To live is to hunt, kill, eat, sleep, mate, and repeat until death knocks upon your door or you find another trying to break your pattern. 

There are moments in which everything you considered vital to live is put into question, and when that question is answered, you may find yourself rearranging somethings in your life. It is rare when everything must be redefined, but when that happens, it tends to be because who you were would not be able to handle who you shall be reborn as.

I have always believed myself to be a simple creature of habit and reason, especially when I was pretending to be more than a creature. A person of rationality and ideas that were conveyed in words and images. But at this very moment? I was not.

The moment I caught sight of that wretched mark, all reasoning and ideas left my mind as a rage so profound it filled my belly with fire and set me ablaze from within. Who I wished to be and who I could become were tethered on a thin line. A part of me, the majority wished to rip and tear anything and everything apart until the world was colored a deep and vivid red, until every step rippled within a pool of blood and the earth could not wash away the existence of my fury. Another wanted the world to go silent, for the cold and tranquil sway of waves and the never ending bottom of the abyss. I wanted time. Time to think and figure out a way out of the moment I was forced to live in. There was a humming sound, a shaking and shivering within my own mind, a tightness to my chest that made this flesh and small container feel claustrophobic. 

It was too soon. Far too soon for the mark of death to be appearing on her skin. She hadn't been back for longer than ten days. Blood, I recognized, was pooling within my mouth. My own teeth lengthening to sharpen points that had pierced the flesh within my mouth and torn it to shreds. I retracted them and tried to recall the shape of human teeth, straining to focus on this task as my mind raced with a destructive edge. Air welled within my throat, wanting out to stain the air with death and destruction. I was not blind, my sight could still clearly see the discolored mark upon her brown skin, the raised mark of something that had once pinned death to her chest, like a calling card for the grim reaper. I could see, and yet it was as if I was blind to all that was not that damned scar. I knew there was more, but I could not look away from something so small. 

Mykela. Mykela. Mykela. Mykela. Mykela. Again and again, her name whispered within me like an echo brought to life. Why was our time always marked and broken? She never smiled, not truthfully. She was just beginning to become lively again. How? Why? Thousands of questions, but not enough time. When I got my hands on the person who dragged her soul into this never ending loop of purgatory...my teeth shifted back from the small human teeth I had barely managed to hold together to a smaller version of their capable monstrosity. All I wished was to take her somewhere where no one would look her way, a place to lay her worries down as she slept, with the tranquility of knowing I would be there to prevent harm from ever whispering her name to the wind. How could I comfort a woman stronger than I? She was not the one frozen in rage. No, she held still before me.  My hand was on her shoulder, I knew not when I moved, but the sight and feel of her brought a sense of comfort. She was here. With me now. She had been gone for so long, but here she was. It was nearly exhausting, dragging my sight away from her chest, that mark of death beneath her clothes, but I forced my eyes to her own.

There was no fear, no panic, her rich brown eyes were solely focused on me. I thought it to be terrible, she had just been marked by death far too soon, and yet there was almost a hint of acceptance. As if she were used to having terrible luck. It was true in a sense, and I hated the world for it. How unlucky it was to know someone who you knew deserved it all, but seemed damned to be beneath the worst of the world had to offer.

"How can you be so calm?" The words were difficult to distinguish even if I had been the one to speak. I did not know if I truly wanted to hear her answer, or if voicing the question was my own selfish need to remove it from my mind.

"I've made up my mind to live, actually live." Her eyes were not calm, there was a storm raging within them that was not rage, an intensity I would call a dare. "This changes nothing. Time has and always will be against what you want, but I will not cower any longer."

"How can you say-"

"This changes nothing." She repeated.

"I agree." A voice from the front seat interjected softly, almost soothing. The usual hiss and bit to the words now a soft hum. "If anything were to change, I would say that she's a whole lot more lively about living now. It's a good thing."

"Lively..." I repeated robotic. Thinking back to the last few days, I could see what Viper was trying to say. Both women wanted to shrug this off and continue on as if nothing was wrong. I could do that. I could.  "Alright."

I could try.

