GROWING OLD AND MESSAGES

VALERIE SIX MONTHS LATER The sound of the doorknob of my room being turned wakes me up. It's late at night and I wonder who would be visiting at this hour. The door opens all the way and I sit up straight in readiness. "Happy birthday to you, Trala lala la. Happy birthday to you, Trala, lala, la. Happy birthday to you dear Valerie. Happy birthday to you," they sing in tune. I can't stop the huge smile from appearing on my face as everyone enters my bedroom. They remembered? Of course they did. They really love me! I look at the chocolate cake that Nathan is holding out in his hands and my smile widens. It looks quite yummy! "Happy birthday Val," Evie squeals and hugs me. "Happy birthday Val," Oscar says, making Evie to smack his arm. "How many times should I warn you that you cannot call her Val? It's my copyright!" she warns him. "You are just jealous that she loves me more than she loves you," Oscar replies, sticking his tongue out at her. "You wish! Everybody knows that she loves me more than she loves you," Evie replies while rolling her eyes at him. "Oh yeah? Let's ask her," Oscar says and they both look at me with puppy dog faces. Crap! I'm stuck again. I look at Nathan with hopeful eyes and he seems to get the signal. "Damn! Valerie will you cut the cake already? I really want to eat this," Nathan says. That distracts them because they turn and look at the cake with hungry eyes. I thank Nathan quietly through the link. "That does look really yum," Evie says while looking at the cake. "Obviously. Who prepared it after all?" Edith, Nathan's mate says while wiping invisible dust from her shoulders. Initially, it was difficult for me when I took over as the Alpha, but with the support of my wonderful Pack, it went smoothly. All the children and teenagers, including myself, enrolled ourselves in the school in town. Nobody bullies me now. Everywhere I go, I find love and respect. Besides Evie, Oscar and Ivan, I became good friends with almost all the members in the Pack. We enjoy each other's company a lot. My becoming the Alpha was never opposed by anyone in the Pack. Being an Alpha is fun, but I make sure to never let the title get into my head, like it has done with Shawn. It's unknown to all the Packs that I am a sole white shifter. It is kept a secret because I am vulnerable when it comes to being a white wolf. Most Packs would want me to join them if they ever find out, and that includes my Pack making more enemies, which is the last thing we need. To the world outside, Oscar is the Alpha of the Riverside Moon Pack. The only Pack, other than my own, that knows about me being a white wolf is the Waterfall Moon Pack, neighbor to my Pack. Apparently one of the ancestors of Nelson, Alpha of the Waterfall Moon Pack, was a white wolf. His mother was the Luna who sacrificed her life for me. He had heard a lot from his maternal grandparents about the previous white wolf, and he filled me in with the details. The last white wolf was created using the energy from the lunar eclipse and she too became Alpha of her Pack. It was almost a century ago. She was created to kill a person who was going around creating wars between Packs. He was obviously a follower of evil. Veronica chose Nelson, Nathan and Donald to train me. Every day after school, all the wolves in the Pack heads out to train because I made it a compulsory rule. Nelson's training is harsh, but I feel myself becoming more skilled in fighting wolves because of it. His training helps me reduce whatever little belly fat I have and right now I have a flat stomach and my body's muscles are developing. One of the days Nelson came to train me he brought his cousin's sister with him, who turned out to be Nathan's mate. Edith is a really good girl and treats me like a sister and sincerely, I'm happy for the both of them. "Thank-you," I say and hug her tight. I look at the cake she has made. It has sixteen candles on it. I haven't celebrated my birthday in like, forever. Last year, after my fifteenth birthday, I ran away from the Silverstone Moon Pack to start my new life. I've now got that new life in the Riverside Moon Pack. I wasn't even a shifter on my last birthday, and now I'm not only the sole white shifter, but also an Alpha. I daily thank the Moon Goddess for making me take that step to leave my old Pack! I am about to blow out the candles when everybody yells out, "Make a wish!" I close my eyes and wish for the safety of my Pack as I blow out all the candles with my werewolf strength. I blow all the sixteen candles out in one go. "Me first!" Evie squeals out and I give her the first piece that I've cut off the cake. Evie was finally able to recover from her sister's death after I told her about the interaction I had with the Moon Goddess. It even helped Rosalia, her mother. After giving everyone a piece of the cake, I am shocked to see the number of gift boxes lying on my bedroom floor. "Open mine first," Ivan pipes in as he notices me looking at the gifts. I open his gift and squeal loudly in delight to what I find. "How did you know he's my favorite?" I ask him. "I told him," Evie says, raising her hands out for the present. Right, I had told her that. The gift is a DVD of an X-Men movie and a poster of the hot, hunk of an actor, Hugh Jackman. My all-time favorite actor and my first crush too. "Check my gift," Evie says. I gasp loudly when I open her gift. I am about to cry when she warns me not to because it is my birthday. It is a photo of me, Zelia and Evie. Zelia is in her wolf form with me sitting on her back and Evie standing beside us. I remember the day we took that photo. 