The secret collective

The secret collective chapter one.

MANAIA POV

Matt, Devon, Stacey, Te Aroha, Rawiri, Taika & I sat in a circle on the ground around the campfire, Alpha Henry of the Silent Shadows pack hidden in the bushes of America glared down at us in anger, some of his powerful alpha aura leaking out.

He took a deep breath let it out and said begin again, this time focus on your Wolf try bring them into your space neither of you take control and get to know each other.

We all rolled our eyes & Rawiri stupidly opened his mouth, “but alpha we have been at this for 8 weeks, everyone else has pretty much completed this but all my wolf & I do is bicker with each other, I’m never gonna get this, also it feels weird having no one in control.”

Alpha Henry sighed again and looked over at his son who was a few years younger at 16 than our 17, 18 & 19 year old group,

Bear automatically opened his mouth “ even though we have already told you why this is important we will waste everyone’s time and go over it again.

This is important and the last part of your time here before you go home, if you don’t do this your wolf could turn feral.

Creating this stronger bond from hanging with them in your mind knowing likes, dislikes & anger triggers helps you to know your wolfs mood.

I know it feels weird having neither of you in control but it’s important you do this otherwise the collective will request your wolf be neutralised, it’s not pretty and most don’t survive, your a good kid with a lot of potential so” Bear claps his hands looks at his dad & the alpha says “Begin”

We all look into the flames and I recede into the blank space of my mind where my wolf Tymora is waiting for me. She rolls her eyes and says “so the doofus twins still haven’t gotten it yet”.

We roll on the floor of my mind laughing passing the time talking & sparring with each other until Tymora hears the call of the alpha to take control, she slips into the front, makes our head drop (when no one is in control the body looks straight ahead the first time I saw it happen I freaked out screaming ) to show submission & says “ good evening again Alpha” he chuckles and says “nice to speak with you again Tymora ,you can bring Manaia back now” She gives me back control & I stare at the ground waiting.

The alpha Henry looks around the group and says “first light tomorrow I want you 3”looking at the boys “back here at 3am we will try again, the rest of you have free time until these guys get it.

Bear you can be there escort while they are here until the others have completed the training.

I do however expect you all to be at daily mandatory training at 0700 with the rest of the pack, is that clear! “Yes alpha” we said in unison. “Dismissed” we all standup stretch our legs and start the long trek back to the pack house, we are about 1 hour and a half walk away.

After the alpha dismissed us Stacey, Te Aroha, Bear & myself walk back to the pack house, I check the time on my watch it’s now 0530 & the sun is just about to rise & we have been up every day for the last 3 weeks at 0300, this is by far the most intense training we have had so far and it’s not even physical.

Stacey & Te Aroha took longer than me to get this last part of the training but this is due to my gamma blood line,

Us 3 along with Devon are members of the Hidden North Tangata Whenua (in Maori this means “ people of the land”) pack of Aotearoa New Zealand the other boys with us are members of the Hidden South Maui pack, they like to joke that they have a panther colony living within their collective that they train with, I think they are kidding cause everyone knows that there are no Panthers in New Zealand.

Actually no one in New Zealand thinks that there are no packs or supernatural beings, this is because the bush land is so dense and large that we can hide easily if we do come across humans.over 80% of the land is mountains and rolling hills super easy for us to hide if we cone across

So your probably wondering why or how I ended up sitting on the ground gazing into a fire in the US.

Well we are all part of a secret global supernatural collective that has been around since the days of Columbus.

As soon as collective members turn 5 you start the mandatory collective training;

From 5-7 years old you are required to live in Japan to learn etiquette & manners.

At 8 you get to spend 6 months living with your pack then 18 months living in Europe learning history & medieval weapons training,

At the age of 11 you either get sent to to train with the aboriginals in Australia, or the nomads of the desert ,some go to Africa,others to South America or Europe, Ireland, Scotland or Wales for a year, a few go to India or Japan.

I don’t really remember much as this training is only for your wolf so I wasn’t really present for it maybe I can get Tymora to tell me.

Anyone that is a collective member gets their wolf at 13, As soon as we turn 13 we get enrolled into “homeschooling” for the human government records.

From 12-14 we go home and recreate the bond with family and pack, for me this also meant expedited gamma training on top of normal school.

When we turn 15 we go to the US and travel to different packs for trainings in 6 month blocks for 4 years which brings us back to the pack house in front of me.

I head to the space I’ve called my room for the last 6 months and 3 weeks get changed into something suitable for training, now that I’m alone I release the frustration by letting out a scream,

I’m so pissed off with the stupid boys we were supposed to be finished this training 5 weeks ago but the boys have been mucking around and not being serious about the training, we think it’s just cause the next stop is their pack lands in New Zealand & they know that we know there are no panthers in NZ, or maybe it’s cause they don’t want to leave.

Who knows what goes on in the brains of boys. I look at my watch and see I have 10 minutes to get to the field for mandatory combat training.

I lace up my shoes walk out my door and start jogging to the spot.

I see the boys and some other members of the pack heading the same way as well and call out a hello, they look at me wave and grumble a small “lo” clearly they have stumbled out of bed & are still waking up hope they get their head in the game otherwise they might get hurt.

When we arrive the head warrior Marcus is already organising everyone into sparring groups according to age and skill the littlest of them are 2-4 years old (they used to have their training way later in the day but kept running away from the nannies to come here so alpha approved the time change, actually I think it’s genius cause when we are training and they are there it reminds us if there was ever an attack from non collective members or rogues they are who we would be fighting for which pushes us to work harder) they look so cute doing their repetitive motion training.

Marcus finishes organising us I see that I have been put into a group with Rawiri, he always looks down at me because he thinks Im only gamma cause of my bloodline not my skills, I’ll teach him the obnoxious pup. He has been like this ever since we met at the age of 5 but he got worse after I completed my expedited training, you know how sometimes you meet someone and they instantly grind your gears that is me and Rawiri through and through.

I look around and see that Jemma a girl from the pack who is the same age as & is mates with Jacob has also been put into our group as well as alpha Henry’s nephew Jacob he rolls his eyes at Rawiri and says you ready?

Rawiri gets into a defensive position and the 3 of us start attacking him at once cause in a real fight you never know how many opponents you’ll be fighting.

He ducks, weaves, uses his foot work to block and defend I wait for an opening look over to see Jemma throwing a roundhouse kick he starts spinning towards me when I throw my fist into his face and feel the impact of his nose break,

Jacob then sweeps Rawiri’s leg and he hits the ground Marcus looks over at us and says good job guys, Ra sit a spell and wait for your nose to heal then go again this time, Jemma on defence.

While we wait for Ra Jacob takes a seat next to him and starts explaining how to use your wolfs senses to anticipate the attack. Jacob looks up at me and Jemma and says you girls wanna show him. I’m taking a breather ( he’s always like this he won’t hit Jemma)

We stand up facing each other we both crack a grin then take defensive positions,

I take a deep breath Tymora comes to join me as we have joint control my senses overload I can feel, see and taste everything 100 times better than before,

I glance at Jemma and see her & her wolf Kaia staring back at me eyes a mixture of pitch black with green flecks, my eyes probably look the same pitch black with brown flecks.

They both contort their face into a smile their voice a mixture of both they say “let’s do this” we launch at each other but neither of us can get a hit in both with our superior senses heightened we feint, block and keep trying to get a hit in on each other, time passes quickly when suddenly a whistle blows and we both stop trying to get a hit in. Marcus is looking at us in disbelief.

Girls he says that was phenomenal, Ra , Jacob go again.

You two come here and can you help lead repetitive motion training with the pups. We walk over to the pups and break them up into smaller groups and start doing drills.

Combat Training is finally over we all head to the locker rooms in the gym to shower and change, then it’s to the kitchen to help with breakfast.

I check the breakfast roster and see that Jemma, myself and Jacob have been allocated “drinks” so we run to the dining hall and start getting the Coffee, tea, sugar ,juice and water organised I start by heading over to the table with 154 coffee machines and start putting the jugs under the spout to catch the drip coffee I make sure the beans are fresh, and start the coffee machines,

next I move to the water filter & fill 154 jugs with cold water and put them on the table next to the table with the coffee machines, after this we go to the pantry and get the magical ( not really) cup cart,

these carts are super light and have enough cups for all the pack member we wheel them carefully out to the dining room where the drinks table is and put one of the cup carts next to the coffee station, one near the water and juice and one near the tea.

The team who have been allocated “cooking” duty must be almost done cause the smells coming through are divine.

Just to give you an idea on how the collective works they have the usual pack leadership however due to the collective ancestors teachings we all help out and no one is abused or taken advantage of.

Our packs are from ancient times and are hidden in the shadows, there are rumours that the reason training with the Silent shadows pack is the last ones we train with,

Alpha Henry’s ancestors are the last of the Sioux, when we were driven out from the lands his ancestors hid and survived, some took boats & escaped to other lands to start over & escape the slaughter of the people,

my packs ancestors are some of the ones that escaped & travelled to faraway lands like Japan,NZ,Australia,this is how the secret collective began & no one is supposed to know that the training he has been doing with us is from times when skin walkers and the first pure shapeshifters walked the land, it’s been passed down generation to generation.

See the thing is we have given the outside world a mirage, an illusion if you will to them -to the outside world we seem poor, disadvantaged, addicts or whatever else other stereotype you want to throw

. The collective decided to keep us hidden we would throw out red herrings to make us seem invisible, lost, weak , broken, whatever but really we are hiding in plain sight.

Finally we hear the gong for breakfast and wait for the kitchen crew to grab their plates and food first then it’s us then everyone else filters through.

The kitchen crew has outdone themselves today. Toast ,Bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, cheese & ham or plain crossiant’s ,pancakes with fresh fruit, whipped cream ,maple syrup.

We all eat our food and no one talks for a bit, then Alpha stands up and calls out the names for the people on breakfast clean up duty and the lunch crew, I don’t pay attention cause we won’t be on the list for chores again till next week or so.

After he sits down we wait for the lunch crew to meet and come up with choices for lunch, we take a vote, majority of the pack vote for lasagne, garlic bread & salad.

After breakfast I go back to my room & try to study to get all my assignments that are due done., we are supposed to be graduating soon which is exciting but hey it is what it is. I turn some music on and get lost in my studies. I’m just about finished when I get a link from

Taika “hey cus what you up to” “

Me; “ just doing my assignments”

T “ you almost done”

Me” yup, why”

T “wanna go to the mall and chill for a bit”

Me “yea sure who else is coming”

T “everyone”

Me” k see you in the car park in 15”

I grab my hoodie, my bag with my wallet and my phone, make my way to the car park where everyone is meeting.

When I get to the car park I glance around to see who else is coming.

There is a group of 15-20 plus escorts. we will need to take 4 vehicles the boys choose 2 Prado land cruisers the escorts choose 2 dark grey Nissan skylines ,while we Stacey,Te Aroha, Devon,Taika & I head for the dark blue WRX.

I open my link to them & say on ya marks 3, 2, 1 we all throw our hands into a circle & change them to Rock,Paper & Scissors, I went rock and lost to Devon & Taika & Te Aroha who threw paper ,Stacey went scissors so Marcus chucks the keys to her while she squeals with glee at winning the chance to drive, the rest of us share a look a trepidation, as much as I love the girl she has a lead foot so our drive will be terrifying & fast, good thing we don’t break easy she’s written off 3 cars already, a Toyota starlet, a Honda crx ( they crumple so easy she was lucky her wolf Trixie was able to heal her fast enough from the multiple injuries she received) & the one that broke my heart the most, a yellow & black racing spec 1977 Holden Torana A9X (she got in soo much trouble for that it was right when we got back to nz after we got our wolves, she was grounded & wasn’t allowed out except for training, school & to let her wolf out to run twice a day.

She gets behind the wheel and I jump in the front while the rest get in the back, we wait for the others to start their cars and we drive off convoy style one grey Nissan in the front, us then the 3 Prados, one green, one red ,one black & one grey Nissan behind us out of the pack territory to the human city close by.

We head to the mall taking in the sights along the way the beautiful sandy beach and ocean views on one side of us and beautiful green dense bush on the other side the road and distant views of the city an 2 hours away, we link the alpha to let him know we won’t be back for lunch and he chuckles through the link and says I figured that the escorts have funds for lunch for all of you.

Have fun and stay safe.

Along the way we belt out songs at the top of our lungs and goof off, talking about home and what we are going to when we get back to Aotearoa, Te Aroha says she can’t wait to go home to the marae, get back in touch with her family & have some of her great grandmas boilup

. (Boil-up is a broth/soup made from balanced combination of meat and bones, with greens such as puha, watercress or cabbage, and kūmara or potatoes, boiled together, along with flour dumplings known as "Doughboys")

Devon says he can’t wait to get back home for a Big Ben mince & cheese pie & some of his great aunt’s pavlova, Stacey says she just wants to see her little brother who she has never met ,he is 3 now and will be heading to Japan with his parents when he turns 5.

Normally we would have seen our families but due to the Covid pandemic it has been difficult to get flights home & back for all of us at the same time, luckily the borders have opened up and life has returned to normal due to the Covid antidote that was discovered 4 months ago.

I just say I can’t wait to see my family, the truth is I’m not looking forward to it my mum is stepping down as Gamma in 18 months and I’m supposed to be stepping up, however due to the delays with the training we are currently doing we are in a holding pattern of sorts .

The timeline was shortened the funny part is at this rate due to the Maui crew not picking it up quickly it looks like we will be here till when we originally were supposed to leave, as frustrated as I was I couldn’t really complain as long as I went to the mandatory training, kept my room tidy and did my chores when my name came up on the roster it would be like a vacation.

I might ask if I could volunteer in the crèche to give the elders a hand, all of the active elderly and mothers of up to 3 years olds all work in the crèche on a rotating roster with hours of 0600-1230 & 1200 -7pm it is open from 0600-7pm everyday.

Everyone gets 3 days off a week due to the sheer number of people here , the expectation is that you care for your own child between the hours of 1900-0600, houses must be cleaned and rooms must be tidied by all occupants of the house,

this is easily done by all collective members due to the 2 year etiquette & manners training we do in Japan between ages 5-7 years this helps make us self sufficient,

I decide volunteering is something I want to do and nod my head to myself.

I look around & see that we are close to the mall and start mentally writing a list of things I need or want.

We drive around looking for car parks and decide to head to a road adjacent to the mall we find an empty stretch of road and park the cars, lock them up and start walking as a group towards the mall, the boys are talking about going to the movies and seeing Marvel Black Widow.

As for me I’d rather wait for Battison or the Ayer cut version of Suicide squad, I run to the electronics store and go have a look at pS5 games, pick out a few and head to the checkout, the rest of them have gone to clothing stores, obviously going into a mall looking like we do would raise suspicion so we stay in our car groups except for the escorts who each attach themselves to us.

While I’m waiting for the others I have a look round and get some new dresses, shoes ,jeans and pants.

After going through the check out I go sit down on a bench to wait for the others when the boys link saying their movie has finished and did we want to go bowling or play mini golf we choose mini golf and head off in the direction of the course in the mall.

2 hours later our belly’s filled with food, drinks and the fun of mini golf we all pile into the cars and head back home.

RAWIRI POV

I look out the window of the car on the way back to to pack lands after our day at the mall, it was fun and the movie was great but I need to focus on figuring out this stupid training, my wolf Ratana chimes in and says it’s the most pointless thing ever I’m not going to go feral, we need to make it seem like we have completed it so we can go home,

I miss the expansive territory of our home land see in New Zealand we have 2 packs the North pack and the south so we have the whole length of the South Island claimed as ours it’s great for hunting, tramping and the feeling of letting your wolf out with out feeling territory borders of other packs or worrying about stumbling upon rogues, everyone thinks we lie about the Panthers in our community but it’s not, my cousin is a Wolf/ Panther Hybrid.

Her great great great grandpa was the one who screwed up and let the humans see him while he was in panther form, it caused a lot of trouble for a while but now they make a hunting training game out of it, they have to go out in panther form where humans are trying to find them and stay silent & not be found, sometimes the humans spot them from very far away and have taken fuzzy pictures but no one has gotten close.

It’s hilarious when this happens cause the human media goes crazy and keeps us entertained for a bit.

I know it’s a bit dangerous but the “panther of NZ” tourism draw I guess.

I can’t wait to get home and introduce everyone they are going to be soo freaking shocked even though I’ve been telling them for ages.

At home in our pack we also have elves who were part of the Scottish colony escaped to Aotearoa when they were pushed from their homelands in the times of William Wallace.

The fairy’s & leprechauns are from Ireland and fled when others Irish were being rounded up for & used for slavery so it’s really a mixed bag when it comes to training , our training is longer it runs from 0600-0900 and is has a rotational boot camp feel to it.

The fact that no one else believes is that we have these other people in our pack is simple they don’t trust the collective, I understand why due to the bloody history between some shifter families & their clans. This will be the first time ever collective members will be on Maui pack lands.

What started as a tentative alliance grew into us turning into family, my cousin Harmony who passes her classes with ease and is academically genius smart, she is currently deep in the Amazon in the hidden “mythical” land of Themyscira, she had the choice of which country she wanted to train in.

