I Don't Want This Night to End by Luke Bryan.

Edited, you're welcome

As we came around the edge of a boulder, Ivy, who had shifted to her wolf, led me to Moonlit Chasm where we would be meeting with a few others from our pack for my first border patrol. Her jet black wolf sidestepped to reveal a few of our pack mates standing at the beginning of the chasm which would lead up to a ledge that borders the forest. My father, Alpha Rivers, turned with a growing grin plastered to his clean shaved face.

"Crystal, your wolf is beautiful!" he beamed. "And what may her name be?"

"I like him, he's got good sense," Brook commented.

Mentally rolling my eyes at her, I used the mind link that all pack members shared to reply, "Brook".

"That's a gorgeous name!" he beamed. But before he had the chance to say anything else, he was interrupted by Scorch, our beta, who impatiently drawled,

"Alpha Rivers, perhaps another time? We have a lot of ground to cover and the sooner we return the better."

I tilted my head, wondering what the hurry was. My curiosity only deepened when I saw my father's blue eyes darken. Before I could ask he quickly acknowledged, "Of course, of course. How silly of me... I'll see you at dawn, dear," he kissed me behind my ear before hurrying off.

Ivy and I exchanged looks before we followed Scorch, Jade, who affectionately shoved me, and my cousin Storm. We trotted up the path while Scorch, who was the only one left in human form, raced ahead. When we ascended from the sandstone chasm, we found his yellow eyed, black wolf waiting.

___

The moon rose until it was halfway up the starry sky. Having finally gotten the hang of my new form, I raced through the woods, my heart pounding as adrenaline pulsed through me. A solid white wolf marked with green eyes shot past me. Jade, I realized. I don't know how but I managed to run even faster until I was side by side with her. Our paws thundered in sync.

"Enjoying yourself?" her voice echoed in my mind.

"Oh yes!" I laughed back, my heart running faster than my silver paws. I heard a crash and we were joined by Ivy and Storm who were shoving each other around while trying to avoid the trees. Storm growled when Ivy successfully crashed him into a pile of braken. She snorted and raced ahead of me before he could retaliate. I rolled my eyes just before we broke free of the moonlit woods. When my eyes fell upon what lay outside I gasped and came to a halt.

Before me, laid an enormous lake. Dark blue and purple danced around the inky black on its surface while the distant mountains rose behind it.  I caught my breath in time for the scent of rain to wash over my flaring nose. Brook and I stared in wonder, never had I seen something as magnificent as that. Clouds rolled towards the moon and the stars twinkled mischievously down on us, sparkling with unknown secrets.

In that moment, I knew, there was nowhere on this earth, more beautiful than this. I raised my head and did the only thing that seemed right in that moment. I howled. It was a howl filled with all the emotion from this moment, this moment that froze time and left me almost breathless. I howled in a way that seemed to hold the voice of my ancestors in every wisp of it. The ghostly song of other wolves joined in and I was vaguely aware of my friends by my side. Ivy nudged my shoulder before lifting her head to howl as well.

This was it, this was true Freedom.

We finished our heart filled chorus to the sound of the rest of our pack singing back in the distance. Jade and Ivy led me down to the lake with Storm flanking me; Scorch surveyed the area for danger on a boulder near the forest. I gasped when I looked into the depths of the water and saw the face staring back at me.

My face, I thought.

"Wow, Ivy wasn't kidding earlier," Brook whispered. "We really are stunning."

I couldn't even say anything as I stared at the silver wolf whose striking blue eyes gazed back at me. My silver fur was tipped with black where it was the longest, my muzzle and most of my head was so silver, the light turned it a misty blue. My black, wet nose twitched and I realized my friends were staring at me expectantly.

I raised my head, perking my ears for one of them to say something. Ivy took the chance to squeal through the mind link, "Are you ready to go on your first border patrol?"

"Definitely!" I yipped back.

We turned and trotted towards Scorch who rose from where he was laying with a stretch and led the way to the border.

__

We sprinted along the border, occasionally rubbing against boulders and trees to ensure we left enough scent behind. There were grizzlies outside the territory, many accompanied by cubs. I've heard stories of wolves that left the territory. Some say that the stories were made up to scare the pups, but my parents to this day tell me that they were real and that, should I ever find myself outside the territory, I should run and not stop until I'm back within our borders.

Legend says there have been missions to recover those who got lost on the outside, Some were successful, finding remains from a bear or mysterious attack. Others went too far out and never returned. One of the pack rules is that, if during pack duty you must leave the territory, you are only allowed to traverse one hundred and fifty bounds away from the pack borders.

My contemplation was disrupted when I bumped into Ivy who had stopped abruptly. "Do you guys smell that?" her voice quivered in my mind.

I sniffed the air when something musky washed over my nose. "Yeah, what is that?" I inquired.

"Bear," Scorch's husky voice murmured. He carefully approached the smell before he stopped and turned back to us. "It's stale. It seems like it was traveling alone. It turned back and left the territory almost immediately. Make sure you mark the border through here more thoroughly," he huffed.

I made a mental note to remember what it smelled like before I continued on with my companions.

_____

We slowly trotted into camp as the moon began it's decent down to earth. Camp was bustling with wolves and humans milling about. Some were twisting cotton and wool into yarn while others worked with furs.

On the other end of the clearing that's edged in various structures, was the food quart. That's where food was prepared, both for humans and for wolves. Everything was cooked to ensure that we didn't ingest anything harmful.

Then you have the housing section, the training arena, and finally, the medical ward.

Our patrol quickly dispersed. Storm to the food quart (I swear, he never stops eating), Scorch headed towards the housing district to find my father to update him. That left Ivy, Jade, and I. After a quick discussion, Ivy and I walked towards the pack meeting place while Jade went to find us some snacks.

When the pack held a meeting, typically every full moon to discuss a bunch of boring stuff and then introduce the new wolves of those who've shifted since the last meeting, we would all gather at the base of the ledge that had a path leading up to it where my father would stand as Alpha. Since I shifted for the first time right before sunset, I am to guard the camp from the ledge until dawn.

Most werewolves are used to staying up all night, since they have night vision and can thrive in the darkness. But because I've never had it before now, I'm not used to staying up and could already feel the exhaustion.

Now on the ledge, Ivy and I, still in wolf form, sat and surveyed the camp. Jade soon returned and together, we stayed up till the sun rose. Ivy, Jade, the deer meat, and I.

At the sight of dawn, the three of us lazily cleaned up our mess then slunk off to our dens.

Crapes, something hard just hit the roof right above me 😱 lol, anyways *coughs* that is the end of Chapter two, A Night Of Wonder.

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May the light guide your path.