CALLUM
Ava linking me asking for help sent a shiver down my spine, and definitely not a good one. Fortunately, Oscar and I were bunking together so we were close by in case Ava and Noah needed us, and it was apparently a good thing we did that.
We sprinted through the packhouse towards the courtyard where we could hear the sounds of chaos.
Right in the middle of the ring of curious wolves lay Noah and Ava. Noah was surrounded by dried mud and dirt, whilst Ava was surrounded by water and ice.
“What on Earth…” I started, voice low.
Ava rolled over and whimpered, her fingers dragging along the ground, leaving ice in their path.
“Oscar, go to Noah, I’ve got Ava.”
I sprinted to her side, dropping to my knees, wishing that I’d put more clothes on; the floor was bloody cold.
“Ava,” I whispered. “I’m here, what do you need, little one?”
She shivered again, shaking her head. “Can’t… can’t talk,” she replied, through the mindlink.
“Okay, little one. You need to shift, okay?”
She nodded slightly. “Too cold,” she whimpered.
I glanced over to see Oscar having a similar conversation with Noah.
“Is Noah saying he’s too hot to shift?” I called out to my brother, who just nodded.
I bent over and scooped Ava up, holding her to me as she shivered. I could feel the ice spreading across my skin from her hands, but that was a problem for once she was warmed up.
I settled Ava next to Noah on the ground, and the effect was immediate. Noah breathed a sigh of relief as he cooled down, and Ava’s shivering started to get under control.
As soon as her shivering calmed down, Ava sat back up, helping Noah sit beside her. Noah’s eyes were tinged red; not red like a wolf’s, but red like fire.
Ava’s… well. Ava’s suddenly made sense because her eyes were tinged blue. Like ice.
“Ava,” I whispered, kneeling in front of her. “You need to shift. You too, Noah.”
She nodded, letting her eyes fall closed and Artemis to come forward.
I smiled at the sight of my beautiful mate; she really was something to behold. “Ava, Artemis… you’re beautiful.”
She rubbed her head against me, before turning to walk over to Noah, licking his face, encouraging him to shift too.
When he did, Artemis sprinted off towards the forest, begging him to follow.
I nodded towards Oscar, before shifting and following Noah and Ava into the forest.
AVA
There was something special about that first run after mating and marking someone, and even though this was the third time Artemis and I had experienced it, it was still just as special.
Noah and I ran together for hours, getting to know not only each other’s wolves now we were tied together, but our new powers too.
Noah had gained the ability to run incredibly fast. The rest of us were already quicker than the average wolf, but his new speed was something else.
It looked like he had control over fire and I over ice… but that, we’d need to explore more. Definitely before we had intimate relations either just the two of us, or with any of the others.
I had a feeling I knew what the other ability I gained from marking Noah is… and that was an interesting one. I’d need to test it, of course, on someone willing…
Artemis believes I, well, we, can manipulate or project emotions and feelings, perhaps even images. I wasn’t sure how far Oscar’s mindlink hacking abilities went, so I couldn’t test it on him, but Callum on the other hand… he might help me test that one.
Scratch that. Izzie doesn’t have her wolf yet, so she can’t mindlink, so if I did manage to show her an image or feeling, I’d know it didn’t go down the link.
I opened up a link with Callum, Oscar and Noah, suggesting that we run towards the lake. The lake was easily one of my favourite places, even more so since Oscar and I mated and marked each other on that shoreline, and since Noah’s date night he’d planned for us was here too.
“Ava… I want to try something.”
“What are you thinking, Artemis?”
“Just trust me, give me control.”
I shrugged inwardly, giving control over to Artemis.
“What are you doing?!” I squealed when she sprinted towards the very cold looking lake. But… I never got wet.
We were running on the surface of the water. The lake was freezing under our paws.
“This is amazing!” Artemis squealed. This was easily the most excitable I’d ever seen her.
“Do you think we could do this in human form too?”
“I think so, want me to give control back so you can try?”
I paused for a moment. “Sure, why not. The worst thing that could happen is we get a bit wet.”
My wolf laughed at me before handing the reins back over.
The ice started defrosting under my feet, but as soon as I felt the power, with Artemis’ help, it froze back over, holding me up.
“You feel it, Ava?”
“I can feel it, it feels kinda weird.”
She chuckled. Artemis seems to be laughing at me a lot today.
“I’m going to step back, keep your focus and you’ll be okay.”
I had a brief moment of terror when she pulled back control completely, and that became elation when I didn’t fall ass-first into the lake.
I walked slowly back towards the shore, a massive grin on my face as I watched the shock on the faces of three of my mates.
“Ava… that was amazing!” Noah grinned, wrapping his arms around me.
We all sat down on the shore, our feet in the lake as we contemplated the events of the last 24 hours. It had definitely been a bit crazy. For a start, I could now control ice!
The sound of fingers clicking drew my attention in time to see sparks flying from Noah’s fingertips, followed by a small fireball appearing in his palm.
“SO COOL!” he shouted, exactly like a child would.
I giggled at his elation, before staring at my hand. Artemis had a feeling it was water more than ice, and she was right.
I clicked my fingers, and created a magic ball of water in my palm.
A ball of water that I dropped over Noah’s head.