I’m not jealous or mad though, Harmony’s Dads family tree is terrifying! Like legit piss your pants, don’t want to mess with that, I’ll just walk away & never ever mess with you now that I know TERRIFYING , see at the very tippy tippy top of her family tree is none other than the queen of creation the supposed “mythical” Papatuanuku.

,Papatūānuku had many children with Ranginui, the sky father.

Their children pushed them apart to let in the light.

The children had more children, including birds, fish, winds and water.

They became the ancestors of everything in the world today.

After some time drifting Papatūānuku seeked out Maui & his brothers asking for refuge, according to legend they took her on a fishing expedition.

Maui convinced his brothers to row out to the deepest part of the ocean, where he cast a fish hook made from his grandmother’s jawbone.

It sank below the waves and fastened to the underwater house of Tonganui, the grandson of Tangaroa, god of the sea. Māui hauled up his catch above the water.

The land, the North Island, became known as Te Ika-a-Māui (the fish of Māui).

It is often said that the North Island is Māui’s fish and the South Island his canoe, but the East Coast tribe,

Ngāti Porou, believe the canoe ended up somewhere else.

They say that the first part of the fish to emerge from the water was their sacred mountain, Hikurangi.

Māui’s canoe, Nukutaimemeha, became stranded on it, and is still there in petrified form, but I digress each to their own opinion and all that it is considered disrespectful to question or debate someone about their cultural beliefs, for example my pack/ tribe, iwi if you will believe the stern of Māui’s canoe is the southern tip of the South Island, and the prow is the north.

When Māui hauled up his great catch he stood on the Kaikōura Peninsula, which is called Te Taumanu-o-te-waka (the thwart or seat of the canoe).

Stewart Island is believed to be the anchor.

They made a home and now here we are, Harmony’s family is under a gigantic amount of stress and pressure cause of their connection to the earth they are the ones that use the earths ley lines to keep the collective boarders enforced.

There is actually a reason I struggle so much with training, any training in general.

I can’t tell people this but I’m an Elf/ Wolf Hybrid & I won’t have access to my full abilities until I turn 18 which is in 4 days thank the goddess.

I just have to hash out being silently criticised for being “ slow, useless, time waster, they think I can’t hear when they say these things among themselves.

I am unfortunately blessed with amazing hearing & eyesight thanks to my hybrid genes.

The seal doesn’t mess with any of my normal 5 senses, though once I’m 18 the Elf magic that has been sealed away will unlock and then they will see.

I will also finally be able to find my mate.

It’s supposed to happen at 17 for all wolves , but the seal affected some of my wolf magic & it agitates my wolf knowing we are handicapped in regards to our senses being dulled , he is waiting for the day he can prove himself, this is why we suck at this training at the moment, on the plus side my archery is Hawkeye level amazing so there is that.

I can hear you say “ ahh why don’t you just tell them” easy I can’t, not allowed to until I’m 18, actually to be honest I physically can not actually say the words.

Every time it’s like they get stuck in my throat,

I found that out the hard way when first class in Japan,we were supposed to be introducing & saying something interesting about ourselves,

I said “Kia Ora, I’m Rawiri I’ve just turned 5 & I’m a werewolf / E cough cough cough, Warewolf /E cough cough cough”

The teacher moved onto the next student and that was that.

I’m feeling quite nervous about my birthday coming up, this is because if I have more than 45% pure elven magic instead of “diluted” magic I will also become a keeper of the collective borders, if this happens it will also mean another 5 years of training & I will essentially disappear like a deep cover agent who needs to change their identity ( lucky me right woohoo!) this is the main reason we are going to New Zealand next I need to be tested by my grandparents.

It’s been a long day ,the cars slow as we turn into the long driveway ,we park the cars, help the girls with their millions of shopping bags & I finally finally unlock the door to my room set the alarm on my phone for 0200, collapse on the bed and fall asleep.

Rawiri POV

My alarm angry blares out at me I look at the time and see it says 2:15 am crap, I’m running late, soo freaking late , I really can’t be late, I throw myself out of bed, chuck on some shorts and a shirt , head out the door and start running for the campfire I see the other boys far in the distance and speed up to catch up to them.

The next three days pass in a never ending loop of get up, training with the alpha at the campfire (where unsurprisingly Ratana & I have made zero progress lols the other 2 finally competed the training this morning so tomorrow it will just be Alpha Henry & myself up at 3am lucky lucky me.)

, combat training, chores ( I along with some of the warriors were assigned the joyous job of splitting wood for the grills, the fireplaces and the bonfire exciting stuff huh) struggling to complete my school stuff & hanging with my friends.

Tomorrow will be different though I turn 18 and some of the pack members have been organising the party,we have collective members coming from all over as well.

I’m currently sitting at one of the tables for lunch when I see Manaia come through, grab a plate and some food then take a seat at a table close by with her friends , my wolf Ratana as always perks up when she is around. I push my Shepard’s pie around on the plate, turn around and say

“hey Manaia have you completed your assignments yet” she glances over at me gives a small smile and says yup did them all the other day.

Then Manaia asks if I have finished mine I tell her not yet but almost finished ( yea right I haven’t even started most of them)

she then says “oh well I was gonna see if you lot wanted to join in the Rec room and have a jam with some of the new games I got the other day at the mall,you seem really stressed and look like you need a bit of R & R plus isn’t it your birthday tomorrow “

Gee well this is a hard decision to make.. not choice one - go to my room stare at blank pieces of paper trying to force my brain to work or choice 2 hang out with some beautiful girls while gaming.. I say heck yes when. She cracks up and says meet you at 3pm in the reccy.

Matt looks over at me & says bro you really gonna do that what about your school work, I just give him a look and he shrugs but doesn’t say anything he knows the struggle I deal with.

After lunch I head to my room and have a bit of a nap. It’s mentally exhausting being me I wake up and check the time it’s 2:50 so I head back to the pack house and play games with them till dinner time. We head to the dining room for dinner which is fish pie, vegetables and mashed potatoes.

MATT POV

Sitting at the lunch table watching Ra with Manaia makes me want to laugh, knowing him he’s got a mountain of incomplete or not even started assignments due that count towards him graduating.

Im almost to the point of giving up caring cause he always says “man don’t worry bout it, when I turn I8 and the seal is broken it will be all good”, personally I’m not too sure if it’s going to be as amazing for him as he says, but who am I to judge.

When I’ve finished my food I take my plate back towards the kitchen, I open the window to throw my scraps in the gigantic wheelie compost bin outside that will be taken to the pack garden when it’s full.

I then rinse my plate and cutlery under the tap then put the plate in one of the many dishwashers lined up and separate my knife, fork & spoon putting them into different buckets of hot soapy water for them to be washed and polished later.

I head out towards the strategic games centre where I will soon be engaged into a mighty battle of Warhammer 40k.

The centre is for those that have a love for, as you may have already guessed strategy games.

They have table top strategy games like for example Games Workshop games like Warhammer 40k ,Dungeons & Dragons or the Lord of the rings middle earth role playing game if that’s not what your into you can choose chess, battleship, as stupid as it sounds we also have guess who, clue & the game of life. There is also mine craft, among us and other stuff for the 3 & 4 year olds

I have already written my army list and today I will be bringing my Dark Angel terminator army out to play, I’m battling against someone who plays death guard which will be interesting.

It was a long hard 2000 point battle that lasted 6 hours but in the end I was victorious, luckily for me I got rid of Te Aroha’s daemon prince fairly early in the game or it could have caused me big trouble the damn thing had wings.. Wings for crying out loud oh and let’s not forget to mention the buffs they provide for the rest of the troops on the field.

I was shocked when she walked in today.

I’ve never ever had a Warhammer game against Te Aroha before so to be honest actually I didn’t think she played, not cause she’s a girl it’s just in the whole time we have known each other we never had any battles scheduled at the same time.

This is not surprising though all strategy centres are the same wherever you go they are always busy and it can take a bit for you to get through everyone ,the good thing is you never battle the same person twice unless a rematch is requested.

Te Aroha POV

After the game with Matt where he kicked my ass I head back to my room to write my report for the games centre leaders, this has to include where I went wrong., what I could have done to prevent troop losses and if it was a real battle when would I have retreated, pretty fun stuff huh it’s just like reliving the loss again, luckily it’s just a tabletop game and no one really got hurt.

After I finish my report I head to the kitchen and grab something to eat I make a few (20) ham , cheese, onion & pineapple toasted sandwiches and some bottles of water then head out to hang out with Stacey & Devon, unfortunately Manaia can’t come as she is with the Alpha family being trained to be a gamma, she is helping them with the pack rosters ( that would bore me to tears I feel sorry for her she is under so much more pressure than us.)

I carry the plate piled high with the toasted sammies ,we sit down on the ground and eat the food and drink the water, enjoying the sun relaxing and just shooting the breeze, Stacey says hey wanna go for a drive, Devon and I vehemently say NO ,

Ever since Stacey saw the Fast and the Furious franchise movies she has been obsessed with fast cars and speeding.

Even the passing of the human actor Paul Walker ( RIP) didn’t stop her obsession, personally I prefer Vin Diesel cause damn that man is full on Alpha.

Manaia POV

As I sit at a large table with all the other gammas that will be stepping up we listen to Alpha Henry’s own gamma Xander, he is explaining the best way to organise the rosters for all the pack members.

Normally during these training sessions we just watch the Gamma & Delta Willie smash it out in an hour and a half. They make it look soo easy.

Today however is different they sprung it on us like some sort of crazy pop quiz, this will be the first time we have ever done this.

We have been informed we have to do the rosters for;

Kitchen duty Am,PM & Night, for the next 5 days

Border patrol on a rotating schedule of 7 hour shifts 24 hours a day for the next 5 days

The crèche, ( this one is kind of easy)

Firewood chopping, garden maintenance,

Training schedule- like what are they going to work on during training.

It’s a lot of work but it’s part of our job.

Everyone’s name is loaded into a Google docs spreadsheet so we all have access to it at the same time ( imagine using excel for this - sorry this doc is locked for editing )

We then divide into 5 groups of 15 and work out the schedules for everyone there is some bickering and overlap.

The group that I am with argue for ages so much so that everyone from the other groups have already left.

6 hours pass by when we finally have everyone sorted and all agree. We save and email the final version to Xavier and all look up from our laptop screens with bleary eyes.

We stand up and stretch then all start running out the door.

I link the girls and see what they are up to, they say they are sitting in the sun talking about stuff.

I say in the link wanna let our wolves out.

They reply and say yup meet ya in the forest. I start running and shift midair and land with four paws hitting the ground. My wolf Tymora has brown fur with white paws and is quite large ,she opens her mouth and let’s out a joyful howl, a chorus of other wolves join in , there must be a few out running as well.

We speed up to catch the others and find them by the lake.

We let our wolves have some fun and burn their energy, play fighting and letting them enjoy the freedom.

We head back to the pack house and shift back, put our clothes on and head to the pack house for dinner.

It’s build your own burger day!! Whoop whoop, burgers are my favourite.

I grab two burger buns & I start making my 2 burgers I add lettuce, onion, tomato, garlic aioli sauce, then add one burger pattie, some cheese, bacon, add another pattie, more cheese, some pineapple ,onion, tomato sauce and bbq sauce then add the tops.

I then grab some spicy wedges and put some sour cream on the side of the plate.

We sit down at a table and start eating.

After dinner we chill out & watch Zack Snyder’s Dune in the pack theatre. AMAZING mind blown I can’t wait for the sequel.

Rawiri POV

After the movie last night I went to my room & set my alarm for 0200 again I look at the time and see it’s 11:00pm

I change out of my clothes and am in my boxers, I go to bed and will sleep to come, for some reason I’m finding it really hard to sleep tonight, maybe it’s the excitement of knowing it’s my birthday tomorrow I was born at 1:10am. I finally fall asleep.

I wake up with cold sweats and hot flushes my whole body contorted in pain. It feels like there is an internal battle inside my self. I’m writhing on the floor when inside my head I hear the sound of my family.

They are telling me to breath through the pain , that it’s just the seal breaking and that it will be over soon, my body at this time also starts to morph, my legs getting longer & my arms are lengthening I feel like I’m dying. I’m on the floor panting like I’ve been on a 40 mile run.

The voices of my family and all the ancestors also invading my mind telling me to breathe, but it’s all too much, I can feel Ratana in the depths of my mind also writhing in pain, why did no one warn me.

Oh yeah that’s right I’m the first freaking Elf/ wolf hybrid ever.

Goddess this burns. I’m dying that must be it I have to be.

All of a sudden I lose consciousness.

Matt’s POV

I’m fast asleep when all of a sudden I hear the voice of my Alpha in my head like a constant blare of an alarm with the words “CHECK ON RAWIRI” “GET UP” “WAKE UP” “BOYS GET YOUR BUTTS OUT OF BED”

I stumble out of bed look at the time and see it’s says 1:30am.

I put on some pants and throw open my door crashing directly into Taika who’s looking like he’s had the same wake up call as me, he raises an eyebrow and says “Rawiri?”

We run to his room and open the door, the sight that meets us is alarming he’s on the ground shaking and sweating , also he’s rambling nonsensical things that sound like they are in a different language.

The weirdest thing is that his body shape has changed he looks taller and more slimmer and his body is surrounded by a bright glowing light.

Taika & I look at each other & are trying to decide what to do.. we somehow manage to link our Alpha to ask for permission to link Alpha Henry to come. We describe to him what’s happening. He says he needs to ask the Elf’s. ( kinda stupid because all the physical changes are pretty damn noticeable) we get a link back and say that he has linked Alpha Henry and he is on his way. Taika and I breathe a sigh of relief.

ALPHA Henry POV

I am woken up with the voice of the Alpha of the Maui pack in my head. He says apologies for disturbing you while your sleeping but you need to get to Rawiri’s room ASAP.

I get out of bed and make my way to his room, meanwhile the Alpha is explaining some things, he says that Rawiri is not just a wolf he is a hybrid and that his seal is breaking cause he’s turned 18 & has now come of age.

I have no idea what he’s going on about, I thought the kid was just a bit slow & his wolf was uncooperative. Now it kinda makes sense

I head to his room open the door and see that Matt & Taika are already there on the ground with him.

This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen.

I ask the boys how long he’s been like this they say we have been here since 1:30 I look at my watch when all of a sudden we hear the blaring of his alarm it’s 0200.

Clearly we will not be doing any training today.

I ask one of the boys to turn it off and one of them does all another hour goes by and of a sudden there’s a glowing light coming from inside of Rawiri. I’m giving reports of what I’m seeing to his Alpha.

All of a sudden he starts rising into the air then he’s standing in front of us.

He is taller and his aura is sending out a different vibe from before, more confident more assured something has shifted.

He says Alpha Henry the time has come for you to know I have not been mucking around,

I am an Elf/ Wolf hybrid. I have been suppressed due to the sealing of my elf magic, the seal has broken I am whole, Ratana & I are here together now, can you see look into my eyes.

I look and see his eyes are black & brown with a slight whiteish glow to them.

The power and magic coming from him is intense. I’ve never felt anything like it before.

He explains that he has the full power of his elf ancestors behind him now.

Things will be different.

I can tell, he’s oozing confidence & seems a bit haughty now.

I check to see if he is ok he just scoffs at me and says it’s almost 0700 so time for training , let’s go we have work to do.

I’m kind of flustered at this whole change in attitude but we head to the field for training..

Watching them train with Rawiri today was definitely interesting no one could touch him even my best warriors, he seems like his wolf is always with him it’s like they have joint control all the time it’s slightly unnerving.

I open my link to Alpha Kauri of the Maui pack and give him an update.

He says “ok we need to get the flights rebooked , confirmed and get them home. Everyone else has completed the training”

I link back “yes they won’t be back for a few weeks cause the gammas did the rosters for the next few weeks and some of them are on it.”

Alpha Kauri says “ understood” and breaks off the link.

I look around and see most of the people that were training on the ground knocked out or injured.

I ask what happened they all groan and point at or say “Rawiri not sure what the heck’s happened over night but he is not the same”

I see him over at the archery targets and he’s shooting arrows at triple the speed of before.

His running and everything is so much faster.

RAWIRI POV

I love this everything is whoa my senses are totally overloaded, I feel connected to the earth, I can hear everyone it’s amazing I love love love this.

Training was awesome no one could hit me, I had immense speed and I could hear the air tell me what my opponent is going to do.

My ancestors knowledge flooded my mind when the seal broke.

After training I hit the showers, head to breakfast and I hear everyone say Happy Birthday to me.

My plate is piled with bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, baked beans and hash browns and pancakes with maple syrup and whipped cream with fresh fruit.

After breakfast I head to my room and sit down to finish my school work, everything comes to me with ease it only takes me 3 hours to smash out everything over due.

I then meet up with the guys and we shift into our wolves , go for a run and are headed to the lake for a swim. I’m so enjoying this day.

Stacey POV

In the pack house everyone is organising the birthday party for Rawiri , other collective members from packs we have stayed with over the last 4 years start arriving and begin helping out with it. They all have bought a plate of food to contribute.

Devon, Manaia & Te Aroha have been out in the back since 0500 this morning preparing the hangi ( Hāngi is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven that we also call an umu. We use it for large groups on special occasions. In traditional hāngī cooking, food such as fish aka “kaimoana” kumara (sweet potato), pork, chicken, lamb, potato, pumpkin and cabbage are also included.