'Thank-you,' I say to her through the mind link. I open each and every gift they have given to me and I definitely love each one of them. It's somewhere around three when I finally fall back asleep, a huge smile plastered on my face. **** "Happy birthday princess," Nelson says in greeting, using the nickname he has given to me. He nods his head at me to start today's class. It is time to start my training now. I look at the circle drawn in the ground of the forest and walk over it, heading towards where Nelson is waiting for me. As soon as I step inside the circle Oscar throws a bamboo stick at Nelson, which he easily catches. He does some cool martial arts movement, with the help of his stick, and even though I appreciate his moves, I roll my eyes at his showing off. "You have sixty seconds to take this stick from me and your time starts now," he says pointing the stick out at me. I reach out to touch the stick but he pulls it close to himself in a flash of supernatural speed. I get closer to him and try taking the stick from his left hand, but he shifts it swiftly to his right before I can get it. It continues like this for a few seconds and then I grow frustrated and start to growl at him. It is irritating me and his smirk isn't helping either. He throws the stick behind me. I run to pick it up, but he runs faster than me and lifts it back up again. I growl harder when he pretends to throw the stick at me and instead hits my waist with it. With the force used by him in the hit, I fall to my side on the ground. "Ah-ha. Take her back," he warns, shaking his head in worry when he sees my eyes and notices that I am about to shift into my wolf. Since I decided to keep my wolf as a secret, most of my training is done in my human form. "Time is up!" Oscar calls out. "What? How can time be up?" I ask, growling and Nelson just laughs loudly. "Oh, come on princess, why can't you accept that you are a pathetic fighter," Nelson says. I growl and grit my teeth at him. "The more time you get, the lazier you become. Thirty seconds. That's all you get to take the stick from me," he says, but this time it is him who's growling at me. "Bring it on," I say through gritted teeth. I close my eyes and take in deep breaths to calm my wolf. He points the stick out at me again, and of course I miss it when I go for it again. I go for the stick when he starts swapping it between his hands. He swaps it to his left hand and spreads apart his right arm. When I try to take it from his left hand, he throws the stick from behind his back and catches it straight in his right hand while I am standing right in front of him. I clamp my right palm into a fist and go for the stick that is in his right palm. Before he can shift it to his left arm, I punch his left cheek and he grabs his cheek with his hand in pain, forgetting about the stick. I catch the stick just before it can make contact with the ground. "28 seconds and she has the stick in her hand!" Oscar says cheerfully. "Not bad. Now, let's break that record because the sooner you'll be able to take it, the faster your speed grows," Nelson says. And we do break the record; I am able to take the stick from his hands in nine seconds. After that he teaches me some new kicks. I am taking a break and drinking water from my water bottle when Veronica comes and stands beside me. "What are you going to wear for the party tonight?" she asks. "My usual," I answer casually. "Jeans?" she asks incredulously. That was a mistake. Veronica is one of those types who prefer girls in dresses, because it creates a more feminine look. I'm the type that wears anything that is comfortable; be it a dress or jeans. I don't really care. "Wear the dress I gave you as a gift," she strictly says and that leaves no room for argument. "Are you still sure he is not your mate?" she asks nodding towards Nelson. I shake my head. I know she hopes that Nelson would be my mate, but she's dejected when it turns out to be the opposite. I look at Nelson. There's no doubt that he's a good looking guy, who looks cuter with his dimples when he smiles. He's a great friend to me whenever he isn't training me, someone I can trust and depend on, but it stops there because he isn't my mate. There is no point in creating a relationship when he isn't my mate, because eventually we know we will find our mates. Why simply suffer the heartbreak? "I'm going to the beach to swim," I say and run fast away towards the beach. Yes, I finally learnt swimming, though it is unnecessary. **** All of the teenagers and I, are returning home after my party when I hear Donald's panicked voice enter my head. 