The Divergence

───

The forest was quiet.

Not silent.

Never silent.

Leaves rustled overhead as a gentle breeze flowed between the towering pines.

Birds called from distant branches. Somewhere deeper in the woods, a stream trickled over smooth stones.

And beneath it all...

Footsteps.

Four distinct sets.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Mia chewed thoughtfully on a strip of jerky as she followed behind the others, one hand tucked into the pocket of her jacket.

"So..."

She swallowed.

"Are we almost there?"

"No."

The answer came immediately from the black-haired woman ahead.

Mia sighed dramatically.

"You didn't even think about it."

"I didn't need to."

Ava glanced back over one shoulder, her wolf ears twitching once before facing forward again.

"We're almost there."

"There."

"I knew it."

Mia pointed triumphantly.

"You contradicted yourself."

Ava looked utterly unimpressed.

"You talk too much."

"I've been walking."

"You've been talking while walking."

"I can multitask."

"You certainly think you can."

The white-haired girl walking beside Ava giggled.

Unlike Ava, who possessed a mature, athletic figure, the white-haired werewolf was noticeably more petite.

She was still toned, as every werewolf naturally became after the Divergence, but her frame was smaller, giving her a deceptively youthful appearance despite clearly being an adult.

Her fluffy white ears flicked lazily.

"I think Mia's entertaining."

Ava sighed.

"You're encouraging her."

"I know."

Mia grinned.

"I like her already."

"You've known each other for two days."

"And?"

The white-haired werewolf shrugged.

"I still like you."

Mia smiled brightly.

"I like you too."

Ava muttered under her breath.

"The two of you are hopeless."

The lone man walking a few steps ahead laughed awkwardly.

"I think they're fine."

"Don't encourage them either."

"I'm... not trying to."

The group continued deeper into the forest.

None of them hurried.

There wasn't any need.

Unlike vampires, werewolves rarely wandered alone after sunset if they knew others were nearby. They naturally drifted together.

Not because they feared solitude.

Because company simply...

Felt right.

Eventually the trees opened into a broad clearing.

Soft grass covered the ground.

Several fallen logs rested near the edges while one enormous oak stretched its branches overhead, casting wide patches of shade.

"There."

Ava dropped her backpack beneath the tree.

"This'll do."

Mia copied her, tossing her own bag beside it.

The white-haired girl stretched both arms above her head.

"Finally."

The man rubbed the back of his neck.

"So..."

He looked everywhere except at the three women.

"I'll..."

"...go."

Mia blinked.

"Go where?"

He pointed vaguely toward the trees.

"Over there."

Ava shrugged.

"If you stay..."

She smiled mischievously.

"...you'll catch an eyeful."

The poor man's face immediately reddened.

"I'll definitely go."

Before anyone could tease him further, he hurried toward the opposite side of the clearing.

Mia laughed around another bite of jerky.

The white-haired girl watched him disappear before suddenly bending her knees.

Then...

She jumped.

Nearly two meters straight upward.

Both hands caught a thick branch overhead.

With effortless strength she pulled herself onto it, swinging one leg over before settling comfortably.

Her fluffy white tail dangled beneath the branch.

Looking down at the other two women, she rested her chin on one hand.

"Did we really have to come all the way out here?"

She sighed dramatically.

"I'd rather be home playing games."

Mia looked up.

"You play games?"

"Every day."

"You don't look like it."

"What does that even mean?"

"You look..."

Mia tilted her head.

"...responsible."

The white-haired werewolf looked genuinely offended.

"I'm deeply irresponsible."

Ava snorted.

"That's more accurate."

The girl pointed accusingly.

"See?"

Mia laughed.

"I stand corrected."

Ava reached for the hem of her shirt.

"Enough talking."

"We're here to run."

She began folding her clothes with neat, practiced movements.

Mia followed suit.

The white-haired girl remained comfortably perched above them.

"You know..."

She sighed.

"I still think this is unnecessary."

Below her...

Both women stopped folding.

Then exchanged identical looks.

"The Alpha..."

Ava muttered.

"...is so useless."

Mia nodded solemnly.

"Truly."

The white-haired girl's ears flattened.

"I'm not useless!"

"You absolutely are."

"I delegate!"

"You avoid work."

"I strategically avoid work."

Ava rolled her eyes.