"Now stow your rage, you've shattered the windows and scared off the animals nearby." Viper muttered before the sound of her getting out of the car could be heard. The slamming of the door shook the car a bit as she used more strength than usual. It helped shake me out of my stupor a bit. I had been looking at Mykela, but even now, the action of removing my hand from her shoulder filled me with intense anxiety. I fisted my hands as I took in a breath.

She did not move at first, eyes steady on me as she appraised. She moved and I found my breath halting in my throat. She held still and I exhaled. Somewhere within the calmest parts of my mind, I knew it was unfair to her, her sole proximity being the glue that held my mind at ease, especially when she had so much to handle. And still, I could not change the truth even if I wished. It was almost a shock to my body when she reached out tentatively, her fingertips grazing the top of my hands. I stared as she left her hands there.

"Do not," Her voice trailed off uncertainly. Was she attempting to comfort me? I lifted my gaze. Although she faced me physically, her eyes were off to the side, brows furrowed as she pondered over something. The she opened her mouth, eyes flickering back in my direction. "despair."

"You hold hope for something better?"

 "I," She pursed her lips for a moment. "I try to hold hope for more, but I can not have hope for both of us, so please, do not ask me to."

I do not recall getting out of the car, but somehow I found myself standing outside with her close by. A car door opened and shut as steps headed towards us.

"Everything alright here, or should I be worried one of you two is about to shift?" Albericus concerned voice rang out louder than usual, the quiet land void of animals, or rather, they were all frightfully silent. 

"We're all good here." My sister answered tersely. The road was made of loose dirt and small rocks. Mykela was next to me and was breathing calmly. I focused on that. She had asked me not to despair because she wanted to have hope. It was their first time I had-that she had ever comforted me. I wanted to show her that I could do as she requested. 

I straightened up and placed my hands in my hoodie, taking a much more casual stance. Upon doing this, I caught eyes with Albericus. He did not look away like the other wolves but rather seemed to be saying something with his eyes. It took me a moment to realize that he was waiting for my own confirmation of the situation. His consideration soothed me a bit. I nodded in agreement. 

"Great," He seemingly acknowledged my nod. "glad to see everyone okay."

Over his shoulder, glass gleamed around his car as the shattered window fragments scattered all around. I grimaced.       

"Sorry about your car, put your windows on my tab." I whispered sincerely. Thankfully, my small lapse in control didn't result in major damages. He looked back at his car and then raised a brow at me.

"If you leave, do you still have a tab to send it to?" He crossed his arms over his chest, grinning at me.   

"Human curacy here won't work over there." Viper informed him with a bitter tone. Walking around the head of the car, she nudged some of my cars window shards with her foot.

"Ah, you're really starting from the bottom, huh." Albericus winces and shook his head, a pitying expression that disappeared just as quickly. His lips pushed out as he looked away. "Broke life, can't relate."

"Weren't you just asking if his tab would still exist to send the bill too?"

"Me charging and me having money are two different things. I can't even file this under work accident, I'm here on a personal favor for a friend." He jabbed a finger over in my direction.

"Whom you're going to charge for your windows." Viper's head tilted as she dragged out her words in a mocking manner. Albericus stiffened as he stood straight, not that it changed anything, his head lifted in offense, face tight.

"In case you aren't aware of it, where I live, it gets kind of chilly, I would like to roll my windows up if given the chance." He said stiffly. 

"HA! You hairy liar-" I tuned them out for a bit, turning to Mykela when she turned off to the side.

She took a step away from us, turning her heads slightly to the side. Focusing on my hearing, I scanned for anything that should sound out of the ordinary, but when nothing came up I walked over.

"What is it?"

"It really is silent." Ahh, I sighed. 

"This might be the last time we get a moment like this, you know." Her face was turned upward as her eyes shut for a moment. "Silence."

"I'm sure there will be some in the future." I offered, unsure myself, of what I meant. The words felt right, but I could not promise them. We said nothing else as we stood there. 

"We should get going, we're near by to the meeting sight." Albericus called out behind us, he began walking backwards back to his car. "Looks like we'll all be having a chilly drive."

