Rayne was officially homesick after walking beside Jarrah for the day.

He was easily the most frustrating person she'd ever met in her life. All he did was shoot her glares, snap unnecessary comments at her, and stayed silent unless spoken to. She did her best to avoid him at all costs, but even that proved to be difficult. So, when nighttime came, she decided she needed to reconnect with the one being that made her feel normal.

Her wolf.

She was a gift from the moon goddess herself. Coated in a soft fur of alabaster white, her paws dipped in silk ivory, she was a sight for sore eyes in wolf form. Alpha's were graced with the moon goddesses favoritism, so just like her father, and his father before him and so on, Rayne was gifted with the moon's bright replica.

Once they found a place to settle in for the night, Rayne wasted no time in walking behind a tree with her backpack in hand. She quickly stripped out of her clothes, shoved them in the bag, and stood up straight again. Closing her eyes, she rolled her shoulders back and positioned her body towards the moon.

"Hʋshi Ninak Aya, I call to you," she breathed, her voice soft with adoration. The moon's energy stirred, and Rayne's warm brown skin tingled with a humming vibration. Wolves didn't need to do such a ritual to shift during the day, but when night time came, they made sure to be respectful of the moon goddesses presence. It was through her gift that they were able to shift at all, and they did well to remember that. "Grant me your gift of night. With it, I devote my loyalty and love to you, Mother of Night."

The influx of energy pulsated through Rayne's fingertips. Security drifted over her shoulders and wrapped around her shaking body as she focused on her wolf form. There was nothing like shifting at night in the presence of Hʋshi Ninak Aya.

It didn't take long for Rayne's body to ripple and slowly morph into her wolf form. She was used to the transition, and no longer fought against the few cracks it took to get into position. Fingers curling into paws, two legs stretching into four, she was finally at ease with her other half. She shook her fur and bent down to grab her backpack into her mouth, before trotting out from behind the tree.

Jarrah, who finished eating the apple he plucked from a tree, looked over at her, stunned. His fingers were paused mid-air and his eyes glanced over her coat warily. They followed her movement of putting her bag down where she'd be sleeping on the blades of grass and watched as she ate at the fruit she gathered for herself. They'd catch their own food tomorrow, so for now, fruit was just fine.

It wasn't until after Rayne licked her jaws that she looked up, catching the Fae king's gaze. Questions lingered in his eyes, resentful curiosity on his lips. But, instead of voicing anything out loud, he turned away from her. That was fine. She didn't really feel like talking--or er, howling at him anyway.

Rayne decided she needed to stretch her legs a bit in wolf form, so she trotted away from him and back to the forest. They hadn't discussed patrols before, but she took the liberty to do it for a while. She needed some time to think and clear her head, something she hadn't done since the day they brought Jarrah to the pack. She didn't realize the toll jumping into something as serious as finding something that may or may not exist in the most dangerous city in the world, until then. When she realized she was stuck with someone who despised her when she could be spending the last of her days with her family and friends.

Thinking about Ronan made her heart ache and a whine pushed through her muzzle. Since the day they were born, they hadn't been apart for anything longer than twenty-four hours. They were born in the same hospital twenty hours apart, and grew up as practically twins. Their parents didn't know what to do when they realized they couldn't go anything longer than eight hours of sleep without fussing and crying until they were in the same crib again. It was why their families had hoped a union would be made once they were old enough to make the decision to date.

Little did they know, that would never happen. Sure, Ronan and Rayne had kissed once or twice in their eleventh year of school, but that was as far as it went for them. They decided they were better off as best friends who'd do anything for each other, and never thought about each other romantically again.

Rayne wished she could hear his voice telling her to train harder, followed by one of his tasteless jokes that only amused him. She even missed Amira's nagging and Ezra's brooding comfort. Though he was as annoying as a brother could be, he was constantly there for her. He protected her against their father's pressure and her mother's smothering. They all balanced each other out perfectly.

So why couldn't she find that same balance with Jarrah?

She was good with people. She had to be in her position. And yet, she couldn't figure out how to get on Jarrah's good side. It was annoying really, which often resulted in her snapping at him and making the situation worse.

Time, she supposed. Time was all they needed.

Rayne tilted her head to the moon and blinked. Her tongue lolled out of the side of her muzzle goofily as she drank in the warmth of the light and enjoyed the way the moon goddess, Hʋshi Ninak Aya, laced her energy through the thick tufts of fur. She mentally begged her and the Creator of all living things for guidance in her journey, her thoughts, and relationship with Jarrah. Whenever she was lost, she'd look to the two most powerful beings in the universe. The moon goddess, who gave the wolf the power to shift, and the Creator, who was the mother of life itself.

After some time to herself, she pranced her way back to the fire that Jarrah had made for them. He was already on his side, staring out into the lick of the flames, when she plopped herself on the grass across from him. His gaze flickered up at her briefly, taking note of her condition. She yipped a small bark as if to irritatingly inform him that she was fine and his lips thinned.

Rayne grumbled low in her chest and moved her head onto her paws. Being in wolf form meant she wouldn't have to talk to Jarrah for the foreseeable future, so for that night and into the morning, she'd stay like that.

*****

Catching fish in wolf form was . . . less than ideal.

It took a lot of concentration and focus; focus she thought she had. But the salmon swimming along the stream was fast, and she wasn't a damn bear. Her paws couldn't help her capture fish and her snapping canines were just a second too slow. She growled low in her chest and slammed a paw against the water's surface.

A snort from behind made her whip her large head around.

Jarrah, the smug bastard, stood behind her with three large fish speared onto one long stick. He was up early that morning, sharpening the end of the stick with a sharp rock when she woke up. She didn't know where he learned how to make a contraption like that, but he was Fae. They used the forest and wielded her elements to live off of. If she were in a good mood, she'd acknowledge the talent.

But she wasn't in a good mood. She was hungry, exhausted, and homesick.

She turned her head back and dove for another fish but came up empty.

"You aren't going to get anything like that, wolf," Jarrah snickered. Rayne cut her eyes at him and barked, earning an eye roll in return. "I've caught more than enough. Stop embarrassing yourself with failure and let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover."

Rayne growled again. Reluctantly, she gave up her failed hunt and followed him back over to their campsite. She had a knick for catching rabbits and any other small game, but fishing? Definitely not her thing.

And boy did it annoy her that she wasn't the only one who came to that conclusion.

Jarrah relit the fire from the night before and cleaned the fish before sticking it over the hot flame. It didn't take too long to cook, much to her growling stomach's delight, and when he looked over at her, his eyebrows were furrowed. She pawed at the ground in response to his silent inquiry. He grimaced and tossed the fish over, which she easily caught in her jaws and chomped away.

She licked her mouth clean before leaning down to grab her backpack and walking over to the tree from the previous night and shifted back to her human form. The process was quick and much similar to shifting into wolf form, only without the ritual. After shoving a new pair of clothes over her bare body, she thought she caught the subtle scent of . . . something. Of what, she didn't know.

But as soon as she sniffed the air again, the scent was gone. She turned her head and thoroughly searched the trees around her. Her eyes snaked between each trunk and slithered through the leaves like a serpent, but after finding nothing amiss, she shook it off. The scent could have belonged to anything.

She had no reason to worry. Not yet, at least.