Novaturient
(adj.) Desiring or seeking powerful change in ones life or situation.

Leaving was a lot easier than I thought, with no one seeming to notice my absence. Even while we drove away, creating miles between us and the pack lands, the whole thing still felt strangely anticlimactic for me.

Regardless, we were soon driving through empty roads, avoiding any pack lands by sticking closer to human towns and cities. We had been driving all night and only paused sometime during the morning to get more fuel before we were back on the road again.

"Tell me about my family Uncle," I piped up, breaking the comfortable silence. We were driving in his truck, the three of us sitting in the cab while our lives were packed up in bags behind us in the bed of the truck.
He chuckled, shaking his head to himself besides me.

"Your parents were some of the most impressive people I knew," he began.

"My family come from a long line of healers. We've all been blessed by the moons goddess to have exceptional healing powers, but my younger sister was by far the most talented out of all of us," he smiled to himself and I felt my lips quirk on the corner.

"There were six of us in total, all boys except little Sophia. While most of us had accelerated healing all our lives, we were only able to heal others properly and control our energy in our mid to late teens.

Sophia however was able to do so before she was even ten. It was miraculous and unheard of. She could not only heal and comfort others, but she had a way with plants too. She could make all sorts of concoctions, from medicinal pastes to poisonous weapons. She even attracted a few witches to learn from," he chuckled.

"Life was good back then, everything was simple. We were the alphas of a small but thriving pack and everyone was happy," he reminisced.

I didn't dare interrupt him and decided to save any questions for after.

"There was another small pack nearby that we were allies with. That was your father's pack. His family was also the alpha family. While we were notorious for our being Healers, the Garcia family were notorious for being True Warriors," he continued.

It was truly amazing to hear that both my parents and their families had not only been fearless alphas, but also powerful Gifted people. I felt pride swell in my chest hearing this about my parents, but also a tinge of sadness as I would never get to meet them.

"Your parents met during an alliance meeting, when Hunters were growing in numbers and attacking. Our packs were a few of the closest to their main operating base and since we were smaller in numbers than most packs, we were an easy target for them," he frowned.

"Despite all the darkness, they still fell in love and brought a wonderful light into our lives. Their union only solidified our alliance and we eventually became one pack; The Silverclaw Guardians," he trailed off. He pursed his lips, looking lost while the hum of the engine filled the silence as Romeo continued driving.

"The hunters attacked unexpectedly with such force. It was chaos that day. Your parents tried to save whoever they could but in doing so, sacrificed themselves," he gave a sad smile, and squeezed my hand.

"How did I end up in the forest?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. I'm not even sure how many survived. We were all separated and scattered," he sighed, rubbing a tired hand down his face, suddenly looking so worn.

"Well, that will be one of the things we will do when we get settled," he looked confused. "I want to see if there are any other survivors," I explained.

"That will take time won't it?" Romeo spoke up. I turned to him, shrugging.

"It will but before we can begin worrying about that, we need to figure out what exactly what we're going to do," I mumbled, lost in thought.

I had an idea, a possible plan but I didn't want to say it until we were reunited with my friends. Speaking of which, I needed to let them know we were coming.

I closed my eyes and drowned out the outside sounds.

I searched my mind for familiar voices tethered to my mind and to each others'. The longer I focused, the louder and clearer their thoughts became.

'Guys can you hear me? It's Artemis,' There was only an answering silence for a moment before I felt my mind being bombarded with several excited and anxious thoughts.

'Artemis we hadn't heard from you in so long,'

'Where are you? You feel closer,'

'Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?'

'My brother said you helped them,'

'How are you communicating from so far?'

I hissed slightly af the dull throbbing sensation in the forefront of my brain but pushed it down as I silenced them to speak.

'I'm alright, I apologise if I worried any of you. At the moment I'm travelling with two family members and we're headed your way in a truck. I'll answer any questions when we get there,' I answered.

I watched through Celia's eyes all the members. They were in a makeshift camp in the forest, several unfamiliar people scattered with them. I smiled to myself as I watched them interact.

'I'll see you guys soon,' And with that I cut off the mindlink, snapping back to reality.

"Are you okay?" I turned to my left to see my uncle giving me a concerned look. I blinked and nodded silently, the dull headache still present.

"Your eyes were blank and distant, you weren't responding. Are you sick? Should we stop?" He fired.

"I'm fine," I chuckled softly. "Just mind linking the rogues I set free to tell them we'll be arriving soon,"

"Mind linking? Rogues?" He looked skeptical.

"Yeah. I made a blood covenant with them so we're all connected," I shrugged, remembering the time when I had used the dagger to slice all our palms and mix our blood before we escaped.

"Why?" He asked. I furrowed my brows, looking back at the time. "I just thought it'd make communicating easier. I mean we could still mind link without the covenant but it would make it easier," I explained.

"You could communicate without the covenant? What do you mean?"

Not this again. I didn't understand what was so hard to understand about mindlinking.

"You know, mind link. Share out thoughts and memories mentally. Like all wolves do," He gave me a perplexed look, eyeing me strangely.

"Mija, normal wolves can only communicate with pack members. New members have to be sworn in to be able to mind link and even then its weak," he explained.

Well that explained it then. I shrugged it off. It was something Diana taught me so I would just ask her.

"Blood covenants are simply unpracticed amongst wolves," Uncle continued.

"But why?"

"Probably to discourage people from leaving their packs," he speculated, shrugging. I watched the road for a moment.

"There's a worn dirt path coming up on your left Romeo. We should pull the truck here and trek the rest of the way since it's all jungle," I explained.

We got out the truck once we pulled into the dead end of the dirt path, stretching deliciously until our bones popped and cracked nicely.

I suggested shifting and once we all stood in our wolf forms, I began running, leading the way. Romeo's impressive rich brown wolf kept up with me, his wolf a lot more muscular than mine and a little taller.

Uncle's wolf was similar in colour, but he had patches of lighter brown fur around his muzzle and paws.

We ran up the hills and slopes, heading towards the talk green mountains. The earth beneath my paws was damp and the air was slightly humid. The greenery around me was rich and lush and the smell of it instantly calmed me and filled me with excitement to finally be home.

Finally, we reached the top of the large hill, the high vantage point giving way to a valley where a river flowed. The scenery was astonishing. The setting sun had painted the sky pinks and oranges, while the river sparkled between rich greenery.

The mountains were clear in view, their rocky tips touching the sky, promising the home I had so missed. My heart pounded in my ears, blood rushing through me with my excitement.

I tipped my head back and let out a loud howl, the wind carrying the sound across the valley and to the mountains. Soon, more howling joined, the sound recognisable and I smiled to myself.

Home sweet home.