First Born_One Of A Kind

by LaGloria Franks

  "I'll do some research later to see what powers angels usually have. You know like read a book or something." He said.

  "Thanks that'd be awesome, but shouldn't we work on what we already know first?" I asked.

  "You're right, but I'm curious to know more." He was like a nerd at a Star Wars convention, I noticed. I laughed at my comparison. I could totally see him as a Star Wars fan.

  "What are you laughing about?" He asked suspiciously.

  "Oh nothing." I answered quickly.

  "When's the last time you shifted?" He asked me suddenly. I racked my brain trying to remember.

  "Back at the arcade." I've been so busy thinking about being an angel that I forgot all about my wolf. This made me sad, how could I just forget her like that?

  "Well you want to go for a run? In case you didn't notice we're surrounded by a forest." I hadn't noticed. Behind the park there was literally a forest.

  "Yes, I'd love to!" I told him hoping off the bench. He laughed and got up leading me to the forest. As soon as he was in the covers of the trees, he shifted into this huge black panther. I was impressed, I remember seeing him as a tiger, but the panther really suited him more.

  "Shift already." I heard a voice in my head rush me. I blushed, realizing I was totally checking his cat out.

  Before he could notice my pink cheeks I quickly shifted into my wolf. Dylan starred openly at me with admiration in his eyes. I looked down to avoid eye contact, jumping back with a yelp. My paws were white. Last time I shifted they were black. "Dylan what color is my wolf!!?" I asked panicky.

  "It's this beautiful pure white." He said, still admiring me, not noticing my panic.

  "Oh my god, my wolf was black before!" I told him, making him snap out of his trance.

  "What do you mean? Your fur changed colors? I've never heard of that happening." He noted, shock clear in his voice.

  "What does this mean? Is my wolf dying!?" I asked, horrified at the thought. He ignored my question as he studied me.

  "Maybe this has something to do with your angel."

  "Are you saying my angel is killing my wolf!!? Why?" I asked still panicking. Not comprehending what he was trying to say.

  "No, I don't think your wolf is dying. I'm saying once you tapped into your powers it must've affected your wolf as well. Since it's a part of you." He explained. I thought about his explanation and it made sense to me. I started to calm down.

  "Well that's.... Interesting." I took another look at my paws again.

  "Indeed it is." I heard leaves crunching, I looked up to see Dylan running away from me.

  "Hey!" I started running after him. My wolf picking up speed with every step.

  "Keep up slow poke!" He teased in my head. I growled and pushed myself more. Within minutes I was inches away from him. Just as I was about to bite him, he darted to the left and up a tree.

  "Hey that's no fair I had you!" I yelled at him. I could hear him laughing in my mind.

  "If you had me then I wouldn't be in this tree right now, now would I?" I could just feel his smirk. I growled.

  He walked to the edge of a branch right above my head and laid down, swiping his paw at me. I turned around and tried to bite it. He just chuckled. "Calm down turtle."

  I was about to make a rude comment when suddenly I caught a scent. I stiffened.

  My eyes darted in the direction of the smell.

  "Ashley?"

  "Lizzy? What are you doing here?" I shifted back once I noticed who it was, grabbing Dylan's shirt off the ground that he carried with him.

  "I was looking for you and followed your scent here." She glanced at the big panther in the tree, right above my head.

  "Relax, that's just Dylan. Shift back already fun time over." I told him. He made this weird sound before hopping out of the tree and walking over to some bushes.

  "What are you doing out here?" She asked.

  "Just decided to go for a run. Needed to connect with my wolf." I said shrugging.

  "Blake said your wolf was black, but your wolf is white. How?" She asked confused. Dylan walked back to us just then and I thanked the heavens.

  "Hey," He greeted Lizzy. She waved but didn't say anything, which I thought was weird. I was sure they got along the last time we hung out.

  "Should we head back?" I asked once it got quiet.

  Lizzy nodded then started walking. Dylan and I followed closely behind. I tried to keep my eyes off Dylan the moment I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt, which was hard to do since he was walking directly next to me.

  --------

  We were all sitting in my living room waiting for someone to start a conversation. I don't remember it being this awkward the first time we all hung out, something was bothering Lizzy.

  "Shouldn't you be doing something right now Dylan?" I hinted for him to leave. Maybe she'll feel more comfortable if it was just us.

  "No, why do you ask?" I glared at him and he smirked. He was doing this on purpose. Asshole.

  "Don't you have a life?" I asked glaring.

  "Yes, but it's on hold right now." Lizzy watched the exchange with a hint of a smile on her face.

  "Get the hell out Dylan!" I yelled. He chuckled getting up from the couch.

  "Well goodbye to you too grumpy pants. I know where I'm not wanted." He said faking hurt as he walked to the door.

  "Yes, you're not wanted here now leave faster!" I told him smiling. He rolled his eyes and left. I turned to look at Lizzy who was quiet through all that. "Hey Liz, what's up?" I moved to sit next to her on the couch.

