AVA
The three of us ran together, jumping over and into each other, all laughing over the mind link. We slowed to a stop when we reached the pack house and saw Callum and Oscar on the stairs.
Once we stopped, the three of us shifted back, but not by choice. It was like something yanked Artemis back, leaving me (and Theo and Noah) face down in the mud.
“Fuck,” I swore, rolling over and wiping the mud off my face.
“Ava!” Callum shouted. “Are you okay?” He ran towards me, pulling me up to stand.
I nodded, and when we touched, it was like a jolt of power moved through me into him. His eyes immediately flared gold, and he fell to his knees. “Ares is trying to shift,” he growled, fighting it.
“Callum, don’t fight it, let it happen, baby.” I fell to my knees in front of him whilst everyone watched the display. Even Jacob and Alex were on the steps of the pack house now.
He shifted, and he had completely changed. His wolf was now midnight black, the same colour as mine, his eyes gold, and on his chest, a silver constellation. Aries.
“Ares,” I whispered, holding one hand out to cup his face. He trotted over a puddle, leaning over to see his reflection. I shifted and went with him. I felt bigger, somehow. Callum was bigger too, he was now the size of a large Alpha, yet I was still an inch or so taller.
I shifted back, before going to touch Oscar’s hand, then Noah’s, and finally Theo’s.
We all shifted together. We were all now midnight black, the boys being nearly identical, except the constellations on their chests. The moon on my chest was now full. Some of the fur on my head was now gold, and how it sat looked like a crown. We stood together looking in the puddle, a little confused.
There was a new mind link between the five of us. It was strong, really strong. “Noah, Theo, I promise I will explain as much as we know once we’re somewhere quieter.”
“We know about the prophecy, Ava. Our wolves told us. We both accepted.” Noah’s voice was strong, sure.
“Ava,” Artemis whispered. “I think we have our Lycan form.”
“Really?”
Her legs and bones moved in my mind, until she stood. “Fuuuuuck,” I growled. “Shall we give it a go?” She nodded, smiling. “Do your thing, Artemis.” I closed my eyes, giving her control.
I whimpered when my bones and joints moved. It was a new shift, so it would take some getting used to. Callum turned to look at me, licking my face, helping me calm down. As soon as I did, Artemis completed the shift.
My Lycan form stood tall, the best part of seven feet when stood upright. Gasps surrounded the clearing. Most people never would have seen a Lycan before.
The gasps got louder when Callum shifted; he had a Lycan form too. After Callum did, Oscar, Noah and Theo followed. “Fuck,” we all swore down our new mind link, before laughing.
I met their eyes in the reflection, and one by one, they each shouted “mate!”
“Mates,” I whispered.
We all shifted back to our human forms, and once we were staring at ourselves in the puddle butt naked and covered in mud, we each muttered that magic word again. “Mates,” I whispered, still in disbelief.
Oscar ran to the tree line, grabbing us all spare clothes from one of the stashes. Once we were decent, I turned towards the pack house, my eyes on Jacob and Alex. The boys fell into step behind me; Callum and Oscar on either side of me, Theo and Noah just behind.
Flanked by my boys.
“My Queen, my Kings,” a murmur ran through the crowd, as one by one, they dropped to one knee.
The boys stopped dead in their tracks, eyes wide. It had suddenly become real for them. I gave them a small smile, continuing my walk towards Jacob and Alex. “Stand,” I commanded, taking their hands to help them up. “None of you here need to bow to us.”
They smiled, and when they stood, the pack followed. Jacob pulled me into a hug, his arms around my waist, spinning me in a circle. “I’m so proud of you, Ava,” he smiled. “And you, Artemis.” Once he put me down, I was immediately picked up by Alex, who copied Jacob almost exactly.
“Shall we all sit for dinner?” I asked, voice low. They both nodded, before flinging their arms over my shoulders as we walked into the dining room.
The room fell silent as we entered. An awful, tense silence.
“Ava!” someone screamed.
“Mum, dad!” I ran to them, wrapping my arms around both of them.
“I’m so proud of you, my dear. You have always been destined for great things, and with your mates behind you, I know you’ll be able to achieve everything you set out to and more,” mum smiled, kissing my head.
“Dad…” I started, turning towards him.
“I love you, sweetie,” he cupped my face in his hands. “After dinner, please come home for a while, we’d love to meet your mates properly.”
I nodded. “Of course, dad.” He picked me up and spun me around; but there had been too much of that, so he had to stop before I was sick on him.
“Honey…” mum started. “We found some things you might want to see. Make sure you do come by after dinner, okay?” I raised one eyebrow, before nodding and kissing both of them on the cheek.
I turned back to find a table, suddenly noticing the table Jacob and Alex were motioning us to. Five chairs, in a row. The middle being slightly bigger.
“Jacob, what are you doing?” I growled down the mind link.
“You’re officially Queen, my dear, and these four are your Kings. You’d better get used to it.”
I growled at him again. My aura must have flared because Oscar and Callum squeezed my hands reassuringly, helping me calm Artemis.
“Jacob, I don’t like this.”
“Ava, please,” Jacob pleaded. “Let us do this for you.”
Callum and Oscar jumped when I squeezed their hands hard. “Jacob, why are you doing this? You know this makes me incredibly uncomfortable.”
“Please…”
“Fine!” I shouted out loud.
Jacob flinched like I’d slapped him. I just ignored him, walking to the chair he’d assigned me, motioning for the boys to sit down on my sides.