It’s one of Rawiri’s favourite he will be super surprised.

I’m just coming out of the kitchen from making a million types of salad with some others when I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around and see Bear standing behind my with a hand trolley full of multiple boxes of drinks, he asks if I can grab the one off the top cause he can’t really see over it.

I grab the top 2 boxes and he’s smiles and says thanks Stace.

I really like Bear and hope that we will always be friends. He doesn’t give me grief about the cars I’ve crashed or the fact I’m not as good as everyone else. I love my friends and everyone, but sometimes it’s just so damn lonely I miss my family and can’t wait to get home.

Rawiri POV

I’m sitting at one of the tables sipping on a drink, I have to say they have really really outdone themselves, there are 300 marquee’s set up in a gigantic circle and a dance floor has been created in the centre of the space.

There’s BBQ ‘d meats, salads as well as Hangi and other traditional foods. All types of different drinks to choose from as well.

I’ve had people come up to me all night asking to hang , dance or they are bringing me small gifts, Jemma & Jacob have given me a dream catcher.

I get up from my seat and head to get some carrot & celery sticks , a bag of crisps and grab a bowl of onion dip then head back to my table and start making my way through when I see Alessia from one of the other packs making her way towards me, she give me a gigantic grin plops down into a chair next to me and helps herself to the food.

I stare at her and say how ya been.

Alessia looks at me & has her mouth full she flashes me a double thumbs up.

I crack up laughing at her and her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She looks so cute right now.

She swallows her mouth full, grabs my hand and pulls me toward the dance floor. I reluctantly let her lead me cause I hate dancing she grabs my hand and we move in time with the music and says “so how are you, long time no see you look better than before”

I tell her what’s been going on and the truth about my background.

She seems stunned but then shrugs her shoulders and says are “you happier now? “

I think about it and reply “well not sure only had one day so far so we will see what happens.”

She then looks at me and tells me “ I’m sure you will be it will be fine”

She asks where the rest of the NZ crew are cause she wants to catch up with them as well.

I say umm “not sure “

I have a look around and see them in one of the marquee’s I grab her hand and start heading in their direction.

We are stopped a million times by different people,most of whom I vaguely remember.

We finally get to them and they throw their arms around each and gather in a great big group hug.

We then hear a song that reminds us of home and start bellowing out the lyrics to Down under by men at work.

It was an amazing awesome night there was no drama just a lot of laughs, ,dancing, good kai (food) & a large amount of fun,

Most of us didn’t head to bed until 3am.

I don’t wake up until 0900 mandatory training was cancelled and I didn’t even make it to my room I fell asleep on the ground under the stars it was I felt connected to everything.

??? POV

I have been surviving on my own for the last 6 weeks, I escaped from horrible places, I am being chased by multiple people, they said they would help but it’s been bad to worse.

Frying pan to fire worse.

I’m exhausted, I’m hungry. I just want sleep but I can’t, I have to keep pushing myself. .

I know I have one chance, there are rumours of a pack where everyone is treated equal.

I have to find them, I need to it’s my only chance.

No point to come this far. Keep pushing myself I will do this.

They have to be around somewhere..if it’s not true I may as well end it now.

All of a sudden I feel something change on the land.

Oh Fudge I’m so dead.

I JUST CROSSED A BORDER INTO UNKNOWN PACK LANDS..

I hear what sounds like 300 paws on the ground heading my way…

Manaia

The next day we wake up and see that everything is totally trashed, think like a teen party where the kids have the house to themselves trashed, it’s not too bad for us though, we all start working together to clean up, the musics still pumping and we grooving and chilling while we all work.

We spot Rawiri and Alessia asleep on the ground next to each other, so I tell the others to leave them be.

I think it’s cute Ra is so oblivious to how Alessia is with him , everyone else can see it.

We are cleaning up around one of the marquees ,when I smell something not quite right to the left of the territory borders I link the patrol and they say “ yup we caught the scent already”

I shift and start heading towards it.

I move quickly & meet one of the patrol team over, all of a sudden I’m bowled over by a collective pack wolf who leaps in front of what appears to be a shaking she wolf, she rolls on her belly submitting immediately.

I shift back she looks up at me from her position on the ground, the pack wolf looks at me and growls.

I say I’m not going to hurt her but you need to calm down he moves backwards and looks at me with a warning snarl then sits down.

She moves slowly and crawls towards me on her belly I ask if she can shift back meanwhile I hear Bear in my head asking what’s up,

I ask him to meet us where we are and bring clothes for me and another she wolf.

Bear arrives and looks at the she wolf on the outside of the borders. She shrinks back and starts shaking.

I throw the clothes on,head toward her and say shift back. put these on & we can talk she heads behind a tree.

When she comes out she is a scruffy looking thing with tangled hair and looks skin & bones with bruises and a black eye.

My heart breaks for her, there are stories about packs that treat members like slaves or worse.

The clothes I’ve given her are way to baggy and comes down to her knees.

I look over at the male wolf who’s acting like I’m about to steal her away.

I ask what her name is she stutters at me Ki Ki Kiara, we invite her back with us but she hesitates and says she might have been followed by some other wolves.

Mr grumpy moves forward toward the border, crosses it, cocks his leg and takes a piss where she had been lying, he then stands up crosses back over and sits in front of her, shifts back and says “ im Steve from the Maui pack ,I got here last night, I’m jet lagged, tired, hungry and now I’m pissed.

I’ll be escorting everyone back to New Zealand, good luck to the idiots that try & take you now”

Kiara POV

I take a peek up at this man named “Steve” and lm speechless , he’s taller than my 5”2 and he’s built with muscles, not only that but the vibe coming from him is a bit intimidating.

He looks like he lives off the land or does a lot of training.

He just stares at me, grabs my hand and starts walking me away from the boarder towards a bunch of marquees.

I see a whole lot of people with their mouths open watching him. The girl who gave me the clothes just doesn’t move and I can see she is linking someone.

All of a sudden a tallish man with strange features is in front of me. He takes his hands in mine engulfs me in a hug and the warmest feeling comes over me like tingles and sunshine.

When he releases me all my bruises and scarring have vanished.

Steve POV

I see the beautiful creature in front of me and I have to take a breath to calm myself, every fibre of my being is screaming at me to destroy the people who have done her harm first I must help her.

I linked Rawiri as soon as I saw her .

As soon as I walked on the pack lands I felt his elven magic call to me.

He has soo much raw potential, his gift it will be harnessed and given back to the earth to repair itself from the damage man have caused, but first he needs to give my mate a healing hug.

Rawiri

I hear Beta Steve’s voice in my head and think that can’t be right.

I hear it again, I’m up and head toward where he said he was.

I see him and a frail broken girl her aura screaming at me & showing me flashes of what she’s endured.

I scoop her up into a hug and hold her for 20 minutes, I grab onto Steve and get him to touch her to. I can feel he’s 1/3rd elven.

I hear a rustling in the distance and turn my head.

I see 3 wolfs creeping towards the border I nudge Steve, he reaches into his backpack and pulls out 3 crossbows he hands one to me and we shoot them right between the eyes.

Steve

I’m holding 2 crossbows and have shot them off, I double check they hit the targets and see them both on the ground.

2 Warriors have already started towards the bodies to grab them and bring them back.

I look at Kiara and lift her into my arms bridal style, Hades is chanting in my head Mate,mate,mate”

I leave him to it and try block him out.

We head towards the marquee where breakfast has been organised.

I say a karakia to bless the gift of kai given to us from the land.

I then start piling food onto 3 plates for us to share, I enlist a couple of teens to bring drinks and protein shakes to the table.

We sit down and I start feeding her. She looks at the food and just starts laughing. We ask her about herself and

Kiara

I tell them I’m from a pack deep in the middle of Texas, I’ve been running along the county border trying to get to a collective pack, but my wolf kept pushing me to keep heading north toward the Atlantic Ocean. It was weird we got the smell of a mate scent really briefly in the air & we had been following a plane for the last 7 hours, then we smelled it and had been chasing a car for the last 2 and a half hours. I bumped into my alpha , beta and head warrior trying to get me back..

Steve

I growl and Hades comes to the front everyone around us is in a submissive pose except for the other alphas and betas.

We take a breath and feel myself relax and Hades lie back down.

I pull out my phone call my alpha and inform him of what’s happening.

He approves the changes of flight plans,

he then starts a conference call with his newly acquired business manager .

He has recently amalgamated & united under the same business umbrella a travel agency , hotel & car service & has just finished including international & domestic travel in air and land so it’s pretty much a one stop travel shop.

He books flights and layover + accommodation for 1800 people.

We hang up, I turn to everyone and say start packing everyone who is here leaves in 2 days.

I need a list of everyone who is on site gammas, I expect it to be emailed to me asap and be ready to leave 1700 on Wednesday.

I look down at Kiara and ask if she has a passport to get through customs. She shakes her head, I put a call through to our pack lawyer and get the wheels in motion to get an expedited passport organised, plus her documentation for pack transfer. Now I’ve found her she’s never leaving my side.

I then put a call through to her pack and the gamma answers sounding nervous.

I notify him of the death of his Alpha and Beta for the treatment of Kiara. He nervously tries to tell me lies.

I clarify & say that we have our ways of knowing not that I need to explain my self to you, Kiara is my mate she has been gifted to me from the multi faced creator whom you call goddess.

This needs no more attention send her paperwork via email to our admin team now, we will be leaving in 2 days send them or you’ll be dealing with me, I hand up the phone and I look over and see that Kiara has fallen asleep in a chair.

I pick her up and head to the room I’ve been allocated for my stay.

It’s set out a bit like an apartment with a dining table, a lounge area with some couches, plus a tv, Xbox one, cable TV and built in DVD player.

There are 2 bedrooms with king sized beds , the rooms both have ensuite bathrooms and a shower/ bath combo. There are 2 toilets that have been separated from the main bathroom area.

The kitchen is kinda largish with 6 top gas burner and oven combo above the stove is a ventilation system, to the left is a fridge/ freezer combo with ice maker in the front.

I open the fridge side and see it’s fully stocked with everything you could need or want. I check the freezer and it’s a mixture of microwaveable dinners and frozen meats and some home made frozen heat and eat meals.

There’s also popsicles, ice cream, frozen pizza and bbq meats,frozen fries, onion rings, frankfurter

I have a look in the cupboards and see recipe bases and hamburger helpers

There’s also crisps, popcorn, corn chips, hummus, dips, salsa, spaghetti , rice, noodles, breads, buns, bread rolls, nacho base.

I grab out a gigantic 8 litre pot fill about 3 quarters full with water, then link Ra to bring me some of the leftover meats with bones and ask for some cabbage & vegetables, I then chuck in some salt, pepper, chicken stock, garlic, and turn on the gas burner. Ra walks in with a massive grin on his face adds the stuff to the pot , walks out comes back with 4 more pots and throws them on top of the oven as well and repeats the process with the other pots.

In the meantime while I’m waiting for Kiara to wake up and the boil up to come together, I use leftover cold meats to make some sandwiches,I put half in the fridge wrapped up then take the other half of the pile, sit at the table open my laptop and catch up on some of my work. Working lunches are so much fun right.

Kiara

I wake up to the weirdest but yummiest smell in the air. I glance over and see a group of the guys stirring a bunch of large pots and playing with some floured dough they are breaking the dough into small balls and adding them to the pots.. Steve looks over with the largest smile on his face, runs over and sweeps me in a huge hug says how did you sleep hope your hungry.

He carries me over to the table and puts a plate of sandwiches in front of me they have lettuce, onion, mayonnaise, bacon, cheese, ham, and luncheon with mustard and BBQ sauce.

I finish those off then he puts a bowl of something in front of me. He says to me give it a go. I bring the liquid up to my mouth and try it the burst of flavour inside my mouth makes me groan out loud. His face breaks into a massive smile and says try a doughboy. They taste so good.

The next few days I spend sleeping and eating. Steve doesn’t let me do much because I’m “still healing” and we have along flight ahead of us. He won’t tell me anything except that I won’t ever be coming back. I can’t wait. I have nothing in my old pack they killed my mom & dad because I was to slow in completing my chores.. I still don’t understand how Steve claims he knows my pain. It’s weird.

Manaia POV :

Over the next few days it’s a mad rush to pack everyone up and make sure everything is organised.

At 1700 on Wednesday we all congregate by the car park with our bags , luggage & carry on bags.

We are waiting for some other packs to come and take us to the airport. The cars arrive and we all start piling into them.

Kiara the new girl is been held onto by the Maui Beta like she’s gonna disappear if he lets her go, he’s pretty hot if not a bit grumpy. I still can’t believe that Ra & him killed 3 random wolves without hearing their side, but I have to get myself a crossbow cause damn they good.

They disappear inside one of the vehicles in front of us and the car drives off, we pile into the next car and listen to some music on the way to the airport.

We get to the airport and make our way to the gate where 200 planes have been preflight checked for our flight home.

I download a few seasons of Good girls, Flack, Prodigal Son & Lucifer to watch on the flight it’s 19 hours people! Then I switch my devices to airplane mode.

We start the walk down the gangway onto the plane and take our seats, after about 45 minutes the plane starts its taxi down the runway and I breathe a sigh of relief we are going home! Cannot wait to get a Big Ben pie!

Kiara POV

I’m sitting in the car with Steve and he’s holding onto me like Jack was holding onto the door in that Titanic movie (Manaia one of the trainee gammas made me watch it the other day she’s so cool) .

Over the last 3 days I’ve never been treated like I am now. Steve acts like I’m glass that’s about to shatter at any given moment.

It’s a bit weird & I never thought I’d get a mate as amazing as him. I thought I was just going to be a punching bag and pleasure toy for the unmated males from my old pack.

I shake my head at the horrible thoughts to dislodge them.

I’m scrolling through the iPhone 12 Steve got me and I open an app called “Spotify” to put on some music , Steve added me to his premium family plan.

I select the band called Halestorm and listen to a song called “Back from the dead” I found it by accident but it really calls to me I guess cause of my experience, I feel like I’ve been liberated.

The song ends and automatically switches to Ms Hyde by Halestorm, after that I put on one I really like called “Bad romance” and one of the girls in the car snorts and says that is a really bad cover of that song.

Steve let’s out a rolling growl and says my mate can listen to what she wants “ I grab his hand and ask the girl what she means.

She looks at me and says have you been living under a rock or something every one knows Bad romance is a Gaga song..

I just look at her and say” umm no not really since I came here it’s pretty much the first time in my life I’ve heard any music, before I escaped from my old pack I was a servant, slave and sex toy for arseholes , so music and pop culture aren’t really my strong point, but I’m liking what I’ve learnt so far and what is a Gaga?

She looks at the floor of the car ashamed at her words, then her face transforms into a grin and she puts her hand out and says I’m sorry for being a bitch my names Kasey but call me KC I’m Rawiri’s cousin and Steve’s little sister, come sit next to me and I’ll teach you exactly who Lady Gaga is!

I go to move but Steve isn’t letting me go and says to KC if you want to sit next to her you move, she switches places with Rawiri and plonks herself down grabs my phone and teaches me all about pop music from the last 40 years. I learn about Whitney, Madonna,Christina Aguilera , New Kids on the Block. BSB, Nysync & Justin Timberlake & Britney Spears - KC gets a bit sidetracked here and starts a rant about her history, public meltdown and conservatorship then starts banging on about males treating females as property instead of people #FreeBritney!

My face flushes and Rawiri interrupts and says that’s enough of the boppy crap then starts teaching me about Hip hop and R&B from TLC (RIP Left eye) , Destiny’s child, the Upper Hutt Posse ( apparently these guys were huge in New Zealand) Savage, ginuwine, Tupac, Bone thugs in harmony, Eminem, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and a whole bunch more.

Then Steve takes over and gives me an education on heavy metal, I say that I really like some of the songs from all genres they taught me about. I’m really down for The Pretty Reckless, Halestorm and Alien Weaponry as well as this band called Devilskin.

They all burst out laughing and say well at least she has eclectic taste so awesome!

We get to the airport and head to a tarmac where about 200 planes are waiting

A song comes on overhead called “south of the border” I ask who it’s by and they say some chick called “Final Child” it seems pretty cool. I like the beat and start moving and all of a sudden I’m surrounded by about 150 girls who start dancing around with me.

I start laughing and they hug me and say welcome to the whanau.. that means family!

I’m hauled out of the circle and big strong arms wrap around me Steve grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards one of the planes.

He sits me in one of the seats puts my seatbelt on and pulls out a laptop and says it’s a long flight I’ve downloaded some stuff for us to watch there’s movies and tv shows. I lay my head on his shoulder and start watching something called Wanda Vision. I really enjoyed it we watched all the episodes then started watching a movie called Avengers.

I get distracted because of the view of being above the clouds, we are so high up in the air looking out the window and seeing everything below us looks so small.

I can’t believe that over 6 weeks ago ago I was trapped in a horrible room shacked to the floor.

I have no idea where the strength came from when Jason came down to “play with me” it was like something transformed and a burst of power came over me.

He had unlocked the chains to blergh get “better access” then I somehow kicked him in the balls, punched him in the face stabbed him with a knife & escaped, now my whole life has changed for the better.