Mia couldn't help laughing.

"So you're really the Alpha?"

"Unfortunately."

"You don't sound proud."

"I'm tired."

The Alpha groaned dramatically.

"Leadership is exhausting."

"You've done nothing."

"I've thought about doing things."

Ava deadpanned.

"Tragic."

"Horribly."

Mia finished folding her clothes.

The changes came quickly now.

Bones shifted.

Muscles expanded.

Hands became paws.

Within moments...

Where two women had stood...

A sleek black wolf and a powerful brown wolf now waited.

Each was nearly the size of a large timber wolf...

But unmistakably larger.

Broader.

Heavier.

Their golden-green eyes gleamed brightly beneath the trees.

The black wolf pawed impatiently at the ground.

Beside her, the brown wolf barked once toward the branch overhead.

The Alpha looked down.

"...Fine."

She hopped lightly from the branch.

Landing gracefully...

She quickly removed the rest of her clothes.

A heartbeat later...

A magnificent white wolf stood where she'd been.

Her thick fur almost glowed beneath the sunlight.

She paced once.

Twice.

Then looked toward the others.

The bushes nearby rustled.

All three wolves turned.

A massive gray wolf emerged.

His coat was streaked with lighter patches across his shoulders.

He blinked.

Then noticed...

The Alpha.

Standing there.

Watching him.

The gray wolf froze.

His ears slowly folded backward.

"...Whine."

Without another second's hesitation...

He turned around and bolted straight back into the trees.

The black and brown wolves looked at each other.

Then simultaneously snorted.

The white wolf sighed.

"...Really?"

Neither answered.

Instead...

They both exploded forward.

Grass scattered beneath powerful paws as they raced into the forest.

The white wolf barked once before chasing after them.

A few moments later...

The gray wolf cautiously returned.

Realizing the Alpha had already left...

He visibly relaxed.

Then sprinted after the others.

Within seconds...

Four wolves raced through the forest.

To human eyes...

They scarcely existed.

One moment they occupied one patch of trees.

The next...

They'd become little more than streaks darting between trunks.

The black wolf tackled the brown one.

Both tumbled together through leaves before immediately springing back to their paws.

The white wolf bounded over both of them in one effortless leap.

The gray wolf caught up just in time to be bowled over by the black wolf.

A playful growl echoed through the woods.

The gray wolf rolled, kicked free, then chased after the others.

They weren't fighting.

They were playing.

Pouncing.

Dodging.

Testing each other's balance.

Each impact was heavy enough to bruise a human.

To them...

It barely registered.

The Alpha lunged sideways.

The brown wolf twisted beneath her before nipping harmlessly at her shoulder.

The black wolf barreled into both of them.

All three disappeared into a bush before bursting back out again.

Mia found herself laughing despite not making a sound.

This...

Felt natural.

Running.

Playing.

Crashing into one another.

She couldn't remember ever enjoying exercise as a human.

Now...

Every stride filled her with energy.

The forest blurred around her.

The scents of damp earth, bark, moss and distant wildlife blended together into a rich tapestry that guided every movement.

She didn't need to think.

Her body simply...

Knew.

As the four wolves disappeared deeper into the moonlit woods, one simple truth had already become obvious.

Pack hierarchy among werewolves wasn't complicated.

Each pack had an Alpha.

Someone the others naturally looked toward.

A Beta.

Someone who supported the Alpha and often kept everyone organized.

Beyond that...

There were no Omegas.

No exiles.

No elaborate ranks.

Not yet.

The Divergence had only recently changed the world.

Most packs were still finding one another.

Still deciding where they belonged.

Still learning...

What it meant to live together as wolves.

───

Lavinia stood near the living room window with her hands clasped behind her back.

The curtains had been pulled aside just enough for her to see the sky beyond the glass, though she remained well away from the narrow bands of sunlight slipping into the room.

The sun was setting.

Golden light stretched across the horizon, warming the roofs and distant buildings of Oakridge without touching her.

She watched quietly.

Not with longing.

Not even discomfort.

Simply awareness.

Her body already knew what time it was.

It had known before she walked over to check.

The strange excitement that always began building as evening approached had started almost an hour earlier. At first, it was faint. A subtle restlessness beneath her skin.

Now...

It continued rising steadily.