  "I don't know, I had this dream and it's confusing and scaring the hell out of me." She said in a quiet voice.

  "What was the dream about?"

  "I'm not sure if I can tell you, or even if I want to." Wow. This dream must be serious.

  "Why wouldn't you be able to tell me?" I asked her confused.

  "I don't want to scare you." She cautioned.

  "Lizzy, just tell me I promise I won't get scared." I told her gently.

  "Ok, I had a dream there's a war coming, and we're all going to be in it."

  "Well that's not so bad." I told her.

  "No, the bad part is well, you die." She told me, her eyes glazing over.

  "Well lucky it was just a dream, right?" I hope it was just a dream.

  "Yeah, but it just felt so real." She looked thoughtful. "I should head home, I'll call you later." I watched as she got up and walked out the door.

  I lay in my room thinking over the things Lizzy just told me. What does she mean I die? Do I sacrifice myself? If so that doesn't sound like a bad way to die. If it's for the people I love. That's if her dream comes true. Maybe it's just a nightmare and I shouldn't worry at all. Even so I decided to call Jacob. If anybody got answers it would be him.

  Reaching over to my side table for my phone I dialed Jacobs's number. It rang twice before he answered.

  "Calling to confess your love for me already?" I rolled my eyes.

  "Actually no, and that will never happen. I called to get your opinion on something." I bit my lip waiting for him to respond.

  "Keep telling yourself it won't cupcake, but we both know it will. What do you need help with? Is it math? I almost called you for the same thing. I don't know why I decided to enroll in school again." To stalk me, I thought.

  "Lizzy had a dream.... that there's a war coming. Which didn't sound too bad until she dropped the bomb that I die? Now I'm not sure what I should think." I told him. There was silence for a few minutes as he got his thoughts together.

  "I think your friend may be right." I sucked in a breath. "But not about you dying, I wouldn't let that happen." He told me fiercely.

  "So, you believe there's a war coming?" I asked him.

  "Yes, I've known for some time now. Remember when I mentioned how much the council wanted you dead? Well they still do, and they'll stop at nothing to get their hands on you. It's one of the reasons I came to find you, to prepare you. You'll need your angel
in this battle." I was shocked. It seems Jacob knows more about my life than I do. A war coming? When I thought it was just a dream it didn't sound bad but now the full situation is hitting me. A war means I could lose people. People I've come to love and are close to me. All because I have a group of old people obsessed with me. "Hello? Ashley? You still with me?" I heard Jacob ask me.

  "Yeah I just was thinking...."

  "You have nothing to worry about, I'll have you prepared for battle in no time."

  "But what about my family? And everyone else?" I asked.

  "I don't know about them honestly, I can only help you." I'd say he didn't care to help them but I heard the sadness in voice. Whatever made Jacob come here he's going to try his best to help me and save the people I love no matter what it took. My opinion of him went higher. I didn't give him as much credit as he deserved.

  "Thank you Jacob." I whispered into the phone.

  "When should we start? I can come around later to teach you more things." He offered.

  "As soon as you can. I'm not doing anything today." Way to sound like a bum. Jacob chuckled as if he knew what I was thinking.

  "I'll be over in an hour then."

  "Ok I'll see you then." I hung up the phone and sighed. Should I tell Lizzy her dream is true? I wouldn't want her to blame herself though. As I was thinking of what to do my phone rang again. I picked it up, the caller I.D read Dylan.

  "Hello?" I answered.

  "Hey what are you doing?" He asked.

  "Sitting here, Jacob is supposed to come by later to help me practice with my powers." I told him.

  "Really? And you didn't bother to tell me? When is he coming?" It would be nice to think he was asking these questions because he was jealous I was hanging with another male, but I realized he really liked when I played with the elements and would be excited to join. Plus, he didn't seem to ever get jealous really.

  "In a hour he said. You can come if you want, I might need a practice dummy." I told him smiling. He snorted on the other end.

  "You wound me with your words woman." He said, sounding hurt. I laughed.

  "Well I have to get ready I'll see you in a hour." I told him hanging up. If you didn't hang up on Dylan he'd hold a conversation for hours.

  "So, we're going to try to start with something basic since you're new to this." Jacob told me as we stood in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Dylan sat on a tree stump some little ways from us and watched. I was surprised when he and Jacob got along. After the encounter he had with Blake I knew my other mate also wouldn't like him. But I was wrong. I should stop comparing Dylan to Blake, they're nothing alike.

  "What if I want to try something hard?" I asked him.

  "Meet me in the bedroom later then." Dylan called from his spot. I glared at him while my cheeks were on fire. Jacob chuckled.

  "Keep your perverted thoughts to yourself!" I yelled at him. He just smirked at me.

  "Ok I want you to do like we did before, think of the hottest things you know." It was easy conjuring up a fire ball in my hand now.