Steve’s POV

I look at the Angel asleep next to me and feel content and happy. Nothing bad is going to happen to her again.

I know I seem overprotective & not to sound like Gollum from lord of the rings but she is my precious and my queen.

No one will take her from me she will not get hurt ever again, I placed a protection spell around her the minute she was healed.

I’m starting to get antsy and the flight has been about 9 hours so we are about halfway home.

We will need to land, refuel soon and most importantly get some real food, airplane cuisine just doesn’t cut it.

I link Henry the silent shadow alpha and ask where we will be refuelling and he says we will be landing in Toyko shortly for an over night layover and rest then be back in the air first thing in the morning local time.

We land in Tokyo a few hours later and head to our hotel for the night.

Kiara looks at me nervously and asks if we will be sleeping in the same bed tonight.

I haven’t tried anything with her cause I know she isn’t really ready but I need to hold her at least I say that if it’s ok.

She then bursts into tears and says is it because I’m broken you don’t want me.

I must have read the whole situation wrong and I feel like a prize chump.

I explain to her my feelings and how I was waiting for her to be ready..

she looks up at me and starts to kiss me.

Steve’s POV

When Kiara started to kiss me Hades howled and chanted mate mate mate, mark mate claim mate. He forced himself forwards merging with me. Hades pulls back from the kiss, gathers her up into our arms and says my precious queen.. I have been holding myself back cause I thought you needed time..I love you and your scent of strawberries and vanilla.. please don’t cry my precious… we then sniff along her neck and collar bone slowly kissing it going downwards peppering her with kisses

She starts to moan under me and slides onto my lap mounting me. Our mouths moving together… she starts grinding against me and I can smell her arousal in the air I flip her around and slam her backwards into the bed stripping off both of our clothing. We are naked and she is like a beautiful goddess with DD boobs.

I take my face and rub it in between her breasts.

Licking and sucking on her nips I take one of my hands and slowly circle her clitt with my thumb she feels so slick and wet already, I take 2 of my fingers and slowly slide them inside her wet juicy puss I find her g spot and start to flick it and pull on it gently while sensually massaging it and matching the pressure from my thumb on her clitt she starts panting and her walls clench around my fingers her hips thrusting upwards. she starts begging me for my dicck inside of her and she’s asking me for sweet sweet release.

I slide my body on top of hers and ask her if she’s sure she nods her head frantically, I sit up & I open a draw and pull out a tiny vibrator, then I slide my dicck inside of her and line the vibrator up on her cliit, turn it on and hold it there, I start thrusting my dicck into her she’s so wet already it slides in sooo easy, she starts panting again and I feel her puss trying to push me out while her orgasm wracks her body I lean down and keep fuccking her while I kiss her marking spot , Hades makes our canines extend and as they slide into her neck she cums again,

I almost lose it and Hades is starting to go into a rut but I push him down a bit and take more control, Kiara looks at me and groans out my name she lifts her arms around my neck and pulls herself up sucking,licking & nipping along my neck and then suddenly she marks me too.

I start convulsing in a good way and the sparks, feelings and everything just explodes out of me and I’m cumming like a freight train. Kiara is underneath me and she starts shaking with multiple orgasm then she squirts and looks a bit embarrassed.

I wrap her up in a hug and let her be for a bit, she starts to fall asleep and I lift her bridal style and take her for a shower. Where I clean her up and wash my self.

She starts rubbing my shoulders and massaging them, then next thing I know she is on her knees sucking me off and playing with my balls. She takes all of me and I start slowing fuccking her mouth. I can feel the back of her throat she’s so fucking good at this oh my goddess, she’s licking her way up my dic & she’s flicking her tounge on my tip, her hand jerking me off and forcing pre cum out of me.

Kiara turns around facing away from me & puts her arms behind her & says grab my hands and use me anyway you want. I pretty much have to stop myself from slamming my dicck into her.

I grab her to stop her from falling and she slams her self back forcing my penis inside of her & mashing me right against her cervix, I just about came then. My eyes turn part dark with lust and part light with sadness.

The fact she’s so submissive must be because of her past.. I can’t complain though cause damn it feels so good being buried so deep inside of her she’s moving herself against me the tension building I’m about to cumm again. I explode inside of her and wash her back and get her clean again.

We get out of the shower I put one of my shirts over her head to wear and we lay down on the bed, Kiara snuggles into me and falls asleep.

North island crew, silent shadows & Rawiri, Matt, Devon POV

Manaia:

A huge group of us head outside for a night out,it’s about 3pm Tokyo time, we catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Harajuku district in Shibuya, we get off the train at Harajuku Station.

We walk out of the station and into the street and are immediately hit with the sight of colourful street art and youthful fashion.

There are people dressed in bright clothes and cosplay.

There are quirky vintage clothing stores and cosplay shops along Takeshita Street,

Down the road a bit there is also traditional upmarket boutiques on leafy Omotesando Avenue.

Small, trendy bars fill the surrounding lanes, while dessert shops and carts specialize in sweet crêpes, donuts, and bubble tea.

Watari Museum of Contemporary Art hosts cutting-edge temporary exhibitions. We walk along the road popping in and out of the shops adding more stuff to our shopping piles.

As we walk out of another shop I suddenly smell something delicious,it’s my favourite flavour of ice cream.. orange chocolate chip.. I turn around and see Kenji walking towards me.

He is the head warrior of his clan and I haven’t seen him since I was 7 years old after we got separated from training..there was a …I guess you could call it a small misunderstanding, see we got caught by our parents being curious about us not having the same parts between our legs.. nothing bad happened we were just.. well umm you know touching each other.we were curious kids what can I say..

Anyway Kenji bows low and says Manaia- chan nagaiai a tte imasendeshita ne

(Long time no see) O genki-sōdesu ne (you look well) would you like to come for dinner with me at a local restaurant

I reply hai, arigato gozaimasu (yes, thank you very much)

He grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards a car he then stops turns around to the group who were following behind us and says gomen nasai (I’m sorry) I did not mean to be rude, I was just very excited that I have not seen my very good friend for an extremely long time.

Please join us for dinner.

My friends quickly agree

Kenji pulls out his phone calls someone and says I need 20 Ubers here stat! I’ll drop a pin on my location. He hangs up the phone looks at it for a moment and does something on his screen.

He then looks up and smiles and says father used to own a taxi rank but we upgraded with the times, provided our fleet drivers the training and they gained the Uber driving qualification.

It’s a win win. They don’t lose their jobs and we get loyalty, we also bought out a few other taxi services and added them to our fleet.

The ubers pull up within 3 minutes and we all get into the various vehicles and 7 minutes later we are outside omotesando Ukai-Tei it’s a high end fine dining teppanyaki (iron griddle cooking) establishment

It’s one of the most lavish restaurants in Tokyo with gorgeous interior and sky-high garden with great landscape.

The food is fresh and the best products (meat,seafood and vegetable) are cooked right in front of you by the chefs.

The quality of food, atmosphere and service is apparently top-notch.

I’m super excited I’ve never been here before and I always used to tell Kenji that I wanted to come here one day.

The maître d looks up at Kenji gives him a low bow and says Kenji san what is going on.

He says to the maître d Itsuki san I have found my mate today.

Itsuki’s face breaks into a smile and bows low to me and says it is a pleasure to meet you please come inside and we will seat you momentarily.

Itsuki grabs some menus and leads us to a back room where we start getting seated.

The chefs come out & start setting up front of us and put on a show while creating their masterpieces for us, they also help to keep the conversations flowing.

Devon POV

We are sitting in the restaurant and we have been here for about 2 hours, I can’t believe the size and beauty of the place, Ana looks so happy, she has been waiting for her mate for a while but thought she would never find him.

I remember Kenji from years ago they were joined at the hip when they were younger, well that was until the unfortunate incident.

I snicker to myself remembering when they got caught. The conversation the next day in lessons is still burned into my brain

“ fellow students the following is a very important thing to remember, when you are playing together please ensure you leave your pants on, no one needs to see any part of you, being naked around each other is inappropriate at your age.

Please make better decisions from now on. we have taken actions to ensure the members whom were found have been reprimanded and punishment has been agreed by both parties family”

I’m sitting down with my bowl of donburi and chicken katsu (crumbed chicken) eating the food and drinking sake when the the person who seated us comes over and says

“sumimasen ,watashi wa namae wa Itsuki desu, onamae wa nandesuka? (Excuse me, my name is Itsuki, what is your name)

Itsuki then says is this seat taken I have finished my shift and Kenji sama has allowed me to join his dinner party.

I say

watashi wa Devon desu, hai suwatte kudasai ( my name is Devon, yes , please sit down)

The chef brings Itsuki a bowl of ramen with lots of different things inside.

There is soup broth, egg noodles, egg ,meat, seaweed and other vegetables & things as well.

Itsuki takes some sake and sips it in the little cups and says after dinner would you like to come for some entertainment?

I say that would be lovely.

Itsuki takes out a phone and talks into it for a bit and says we have 2 hours before the next show.

I have organised something for our whole dinner party. I will advise Kenji sama of the plans.

Itsuki stands up and walks away meanwhile I’m trying to figure out if Itsuki is a man or a lady as it is hard to tell due to the fact that Itsuki appears to be androgynous.

I would never ask as that would be extremely rude.

Henry POV

After dinner Itsuki san had organised us some entertainment ,we head into another building called Watari Museum of Contemporary Art and are seated on the floor which has a stage in front.

Soon some performers come onto the stage in Noh masks and entertain us for the next few hours.. when they are finished some geisha come out and play on some instruments while another one dances for us.

Afterward the shows, we are led back to the cars and I ask to be dropped back to the hotel for the night as it is now 11pm.

Some of the younger ones are staying out to go out dancing or enjoy the night life. I send a quick link to everyone reminding them we have to be at the tarmac at 0600 local time.

I shut my link off go back to my hotel room and have a shower and go to sleep.

Kiara POV

I’m asleep but have a feeling that someone is watching me.

I slowly open my eyes and stretch..

I see Steve looking at me.

I go to say good morning when all of a sudden I have millions of voices in my head.

Different accents ,different languages, different voices all invading my head space.

I clutch my head in pain and Steve looks at me with concern and says baby what’s wrong..

I try and focus on him and start to explain but my thoughts are so scattered I can’t think properly..

Someone is asking someone else about sharping medieval weapons in England, then I hear someone asking someone else about a training schedule for recruits in Bali.

I’m trying to concentrate on Steve but I can’t, I inadvertently hear an order for food for a pack in Ireland,I think I see him link someone, I hear some accented voices like Irish, English and Scottish & Australian, next I hear someone talking about a travel schedule for a large group of people leaving Tokyo that needs adjusting urgently,they need a stopover in Australia before heading to the final destination,up next is a strategy games roster for a pack in Washington.

Next thing then I hear someone needs to notify the media that the contingent from overseas will be delayed.

I get my thoughts together and when I finally tell him, he looks panicked and is linking, but he smacks himself in the face with the palm of his hand and says “I’m sooo sorry I forgot to tell you.

We should have waited to get home first before I marked you but I just couldn’t wait & I lost control I’m soo soo sorry , it was selfish of me.

Ki babe you know that I’m the the beta of the Maui pack, and now that I’ve marked you , you are the beta female.. or you will be when you join our pack..

All ranked members have 2 links.

The pack link which you probably already know about because of you being a pack wolf.. but we also have another link as well the collective link.

All ranked members of the collective can link any other ranked member.”

I’m trying to take in what he’s telling me but I’m still feeling a bit discombobulated.

I’m trying to close the link and shut out all the voices when all of a sudden I hear someone speak in what sounds like arabic or chinese or maybe it was tagalog.

I ask Steve how many packs are part of the collective and how many are around the world he shrugs his shoulders and says I’m not sure of the exact number but it’s close to 185 million different packs globally or something like that.. in New Zealand there are only 2 packs us and the northern pack.

He looks at the time on his phone and says come on babes shower time lets go get ready.

We have to leave soon I look at the time and see it says 3:45am.

We have a shower and I go to touch him and he says it’ll have to be quick my precious, we have to be out of here by 4:30.

He takes his hand and starts rubbing my clit until I’m slick and dripping, he then takes his dicck lines it up and shoves it deep inside me, his body moving with primal need, his eyes change so it seems like both him and his wolf are there but that’s ridiculous, we don’t get joint control with our wolves.

He starts moving with a faster pace and his cock is slipping in and out of me bringing me closer, his fingers still manipulating my cliit adding pressure while his dicck feels like it’s smashing into my cervix.

The tensions building inside of me and I can feel myself riding the waves of an orgasm, I feel myself cum all over him, he thrusts into me a few more times before he finds his release and I feel spurts of his cum dripping down my leg.

We wash each other in the shower, get clean, rinse off and get dressed.

I look in the mirror and see that my brown hair is looking healthier, my skin looks less dehydrated, I look less like a crack ho now that I have some meat on my bones.

I’m still not 100% but I’m alive at least and I have never felt as free as I am.

I’m wearing some jeans, a thermal shirt, a tee shirt and a hooded jumper.

We brush our teeth and head out to double check we have everything.

Steve wheels our bags out and we head out of the room, step out into the hallway and shut the door.

We meet a group of people on the way out and they have cups of coffee.

I ask them where did you get that from and one of the girls says im Stacey, I hope you like it it’s a caramel mocha.

I reply to her oh wow thanks, do you not want it she laughs and says no I have mine here but Steve linked and asked if we can get it for you. He thinks you’ll like it.

She nudges me with her elbow and says to me in a weird voice “ it’s a big world out there kid you got a lot to learn” she then hugs me, laughs and says I’ll catch ya later , I look at her retreating bouncing 5”5 frame and long blonde hair as she skips off singing

“Hey you, forever and ever you're gonna wish I was your wifey

Should've held on, should've treated me right

I gave you one chance, you don't get it twice

Hey you, and we'll be together never, so baby you can bite me

I bet you taste me on the tip of your tongue

Tip of your tongue, tip of your tongue

I fell fast when I know I shoulda run

Know I shoulda run, know I shoulda run

I bet you taste me on the tip of your tongue

Tip of your tongue, tip of your tongue

I fell fast when I know I shoulda run

Know I shoulda run, know I shoulda run”

I try and catch up to her to find out the name of the song cause damn that’s cool!

KC taps me on the shoulder and says where ya going?

I tell her I wanna catch up with that chick so I can find out the name of that song that she’s singing .

KC replies 3 things 1 that chick is Stacey, 2 the song is “Bite Me” by Avril Lavigne & 3 if you like life & living , never ever ever get into a car with Stacey ,cause that gal cannot drive.

I look at KC and start laughing but she just glares at me with a serious expression and says, I’m not actually joking Steve would go apoplectic if anything happened to you, so for my piece of mind and Stacey’s safety don’t get in a car with her if she is driving.

I shrug and say ok and drink my drink. Steve was right I really love caramel mochas.

Te Aroha POV

After the museum and watching the performances last night we went out dancing to blow off some steam unfortunately we had to head back a bit earlier than intended luckily Kenji got some of his drivers to drop us off.

The night was going great until something happened and now Stacey is raging because, well she met her mate tonight he’s a collective member as well, she was super excited to find him, but when she did he was dik deep in some rogue slag.

Stacey being Stacey asked for his name and rejected him.

Then walked away like the bad ass bitch she is.

However since then she’s been singing pop/ rock / angry female anthems and her mood is swinging like a pendulum between drunk happy and angry vendetta rage queen, she keeps muttering under her breath about going back and ripping the bitches head off.

We cannot let her behind the wheel of any car while she’s like this.

I walk with them to the coffee shop close to the hotel and order a bunch of different coffees.

We head back freshen up, pick up the coffees and head out to the front of the hotel where a bunch of cars are sitting ready to take us to the airport.

I’m sitting in the car with some other people and just catching up on what’s been happening in the news when I get a link saying have you got your speech all sorted.

I scoff through my link and say to Bear of course I have.

He says well your not going to be happy then,

I mentally sigh and say what now..

He says we aren’t flying directly to Aotearoa.

I ask why, he says we going for a layover in Australia some of the kids with us have never been to the Gold Coast or Australia Zoo.

So we are doing a 3-5 day stop over for them and also something else has happened.

Kiara needs to see an aboriginal shaman ASAP ,Steve marked her without consulting anyone and she is having a hard time keeping the link closed.

They are going to help her but if she needs longer for the training she will stay & we will move on.

I shudder to think about what she is going through.

I get it it’s hard at first and we are introduced to the collective link at a very young age like 12 or 13 you can only link with your main alpha, your school class and ranked members, plus your sensei’s ,then at 15 your pack link opens and the packs that we stay at for training.

So basically when you go into a different packs borders you can link with anyone in that pack oh and also you can link with anyone your wolf connects with outside of your pack , so really a very very small amount compared to ranked members links.

I remember when Manaia got access to the ranked link and how it took her weeks of training to keep the link closed and only allow the voices she needed to hear in.

I could not even imagine being 24 and having that all at once.

Clearly Steve was thinking with the wrong head here.

I just say sweet I’ll hit the waves and go surfing! I haven’t been in ages and surfers paradise is just the way to pop that cherry again.