Beside me, I was surprised to hear Mykela chuckle. Watching her make her way back to the car, I wondered if hope was a feeling most humans carried naturally, or if it was something taught.

The meeting site was neither deep within a forest or a populated area. We left the cars a long way back as we started hiking down a green hill that turned into an easy going river. The scent of wet earth and greenery was for font. We each slid down without any trouble, Viper placed a hand on the side as she jumped off and let gravity pull her down. She grinned as she passed me by during her drop. I was almost daring. I kept a steady pace traveling down, close enough to be of assistance if Mykela or even Albericus found themselves in need of help. The later traveled down in heavy stomps, chunks of earth and rocks breaking under his feet every now and then as he moved without a care. Heading up stream was fine until we got to the mounting sides. There was a large waterfall. 

"I don't suppose we have to climb up there?" Viper asked motioning upwards.

Albericus made a face as he pulled out his phone and looked over a map with coordinates. He squinted a bit before he zoomed and moved the map various times on his screen, before flipping it upside down. A curse left his mouth.

"I think we were supposed to get off a few miles from here in order to land on this mountain rather than below it." He tucked his phone away and removed something from his wrist. I watched him put on his hair band. "My bad, rivers always trip me up."

Viper's head tilted back for a moment, a hiss filled the air as she stopped forward and walked around the river pool. I smiled in amusement. Knowing her, she disliked getting dirt beneath her claws. She made quick work of climbing up, plunging her fingers into the rocks and dirt as she heaved upwards. Someone came up behind me.

"While I can climb this, I would prefer not to." Mykela eyed Vipers path and then glanced over in the direction of the waterfall. "Mind if I hitch a ride up?"

My heart missed a beat, but the stuttered organ was quick to continue with its job, albeit a bit louder to my ears than usual.

"Not at all." I confessed.

"Should have asked her to carry me." My ears picked up Albericus' whispered words a moment before he took a step back and ran full speed forward before launching himself up and covering a great portion of the mountain wall.

"Hold tight." She was swift on jumping onto my back and wrapping her arms around my neck, legs around my waist. Jolting around a bit to make sure her hold was tight, I shifted her slightly before being content with her position. 

I followed my sister's premade path and made sure to climb quickly. Mykela didn't so much as make a sound as we ascended upwards. One last leap upwards, and I stood on the edge. I took a couple steps forward and stopped as Mykela began to slide down. Once she was off I followed behind. Viper stood off to the side with a displeased expression as she picked out the dirt beneath her claws. I peeked down at my own. My amusement dried up fairly quickly as I began picking at the dirt beneath them. It appears I chose the wrong time to cease to wear my gloves.

"Mhhmhh." She took one look at me and walked beside me.

Behind us, Albericus came up and clapped his hands a couple of times before dusting them off on his pants and walking onward.

"Now that we're back on track, west is where we should-"

"Are you sure this time?" He gave Viper a deadpanned look.

"I mess up once and suddenly I'm untrustworthy with directions." He rolled his eyes.  "Yes, I'm sure."

"As long as you're sure." She made no attempt to hide her snark.

"Viper."

"Don't chide me while you also clean your nails." She snapped at me.

"I was not chiding you." I lowered my hands to my sides.

"Now your lying."

I turned to hiss at her, she leaned forward and did the same. 

"Where to?" Mykela asked walking up to Albericus with a cool tone, completely ignoring us. 

"Over here." He answered taking a cue from her and pointed west bound in the direction of a space field of thin trees, bared of leaves and coloring. From where we stood, it was close enough that my eyes found no distinctive markings that should not be out here.

"Lead the way." She lifted a hand to motion for him to go first. Viper and I looked at each other before following closely behind.

"I have to admit I'm going to miss your help and your company." Albericus shook his head, smiling at me.

"As will I. I've said my farewell to the guys. Fer and Leo wanted to throw a goodbye party."

"I've only ever seen Fer partying when he needs to blend in. Man has a terrible presence at parties, he can be himself at." 

I said nothing, I found that people often avoided me at parties. I still wasn't sure what gave me away as inhuman and none shifter like. 