  "Now I want you to make it as big as you can." I did what he said and focused on the flame ball getting bigger. After much concentration it started growing till it was the size of a soccer ball.

  "Ok not bad. Now I want you to make it smaller again, and try to hit that tree in the middle." He coached, pointing to a tree in front of us. I smirked, this is going to be easy. I shot my hand out towards the tree. To my surprise it went nowhere near the tree, instead it went towards Dylan. My eyes widened as it zoomed towards him. He jumped out of the way before it could engulf him in flames.

  "Jesus Ashley you trying to kill me!?" He yelled. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Jacob on the other hand was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

  "I didn't mean to!" I sniggered.

  "You weren't focused." Jacob said once he finally stopped laughing.

  "I was focused! I aimed for the tree!" I threw my hands up in frustration.

  "No you weren't, you threw the flame out with no control over it. You must guide the flame. Don't just look at your target and let it go." Jacob told me. I took a deep breath and focused on the tree again. I conjured another fire ball in my hand. From the corner of my eye I could see Dylan moving out the way. I looked at my target then let the flame go. I watched the flame as it went towards the tree and finally hit it. I squealed jumping in the air with a fist pump. Jacob smiled at me.

  "Good job." He praised. Dylan ran over and gave me a hug.

  "Thanks for not trying to burn me this time!" He cried dramatically. I giggled.

  We all turned when we heard a growl come from the woods. Coming out of the woods slowly was a large black wolf.

  Chapter 9

  The wolf stalked slowly towards us. Without a doubt in my mind I knew it was Blake. I felt a slight pain in my chest at seeing him again. With all the angel training I'd forgotten about his rejection, but seeing him now brought back the pain.

  "What's going on?" Jacob asked, looking between us. I realized he'd never seen Blake shift, so he doesn't know what his wolf looks like. I can see why he was confused by Dylan and I's reaction.

  "It's Blake." I told him. Even I could hear the hurt in my voice.

  "What does he want?" Jacob hissed. The wolf growled before darting behind a nearby tree. A few seconds later Blake reappeared in nothing but shorts.

  "What the hell is going on here?" He asked using his alpha tone. Since no one here was in his pack it had no affect on us. But still no one liked the fact that he tried to command us.

  "Who the hell do you think you are?" Dylan demanded. At some point during Blake's arrival he had moved in front of me. I don't know if he did it because he was jealous or just felt the need to block me from his view, either way I was grateful for that.

  "I asked a question kitten and I want an answer." Blake snarled. At first, I thought he was calling me kitten. Until I saw Dylan clenching his fist, taking a threatening step forward.

  "Who do you think you are? Coming here and ruining everything? You have no right to be here!" I told him getting angry. His eyes softened when he looked at me.

  "Relax dude we're not trying to cause any problems." Jacob chimed in.

  Blake's eyes snapped to his, hardening again. "Really? Then why are you in my woods?" He growled.

  Jacob looked confused for a minute, then he realized he meant his pack owned these woods. To my surprise he smirked. I didn't know this was pack territory, quite frankly I thought they only owned the house. "I don't believe the humans would agree that these are your woods pup." He taunted Blake. Why was he purposely trying to make him mad? Dylan chuckled, and I glared at him. He's so not helping.

  Blake's eyes turned black, before any of us could react he lunged towards Jacob. When he was an arm length away Jacob shot out his hand. An invisible force flung Blake into a tree. My eyes widened, What the heck was that?

  Blake shifted into his wolf once he recovered from the blow, taking a fighting stance. I thought about stepping in to stop the fight, but Dylan grabbed my arm pulling me back. I glared at him.

  "What are you doing? He's going to get himself killed!" I argued, trying to get out his hold. Dylan opened his mouth to respond but a growl from Blake had us both snapping back to the scene. Blake circled Jacob, as he just stood there. Lunging he went to attack Jacob again, but was stopped before he even got close this time.

  Jacob's eyes flashed white as he twisted his fingers. Out of nowhere a small tornado appeared, swooping Blake's wolf up flinging him into another tree. Blake hit the tree and slide down it no longer moving. I ran over to help him. Sure, he was a jerk for rejecting me and bringing drama wherever he went, but that didn't mean I wanted him to die.

  "Oh my god Jacob what did you do!?" I asked as I knelt next to Blake's unmoving body. After a few seconds he shifted back into his human form. There was a big gash on the side of his head. My heart stopped.

  "Heal him." Jacob told me calmly. I looked
back to see him and Dylan both standing there watching me.

  "I can't heal him! He needs a doctor!" I told him, staring at him like he was crazy. He practically kills Blake then tells me to heal him? Is he insane?

  "If you want him to live Ashley then you need to heal him." He told me again.

  "Did you not just hear me? I can't heal him!" I screamed, panicking as Blake's heart started beating slower.

  Jacob knelt next to me on the ground next to Blake's body. Grabbing my hand, he placed it over Blake's head wound.