Stacey POV

Last night started out awesome we had good food, excellent entertainment ,a bit of culture and history, we hung out with some harajuku girls and ate at a Naruto restaurant,

Then we went to a Pokémon shop and Matt got some more Pokémon cards to add to his collection, trust me I’m not judging I myself got a charizard plush soft toy and a whole bunch of cosplay costumes.

Kenji organised for our purchases to be delivered back to our hotel rooms and we hit the town for some dancing and drinks and to have a good time.

I was dancing with matty and the boys when the scent of mint and rainfall wafted past me.

I was trying to find out where it’s coming from and realise it’s was carried by the wind of a disabled toilet.

I don’t think too much cause who cares if he’s like that.

I knock on the door and say excuse me do you need help, I get no answer and slowly push the door open.

The sight in front of me is quickly bringing my rage and my wolf to the front. My supposed mate, my “gift from the goddess” has got his pants down and holding up some rogue slut who’s got her legs wrapped around him, while he fucks her raw in the disabled toilet.

The bitch looks at me and says fuck off can’t you see it’s occupied.

My mate turns around and abruptly drops her on her ass.

He quickly grabs some toilet paper and wipes himself off and says urgh urm I ah I ah didn’t see you there.

I said and you clearly couldn’t smell me you dickwad , I hiss at him what’s your name

He looks at me and stutters out ah um why.

I just glare at him and say What Is your name! Tell me.

All of a sudden I hear a whistle and I look over at Rawiri he throws me something and I open it. I say Carter Michealson that’s your name?

He says yes I’m Carter michealson im a warrior for the border clan pack in England, I’m currently on way to New Zealand to complete my 2nd to last part of training

I roll my eyes and ask what pack are you going to for training he looks at me and hesitates before replying Maui.

The boys all chuckle darkly.

I stand up tall, square my shoulders and say I Stacey Heke head warrior of the Wahine Toa squad reject you Carter Michealson -warrior of the border clan pack of England.

I let out some of my aura & the mana of my ancestors also start pushing against him , my anger feeding the command.

He looks at the ground and says I Carter Michealson accept the rejection of Stacey Heke Head warrior of the (Carter gulps in fear here) Wahine Toa squad he falls to the ground in pain while I have the anger to channel my pain of seeing this.

In what was supposed to be one of the best days of my life ruined because he thinks with his dick, why did the moon goddess do this to me.

I head to the bar and start drinking like a fish and everything was going good, till the rogue slag was following me around taunting me.

I lost it and almost attacked her.

If it wasn’t for Te Aroha, Manaia and the boys I would have been in huge trouble.

We left the clubs and went to see the new dragon ball movie then headed back just in time to shower and depart to the airport.

I’ve been singing random songs and was listening to Spotify when I got a notification that Avril Lavinge had a new song I clicked on it eagerly and listened to it on repeat so much so that I know most of the lyrics!

Steve POV;

We are all on our way from Tokyo to Queensland, AU,

The flight isn’t that long only 9 hours or so, we watch movies and sing, some of them are hung over after the night out and just trying to sleep so their wolves can heal them .

The ranked members are linking each other to plan the arrangements and activities. Splitting everything into manageable groups.

Meanwhile Kiara has been sedated from one of the pack doctors.

I was royally ripped up via mindlink by more than a few people for marking her without giving her the heads up, tbh I kinda didn’t think about the consequences of my actions for my Kiara and how it might effect her.

I’m keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t wake up. We sedated her with a horse tranquilizar while we head to the outback to get her to the aboriginals for help. Hopefully she doesn’t wake up before we land.

Rawiri

We are on a plane with all the crew from north, south and a few from silent shadows, we just heard from Manaia that Kiaras not well and our flights been diverted to Aussie and we are organising activities to keep everyone occupied.

I’m so keen to get to surfers paradise and hit the waves maybe Te Aroha will want to come.

Then I think wait just a second I’m so hitting up dreamworld on the Gold Coast and link Manaia and ask her if we can slot it into the programme.

She reply’s oh yes we already have that down for a few days someone’s organising 3 days passes for us.

We finally land in Queensland , we disembark the plane and head to customs to get our visas scanned, we are under the guise of a “online school” exchange student programme lmao.

We finally escape the long line and grab our bags from the luggage carousel.

Next up is getting into lovely busses to be taken to our hotel, motel and holiday inn, na jokes we are headed to the pack lands in the outback, they are centralised so that you can get to any of the major cities nationwide in a few hours just by letting our wolves out, just watch our for those pesky dingos.

The bus ride takes another 3 or four hours before we get to the pack lands and the city views change to dusty desert roads and miles of nothing.

I over hear Te aroha, Stacey and a few other girls planning to head to Byron Bay cause then maybe they will accidentally no purpose “bump” into the Hemsworths or any of the other celebs that have been lurking. I just piss myself laughing at that thought. Works in theory girls.

We stop off at a main road diner and get something to eat I ask for steak, fries, salad and a drink with some garlic bread on the side.

Manaia

So here we are in the outback with the team.

We are all settled in after being shown to our tents and had some food it’s about 7pm local time and we have started our first training it was a bit impromptu but it is what it is.

We are sweltering under the heat of a 40 degree sun..

As we watch 2 of the warrior elders from the outback pack spar against each other I can see what’s going to happen next J is gonna sweep the leg and round house kick the other guy.

Just as I thought it J telegraphs the moves and the other guy hits the ground from the leg sweep, rolls out of the way and pops up as J executes the roundhouse unfortunately the opponent grabs J by the leg halting the roundhouse and swings him around in the air then throws him on the ground.. he tries to land an arm drop and J suddenly shifts into his wolf and charges at the other guy. The other dude faces me and I see it’s Lukas the smirk on his face tells me he’s not bothered by J sudden shift.

I’m concentrating hard on the sparring session and taking in the lessons they are giving , when all of a sudden I get a weird feeling in the pit of my belly like I’m being watched or something. It’s really annoying cause it’s been happening on and off since I got here , I look around and scan the area but can’t see anything out of place, I open my link to the outback patrols and ask if they see anything out of place.

One of them snarkily reply “ not at the moment….oh wait the only thing out of place is a gamma in training who needs an attitude adjustment and should be focusing on the training she’s watching & not what’s going on around the perimeter”

I sigh, reply “I’ve had a weird feeling I’m being watched since I got here and I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my belly” one of them reply back with a snicker “ of course your being watched there’s over a 100,000 people here, it’s hard not to be watched” I shut the link off.

I take a look around & see in the corner of my eye Stacey slowly edging toward the sparring circle , her heels bouncing like she’s about to jump in, she’s a beast and loves to fight,and sometimes she needs an outlet.

I circle around to her and tap my hand on her shoulder and when she looks at me her eyes are already blended to show joint control. I ask them are you ok. She shakes her head and says I’m still raging about douchebag boy.

I just embrace her in a hug when we hear a growl that’s a bit but not very threatening, we glance around and crack up laughing at the look on some dudes face who looks like he’s upset at us touching. He’s quite tall about 6”2 with brown wavy hair and is a bit stocky looking with muscles for days.

I link Stacey and say to her is that him she just ignores me but I get it, I start rubbing Stacey’s back and pull her closer messing with the dick that broke my bff’s heart. I get the weird feeling again and glance around.

I look over at a group of guys and see Bear looking at me weirdly, I open my link and ask him what gives, he just shakes his head and says nothing.

This is beginning to frustrate me. Even though we are supposed to be paying attention to the training there’s way too much going on and tbh I think I’m beginning to feel the impact of the last few weeks catching up on me, early morning starts, flights, jet lag and the multiple time zones plus the all nighter in Tokyo.

I’m exhausted from helping to organise the arrangements for us all while in the air on the way here, so many different requests from all people wanting to fit absolutely everything inside a 3 week schedule it’s not possible. my wolf is even exhausted from trying to keep me awake enough to keep up.

I link Bear & say I’m out I need to shleep, or have a dwink or something.

He says to me that’s why I’ve been watching you, you look dead , your actually falling asleep on your feet. Is your brain functioning at all? He then lets out a bark like laugh and says I’m sorry we have been taking bets to see how long your stubborn ass is going to stay up for.

I link him & say hardy har har thanks for the sympathy bro feeling the love from here.

He says come on cus I’m only looking out for you.. then he says sooo are you going to bed now.

I mentally prepare myself for the the 20 minute trek from the training area to the tented area. I grab some water from the chilly bin and start walking, everyone shouts at me as I pass them by some saying aww night night Mans , a few shout out aww come on don’t pike now, there’s still ages of light left, come on stay a few more minutes please Mans.

I smile , wave and say sorry guys I’m out so whoever won pay up. They all gasp and say who told you. I just smirk and walk away.

Rawiri shifts and comes to stand next to me he goes to the ground and links me and says hop on there’s no way your gonna make it back look at you.

I just look him say thanks hun and jumó on his back. He’s a beautiful wolf with black fur and brown eyes. We make it back to the tents in less than 5 minutes. I jump off and say thanks to Ra and then head to my tent and crash out.

I wake up and feel a bit discombobulated, I try to sit up slowly but feel like I’m being held.. I look to my left and see that Kenji is fast asleep in the tent with me, I’m so shocked that he’s here, he said that we wouldn’t be able to be together for at least another 6 months.

We also need to discuss what we will be doing, tbh I wouldn’t mind not being gamma of my pack.. is that selfish of me I wish sometimes that they goddess painted a path for us to follow and gave us all the answers , but then however I guess that would mess with the gift of free will. Oh I’m so stressed right now. I lie back down and snuggle into Kenji and try not to think too much.

Kiara

So here I am in the middle of the desert well actually THE AUSTRALIAN fricken outback. Dingo’s, snakes and gigantic spiders woohoo.

Why did no one tell me about the human size spiders!

Never thought I’d be here but life is a whirlwind and ya never ever know what’s going to happen.

I’m trying to pay attention to the old guy in front of me again , we have been at this for the last 4 days and I still have no clue what I’m supposed to be learning, also it’s kinda hard to pay attention cause he’s not wearing much clothes and is holding a gigantic wooden stick ,gesturing and waving it around.

I’m terrified he’s going to accidentally hit me with it as I duck my head as he gestures again.

All of a sudden the unbidden image of Rafiki from the lion king comes to mind again, I shake my head to get rid of it.

He’s talking to me but I can’t really understand what he’s saying it’s like he’s speaking a different language or something. Once again I’m trying to focus when suddenly I feel kind of woozy and slightly nauseous.

I feel in the back of my mind my wolf stirring and moving to the front again but this time like all the others I’m not moving back .

I start to panic when the old dudes voice links me to breathe I try but I pass out and when I open my eyes I’m lying in the camping mattress in the tent.

I sigh and try to sit up, Steve looks over at me smiles and says have something to drink and rest. You passed out again. We will try again tomorrow. Don’t forget to keep your walls up and focus on outback pack link, dont open any others. I scoff and say easier said than done.

Devon

So the outback is hot, dusty, filled with little bugs that suck ya blood and have you seen the snakes.

Yikes hard pass on that.

I did what any normal gal would do and requested permission to take a “perimeter check detail” at the furtherest corner of the border within collective territory,after getting permission and a slight change of plans,turns out I’m taking a large group of around 6550 and we are splitting them I nto teams & spreading ourselves out across the 3000 km. It should take us about 3 days to drop everyone off.

Little did they know I had several alternative reasons for choosing the direction I did,see we are in Alice Springs. I don’t want to be here.

I want to be in Brisbane.

We are going to drop groups of 50 off along the way and there will be watchers assessing & medical teams on standby to just in case.

This is a surprise survival training activity for some of the older teams.

Some are going to the Simpson desert area a few are heading to Kati Thanda national park,then we’re heading up to Innamincka, then I’ll be taking 150 of them for a long trek down to Wagga Wagga back up near Dubbo then we are heading up across towards Tamworth.

I’ll be going to a beach house with a group of 16 of us.

Stacey is also on this road / paw trip along with Rawiri, Manaia, Kenji and the rest of the crew.

We leave in 4 hours. I’m super excited we have packed out the 400 dune buggy’s with survival supplies for the teams that are going be doing it hard. Water, tents, flare guns, if they are smart ( which I hope they are ,they will just shift & live as wolfs for the duration) we will see though.

I take 10 to ring the Byron bay accommodation and double check the booking has been confirmed and paid for in advance.

The lady on the other end confirms it.

I hang up turn around and see that Rawiri has come up behind me and smiles and says I heard that you cheeky minx, so that’s what the surprise is.

He asks if I’m ready to go and I say think so have you checked on Ana he reply’s “nope not touching that one , she is in list making mode.”

I snort and say oh no how bad is it? Like is it more of a Rory Gilmore making a list vibe or a Steve jobs making a list”

He looks at me with a blank stare and says” I don’t know what that means”.

I huff and reply “Boys” then roll my eyes.

Stacey POV

We decided to save time so we split up and have gone in different directions then we will meet up at Byron bay, so I’m heading to drop off my group of 150 to Innamincka then heading directly to Byron should take me a day and a half.

We left Alice springs about 2 hours ago & I have requested everyone shift and run except for those who are driving the 8 dune buggy’s they got allocated 6 for the week in the bush, plus the 2 I’m taking to the bay.

As I’m running I feel a presence behind me trying to catch up. I turn my head and see a brown and gold wolf, I open my link and ask what he wants I roll my eyes when I hear it’s that fool Carter, he looks at me and says through link.

I’m really sorry about the other night, I didn’t realise that I was going to meet my mate and I regret that we met like that.. is there any way we could maybe put the past behind us and start fresh.. he lets out a small uncomfortable laugh and adds especially if your a supervisor on this training.

I scoff, ignore him and speed up to put some distance between us.

I catch up with Te Aroha and open my link and say you’ll never guess who’s in our group of drop offs.. she reply’s who I give a half hearted laugh and say that douchebag Carter otherwise known as my former mate.

She just lets out an evil laugh and says I got this.

I say to her do I even want to know, she says not really but you know who’s the supervisors and standby team plus the invasion squad for rogue attack simulation training for this group is right. I reply to her no I didn’t pay attention. She just says J, Shadow, Micha ,Alex & Henry, Matt Sr & Kiri

I just about stumble and freeze in shock but still keep trying to run without issue. I glance at her and say are you sure all of them have been grouped together that’s a ruthless lethal group of elites from different packs & when you say Kiri you don’t mean…OUR KIRI? She just says yup she flew over last night

She says from what she understands this group of collective members are getting “special treatment” due to some instances that these members have found themselves in.. potential trouble makers that require extra special training and discipline.

I gulp, then smirk and laugh.

Sounds like just what the doctor ordered and makes me think for a split second about abandoning the group at the bay and sticking around to punish these fools for a day or 2 especially now that K & J are both gonna be here.

Carter POV

I’m milling around the outback pack campsite feeling sorry for myself ,talking to some of the boys about what’s happened with Stacey and how I can fix it, ever since the night in Tokyo, I’ve been feeling off and my wolf Magnus has not really responded to me as he regrets rejecting her, he didn’t even want me too and has been a bit grumpy and ignoring me.

I’m trying to get him to talk to me but am distracted when all of a sudden a siren goes off.

We make our way to the main area where everyone else is gathering alpha Henry from Silent shadows , head warrior Marcus from Maui and a few others that I’m not too familiar with are standing on the raised platform with a bunch of guys, off to the side I see the boys that were with my mate at the club in Tokyo and her friends as well.

I glance over as some of the boys from my packs names are called and pulled off to the side. I ask a few what’s going on and they reply outback survival training didn’t you pay attention we are being divided up and split into groups now.

***2 hours later***

I’m standing with my group and we have been running for a while when I see that Devon and Stacey have been assigned as some of our supervisors.

I slowly head to the front where she is when all of a sudden I hear a command to shift into my wolf form unless your on a dune buggy. I’m compelled to shift and start the transformation.

I land on all 4 paws and catch up with Stacey, she only gives me 20 seconds of her time before she heads off to someone else.

I’m watching her and see her freeze and almost stumble ,my breath catches but nothing bad happens as she doesn’t stumble & keeps going though I think I see her glance back at me for a second with a triumphant but worried look on her face.

Not sure what that’s about but I have the whole week to get on her good side, the goddess has made the stars align and my mate will be mine, we just need to get to know each other more and this is the perfect opportunity. I messed up and need to let her know. I’ve asked the goddess to take back my rejection of Stacey.

I know I made a mistake and that I shouldn’t have done what I did with Trin the rogue gal but in my defence, we have been friends on and off for a while we met at the library while she was studying for uni and I was doing research for a paper.

We got friendly and when she was drunk she asked her wolf to offer for me and I was thinking about it , not all rogues are bad some are just misunderstood or a victim of bad circumstances, now I met my mate though and Trin knows she was rude to Stacey. I’ve conveyed my displeasure at her behaviour the other night.

We have been running for about 16 hours and suddenly we are told to halt and set up camp.

We set a perimeter and have people on patrol just in case of predators or rogue or other pack wolves. I glance around and ask where the gals are… I’m asked “what gals” I say the ones from the NZ packs..

The guys just look at me and laugh.

I reply what, what’s so funny

One of the guys is like dude they bailed, they aren’t part of the training just the drop offs.

