I was a bullet.
Everything was blurred; all my surroundings morphed together into a stream of colour. I was flying through a pool of tones and textures, of shadows and shapes and swirls. The wind's soft fingers gently slid through my fur and pushed me forward, cooling my heated skin.
As I darted through the trees, I felt invincible. My vision was impeccable: despite the speed I bolted through the woods at, I could clearly see every detail, every tree. Everything in the background was a muddle of blurry images, but in the foreground... it was like nothing I'd ever seen. I could literally describe the detail of every wrinkle on the finest leaf laying on the soil.
In a moment of brief excitement, I let my tongue flop out into the wind, shook my head around a little like a dog. I giggled in my mind.
My paws were moving at such an extraordinary pace that all I could feel was the pressured air surrounding them- caressing them. I couldn't feel the ground's impact at all; I was racing on a cloud.
And I felt strong.
With a final huge leap, I burst through the final barrier of trees and landed swiftly, immediately finding the stage we had used earlier occupied by Dylan, Jason, Ryan, my parents, and Sid. I couldn't see what they were doing, but below them, it was a battleground. Wolves and bears flew at each other, crashing together with such force and violence that I cringed. To the right, Shifters scattered into the woods, usually following a wolf that scurried off into the trees. I couldn't see Hayden, Jackie, Ash or Harvey anywhere, and that scared me.
"Dawn, let me take over. I promise I will free our family and save our mate and his family. Trust me- there is no need to be scared."
Shockingly, I wasn't surprised or frightened. I was perfectly calm as I spoke into my thoughts, "You're my wolf aren't you?"
I felt a warmth in my mind, like... like she was smiling. "Yes. I will guide you through everything, but for now, I need complete control to save this situation."
Usually, I would have handed over control. I would have felt as though she could do a better job than I ever could. But today, it was different. I felt different.
"I'm sorry, but I think I should be the one in control. The Goddess trusts me to do this, and I know exactly what to do," I thought firmly.
And, to my surprise, I felt that warmth again, but now it made me feel stronger, prouder, and happier. "The Moon Goddess was right to choose you. You are special," I heard her whisper in my mind. New strength flooded through my bones and I knew my wolf was chipping in as much as she could without being in total control. I liked her- I liked that she tested me to see if I was a leader or lazy and submissive.
It felt like rocket boosters were attached to me; I flew through the air suddenly, barrelling towards the fight. My main goal was to get on that stage and rescue my family. Then a thought hit me: if I get to Indie and have her accept Dylan, the battle will stop! Dylan, Jason and Ryan will snap out of it!
My eyes scanned the crowd, looking desperately for any sign of Indie. I knew that her wolf had a burgundy coat, but my wolf suddenly pitched in, "Don't focus on the colour of their fur- I can recognise their wolves like you can recognise their human forms. I will tell you when we see her- just keep running!"
So I did.
Finally, I reached the battle. I pushed my weight onto my back legs, preparing for a fight, but to my surprise, everyone stopped. It was like the world had suddenly frozen, and there was no sound. All I could make out was the heavy breathing of the animals surrounding me.
Everyone was staring at me. And then the wolves...bowed.
Oh no.
"Dawn!" my wolf hissed, "They think we're the Moon Goddess!"
"Shit! What do we do? This wasn't part of my plan!"
My wolf was silent for a moment. Then she perked up, "This could work for us. Pretend you're the Goddess- no one will be able to recognise you, not even our mate! No one has met me yet!"
I grinned. "You're right."
My legs stalked across the ground firmly, oozing power, sophistication and strength. The bears around me had no idea what to do- most of them avoided eye contact with me and looked to each other for help. No one had an answer.
My gaze shifted to the stage, my eyes finding the frozen forms of everybody up there. Only my mother looked unsurprised- in fact, a smile graced her mouth. She looked me right in my eyes and nodded once, uncaring of the vice grip a Bear Shifter had her arms in. My jaw almost dropped.
"She knows!" I exclaimed to my wolf.
"She's our mother, Dawn. Of course she knows. You don't give her enough credit," she replied.
Getting over the shock, I made my way, slowly, to the stage, stepping through the stream of animals who had pushed back to make a path for me. I noticed most of them ogling at my fur, and I sneaked a peak at my leg to see I was glowing. What?!
"We're glowing!"
"It's our power kicking in. Okay, this is when we show off a little. Watch what happens when you push air our of your skin- don't ask me about it, just feel the particles within you and try and push them out through your flesh. I know it sounds weird, but please try."
I almost protested, almost denied that I could do such a thing, almost put my foot down and said that it was a stupid idea, but I stopped. I decided to trust my wolf- after all, she was part of me. For a brief second, I stopped and focussed my eyes on a patch of grass, letting my imagination drift into the far corners of my body. I did as my wolf said, finding particles of air in my body and moving them, before pushing them out with all of my might.
I couldn't believe the result.