'Alpha, someone started a fire in the Pack House." Everyone must have heard it too because we all start running back to the Pack House. Most of the Pack Members are outside when we reach the House that is engulfed in flames. "Alpha, Patrick is in there," Doreen says while sobbing and kneeling in front of me. Oscar, Nathan, Ivan and I run quickly inside the burning house. I run to the top floor with Nathan while the rest go searching the house. I look through the doors of the room on the left while Nathan searches the right. After looking through all the doors I go to the left, looking for Nathan. I see him on the floor passed out along with Donald and Veronica. A closer look at Veronica and I notice Patrick in her arms. It looks like she fainted from smoke inhalation when she was trying to save Patrick. The smoke in the room is growing too much and tears are coming from my eyes from the pain of it. I kneel down next to them and try to wake them up, but it is of no use. I notice that their breathing is really slow. The smoke here is thick and like poison. This can't happen. Nelson told me that I can save lives if I want to. I close my eyes and feel heat spreading through my body. The burning sensation begins in my heart and spreads through all my veins and muscles. I open my eyes and see the heat come out through the pores in my skin. A circle forms around me. It's the color of the ocean and it clears all the smoke from the room. Oscar comes running with a bucket of water into the room, but can't get past the circle. When I notice Veronica stirring along with Donald, I close my eyes and take deep breaths to cool the heat inside my body. I know it's the heat that is formed by the energy I got from water. The fire is completely put out in no time. When I discover that everyone is safe and the people that were deeply injured are being taken care of, I go and stand outside the House. We check the kitchen, but find no sign that the fire had started there. I walk around the house to my circle in the backyard, but catch the scent of something familiar. I look below me to see a drop of petrol on the ground. When Zelia was working at the petrol station, her clothes would always smell of petrol when she finished her shift. I liked the smell so I easily recognise it. I look closer and see that the drops are leading away, and I follow the trail. The trail leads me to the Moon Temple and I freeze at the smell coming off it. The walls of the Temple reek of petrol. "Get water to the Temple immediately!" I yell out, applying my Alpha tone. After the walls of the Temple have all been cleaned of petrol, I enter in to make sure everything is alright. I look at the new built Moon statue and I don't smell any petrol coming from it. I can't get rid of the unsettled sensation I keep feeling. There is something unusual here, something that I just can't understand. It is like I am missing the last piece of the puzzle. I know the pack house has been burnt as a warning. It was done to send a message, a message I just can't understand. I look at the Moon statue again, taking a closer look at it, but I see nothing so I turn to leave. I am about to step out of the Temple when it hits me. There is something strange sitting in the statue and a closer look confirms my thoughts. I notice a piece of silver peeking out of a black cloth hidden behind the statue. It's in the shape of half an eye and I know it was a part of the Temple's old statue; the statue that was missing since Archie's death. That is the message! I recall no other enemies of the Pack other than the rogues that escaped; the rogues we are hunting down. Then who is this from? Is this the evil the Moon Goddess has been talking about? The last time I had similar questions, I got my answers from connecting with the Moon Goddess indirectly. Perhaps this time I can sit and meditate, and connect to her that way. I know that the last time I had meditated and connected with the Moon Goddess wasn't a trick of my mind; it was real. Oscar researched my family history and found out that the Moon Goddess had appeared to some of them, but most considered it to be a myth. I am a living proof that that isn't correct, and that it isn't myth. Swimming through the sea once more, I reach the rock that sits in the middle of it, that has now become my favorite spot. Any other wolf would have avoided coming to such a spot, but I love the peace it gives me. Sitting in a full lotus position, I place the back of my hands on my knees and touch the tip of each of my index fingers with the tips of my thumbs. It's a position I have looked up on Google. It is identified as the 'Gian Mudra' and it's known to stimulate wisdom and knowledge in oneself. I close my eyes and take in deep breaths, focusing only on my breathing and the peaceful sound of the sea around me. Initially, it doesn't work, but after several minutes the sound of the waves grow faint and only the sound of my breathing enters my hearing. I feel myself being taken away from this world and placed in a world filled with darkness and silence. Light begins to enter my vision and I look out at the same place I was last time I entered this state. I wore the same white dress with its blue silk tie around the waist, and Mr. Jeremy Victor Austin is standing with the Alpha, while the thief is held before them by the same two guards. The thief once again manages to escape their hold, yanking the statue from Mr. Jeremy's grasp and he runs from them. The Alpha and Mr. Jeremy chase the thief and I follow them to the cliff just like last time. "Give the statue back Hunter!" the Alpha roars. I stop in my tracks. The last time I was here I didn't pay attention to what was around me, but this time, everything is clearer to me. The evil! I feel a sudden sensation hit me, similar to that of a wave, and immediately open my eyes. I now sit on the rock in the center of the sea, my breathing heavy from distress. I can't react from my shock. It all makes sense now. When my breathing calms, I hop down from my rock into the water and swim to the shore. I am walking along the beach, my toes sinking into the sand with each step when I hear a faint noise come from behind me. "Did you like my birthday gift?" a gruff male voice asks from behind me. I smirk and turn around fast to look at the evil being who I know is behind all of these!