The First Shift
Kieran POV?
I felt Aurora shift beside me, her full attention captured.
As every wolf knew, the First Shift was a monumental, agonizing milestone.
Because the wolf spirit is essentially asleep and disconnected from the human mind during childhood, the normal age for a shift was anywhere between twelve and eighteen years old.
It required a physical and mental maturity that pups normally didn’t possess.
“Evander and Valerius were our first heart attacks,” Mother said, letting out a soft, exasperated sigh.
“Lyanna and I nearly went completely gray when we were barely in our thirties. Both of our eldest boys shifted when they were only nine years old. It was practically unheard of. I remember receiving a frantic letter from Lyanna, stained with what I hoped was ink and not blood,
demanding to know how on earth she was supposed to keep a nine-year-old from accidentally bringing down the east wing of the palace.”
Aurora giggled, the sound light and musical. “Evander was always so stubborn. He probably willed his wolf awake just so he could run faster than the palace guards.”
“Exactly,” Mother laughed. “We thought we had birthed anomalies. Two prodigies. We assumed the worst of the shock was over.” She paused, slowly turning her gaze to me with a deeply arched, distinctly maternal eyebrow. “And then, of course, Kieran had to outdo everyone.”
Aurora looked up at me, her eyes blinking in confusion. “What do you mean?”
I cleared my throat, feeling a sudden, completely un-Alpha-like flush creeping up the back of my neck. “I, uh... I was a bit early.”
“A bit early?” Mother echoed dryly, though her lips twitched with poorly concealed pride. “Aurora, my dear, this absolute menace of a son shifted when he was six.”
Aurora’s jaw practically hit the pristine white tablecloth. She stared at me, her eyes wide with sheer, unfiltered disbelief. “Six?!” she hissed, her voice cracking. “Kieran, that’s insane!”
“I was a very well developed six-year-old,” I offered defensively, though the bond was thrumming with my mate’s absolute shock and a profound, underlying awe that made my chest puff out just a fraction.
“It was terrifying,” Mother corrected, though her smile softened the word.
“But Lyanna was deeply amused. She wrote me a letter simply saying, ‘Good luck, Sera. Try not to let him eat the councilmen.’ After that, her own boys followed suit. Cassian shifted when he was ten, and little Leander shifted at ten as well.”
Mother’s gaze turned incredibly soft, a radiant warmth blossoming across her features as she looked at my mate.
“But the story of your First Shift, Aurora... Lyanna wrote me an entire saga about that day. She said it was the most terrifying, magnificent moment of her entire life. You had turned the whole palace upside down.”
I felt Aurora stiffen slightly beside me, a bashful smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she looked down at her lap. I squeezed her knee gently, urging her silently to let my mother speak.
“You were eight,” Mother recounted, her voice taking on a hushed, storytelling cadence.
“It was just two weeks after Leander had found his wolf. From what Lyanna told me, you were quite upset. You wanted to go out on a border run and hunt with your older brothers, but they had told you that you could only join when you could shift.”
My mother paused, taking a delicate sip of her tea before setting the porcelain cup down with a soft clink.
Her vivid green eyes sparkled with a knowing, mischievous light.
“But perhaps, my dear, you would prefer to tell this part of the tale yourself? Hearing it straight from the source would be a rare treat.”
----
Aurora POV
Beside me, Kieran shifted, his hand sliding over mine to interlock our fingers. When I glanced up at him, he was the very picture of composed, lethal grace, but the bond humming between us betrayed a profound, rumbling current of amusement. His eyes were gleaming with eager anticipation.
“I have to admit, Little Wolf,” Kieran murmured, leaning in just a fraction, his deep voice vibrating with genuine curiosity.
“I am incredibly invested now. I’ve seen you tear monsters apart with flawless precision, but the idea of an eight-year-old Aurora throwing a whole palace into a frenzy? That sounds like something I need to hear about.”
A flush of heat rushed to my cheeks, but I couldn’t help the small, rueful laugh that bubbled up in my chest. “It wasn’t exactly my best decision,” I admitted, looking between my mate and his mother.
“I was quite upset,” I began, a small, embarrassed laugh escaping me.
“Leander had just shifted, which meant all three of my older brothers were suddenly allowed to join the adult warriors on the outer border patrols. I was only eight, but I was convinced I was completely ready. When I demanded to go with them,
Evander just ruffled my hair and told me I could join the hunt when I finally found my wolf.”
Seraphina chuckled softly, leaning forward. “Older brothers possess a unique talent for inciting rage.”
“Exactly,” I smiled, the memory painting itself vividly in my mind.
