; being their tribe's Alpha seemed tough. Especially since they were all trying to congratulate him. For now, he had time before his father made it outside. He nodded to his friends and they headed outside the sanctuary doors.

"10 PM we will meet at the tribal gate, by the two columns. We will head to the sub-division line between Rosewood and Ever Green and head west for 11 miles. We stop at the clearing that should be there, rest up and head for another 7 miles southwest and we should see that waterfall." Tatyana whispered as the boys nodded. Her blond hair moved with each word. Her light brown eyes seemed to get brighter with her excitement.

Ever Green's waterfall was accessible every morning and up until 6 PM but at night it was only accessible to those with travel bracelets and adults. It had been Tatyana's dream to view it at night and it was her birthday today.

"The waterfall might be packed because everyone is already out of school... plus the sky is clear so I don't think we will be the only ones there. And I really want us to get a good spot." Tatyana said concerned.

"How do you know the sky will be clear later today half-blood?" Terrance asked curiously.

"Well, I can't shift into a dire wolf like y'all but I pay attention in class and track the stars and look at the weather. Today is the best alignment of the stars and the weather is amazing."

The boys nodded in agreement; she had a point there. Tatyana also had a great sense of direction for a non-shifter.

"If your wrong Tatyana, you're doing our homework for a whole week when school starts. I hate learning about Earth Realm's climate change... just ends up making me hope those pureblood vampires get their way." Terrance sighed.

Ezra smirked, "Regents specifically have a treaty with them so that they don't."

"You know what I mean," Terrance smiled. Tatyana rolled her eyes.

"10 PM tribal gate?" She confirmed. They both nodded.

---

Ezra rushed to find his father and spotted him walking by two gate pillars outside the sanctuary. Quickly he rushed to him.

"Glad I caught you," Ezra said with a smile.

"Care to fill me in on the plan to go to Ever Green?" Ezra's dad asked with a smile as he stopped walking. Ezra turned to look at his father, their tribe and pack leader, who now had his arms folded across his chest. How had he known?

"You and your friends are loud, even if you are whispering. Are you going to celebrate?" He said with a smile. Ezra rolled his eyes and looked at his wrist not wanting to admit anything.

"I promise I will back safe and sound," he said sheepishly.

"You made omega 6 months ago on your 15th birthday, the youngest allowed because of your undeniable potential. I expect you to be back safe and sound. Just because prep school is out, for now, does not mean combat training at 5 AM is also over. Oh, and your first rotation might be tomorrow."

Ezra looked up from the ground surprised, "I thought I would not qualify for area rotations until I was 16."

His dad nodded and sighed, "This denizen ceremony changes a lot of things, Ezra. Rotations, when you are a residing tribe, can be set at 3-4 members from the 6 and all of them get training. Because of your age, we always kept you out of them and rotate the 3 and sometimes make it 4 if needed. But now we will be asked to report a lot more frequently to one of the native packs.

We may even have to act under them since we will be under their chain of command. They will decide on rotations... well, whoever selects us... and selection is tomorrow morning at 9 AM. If you checked the calendar yesterday at the hall, you would have noticed."

Ezra could feel his father's judgment. He nodded and looked up at his father.

"By becoming a Denizen tribe, we gain more rights, more access, and our opinions hold more weight than before... but now our pack becomes critical for protecting everyone else in our sub-division of Rosewood. We will be less able to take light liberties," his father continued.

We won but at what price? Ezra thought with a smirk.

"Those should have been internal thoughts." His father said flicking his forehead. He could feel his cheeks heat up.

"But I guess you should enjoy these liberties while you can." His father added with a small smile.

"So I can go?" Ezra said suddenly.

His father scoffed and rolled his eyes, "yes Ezra. I just need you to know what you have ahead of you so you can plan ahead."

Ezra smiled, "I'll be back by 1 AM."

"Derren!" A man said coming closer to his father. He was tall, his eyes deep green, and his hair black.

"Omega," the man said smiling over at him. Ezra rolled his eyes. It was their second in command, Kieran.