Around me, the wolves and bears fell back, some of them flying through the air, some of them skidding backwards as they desperately clawed at the ground. It was like the aftershock of an explosion; a wave of pure energy burst out of my body and propelled the animals away from me, leaving them shaky and fearful. I almost squealed with excitement- now they had no reason to doubt that I was Artemis.
"Okay, next thing: can you feel the firmness of the ground beneath our paws? I want you to try and build that firmness in the air so you can walk on it- think of it like an invisible staircase. With each step, form an invisible platform beneath it. Use it to get up onto the stage."
I listened to my wolf's instructions and within seconds, I was flying. My eyes widened and almost fell, losing concentration momentarily.
"Do not show weakness! Come on, you've got it. Once you get the hang of it you'll be doing this all the time. You can get too high, though, remember that. You can just about get to the same height as the tree tops."
Breathing steadily, I kept my gaze on the stage, and soon enough my paws were landing on the smooth surface. My ears picked up the unmistakable sharp, fearful intakes of breath by the Bear Shifters in front of me.
"There is another power you need to use. It's not as significant, but it allows you to Mind Link with any wolf, not just pack members or our mate. Speaking of which, we can contact him automatically now, regardless of this power. But you need to use it to find Indie, so try and contact her. It's like how you speak to me."
Once again, I pushed out air from my body and made sure that the animals around me fell to their bellies. I angled it away from my parents and Sid, though. I then stepped forward to the front of the stage, and before any of the Shifters could regain their stance, I arched my neck and an ear-splitting howl burst from my throat, as I screamed in my mind, "Indie! Indie Carmon!"
I was ecstatic when a path cleared in the crowd of Shifters and a large, burgundy wolf stepped forward, looking away from me in fear. I waited patiently as she climbed up the stage and stopped beside me. As I turned to her to tell her about Dylan, I heard an aggressive roar followed by a surprised yelp. My attention snapped to an impatient bear who had leaped onto a nearby wolf and started attacking it. The other bears started to follow it's lead, and my eyes widened in panic.
"Disrespectful scum- they think we're the Goddess, yet they behave this way," my wolf scoffed in anger.
My gaze remained on what was taking place before me, "It's not their Goddess, Callisto, that we look like."
Suddenly I felt angry, angry that these poor wolves were being preyed on, and I handed momentary power over to my wolf. She lapped it up and before I knew it, she was leaping off the stage, landing in the battlefield and tearing through bears, ripping their flesh with our claws and tearing their throats with our teeth. I was horrified at her actions at first and tried to take back control, but she wouldn't let me. Guilt flooded me until I realised that she wasn't killing them, only disabling them.
After forcing about twenty bears to the ground at an unimaginable speed, she stopped, and handed back control. The remaining Bear Shifters stared on in fear, too frightened to move as they regarded their blood-soaked teammates.
Leaping back onto the stage, I turned to a shocked Indie, and stared her in the eye as my mind made contact with hers.
"Indie," I spoke.
"M-Moon Goddess?" she questioned, staring back at me in surprise.
I laughed quietly, "No, Indie, it's me, Dawn. The Moon Goddess gave me this wolf as a gift."
"B-b-but you have powers! And you're so fast and-"
"It's a long story, but for now, you need to know this. Dylan is not doing this deliberately. An evil goddess, Callisto, is controlling him. He was human, once- she has transformed him into something he is not meant to be."
"Dylan... That's the guy who's after you..."
"You haven't met him?"
"No one in the pack had met a Bear Shifter except for the Alpha family- until today, that is."
"Indie, look behind you. That boy standing there- he's Dylan."
I watched in intrigue as she glanced behind her and turned back to me quickly, before her eyes shot back to him in shock and she stared, Dylan's gaze also penetrating hers intensely.
"But he's...he's..."
"He's your mate. To end this war, you have to accept him. He will forget everything he has done and become human again- as will his family. But when you do accept him, you will no longer be a wolf. We will all remain your close friends- no, your family- but you will have to leave with Dylan. It was told to me by the Moon Goddess herself."
Indie didn't reply, and I could see the fear in her eyes. But then I saw determination, and she nodded.
"Go shift."
She bounded to the other side of the stage and jumped off, then returned wearing dusty shorts and a t-shirt from the supply cupboard in the stage. I followed her movements as she faced Dylan, who was speechless, and smiled at me. She turned back to her mate.
"I, Indie Carmon, accept you as my mate."
Hell broke loose.
The Bear shifters around us roared and snapped their jaws as Dylan, dumbfounded, seemed to emerge from a trance, and wrapped Indie in his arms. Jason released his hold of Sydney and stared at her in confusion as she bounded over to our free parents and jumped into their arms.
Ryan looked completely destroyed, and I assumed that the guilt surrounding everything he had done had come rushing back to him. He ran towards my parents, who were weeping as he cuddled Sid, but Sid screamed and shied away from his embrace, making his expression transform from regretful to devastated. He looked utterly heartbroken.
But we all knew that the war wasn't over yet, especially not when the remaining bears leaped onto wolves and more vicious Shifters burst from the trees beside us, heading straight for me.