14. Finley
Finley
"Give yourself a moment, then come down when you're ready," Zander murmured as he stroked my head. "Everything's going to be alright. I promise, little dove, we will all help you through this."
Seconds later, he shed his clothes and shifted into a massive white wolf with hints of silver running through his coat.
He was stunning to look at, and my wolf preened at the knowledge that this male was our mate.
Zander licked my muzzle before bounding down the stairs, making Colt curse him out as he left the house.
Now alone, sitting on my haunches in my new room, I looked around, seeing everything as a wolf would.
My eyesight was sharper than anything my human brain could have imagined.
I stilled when I caught sight of myself in the mirror over the bathroom sink, hitting me with the urge to stand up so I could see all of my new body.
My coat was jet black, but my eye color had stayed the same, if not slightly brighter, as my eyes glowed with that primal intensity that all wolves had.
In the back of my brain, I could sense my wolf was pleased that I approved of her form, and that had our tail wagging.
It was odd to feel like myself yet… more.
My wolf didn't take over my brain like I thought it would.
Instead, it sat on an equal plane as if we shared space side by side.
The closest way I could think to explain the feeling was what the Organization had tried to teach us about working with a partner.
Two parts of a whole working in tandem to get the job done.
My wolf had the feeling of her own personality, one that would likely have a strong influence on my behavior, but I still felt like I hadn't lost who I was before getting bitten.
Finley the assassin was here, but that was no longer all that I was—I was now an omega too.
I could feel her excitement to go run in the forest as well as a reminder that she was very hungry because I hadn't been doing a good job of feeding us.
Her thoughts running through my head was the part that was going to take some getting used to, but there was nothing I could do to change it.
I slowly padded out of the room and down the stairs, knowing that the others would be there.
I'd heard them talking but was too focused inward to listen in on what they were saying.
Once they saw me, the talking dropped off, and the twins gawked at me while Elias gave me a shadow of a smile.
"Damn, snuggles, you look good as a wolf." Mason grinned, coming to squat down in front of me. "Can I touch you?"
The human part of me wasn't sure how I felt about being pet like a dog, but my wolf was all for it.
Surging forward, she shoved my head into his chest, rubbing my cheek to mark him with my scent.
His large hands started to scratch behind my ears in a way that felt no less than magical, and a sound I'd never heard before started to rumble in my chest. He chuckled as he kept up the attention.
"Would you look at that? I got her to purr," Mason boasted.
"Little one," Colt called, forcing me to lift my head to look at him. "You ready to go on your first hunt?"
I let out a yip and wagged my tail like the excited puppy that I wasn't convinced I was. In this body, I was finding that she had more power to control our actions, so I was hoping the opposite applied while in my human body. I wasn’t thrilled with how things were going at the moment, but I didn't know how to stop her from acting like an idiot.
"This hunt will help you and your wolf settle in together. If you want to eat, you have to catch it and take it down yourself," Colt explained.
Okay, easy. How hard can that be? As a trained killer, all I have to do is figure out how to use this new body.
"These three are going with you. If you need one of us alphas, just call out to us and we'll find you. It's going to be fine, little one, I have faith in you and your wolf to figure this out. All you have to do is stop fighting her," Colt stated, giving me a scolding look.
My ears dropped, as did my gaze, when the fear of disappointing him became too strong.
Then I felt a snout nuzzle under my jawline, bringing my head up to meet a set of light green eyes on the face of a dark gray wolf.
I could tell by his scent that it was Noah, so I booped him on the nose with my own, letting him know I was okay.
Another dark gray wolf stepped up, giving me a toothy grin.
Mason had a little more white mixed into his coat, making it easier to tell them apart by sight.
Finally, I spotted Elias sitting by the doggy door.
He was a beautiful deep red mixed with black.
I'd never seen such a color on a wolf before, but it gave him something of a regal look as he watched me with a cautious hazel gaze.
Seeing that he had my attention, he jerked his head and exited the kitchen with me right on his heels.
We left the house at a quick trot, and I couldn't help but get distracted by all the sights, sounds, and smells that assaulted my senses. Birds flitting about in the trees, squirrels dashing through the underbrush, and the scent of so many wolves, it made my head spin. The guys kept me in the center of the pack as we moved deeper into the woods, following some unknown trail to what I assumed was their hunting grounds. In all my experience I couldn’t say that I'd spent much time out in the boonies of Tennessee, but it was beautiful—all tall trees, rolling hills and mountains.
The fresh air was crisp with the winter chill, but nowhere near as cold as it had been in New York.
My ear swiveled, picking up every snapped twig as I focused on finding my first kill as a newly shifted werewolf.
The guys slowed and spread out a little more, giving me a chance to get a sense of where we were and how I wanted to handle this.
Hunkering down low, I kept to the shadows, using my dark coloring to my advantage.
My attention shifted to the wind as I approached.
If I stayed downwind, I’d have a better chance of keeping my scent from giving my location away to any prey.
Just as I was about to break out of the dense foliage and into a clearing, I spotted a rabbit feasting on some plant off to the left-center.
Through the eyes of my assassin training, this was a perfect score, an easy hit.
How threatening could a bunny be to a predator?