"My son will be heading out to see the waterfall with our Omega and Tatyana for her birthday."

"I'm well aware." Ezra's father said with a smile.

"You're our pack's Omega, keep my son and our little non-shifter safe. Now with this ceremony over, you're officially the youngest omega in any Denizen pack. Tomorrow will be a big day so don't come home too late."

"Got it," Ezra said with a smile. Kieran smiled and ruffled his hair.

"On a serious note," Kieran began his tone losing his usual playful edge.

"Darren, there have been more reports of nomadic tribes trespassing without approval and violence from Territory #24 on our south. As you should be aware territory #24 touches all of our sub-division borders. The current Native packs are dealing with it for now."

Ezra's father nodded, "and after tomorrow it will be a problem we might have to deal with."

"Should we not leave?" Ezra asked concerned. His dad shook his head.

"The waterfall is east you should not have issues, but again be aware and plan ahead."

"What territory is to our east? Which is it that you are not cross on your little venture east?" His father asked.

"After the SD... or ummm.. subdivision of Ever Green we have Territory #33... which I will not cross. And south is Territory #24."

His father looked at him, "both which you will what?"

"Not cross," Ezra promised.

"What else?" his father asked.

"I'll be home by 1 AM."

---

Ezra looked around as he leaned on one of the tribal gate columns. They had said 10 PM, had they not?

This was why he hated being on time. He looked up and saw the night sky, it was so clear. Tatyana would love it when they got to the waterfall. Laughter came behind him and he saw a few teenagers laughing about along with some adults. Everyone seemed to be celebrating in their own way. His father did not even have rotations because of the ceremony, other packs were covering.

Suddenly he straightened as his ears heard a familiar voice. "I am so sorry we're late!" Tatyana said exhausted.

"Some teenagers kept asking us if we wanted to go to High Hill and look at the sea. Some girls from the class were asking for you, Ezra." She said with a playful smile.

Ezra rolled his eyes, "shame I'll have to settle for you two. High Hill would be nice at night too."

High Hill was the subdivision to the west. In fact, Territory #2 had the biggest sea coast, and High Hill controlled most of it. Aside from the capital.

"We're only 16 minutes late," Terrance said.

Ezra raised an eyebrow, "just 16 minutes we have to make up. My curfew is set for 1 AM."

Terrance smiled a cheeky smile. Ezra knew that smile.

"Why don't we race to the first checkpoint then?" Terrance said with a gleam in his eye. Tatyana gave them a concerned look.

"But I can't shift." She whispered.

"You don't need to; you can get on top of one of us. We'll carry you. We'll trade going home." Terrance shrugged.

"But your clothes, don't they rip apart?" She asked concerned.

Ezra smiled at her and brought up his hand, a shiny gold ring on his index finger.

"We have shifter rings for a reason. Makes your clothes come back. Now flip a coin," Ezra said with a playful smile.

"Loser carries Tatyana. If you get her, I'll give you a 5-minute head start. If I get her, I'll give you a 2-minute head start."

Terrance gave him a shocked look.

"No, if I get her, I get a 20-minute head start. If you get her, I get a 10-minute head start." Terrance said unamused. Ezra glared at him, that was so not fair.

"You first had your link-shift at 11 and made your first full shift a few months later. You made Omega 6 months ago and train with them. Most of us haven't had our first link-shift until we were 13 or 14! Stop trying to cheat."

"I get it, fine. Flip the coin. I pick heads." Ezra said with a sigh.

Terrance grabbed a coin from his pocket, and they all watched it land on the floor.

"You've got to be kidding me, what the hell!" Terrance said with a pout.

"He's just blessed by nature," Tatyana said with a shrug as she walked over to him.

"Rigged by nature," Terrance said with a pout.

"You two better be off then, your 20 minutes already started."

As they all got into position, he watched his friend shift and Tatyana struggled to get on top of the larger dire wolf.

As he saw them running into the east woods he sighed; great more waiting.

-------------------------