I look around to see if he’s lying or just messing with me but can’t see Devon or anyone from NZ. I ask them do you know which training group they are in.

One of the boys says dude they aren’t.. they just completed their training with Alpha Henry 3 weeks ago.

I ask them what about the girls? Are they done too? I get positive answers all around and I can feel the frustration inside myself building. Not only have I screwed up with my mate.

I cant even try and fix this cause she’s already done her training. What do I do now. She can’t feel the bond.

Stacey POV

After dropping off the moron and his group off at the spot on the map they have been allocated Devon, Te Aroha, Rawiri and I grabbed our 2 allocated dune buggy’s and bailed, Devon & Te Aroha on one Rawiri and I on another.

We are heading to Byron bay and meeting up with the rest of the group.

Rawiri seems to be super quiet and not himself. I ask if he’s ok and he reply’s yes kind of but the more closer we are to getting home the more nervous I’m getting. I kind of don’t want to go home. I feel like there’s too much of me now & I’m kinda lost.

I say to him yup I know how that feels. He just looks at me and says why what do you mean. I reply and say my mums mums mums mums Grandma, Aunts, and female ancestors are the founders of the elite Wahine Toa squad.. when I go back I’m going to be challenged for my head warrior title. If I win awesome and yay me but also big pressure.. if I lose to someone not of my bloodline or family then I will bring deep shame to my family and ancestors, so no pressure.

He smiles and says hey misery loves company we can be broody together. Let’s make a pact to enjoy the freedom we have while we can and escape the pressure of our lives when we head back to Aotearoa.

Manaia POV

I’m almost past the outback and can actually see civilisation. We head to the “motel” and park up the dune buggy’s when Kenji gets a call on his cell phone,

He walks away and has a conversation with someone, it was very brief he hung up the phone called someone else and said Rawiri sama change of plans father has found us alternative accommodations he has already set everything up for our arrival , the keys will be given to us when we arrive.

I take out my phone and call Kenji’s father to express my gratitude for his generosity, he says it is no trouble and he begs me for his forgiveness, if he had honoured Kenjis request to see me earlier we would have found each other and had more time together..

I say to him that it is not his fault and even if we had seen each other earlier we would not have felt the bond, it was clearly all part of the goddesses plan.

He replies that I am too kind to a foolish old man, I scold him for saying that about himself and he chuckles to himself and says Manaia san, you have always been a brazen young lady, quick to respond in anger, you must control that temper lest it get you in trouble, in a physical fight that could be a deadly mistake.

I say thank you for those words of wisdom I will try to remember to take your advice to heart thank you again .

he replies no thank you have a good time and enjoy your gift.

I hang up the phone and he says I heard you conversation with father how is he. I reply he is good but feeling a bit guilty about keeping us apart, but I told him

Kenji takes my face in his hand and says I heard what you said Warrior Princess, he moves his mouth peppering me with small kisses along my cheek towards my lips, his tounge slowly enters my mouth and he starts massaging his tounge with mine. He pulls away kisses me on my nose and says come one we have somewhere else to be.

We drove along a road toward the bush area and come to a long driveway we turn down it and travel 25 kilometres up a hill with twisty roads and dangerous turns if you were in a car. We finally arrive at a large paved area, we get off the dune buggy’s and take a look around, the first thing I notice is the area has multiple studio apartments that look like they are connected to a main house , the whole area around is sheltered by large tall trees, dense bush ,there is also an extremely large grass area surrounding the house and apartment complexes. I hear a shout from the other side of the property and a voice saying holy crap check out the size of this swimming pool! I run towards them and see a building I didn’t notice, it is a swimming complex that looks like a human government swimming pool you know the type, baby pools, kiddie pool, teen pool and diving boards, waterslide and sauna & spa, some of it indoor and some of it outdoor outside there is a gigantic olympic sized pool off to the side there’s a control panel,. Rawiri is looking at the control panel touching stuff and all of a sudden we hear a siren and then a bell and we hear a weird noise.. we look around and can’t find anything then I hear someone squeal Wave machine!

I roll my eyes and walk away, down a hall and see a door leading to something else.

I try the door and it squeaks a bit I push it a bit more and it pops open, When I walk through the door a sneeze pops out due to the dust. I turn on the light and see a bunch of things covered up with tarpaulins , I pull one off of the thing closest to me and see it’s a treadmill, part of me gets excited and I do a fist pump then start to remove all the other tarps when I’ve finished there are a whole bunch of exercise machines and gym equipment as well as mats and things I smile & link Stacey and Te Aroha to let them know they will be able to keep training while we are here.

I take a look around and I see another door and go through it I find myself in a private pool area inside a conservatory that appears to branch off into the main house. I see a key taped to the door with a note with mine and Kenjis name on it. I link him to ask where he is, he replies behind you and kisses the back of my neck. I say here is a letter for us and the key.

I give him the letter to read and he says no I already know what it says you read it.

I start to read the letter and I tear up instantly. His father has bought us this property as a getaway for us and our friends due to the large amount of pressure on us at such a young age. He is proud of all of us and wishes nothing us the best.

Trigger warning read below with caution..

I’m dreaming but I’m awake.. i feel like I’m split in 2, I’m floating above me, this is weird

I can see myself on a bed, I’m handcuffed with silver cuffs, I see the me on the bed look upwards & see the other pairs of cuffs attached to my ones however the other ends are locked around a 6 inch metal pole on each end of the attached to the makeshift canopy bed surround, around my ankles are silver bracelets attached to that is an adjustable silver leg spreader pole.

I’m in a dungeon wearing nothing but a tube top and a piece of material these dicks call a skirt. They have a collar around my neck and a ball gag in my mouth.

The floating me remembers this day.. I had been left alone for the last 8 days due to what had happened previously I had barely survived and the gamma was furious a warrior had done that to his “ favourite slut” ha the way they say it makes it sound like we want to be here.

. I was naive and fell for the charms of a narcissist male, you know the type that can charm the pants off you when they want something but as soon as they get it it’s like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.

He was so smooth I foolishly moved my family to what we thought was a better life. Better life my ass 3 days after we were initiated the males came to take me and my sister out for a date. We were so excited

We went out and they slipped something in my drink I don’t know what happened to my family but have been told they were murdered by rogues. When I woke up I was tied to the bed like that the silver making my wolf null and void..

I was locked up like that and used and played with and “trained” for 2 years.

So as I was saying I had been left alone for 8 or 9 days they even took the silver off me, I was in the pack hospital for 5 days giving my wolfy enough time to heal me but she held back and went into a meditation storing all this energy but making it seem like we were weak.

Anyways back to the day, the gamma had told everyone not to touch me he wanted to be the first after I’d been healed.. one of the warriors didn’t listen and came into my room. Thing was gamma had only just been back in the room 10 minutes beforeto lock me back up. I thought I was never gonna get out.

Trigger warning - read below with caution

Jason came in thinking that I had been weakened by his attempts he’d only just gotten out of the dungeon, he sneered and said your wolfs so weak she can’t even heal all your bruises.. come here bitch. He yanked on my leash and I was forced to move towards him he pushes me on my knees and pulls his flaccid penis out then removes the ball gag and shoves his dick in my mouth.

One of his hands grip the back of my head by my hair forcing my head along his girth, one of his hands move down and he tweaks my nipples and pinches them hard I let out a squeak of pain and he pinches them harder and says did i say you could make a sound suck it.

He reaches behind him and says girly have I got a surprise for you he pulls out a leather riding crop meanwhile he’s forcing his now rigid dick down my throat he tries to hit my girly bits with the crop but can’t reach, he pulls me out of his mouth flips me over and shoves his penis inside me his thursts savage as he takes me, he pulls himself out and goes to get in the back door but as he rotates me he mutters that it’s not working and unlocks my restraints and frees me .I take the chance and push him off me he goes to stab me with a silver knife but I somehow get it off him and accidentally puncture his neck.

The wound spurts out with blood splattering across my face and my hands are bloody and I see his life pumping out of him his eyes getting dimmer , I’m not stupid I run out of the building seizing this once in a lifetime opportunity.

I somehow make it to the exit my heart pumping traitorously loud I swear you could hear it across the territory, I push open the door see that the grounds are eerily quiet with no one around.

I sneak quickly across the clearing hiding myself in the multiple paddocks of long corn fields.

I make it to the boarders edge of the pack lands. I take a deep breath step across them and renounce the pack and the alpha breaking all ties.

I shift and start running.

Floating me looks around & things seem to blur and the me on the bed fades away, I see myself running and when my former pack were chasing me, the running , the hiding, the hunger, the wide open spaces of never ending desert stretching in front of me, the feeling of trepidation when I crossed the unknown boarder, how I met Steve, the whirlwind of travels, things are going to fast for me to see, I turn and see a gigantic ass misty wolf floating toward me, I don’t feel scared though I feel like I’m coming home.

From all around me I hear a fast chanting and I’m feeling dizzy again. The wolf comes closer and she merges with me, I look around and see millions of wolves around me they all look solid then disappear

. I blink my eyes and feel whole. I’m standing in front of a house the door has a majestic knocker with intricate carvings and designs of differing cultures blending together all underneath a rainbow carved into the door, you can see the different types of wolves carved into the designs. I open the door and step inside, inside the lobby type room is like a large open space and the room is filled with doors to hallways, above each door is a continent name.

I open the door that says USA and see a hallway with doors on the all along, each door has a pack name on it . I close the USA door and open Asia and see a similar set up a voice to my right says each door opens the link to each pack. Take a breath.

I breath and suddenly I’m standing in the dusty outback

I look around and am dazzled by what i see, everything is much more heightened. I feel energised like I could run forever.

Birrani smiles and says you finally have control of the collective link as I said before sometimes you have to move backwards to go forwards.. I embrace him in a hug and he says go rest , have some kai & recharge yourself, you did good today.

I snort and say better than the last 3 weeks, he nods with a smile.

I shift into my wolf and start to head towards the camp when I see Hades heading toward me he sniffs and licks me, saying in my mind do you feel like going for a run or do you want to rest. I link him back and say that I’m quite tired.

He says shift back and you can ride me. I snort and say let’s go I got a second wind come on.

We take off and chase each other for a while until the sun starts setting letting our wolves run wild. When all of a sudden I’m hit with a wave of fatigue and I stumble and fall over passing out.

Te Aroha.

We are sitting in the living room of the main house waiting for our families back home to join the zoom call, we are organising the ceremony & celebration of us returning home.

On top of that we are also are organising the summit meeting of all the collective heads from all across the globe, some will be there in the flesh. I’m nervous and excited to be going home.

Grandmas face fills the screen and she starts talking but she’s on mute so we can’t hear her.. then a few other join and soon everyone is talking and catching up. All of a sudden the sound of a whistle is heard and we all stop talking.

We start to plan what going to happen and what Kai and how much we will need who is going to do the powhiri & Karanga & all the rest of the steps I start to zone out when Ana pokes me in the ribs. I look at her and she subtly nods towards the screen. My grandma is pointing her finger and saying my name in a tone no one should hear. I say sorry grandma what did you say I think my sound glitched.. she said are you ok to do the welcome from your side.

I sigh and say yes kaumatua if that’s what you want. She says yes it is now have you kept up with your Te Reo Māori I say yes kaumatua.

I glance over at Ana but grandma says na girl she ain’t gonna help you. Get to work on your Whaikōrero (speech) waiata (song) & koha (gift). I say yes grandma may I please be excused it appears I have a lot of work to do.

Rawiri

After Te Aroha left her grandmas attention turned to us we had never met her before but she pinned her gaze on us & asked what whakapapa we belonged to I responded Ko tōku Rawiri, kei te pēhea koe?

Her grandma responded kei tei pai Rawiri but answer the question? Oh if you don’t know we can move on you tell me later boy, now I’m gonna need your boys help to organise everyone I’m sending reinforcements over so that those coming back onto the land can help the new comers and can you help Ana and Te Aroha with that. I say yes ma’am. She says good you boys are dismissed unless your ranked then stay.

Devon;

I’m sitting in the background of the living room listening to everything that’s going on and I’m taking notes so everyone will know what we decided. After the meeting I’ll compile all the info and type it into a word doc then send them out to everyone involved.

I can’t wait to get back home where we live is close to the Waikato harbour and sand dunes, it’s nice to be that close to nature. I’m not knocking where we are this house is bombtrack.. we have enough privacy to shift and run in the lush bush.

The meeting is finally done and the pizzas we were making before the meeting are almost ready, Stacey made some homemade garlic bread & some of the others went and got some reduced cream, onion soup mix and lemon juice & made some dip, we also have carrot & celery sticks and some crisps, the boys are getting the grill sorted to BBQ the meat. We are going to have a movie night then head down to the local pub for a few games of pool.

Rawiri and the guys have been practicing their Haka, while Te Aroha has been practicing her karanga & reply’s for when she will act as guide welcoming us onto the marae lands she has also been practicing her pukana as well. It’s so awesome to see her like this, you can feel her confidence build each time she does it and I swear the last time she did it I felt the power of her ancestors behind her it was cool to witness.

Stacey

I’ve been getting mindlinks from Henry, J and Kiri about how the guys are going, apparently they spent 3 days in human form before someone had the bright idea to shift and hunt in wolf form. They have only shifted back a few times and seem to be getting comfortable and into a rhythm. They have invited me along for when they do the rogue attack simulation.. I’m considering it but I’m not sure. I’m listening to Spotify while I’m making salads for our dinner. I get a notification that a new song from Halestorm just dropped called “The Steeple” I click on it and start getting into the beat the song ends and I realise that the salad I’m making is all over the place i sigh, pick it all up and start again. I really don’t want to care about Carter but I’m a bit worried for him those guys won’t go easy on them.

Henry

We have being keeping an eye on the boys and they seem to have gotten into a rhythm of hunting, surviving and they found the best place for water.

Today they spent the morning hunting some kangaroo’s.

I was hoping that they would remember to keep up with their training but that has been a bit lax. Have to say though Carter has been stepping up and taking the lead of his group, he can be a bit immature but he’s still young.

I head back to the basecamp where we are set up. Kiri is checking the gear and making sure we have everything we need, her eyes glaze over and I realise she is linking someone.. I continue checking over everything and look at the plans for the fake rogue attack on the group when I hear a twig snap..

Stacey:

This morning I woke up and shifted I couldn’t stop my wolf, I ask her where she’s taking me but she doesn’t answer and shoves me back , takes control then replies “sit back and enjoy the run”.

She leads us out through the backyard and into the bushes we start heading east for about 4 hours, we shift and head into the human town and I grab 2 large burger combos and a large chocolate shake. I suddenly sense Devon behind me and I adjust my order to 4 combos. I say to her I should have known you would follow me. She smirks and replies “ha you think I’m coming along for you psh I’m only going to watch the training exercise maybe find my mate” she digs her elbow into my ribs and we start giggling. The order is finally ready and we go outside to eat on the benches we have finished all but one burger each when 3 non collective pack wolves turn into the Hungry Jacks car park.

Devon and I quickly scarf the rest of our food,grab our trash and start heading to the farthest side from them keeping in view of the glass ,I throw the garbage in a bin as we walk past it.

The boys have parked the vehicle and are getting out when one of them stiffens, we speed up a bit and head to the edge of the woods towards the quickest area near our collective boarder, Devon and I glance at each other, we move quickly but quietly into the bushes.

We get 200ft into the wooded area and turn around to see if the boys went into Hungry Jacks or if they are hunting us. I would rather avoid a confrontation if we could help it. We both scan the area and it looks like their need for food outweighed hunting two collective members.

We move further into the woods and both breathe a sigh of relief we shift back into our wolves and head toward the collective lands it takes us about 45 minutes at medium speed to get there.

We then head south east and run for another 3 hours before we get to our intended destination.

When we arrive we shift back and are surprised to see Te Aroha arriving from a different direction she shifts and throws some clothes that are tied around her leg.

She runs up to the table says Aunty Kiri thanks for the invite and throws her arms around her.

Kiri returns the hug hands her a clipboard and pen and says double check everything on the list, you two follow me - she looks and me and Devon. She takes us to another table and hands a clipboard and pen to Devon and says to me come on.

I followed her and she says you the one with the ex mate out there. I nod my head she says I heard what happened that takes guts but if he said the words but didn’t mean it then you may still have a small bond, minute but still technically bonded. It may fade or it could grow. I frown and say it hurt like a mother-

Kiri slaps my hand and says don’t use that vulgar language around me.

I reply sorry aunty, she squeezes my arm and glances at me and murmurs it’s ok moko, I heard you didn’t flinch and the ancestors made a brief appearance you should be proud of yourself.

I sigh and say I love it here but I can’t wait to get home, she says it will be another 3 weeks then we will be home in the meantime here and hands me a clipboard and instructs double check the items off the list. You may be hurting but focus on the job at hand.

Stacey

So here I am in the tent sitting with Aunty Kiri, Devon & Henry and Te Aroha.

We have been watching the boys for a few days and I have to say I am slightly impressed with the survival skills.

The only thing that I’m not happy with is the fact they haven’t sent surveillance teams or scouts to check the perimeter, but if they did that they may have found us by now.

We have slowly been moving our selves closer each night we are about 45 km away from them so really a 15min run at medium speed in our wolves.