My wolf, however, had other ideas. It was too out in the open, and if we missed, the others would steal it from us, forcing us to go hungry.
I had to fight back the urge to growl, knowing it would scare the rabbit, but I refused to let this chance pass us by.
Squaring up into position, muscles tense and ready to attack, I grabbed a hold of my wolf and took control, charging forward.
The speed that I had in this body was fantastic, and I easily made it across the clearing, but what I didn't count on was a fox making for the same rabbit that I was.
The bastard snatched the damn thing right as I was about to pounce, then darted back into the dense underbrush with his prize.
Snarling, I took off after the fox, but, being smaller, he easily evaded me by diving into a burrow with a swish of his tall as if to flip me off.
That little asshole! I swore, which came out as me barking like a damn chihuahua.
My three escorts appeared out of thin air as I started to dig at the hole, letting out frustrated yips.
Elias brushed up alongside me and pushed me away from the hole, urging me to get back to the matter at hand.
I sneezed at him in irritation, and he swatted at my nose before giving me a warning snap of his teeth to show he didn’t appreciate my actions.
This caused my omega side to turn into a puddle of despair, sinking to the ground and army crawling over to him, whining for his forgiveness.
Get the fuck up! hH isn't that mad at you. It was a simple scolding because you were behaving like a child, I groused at my wolf,but she was having none of it. Elias needed to forgave us right here, right now, or she was going belly up and beg.
Thankfully, Elias took pity on us and licked my face, urging me to get up so we could get hunting again.
Somehow I had a feeling this was as new to everyone else as it was to me.
If I was going to be prostrate on the floor any time they were upset with me, it was going to make for a very interesting day.
My nature was to push my limits until I found where I couldn't cross the line; those were the boundaries that I lived by.
Indulging in a full body shake, I got my head back in the game and dragged my wolf along with me as I ran further into the forest. As we picked up speed, she seemed to calm down, the two of us flowing into one symbiotic unit.
Now I understood what Colt had said about this helping us meld together.
Now I just had to help her get with the hunting program.
A deer darted out in front of us, and my wolf wanted to slam on the brakes when we saw the antlers on the buck.
In my very basic knowledge of the animal, I knew it was still young, only having a few sprouts that didn't seem too dangerous. We are gonna take down this deer. Do you hear me? Think of how full you’ll be when we're done.
Won't that be the perfect ending to our first hunt?
Begrudgingly, my wolf agreed. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed the guys following a little further back.
If I wanted to get this deer into the right spot, I was going to need their help.
Unfortunately, this was where my wolf drew the line.
Omegas did not tell other wolves, let alone betas, what to do.
If we wanted the deer, we had to do it ourselves or abandon the idea altogether.
Letting out a growl of frustration, I started working on the next plan of action.
That was when I saw the fallen tree leaning at a forty-five degree angle, the perfect place for me to get the right takedown.
Digging my nail into the wood, I streaked up the tree, and just as I’d planned, the deer ran right by it, perfectly in line for me to drop on its back.
Latching my jaw around the base of the deer's neck, I used my weight and momentum to take it down to the ground.
Quickly, I had to switch my hold on it and sink in closer to the head, shaking it back and forth as I clawed at it with my front paws.
The deer was strong, and it kicked out at me, catching me in the side.
I yelped and lost my hold. As the deer struggled to get up, I swiped my paw over its eye, sending it reeling back, off balance, giving me the chance I needed to finish the job.
Ripping out its throat sent blood spurting everywhere, and I was thankful that I wasn't white; otherwise, it would have looked like I'd been in a horror movie.
Dropping the pound of flesh I had in my mouth, I watched the last few minutes of its life drain away.
Elation shot through me from my wolf as we let out a howl to announce our achievement for all the pack to hear.
The betas trotted up to me and started to lick my face clean of blood.
Mason and Noah both let out yips of excitement as they tried to get me to play with them, while Elias backed off to sit out of the way.
He watched closely with his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a way that felt much too silly for this man and his wolf.
My wolf knew the moment the alphas arrived, and before I could stop her, she backed us away from the kill and laid down, her wagging tail her only display of accomplishment.
Zander sniffed the deer, checking it over, before he padded over to me and licked my face in approval.
Colt and Lane took hold of the deer and started to drag it to a more open area where they could feast on my kill.
Once the alphas had dug in, the betas ventured closer, testing to see if they were welcome.
Colt and Lane didn't seem to mind, but Zander snapped at them to chase them off.
He tore a chunk of meat off and plopped it right in front of me then took a step back before sitting to watch me eat.
I crawled forward and licked at the gift, still not sure if I was allowed or if he was testing me—we had been in trouble with him before all this happened.
Zander nudged it forward and took another set back, giving me no doubt I was expected to eat this, which I did with great pleasure.
When I was done with that portion, Colt and Lane both offered me more which I gobbled up the feeling of being cherished by my mates making it taste all the better.
Finished with the deer, everyone having eaten their fill, Colt sat down and lifted his head, loosing a howl that was quickly followed by Lane and Zander. The rest of us got pulled into it as well, binding us all in this moment while inducting me into their pack.
Only there was something else that it triggered as well…