“I threw an absolute fit in the courtyard. To cool down, my father had the guards escort me all the way back up to my bedchamber on the third floor of the palace. I was supposed to be reflecting on my actions. Instead, I was practically wearing a groove into the stone floor from pacing.”
Kieran’s chest rumbled with a quiet laugh beside me, clearly picturing a tiny, furious version of me stomping around a royal bedroom.
“As I paced, I heard it,” I continued, my voice softening as the phantom echoes of that day brushed against my consciousness.
“The deep, resonant howls of the patrol gathering in the courtyard, preparing to leave. The sound resonated right through my chest. I felt this sudden, incredible urge to follow them. It wasn’t just a child’s stubbornness anymore; it was a primal, overwhelming instinct. And right then,
for the very first time, I felt her.”
I took a breath, recalling the sheer, blinding shock of my wolf fully awakening.
“She connected with my mind so abruptly it knocked the breath out of my lungs. I had watched my brothers go through their First Shifts. I had seen them sweat, scream, and writhe in agony for what felt like hours as their bones broke and reformed. But for me...
it only hurt for a few agonizing seconds. A blinding flash of heat and a sharp snap of pain, and then I was suddenly standing on four paws.”
“Just a few seconds?” Kieran asked, his head turning sharply toward me, his brow furrowed in absolute astonishment. “Aurora, that’s incredibly fast. Even for a royal bloodline.”
“I know,” I nodded, a little bashfully. “But at the time, I didn’t care about the logistics. I just knew I had fur, four legs, and a desperate need to catch up to my brothers. But because it was my First Shift, my mind hadn’t integrated into the pack link yet.
I couldn’t reach out to tell anyone what had happened. I couldn’t proudly announce to my father that I was ready. The door to my room was locked, and the patrol was leaving.”
A wicked little smirk tugging at my lips. “I was incredibly determined. I trotted straight out onto my balcony, gauged the distance to the courtyard gardens, and jumped.”
Kieran actually choked on his own breath. Through the bond, a violent spike of retrospective panic flared from him. “You jumped from a three-story balcony? As an eight-year-old pup?!”
“I was a very proficient eight-year-old,” I defended quickly, patting his thigh.
“I had always been naturally gifted with magic, even before I shifted. As I fell, I instinctively channeled my mana and summoned a heavy updraft of wind. It caught me just enough to cushion the fall, and I tumbled onto the soft grass completely unharmed. Before the perimeter guards could even blink,
I scrambled into the tree line and took off into the woods.”
“I was entirely focused on tracking them,” I admitted, shaking my head at my own childhood foolishness.
“But my nose was overwhelmed by all the new scents, and my legs were clumsy. I wandered through the deep woods for hours, completely lost, searching until the sun finally dipped below the horizon. The forest grew incredibly dark, and suddenly, my grand adventure didn’t feel so grand anymore.”
I paused, the warmth of the gazebo contrasting sharply with the cold memory of those darkening woods.
“That was when I finally heard the howls. But it wasn’t a patrol. It was a frantic, desperate chorus echoing from every direction, accompanied by guards screaming my name. They had realized I was missing from my locked room and assumed the absolute worst.
The entire palace was in a state of sheer panic.”
“I can only imagine,” Kieran muttered, his jaw ticking slightly. “If I realized you were missing, I would tear the forest apart by the roots.”
“My father nearly did,” I said softly. “A search party finally cornered me near a creek. When they broke through the brush, their weapons were drawn, expecting to find that I had been kidnapped or killed. When they saw a white wolf pup sitting by the water instead... everything just stopped.”
I looked between Kieran and Seraphina, my mismatched eyes bright.
“The relief was instant, but the shock that followed was even heavier. You see, Argent wolves are known for our silver and white coats, but almost all of us have grey markings, or underbellies of darker ash. But when I shifted... I was completely, flawlessly snow-white.
From the tips of my ears to my tail. It’s an incredibly rare manifestation, even for the direct royal line.”
Seraphina smiled, her eyes practically shining. “Lyanna wrote that you looked like a piece of the moon had fallen perfectly into the forest.”
“I certainly didn’t feel like a piece of the moon a few hours later,” I laughed, a genuine, hearty sound that chased away the last lingering shadows of my grief.
“Once I shifted back, my parents delivered the most legendary, earth-shattering scolding in the history of the Argent Kingdom. My mother had tears streaming down her face while she yelled at me, and my father grounded me to the royal wing for an entire month.”
“A completely justified punishment,” Kieran stated, though the fierce, adoring smile on his face completely ruined his stern tone.
He lifted my hand, pressing a lingering, reverent kiss to my knuckles.
“Though I have to admit, my fierce little rogue, I would have paid a mountain of gold to see you drop out of the sky as a fluffy white pup.