When I go for runs with our scouts I’ve had to be really careful when I’ve been with them ,cause sometimes we move close to Carter and I swear he can smell me he hasn’t seen me so I think he thinks his mind is playing tricks on him.. well at least I hope so anyway.

Im stealthy like a ninja though and can hide in the shadows of the trees. I sometimes wish that I could hide my scent like Aunty Kiri can but she says that’s something that you learn as you get older like 25.

That would be super valuable to have right now.

Anywho I’m sitting watching the screen in the tent when I feel a tap on my shoulder and see that the other team have come to relieve us for a break Shadow, Micha ,Alex & Henry, Matt Sr & Kiri & J all situate themselves around the monitors and wait for us to vacate the chairs.Kiri & J are twins and lead the elite enforcer warriors squad of our pack.It’s never a good idea to get on the bad side of them as the aura of one of them baring down on you is enough to take your breath away, our Alpha and Luna maybe the judge but those 2 are the jury and executioners. The stories you hear about them is enough to give you nightmares.

We head outside and shift into our wolves and start running in the opposite direction to where the boys are set up and keep heading to the oasis in the middle of nowhere that we discovered the other day.

We hang out and look at the sky when Devon asks me if I’ve decided what I’m gonna do, break the bond again or let it grow. I let out a involuntary growl and say that I don’t know, don’t wanna think about it, they joke and say well maybe go to Maui pack after this and get to know him when he’s not training with Ra and the boys.

I smile and say you seriously think Ra is going to be hanging with those wolves when he gets back have you seen him lately?

He went from shulb to elite over night, who woulda guessed he had elf genes. Kinda gutted he didn’t let us know earlier.

Te Aroha says that according to Rawiri his Elf magic and genes were bound until he came of age and that’s why he was the way he was.

We just laugh and say that of course but do we believe him about the panthers.

I get a mind link from Kiri saying we need to head back as dinner will be ready soon.

We sigh and shift back then start running towards the makeshift camp. I skid to a stop when I sense a presence to my left 1000 yards ahead and smell a small mob of wallaby I link Devon and she replies yup I smell them on the count of 3. one ,two, three we both attack from different directions and catch 2 of them while the rest run away a few run right into the jaws of the others oh well.my wolf starts singing lion king moment “It’s the circle the circllllleeeeee offffff liiifffffeeeee” we gotta eat as well you know.

We head back to camp and settle down at the table to eat but I’m already stuffed so I just munch on some damper (damper is a camping bread staple made using

2 cups Plain flour (Main)

3 tsp Baking powder

½ tsp Salt

½ cup Milk, or use water

¼ cup Neutral oil Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine the milk or water and oil, add to the dry ingredients and mix to form a soft, pliable dough (if it is at all crumbly add a little more milk or water).To make camp damper, take small handfuls of mixture and shape thinly around non-toxic sticks. Cook over the embers of a fire, turning, until the outside is golden and the damper comes off the sticks easily about 15 minutes. It’s so tasty and delicious.

We also have s’mores as well. Kiri looks over at us and says eh what’s wrong with the kai girls we say nothing but we caught a few wallaby’s on the way back and we are a bit full.

Kiri reply’s aue tu meke moko good on ya for honing your hunting skills did you catch many.

We reply only 4.

We go back to eating and the boys come over and say we are almost ready just a few more days. Do you guys think the others will find us before then.

I say are we going for a capture the flag type of ambush or a direct attack. They just smirk and say you’ll know when you need to we are working out all the kinks and finalising everything.

Devon;

I’m sitting by the campfire toasting some marshmallows when Henry starts telling the story of wood carver natsalene who myth says created the orca

I look down and see that my marshmallow is totally burned and blackened, everyone around me is stifling their laughter, I just say “you got me I’m a huge history nerd I love everything to do with learning the differences between us, I found so many similarities between the First Nations and the Aborigines” they all just glance around awkwardly until Henry says it is important work that you are doing even though it is just a hobby for now, if your research grows we may well add it to the collective archives. I feel my face growing warm and I shrug my shoulders say thank you alpha then quickly divert my gaze back into the fire.

I pull the stick out of the flames, burn my fingers getting the burned marshmallows off and start again.

This time I make the s’mores perfectly.

I hand a pile off to Stacey and she passes a few off to Te Aroha but she shakes her head and shows off a whole bunch in her hand that were given to her by someone else.

I’m sitting on the ground when my wolf starts pacing inside my head. I say to her what’s wrong she replies I’m not sure but somethings coming.

Henry

I get a link in my head from my son Bear he asks if he can join us,I give him permission but I’m really confused cause I thought he stayed behind at the silent shadows.

He replies I can hear you dad and “did you forget?”

I say forget what.. then I realise that due to the time zones and everything I’m all out of kilter.

I say happy 16th birthday son, he asks where I am and I send him a message with cords. He says be there soon dad, I’m already on my way.

Steve

After our run when Kiara collapsed I carried her back to where we are staying at the moment.

She has been in a deep sleep for about 4 hours. I am working on my laptop and it’s about 10pm at night

I had the shaman come look at her but he said she just expended too much energy so she is just healing.

He took me aside and told me some of what he saw in her past while he’s been training her, she is going to need extensive counselling and a lot of support.

I have been in a virtual meeting with my Alpha for the last few hours to get that organised for her as well as planning her initiation into our pack.

A smile forms on my face as I think about the renovations that have been done to my house back home. I asked them to make it “female friendly” they pushed back and said what if your lady love wants to decorate.

I asked if they could extend my house and add somethings on to it.

I figure it will all be completed by the time we get back home then if my Angel wants to redecorate then she can.

I’m looking at my emails and working on an expenses spreadsheet to work out some of pack and collective accounts when I hear a terrible scream coming from the bed.

I race to where she is and stop abruptly when I realise she is still asleep but clearly having a nightmare.

She is shaking and trembling,tears streaming down her face.

Hades steps forward to take control and goes to her, he bundles her up in his arms and soothes her when she suddenly punches us in the face, my nose breaking on impact. One of her legs extend and kicks out toward me ,I dodge it before my kneecap get broken. I move forward slowly but carefully.

Kiara who is still sleeping starts screaming again.

While Hades works on healing my broken nose, I link the shaman and a doctor asking them to get here ASAP.

Unsure what to do and scared she might hurt herself or me again I stand to the side like a frozen statue.

The Shaman and the Dr arrive at the same time take one look at her and say she must have healed and become healthier within the body.. like I said to you earlier it’s now the mind that needs help.

I ask if there is anything we can do at the moment to help her, they say well we could sedate her but we don’t know if she would be trapped in the nightmare she’s in and it might be dangerous for both her and you...

Try holding her and just don’t let her hit you again.

I look up to see a slight smirk on both the Shaman and the Dr’s face, the Dr shrugs his shoulders and says Hades healed most of it but I can still see there’s some slight bruising around the brow bone area.

I reply -“thanks I know I can feel it but are you going to give any helpful advice or just stand there and mock me.”

The shaman steps forward and taps her 3 times on the shoulder says something to her in Warlpiri (aboriginal language) her whole body tenses then relaxes she stirs in her sleep, rolls over and opens her eyes.

She looks over at me & asks what time is it , what happened to your face and what are they doing here.

The Dr asks if she remembers collapsing while on our run and she says yes. I remember Steve bringing me to bed and falling asleep then nothing till now.

He looks at me and says I’m going to prescribe some sleeping tablets take 2 now or when she wants to sleep again.

That should stop the nightmares till your back home or alternatively we can set up a counsellor for her to talk to here.. I say to the Dr we will talk about it tomorrow and let you know.

Thanks for coming out tonight you two.

They turn and head out the door.

I look at Kiara who has a cute but confused look on her face she is holding her hands and shaking one of them, she asks if I know why her hand hurts and I tell her she punched me when she was having a nightmare.

We have some things to discuss.

Rawiri

We have been at the beach all day surfing, playing volleyball and toasting marshmallows over the fire, it’s later and some of the crew have gone into the marquee that they went & got from the local store. Kenji & Manaia sprinted back to the house to grab one of the dune buggy’s to haul the marquee & other outdoor furniture they got.

We were on a run and it was a spur of the moment thing.

I’m laying on the beach looking at the crescent moon the sky above is cloudy but the moon is like a bright shiny beacon in the night,

I go for a walk and end up by some dunes, as I’m walking along the scene and scents change to that of somewhere distant, far away but familiar.

I take in my surroundings & feel unsure if it’s real or not but the nearby golden sandy dunes, the smell of tūturiwhatu (dotterel - native NZ bird ) feaces hits my nose in an aggressive assault. I see the cove of the Waikato harbour & see the sand dunes, I look into the up into the hills far in the distance and see a large clearing in the middle of some trees.

For those in the know that is only the beginning of something hidden further up far away when no normal person could reach.

I start running and as soon as I hit the tree line and am far enough where humans can’t see me I shift.

My wolf exhilarated feeling the freedom of no borders no other packs or rogues to deal with. I feel the change in the air when I hit the boundary of the sentry village.I slow down and start linking my Kuia & Koro. 16 warriors come out of 8 shipping container office hut’s 4 on either side of a gated entry ,thick 8” steel poles 4 inches wide are slotted into a solar powered sliding gate that opens just enough to let me slide through. It quickly slams closed behind me.

Two of the warriors step forward hand me a pair of shorts and say we have been awaiting your arrival follow us.

I throw the shorts on and walk with them through the small camp site where there are animals being butchered and prepped for the meals tomorrow, I saw a few boys deboning and de-skinning some fish, we walked past a table with some Kina and paua, off to the side some younger girls are sitting together in front of a giant pile of potatoes & Kumara which the girls are peeling. The warrior paused when he saw me looking and said please you are welcome to have any kai,

I started to grab some paua when I felt a hand smack me across the ear. “

The the stern sound of “Ehh moko you stuff your face before coming to see an old woman, you make an elderly lady like me walk all the way from the main village to meet you and first thing I see is you trying to eat some kai.

I look at her and see the mischievous twinkle in her eye, I hear the gruff loud voice of my grandfather saying oí leave the boy alone he probably thinks he’s dreaming, na boy it’s real your here.

They both pull me into a hug & say your finally here, bit unconventional the way you got here but none the less here you are.

I reply huh umm not sure for how long err hmm umm can someone explain how I was in Australia but now I’m here.

Rawiri

I have been sitting down with Koro & Kuia, I’m very confused as to why we are in the north island,but don’t really question it too much I’m more concerned about how I got here in the first place.

we are in the large rumpus room space has been converted into an indoor kids play area. There are 7 kids between the ages of 18 months to 3 year olds playing inside of a miniature interactive playground there are 5 others side by side connected by miniature indoor tunnels, along 3 walls are long benches with some fabric and spongy stuff inside that made your butt melt into the seat. I watch as a group of ladies come and gather the kids and take them somewhere.

Koro keeps glancing at the clock then looking at me. He says we were talking to alpha and was going organise you to come back early, this must be a sign that the time is coming for the test.

We know & you know ,the elders know.

Know what I ask trepidation flowing through me. It doesn’t matter, what happens next will decide.

I’m feeling even more confused than before.

Kuia is in front of me and blows something in my face when all of a sudden everything goes black and I feel myself falling backwards.

I hear them saying see you soon.

Devon

As I was heading to bed Alpha Henry asked me to stay behind for another half hour or so, I said that was fine, he took me to the tent and requested that I relocate back to Hidden Shadows to transcribe and research the histories of each of our packs and amalgamate it into the collective library.

I reply that I would have to go back home for a bit but that I’m sure it will be fine.

As I head out of the tent I start to feel the trepidation from earlier, I feel nervous but my wolf feels excited and on edge she is pacing in my mind. I start to smell something delicious and calming when all of a sudden Bear appears out of nowhere and cups my cheeks looks me directly in the eye and says Mate!

My wolf merges and says mate back

Alpha Henry comes barging out of the bushes and is talking to us but to be honest I don’t really hear anything.

Bear scoops me up and passes by his dad who taps him on the shoulder and says congratulations son but you need to put the young lady down, remember the reason your here.

We stare at each other and he puts me down and I lean into him Henry says well you guys both may as well come on back in,

We sit on the couch and Bear puts his arm around me while Alpha Henry just sighs and says at least its someone with their head screwed on right. He shakes his head and starts talking to Bear about plans and some other stuff I find myself drifting off to sleep.

Rawiri

After waking up on the beach I have been hanging out at the house with Manaia and the others thinking about the whole travelling to a whole different country. Ive not told anyone because I don’t know what to say or how to tell them. “Hey I got something to tell ya oh yea na all good” btw I walked to NZ. Yea right. Ratana’s in my head saying “hey can we go back, let’s go it’s better at home.” I laugh at him and say bro we didn’t even end up in the right island I dunno how, why or even if I can do it again.

This is getting ridiculous.

All of a sudden I hear the link open and my alpha in my head, he says “so you got a way to get here yourself boy” I reply Alpha “ I don’t know how I did it or why” he replies just a few more days and you will be back. I reply “it can’t come fast enough”.

I head to the house and grab a bowl, butter some bread and stir the pot on the stove, then use a large soup ladle to scoop some boil up into the bowl.

I head to the table and start eating the kai. Im deep in thought when a hear footsteps coming from outside they get closer, the door opens and Manaia & Kenji walk in holding a tray of milkshakes they hand me caramel/ vanilla flavour which is my favourite. I say thanks and sit back at the table they grab bowls and join me. Kenji says Ratana what is going on, you seem distracted and lost in your thoughts. Is there something we can assist you with?

Stacey POV

Here we are sitting around laughing and joking with each other while watching the surveillance monitors.

The teams are about to launch the fake rogue attack on the group, we have been sitting in anticipation when a howl goes up and the boys quickly shift and run into action, it’s been an intense few days making sure that everyone and everything was ready.

I can’t believe the ruckus that is coming from the boys.

We get a link to say that they only have half the group are here and they must know. Keep your eyes and ears peeled.

All of a sudden I hear a voice saying I know your in there I can smell you.. you think your so smart we knew you’ve been here all along. Fake rogue attack my ass.

Perhaps next time don’t bring along someone who was rejected but the bond didn’t fully sever I could feel you lady.

I walk backwards while the silhouette of a man stalks forwards.

The scent of mint and rainfall enters my nose and I shake a little bit then take a deep breath and let it out while I adjust my body, all of a sudden a hand is clamped over my mouth and I’m yanked out of the tent from the left side he whispers in my ear “misdirection ever heard of it” I go to stamp my foot on his foot but he says “ah ah ah not this time feisty one”

He looks at me and I let out a grunt of dissatisfaction and say “Carter really ok you guys got the drop on us let me go” his eyes are completely black which is a bad sign cause Carter isn’t there so he doesn’t have mixed control his wolf is fully in control.. his voice is gravelly and stern.

My name is Magnus. You are Mate. Accept me or suffer the consequences.

I stand my ground and say Magnus this is not the way, you must be kind, please give control back to Carter.

He replies Carter is not here Carter is gone ,he was bad human & didn’t listen to me he hurt you so I got rid of him he starts walking towards me again.

I start to panic a bit as this is why we need to complete our training.

I start to speak and say Magus you must bring Carter back now please.

Magnus replies I told you Mate accept me or suffer. I’m not above taking a bitch down to get what I want, if you had just accepted me, not humiliated me or rejected me.

I am not like asshat hurtful Carter.. I want to cherish and love you. However you will not be warrior too risky and dangerous.

Love mate, protect mate, mate with mate.

I’m really starting to get worried now. I can’t reach Carter and Magnus is in full control. Damage control ,de-escalation & survival instincts are a go.

I stall for time and ask Magnus “Mate how long has Carter been gone for”

He replies not long but long enough. I don’t want to bring him back what if he hurt you again bad human”

I then bide my time trying to figure how to ask but decide to hit the bullet and ask Magnus “ Mate are you ok or do you feel a bit….feral”?

“Not feral need mate, need mate, need mate”

All of a sudden I see out of the corner of my eye the team I don’t make a move and wait in anticipation.

The shot rings out and Magnus hits the ground stunned and tranquillised.

I sit in the ground and take deep breaths to calm myself. Holy shit that was scary what the heck was that.

Carter POV

I’ve been pushed back and Magnus has taken control. It’s been a very weird experience having my wolf in control for so long. I can’t move forward and I’m terrified of what will happen, wish I had paid attention more in training. Guess this is what I have to deal with.

I can see that Magnus has taken control of the group and has told them to split up. He knows that a fake attack is coming he can smell Stacey.

He moves forward and starts heading towards the camp where they all are set up.

Everything goes back and I’m scared that I’m about to be neutralised.

How did this even happen.

I thought we were all good with each other, Magnus replies you didn’t respect me, called me a smelly mutt more than once and was disrespectful towards Mate.

Don’t worry I give control back soon just more time.

Don’t hurt anyone I reply.

Thinking maybe if I catch him off guard and wrest control back from him ,he harrumphs at me and says you could try it human now watch and learn.

I watch in horror as he sneaks around the tent and snakes he hand inside and pulls Stacey out.

She is looking at us with a strange expression on her face I can hear her heart racing and the smell of confusion pouring from her pores.

I’m begging Magnus not to do anything bad to her and he growls at me.