"Leo probably wanted to get away from the Pride for a few days." His eyes gleamed with mischievousness. "I heard he's tried to hand his Pride over to his oldest, but the kid doesn't want to lead yet, so he's stuck there now until someone tries to fight him."

My eyes widened at the new revelation. For a half shifter, Leon was not the easiest person to fight. Not so much because he was strong or overpowering, but rather his unique unpredictability was wearisome to follow. The man had the strangest sense of self-preservation and the wildest schemes that somehow managed to work. I had once seen him nearly bleed out while fighting a group of shifters stronger than him. They had overpowered him in numbers and strength, and yet his endurance and tenacity to out do them gave him enough strength to beat them into submission. A lion to the end, even if just half.

"I would dislike having to step into his shoes as well." I gave a weary smile. "No one will challenge his rule. He shall have to fight his own heir to pass down the mantel."

"Don't prides fight to the death?" Mykela questioned squinting ahead of us and scanning around with her eyes. I knew she could see in the dark better than the average human.

"Not the civil ones." Albericus chimed.

"If they're civil, then why fight?" She turned to give him a look I had only seen on the female gender. Even Viper made that face at times. 

"Traditions." We both answered at once. 

"Of course." She replied, and then said nothing more on the matter.

Now within the space trees, I began to squint myself, trying to locate the gate, and finding nothing but nature's mark and growth. It was not long into our tread when Mykela halted. I stopped at once and scanned around. Even if my senses were sharper, she had already proven time and time again to have impressive intuition. Albericus whistled.

"You're good." He praised, impressed. "What gave it away?"

"What do you sense Huntress?" Viper walked up behind Mykela and tilted her head up, pupils expanding as she tried to look for something neither of us sensed. I did the same, watching the world shift as colors came to life and night morphed into something less ordinary.  

"There's something wrong about the space here. As if..." Her words were clearly more for herself then us as she took a tentative step forward, hands stretched out in front of her as she passed Albericus and began to move her hands around. "It isn't a single person spell, this is too grand scale. We are definitely standing here, but the surrounding is off."

"How can space be wrong." Viper walked over to a tree and placed a hand on it. Nothing odd happened. I looked over at Albericus, who stood silent with an intrigued expression as he watched Mykela study her surroundings. "This definitely feels like a real tree. Smells like it too."

"Is the scent of trees and earth stronger now than it was a few seconds ago."

Viper opened her mouth to answer before she shut it, blinking slowly as she took a step away from the tree. Now giving it an odd and distrusting look. "Yes, yes it is. Why?"

"This gate," Mykela crouched down low, but turned to look at Albericus. "It jumps from location to location. Correct?"

He smiled. She took that as affirmation and turned back around, looking at something on the ground.

"If this gate comes with its own cloaking spell as it lands wherever it pleases...If it must be hidden, then blending in would be needed as well but if every location is by chance, then instead of a spell that takes on the scent of its surroundings, one of amplification would be better. At least if needed to misguide those with stronger olfactory gifts." She stood up and paced a bit from the spot she had just been standing. All three of us watched her. "Hallucinogenic within the air? No, no sensation of change, and I still felt the shift of space. A vast amount of space must have been used if spacing feels off, a purge of location before direct contact? No, she said it felt real, and the earth is unmoved. Here and not, no clearing, amplification of scent, which could also be used to mask another, something that would give it away because it's what? A recognizable scent? Signature or common ...ahh. I see. Suppose something that grand should need a specialized spell, if that's its purpose."

I tried to follow along with her muttering, I truly did, but I found myself lost.

"Did you guys get that?" Viper motioned with a hand forward, a vein slightly rising on her neck.

I shook my head. She stood casually now, a pleased expression on her face now that the grand mystery had been solved. For her, of course, because I remained in the dark about a lot of things. 

"Do you know of the magic working on the gate?" Mykela turned to Albericus.

"To some degree." He admitted, a shrewd gleam in his eyes as he stared her on. Both held a polite smile in place, but it seemed much more secretive as if they were on page of the same conclusion.