Rawiri

I’m walking around gathering all my stuff up to packing to catch the plane back home when I see a flickering wisp of smoke outside my window.

I walk outside to investigate and follow the smoke.

Walking through the forest my wolf going bonkers inside me. my body starts to tingle, suddenly the forest disappears & I’m in the trees above the Picton harbour.

I glance around, see a ferry sailing in the distance and the beautiful clear water with dolphins frolicking in the sea.

The scent of humans hits me and I quickly walk toward the trail when I hear something above me, further in the trees “psst”

I glance around and hear it again

“Psst shh over here” I barely hear it against the wind.

Directly above me about 1500 metres up

a face is poking out she looks down and says “ what you waiting for jump”

I leap upward and as I’m about to pass her 6 pairs of arms stop my momentum.

I say thanks and ask for their names.

They reply “not here. Follow quickly & quietly.Contact your Alpha and your grandparents.

Now while we are on the move tell them the messengers are here and the time has come.

Do not fear they will know what it means.”

I gulp take a breath and start linking my alpha when I tell he I’m he says good luck and see you when you get back.

When I link my grandparents they say finally the time has come. Everything will be fine, just look inside yourself. Love you.

We enter a cave and it goes quite far down into the ground when all of a sudden a city emerges it is a replica of the city above but made out of trees and mud with bricks and mortar all made by nature.

One of the girls is talking and giving a tour “

In the centre of the town a gorgeous spring with a waterfall which lands in a small lake with a narrow river heading south”

I ask where we are

One of them replies “Kata your so rude Welcome Rawiri to the hidden city of the elves.”

We are inside of a natural cave and the roads are through the caverns.

“we have an invisible barrier which creates the shield to hide us it’s all around us ,the best part is that we created the illusion that 90% of Zealandia land mass is under water it’s more like 65%.

The mermaids are pushing to make it more they were furious after the humans destroyed their sacred mermaid pools if you ever meet one don’t ever mention them they will rant for hours. Look what they did to Niue.”

One of the others says

“Sierra your getting off track the matters of mermaid are not ours to discuss.”

“Oh right so to the left is accomodation your in by yourself wolfs don’t like to share much so here’s your keys”.

“Here’s your schedule for the next 6 months.

I look at the binder I just got handed and ask if this is a joke.

The binder is the size of the complete Harry Potter Series.

I start to flip through it and see spell casting for beginners, healing for beginners,

Negotiation & compromise, ,Astrology, Archery,cardio,alchemy. Medieval arts. Strategy planning, dance, fencing, mixed martial arts, meditation, chess, singing, debate, gardening. Elven language lessons..training in wolf form 2 hours a day except for Friday which I can spend the whole day in wolf form. Saturday & sunday free (must not leave the city) .

I ask them who they are and why am I here.

Sierra looks at me and says your late you were supposed to be here weeks ago, your grandparents were reluctant but we finally got them to give in.

Come we must continue with the tour

Library is down that hallway here, mess hall, kitchens that way it’s pretty simple everything attached to the school is connected in a spiral.

“School, wait what school?? Did I hear you right lady school”

“Yes school the fountain is the centre point of the ground floor all roads lead to the fountain if your lost follow a river. “

Come this way classrooms are all on the second floor”

How long do I got to this school for.

Until your trained.

Trained in what exactly??

How to be an exceptional elf. We could feel your seal break we could feel the call of your power from where you were. You need to be with us, your people to learn to control it.

More school.

I start laughing and.repeat what dad, grandpa & my cousins all told me, I thought they were joking when they said disappear like a deep cover for ages and no one would be able to find you even if they tried.

Manaia

We are about to head back to get the last of the stuff out of the house when it seems like Rawiri disappeared into thin air like one minute he’s there the next poof gone.

We can’t find him and the link is blocked it’s really weird I’m starting to get worried when I get a link from Steve who says Don’t worry bout him he’s safe let’s get this sorted so we can get home.

It feels weird to finally be going home it’s so great to know that Kenji will be beside me and the fact we will have so much space to shift without any worries.

I’m not looking forward to liaising with the mermaid council about the best ways to protect the sea and land my mum has been linking me like crazy with the lists of stuff I’m going to be taking over.

The mermaid queen has been going nuts about the changing of the tides ceremony.

It takes place in the city of Aquellia where merfolk history began, it is located deep in the waters of New Zealand.

Aquellia is where the Changing of the Tides Ceremony takes place: every 20 years a member of the royal family must return to Aquellia and sit atop the ancient throne.

When they speak the ancient rite, they gain the power to make Merillia, the life force of the ocean.

The oldest of the MerQueens daughters Kahlalani is making her ascension and will sit upon the throne for the first time so everything must be perfect.

I’m getting stressed just thinking about it.

Wish we would take the Mermaid matters don’t bother us stand but stupid mermaid city underneath our continent wonder if I could postpone the trip somehow.

Don’t wanna be adulting too much just yet. Also have you ever met a mermaid so manipulative with their look at me look at me I’m a fish with big boobs, a tail and hey I can talk.

Gotta block your ears when they sing or else siren song can get you.. don’t get fooled it works on girls too, avoid all eye contact cause all they need is the smallest amount of eye contact with you and bam they hit ya with the whammy then your all “whatever you say master” blergh yuk no thank you.. it’s a myth that females aren’t affected. Terrifyingly beautiful smarmy bitches that they are.

Never offend them though cause the Siren side comes out and thats vicious as fuck oh well.

How do I know this you may ask. My cuzzy Aaron made the mistake of messing with a mergirl Seana when he was out surfing he mocked her tail or her looks or something her and her friends dragged him under, messed with him a bit & removed the oxygen from the sea where he was.

He survived but now he’s terrified of the ocean and those fish bitches as he calls them.

Almost packed and ready to go. The house is locked up and we plan to come back when we can.

Home here we come. Responsibility, adulthood and lots of hard work.

Vacation it was nice but back to the real world now..

Rawiri

It’s been a month since I arrived, it’s taken a few weeks but I’ve finally getting into the routine. I give a small chuckle thinking about when I was panicking about how I’d fit everything in to my day , one of the things they forgot to tell me is that the day is way longer, the sun rises at 0500 & sets at 10pm.

We only need a few hours sleep too so that’s a real bonus.

Today all my classes have been canceled except for one.

Our geography class is going on a trip and it will take all day and 2 nights.

We have to take the bush buggy somewhere, they won’t tell us where they just handed us a list of things we need.

We leave in a few minutes when there’s a knock on my door.

I open it to see Atarua the Elf Princess who attends classes with us.

Her royal guard behind her one of them with a perplexed look upon his face. Though we would eventually have been friends anyways kind of hard not to when your rooms are directly opposite each other

She steps forward says you ready for this.

As I move forward doors to other class mates start opening and they are emerging out of their rooms.

We all line up with our things and start moving towards the bush buggy station.

As we move forward other students who were born elf’s and have been at the school since the age of 5 start passing us in the opposite direction all of them bowing to the Princess as she walks ahead of us

We make it to the station and pile into the buggy’s. They are called “buggy’s” but really they are carriages made of wood each carriage wooden benches each side of that can seat 20 people.

We pile in and we take off along the tracks through the tunnels, 6 hours later we suddenly stop, the teachers tell us to step out.

We all walk along together following the path out of the station.. we walk out and follow the river for a few hours.

All of a sudden we are called to halt and the teacher suddenly tells us to take a seat and listen.

Long ago the dinosaurs roamed this continent, the comet hit and the majority of the land sunk as most of you already know. However long before between what is now known as New Zealand and Caledonia there was a 3rd country stuck between the two.

When the treaty between Maui and Poseidon was signed Maui had a great statue raised in Poseidon’s name as a reminder to those who would think to betray Maui of the friendship between the two.

This statue was off the coast of what was know as old Atlantia.

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the damage from the comet as well as the multiple volcanic eruptions buried the city.

I look around at my classmates as I process exactly what she’s saying.

One of the others pipe up and say Miss are you telling me that Atlantis. Was on Zealandia?

She lets out a tiny giggle and says “Atlantis” was a particularly large grouping of volcano formations on top of each other.

Let’s walk forward through these tunnels and see what’s on the other side shall we..

Stacey

We have just landed on home ground in Aotearoa and all the hustle and bustle of everyone disembarking has Magnus all riled up ,he woke up about 30 minutes ago.

I’m sitting in the cargo hold with him near the entrance of an air hanger waiting for someone to come tranq his ass again as he is growling, howling and acting all sorts of ridiculous.

I see in the distance a few more planes circling the runway waiting for clearance to land at the airfield.

There are people on the ground but none of my friends have landed yet so I’m waiting around for them.

I’m snacking on some salted pretzels and lime water when my mother links me,

“Girl what you doing you on the ground yet or what?”

“Aye mamma we are here if your close by im near the entrance of the 4th hangar next to the almost feral wolf”

I can smell you we are on our way

We? Who’s we?

All of us ou. We ain’t seen you for ages we need a catch up and you need to introduce us to this almost feral wolf man of yours

Aye mamma he’s NOT MY WOLF or my mate

If you say so missy.

How long till you get here

We about 45mins out see you soon.

One of the planes finally land and a group of people I have never met, seen or heard of before come marching up towards me and the largest of the group says

Aye lass you Stacey?

Sorry me boy has been giving you so much trouble, he got a lot of brawn but not a lot of brains.

Trouble with him is he thinks with the wrong head lass, now I know you have him a rejection and a talking to.

Ye dinna have ta do what ya did but I appreciate it lassy. Thanks for taking care of this great lump lass

Me names Fergus, this is James, Bartley and me gorgeous mate and this idiot boys mam Mairi

Mairi pulls me into a hug and says I’m very sorry for what my boy put you through

We will get through this and you can sever the bond or let it grow but thank you.

Rawiri

We are walking through the caverns deep into the earth when the path slowly flattens out and we come to an enclave larger tunnels with wider paths, in the distance I hear a large rushing of water coming from somewhere.

Our teacher halts us and says keep close don’t lose sight of the classmate in front of you if you get lost turn around and come back here immediately.

I’ll go at the front.

We start walking forward and into one of the tunnels,

The path start to widen again and torches start lighting themselves as we walk along.

The sound of singing in the distance starts to faintly reach my ears and a scent barely passes my nose on the wind, my wolf picks himself up and says what was that scent, catch it again. You have to.

I walk forward slowly moving past my classmates and straining to smell the scent again.

I take a deep breath in trying to catch it,

The singing getting slightly closer but I’m still to far away, this is so frustrating.

I just about break into a run when I get smacked in face by a wall that I didn’t see.

Dazed and a little bit sore, a few drops of blood fall from my nose, my wolf already starting to heal the wound.

I look into the distance and only see more turns and corners.

We keep moving forward at a to my mind very slow pace when the scent crosses my nose and Ratana starts going bonkers in my head.

Move faster you prick.

A hand circles my arm and says what has gotten into you,

I snarl let go of me, I think my mate is up ahead I have to see! let go of me now!

The hand is quickly released and I’m forced into a hug and then get pushed away down the path.

I feel like im floating when I look down and realise I am indeed floating on air.

I hollar at Atarua thank you!

She waves at me with a laugh and smile.

I don’t see her anymore as I’m heading toward the singing which is getting louder.

Rawiri

As I run toward the delicious scent the melodic sound of singing reaches a crescendo bright light blinds me as the room

and passageways are filled with it.

I see a large cavern with people surrounding a large natural pool , in the water there are about 10 girls spread out around a circular shaped plinth which is about 190 metres round ,

A pretty star pattern flooring the plinth is about 150 tall with a dome, standing on top of the dome is an intricate statue of a warrior on a standing horse holding a sword high up in the air , the sword is made of different metals including copper which appears to be running through the centre of the whole design with part of it attaching to the floor.

One of the ladies standing on land approach’s us and says welcome to the sanctum of the Tartarian.

We lived and loved above ground for many millennia but hunting our kind almost to extinction become too much of a sport so we adapted and live here now.

Her facial expression changes, a smirk appears and she says in a hushed tone “they may have chased us away but our people left our mark all over the world.”

Our structures and landmarks are scattered across the world and most are some of the worlds most famous buildings.

The cavern erupts in laughter from all around including the girls who still have not gotten out of the water.

I glance around and find one of the water girls staring at me intensely I look at her and am lost in her golden eyes.

A gasp comes from across the room and someone exclaims “this cannot be you mated to the eleven wolf Prince. Goddess what was she thinking. This will end in disaster mark my words”

I look at the one who had spoken and said Elven Wolf Prince I’m not a prince you have your wires crossed lady”

An exclamation of disgust comes from someone else across the room “ How is it this boy knows not who is he is, what he is,

The rest of the class has finally caught up to us and one of my teachers pulls her self up to full height and sparks flair from her nostrils as she yells “What have you cackling Tartarians done now! Exposed him let it slip, the boy wasn’t supposed to know yet, he hasn’t properly come of age yet, he may be an adult in the eyes of wolves and humans and yes he hit the first maturity age to find his mate but you all know he hasn’t truly come of age yet you fools why did you do this!

Urgh we had 300 years to have this talk I wanted to ease him into the ways but no, you and your advanced technological answers to everything.

Your just pissed millenia of work is down the drain and you only have a few conduits to convert the suns energy to Ki so you can access enough to power your ascension. Now that so many of your copper connections are disconnected and everything got switched to stain glass windows “

Someone else said “That’s neither here nor there we know how much work we have to do to get the ley line connections fixed again but it’s like a hamster in a wheel we fix one lot in one country then move onto the next and they go and remove the ones we just fix. And that’s beside the point what’s this got to do with the hybrid brat. “

“Don’t call me a brat and who the hell are you? “

Lilith keep your negative opinions to yourself

Helen he wasn’t of age to know everything it’s a lot to take in and he’s only just come into his powers, he’s not ready to take on that responsibility yet.

Wait just a minute,Lilith gasped in shock your telling me he was the one that ascended that was his power of the seal breaking but but that. No it can’t be.

She looks at my mate and says to her ,Demeteria please think of our people, the pack gossips you know that it’s not safe for people to know we still exist.

My mate look at me then at her and says grandmother I understand your fears I know that they are not unfounded.

We have been hunted since the time the cavemen walked the earth hell I’m who I am cause my half of the ancestors you decided to live in a cave and some of us adapted to this environment better than others, she says with a smirk.

Lilith looks across at another woman and says Rhea please control your daughter. She should be exhausted after that but look at her.

Another lady walks forward and commands the room immediately a few woman stiffen in her presence.

She turns in my direction and she has a beautiful face with intoxicating blue eyes , the most beautiful smile with dimples , not to mention a cute button nose.

She stops short and says I apologise I’m not trying to ensnare you I want to welcome you your highness to the city of Tartary.

It was much more picturesque before the landslides and mudslides buried our city but hey you can’t change what you can’t change.

Lilith will come around it will just take time I am pleased the goddess matched my granddaughter with such a strong warrior and a royal at that. I know you will be able to take care of her.

Lilith steps forward and say’s Tymora please you cannot be serious.

The lady known as Tymora says politely to me please excuse me a moment.

She turns around and I swear her whole aura changed from pleasant and happy to foul and

disgusting. I have no idea what happened but the lady named Lilith is shaking in her boots and saying I’m sorry Beshaba of course I don’t want to stand in the way of her happiness, no I have no issue with cross breed mates I’m sorry I just want what’s best for her and being mates to a wolfen, elven king is not what I envisioned for her.

Oh I know of your backend wheeling and dealing trying to get the highest bidder for her she told you time and again she was waiting for her mate she found him I’ve given my blessing that’s that is that clear.

She takes a deep breath and falls to the ground.

She stands up and the aura shift has happened again.

She has a grim look upon her face and says Lilith I tire of you doing this my patience is wearing thin,

I can only hold her back so much and you my dear in law are on her last string I won’t be able to hold her back much longer, test it if you will but you have been warned.and she wont be responsible for her actions she is fuelled bu her emotions.

Her granddaughter is all she cares for in this world.

While she is inside me she watches everything that goes on making lists of alleged slights to her granddaughter, the boys who bully her the seals that mock her, the sirens and mermaids who leave her out cause she’s always here.

Maybe this will be a chance for her to spread her fins and a break and time away from here might be just what she needs.

Umm well hate to interrupt this conversation but umm he well he’s not graduated elf high yet.

Whispers and talking started surrounding the cavern which had mysteriously gotten more and more full as time had gone by.

He’s still umm a student, but he’s so tall,

he’s a king, your telling me the square got the king as a goddess given mate. How is that fair, omg we are amongst royalty eww wish I washed my hair, well we still have a chance he hasn’t claimed her yet.

As the sound of that comment reached my ears and Ratana absorbed the meaning he took over unleashed an almighty roar that shook the caverns and brought every thing to a stand still a few elf’s were bowing and a few wolves were too.

He bounded over to his mate and plucked her out of the water not phased by her transparent tail with spiraling shapes and succulent lips, the few minutes she has been out of water the bottom of her tail morphs into toes.

She says hello her voice like birds singing in the trees.

Suddenly she has legs and is wearing a black stylish dress with strappy sandals that manaia would call chic and Stacey would call a waste of space.

She walks over to the scary lady and gives her a hug and says thank you for your blessing grandma.

I love both sides of you and thank you for taking care of me.

End