"Is it a ghost mirror spell." Maybe it was a question, but the way it left her mouth sounded more like a statement waiting for confirmation. It was not arrogance, but a confident tone I had not heard her use in sometime.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, brows furrowing in confusion.

"Ah, the term is probably different here. The magic on the gate, it's a combination of time, the amplification on its surroundings, isn't it? The gate is a door for traveling to dimensions, so manipulating the time and thus reality should be fairly easy. It is here, and yet it is not, at least not, to those who don't know how to see it I assume. The amplification is to mask perhaps a scent of magic? Or would it be loop any who try too near it?"

"She's speaking. I know she is, and yet I still don't understand." Viper studied Mykela, no hint of mocking. She was serious, I knew it because I shared in her confusion.

"Ghost mirror spell?" I repeated.

"It's like an invisibility spell. You exist here on an alternative reality. It could be said to cast yesterday's you into the reality of today. Yesterday you planned on being here, which already grants you the right to stand here today." Her hand moved around animatedly as she motioned to the sky and then around. "It's a simple concept, but something incredibly difficult to pull off for any one being. But as a gate of time..."

"God damn, you're good." Albericus clapped, nodding his head with an amazed expression that made his green eyes look pale as they widened. "You're right."

"Did you get that?" Viper walked over to me, leaning in close to whisper.

"Somewhat, you?"

"Somewhat." She repeated.

"I do have one more question. If you don't mind?" I watched Mykela turn around and take a step away from where she had been standing. I realized that the duration of her rambling, she had never ventured further than that spot, and now she was stepping away. Did she sense something else we had missed, or did this have something to do with her days as a Hunter rather than her own personality? 

"Go on."    

"How did you know we were near by when these two could sense no change? Experience with the gate or?" She stood a few inches away from Viper and I. She stared off forward, dark eyes scanning as she slid a foot back. I straightened as I recognized her stance. 

"It's a shame she has to go." A deep voice carried all around us, amusement evident as he spoke. "She's very good."

At once, the sight so natural before my eyes seemed wrong. branches and leaves that had been moving froze while the world around us continued. Like pausing a movie. Then the image before us disintegrated to small fragments of mist that were carried way by an invisible wind I could not feel. Gone were the sparse trees, and in their place ruined marble chunks of half walls littered the space randomly. The most notable structure being the only intact pillars that loomed over a large door with intricate craftsmanship. This was only the second time I laid eyes on this gate, and as always the feeling it gave off indescribable. Pale purple and white clouds surrounding it from below, casting it in a transcendental glow that shimmered and moved. Almost beckoning us closer.

In front of the gate, hands behind his back stood the alpha of all alphas, or better known as lupus deus to his wolves. As a never aging god, he was the same now as he had been the first time I had laid eyes on his human form. Not as tall as I was, but a much more solid and defined form fit for combat at any given time. Broad shoulders with pitch black hair pushed back. He wore his usual black get up when outside of his private island, a short sleeve black shirt with dark jeans and black boots. Well, there were a few changes to him. Although the scar running down the length of his right brown was something that would never disappear, it was nothing compared to what had really changed about his demeanor. Before his facial features were fixed in a harsher expression, stormy blue eyes, an electric shock to anyone he laid them on, caught off guard by not only the intensity but sheer pressure that came with them. Now, I had seen many more relaxed and even humane expressions on him.

 Of course, the change of his being was behind him sitting on cross legged on a broken pillar, long brown strands tucked behind her ears to show her large brown eyes. She looked us all over, her neutral expression always a tad too lively to be as difficult to read as her mates. Like him, she was slow to change, but these last few years she had grown more into her Luna position, as well as being a mother of two. It didn't take long for her to grin down at me with a wolfish grin, all teeth bared. 

"To answer your question," Albericus infromed us. "My alpha informed me."

Ah, to be a wolf.

AN: Happy belated lated lated lated halloween!

I too, tried to go to Great America, only to hear that nooo, u had to already have the tickets. Well pardon me for not adulting correctly. Boo.

I swear I've had my screen monitor on for the longest but I just kept rewatching Go Go Squid episodes. :} woops.

Dont forget to-

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