Not hunger.

Not anxiety.

Something brighter.

Anticipation.

Behind her, a dull thump sounded.

Lavinia glanced over one shoulder.

Gwendolyn and Valerie sat across from one another at the dining table, elbows planted firmly against the wood, hands clasped together.

They were arm wrestling.

Again.

Gwendolyn grinned with both fangs visible as she leaned forward.

Valerie's orange hair spilled over one shoulder while she pushed back with an equally amused expression.

Their joined hands remained almost perfectly centered.

Neither moved more than a few inches.

"You cheated last time," Gwendolyn accused.

Valerie laughed.

"You lost last time."

"You distracted me."

"I smiled."

"You smiled suspiciously."

"All my smiles are suspicious."

Gwendolyn narrowed her crimson eyes.

"That is true."

Their arms shifted another inch.

Then returned to center.

The table creaked faintly beneath the pressure.

Lavinia watched for a moment before turning back toward the window.

Another series of muffled impacts sounded from deeper in the room.

Thump.

Shuffle.

Thud.

Celestine and Evelyn had invented some kind of game.

Lavinia wasn't entirely certain what to call it.

The rules seemed simple enough.

One vampire tried to touch or grab the other.

The other tried to avoid it.

That was apparently all they'd needed.

Celestine moved first.

Her teal hair swept behind her as she stepped toward Evelyn, one hand reaching calmly for the blonde vampire's wrist.

Evelyn bent backward until her hair nearly brushed the floor.

Celestine's hand passed over her.

Evelyn planted one palm down and rotated around it, sweeping her legs through the air before landing a few feet away.

Celestine immediately followed.

Another reach.

Another twist.

Another soft impact as one of them briefly touched the wall.

Neither stopped smiling.

Evelyn darted toward Celestine's side.

Celestine caught her forearm, redirected her, and sent her into a smooth spin rather than letting her stumble.

Evelyn recovered instantly and attempted to catch Celestine around the waist.

Celestine slid out of reach with a graceful turn.

Thump.

A chair leg shifted beneath the accidental contact of Evelyn's heel.

Both froze.

Looked at the chair.

Then looked at each other.

"...That one doesn't count," Evelyn murmured.

Celestine nodded seriously.

"It doesn't."

They resumed immediately.

Adelaide lay lengthwise across one of the chairs near the television.

One leg hung over the armrest while the other rested along the cushions. Her pale green hair spilled almost to the floor, and her phone rested against one pointed ear.

"No."

She smiled faintly.

"I'm not dead."

A pause.

"I told you I would call."

Another pause.

"I forgot once."

Her younger brother's voice was too quiet for a human across the room to hear.

None of the vampires had that problem.

"...You forgot yesterday too," he complained.

Adelaide rolled her eyes fondly.

"I was involved in a shooting."

"That isn't a normal excuse."

"It is currently my excuse."

"You could've texted."

"My hands were occupied."

"Doing what?"

Adelaide glanced toward the others.

"...Vampire things."

Valerie snorted without looking away from Gwendolyn.

Adelaide narrowed her eyes at her.

Her brother sighed through the phone.

"Are you coming back tonight?"

"No."

Adelaide's expression softened.

"But I'll visit soon."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

This time, she said it without teasing.

The conversation continued quietly.

On the floor near the center of the living room, Rosaline remained asleep.

She had refused the couch when she'd woken up earlier.

Refused the chairs.

Refused the bed.

Then dropped onto the rug and fallen asleep almost immediately.

Her brilliant red hair spread around her in every direction, bright against the darker floor like spilled paint.

For nearly an hour, she hadn't moved.

Then...

One pointed ear twitched.

Her eyelashes fluttered.

Slowly, Rosaline opened her crimson eyes.

She stared blankly upward.

"..."

Then she shifted.

Not elegantly.

Not gracefully.

She wriggled.

Her shoulders moved first.

Then her hips.

She twisted across the floor without using her arms, dragging herself several inches like an exceptionally beautiful worm.

Adelaide glanced over while still holding the phone to her ear.

"...You look ridiculous."

Rosaline hummed sleepily.

She continued wriggling another foot.

Valerie looked toward her.

"What are you doing?"

"Waking up."

"That's not how people wake up."

Rosaline rolled onto her side.

"I'm not people."

Lavinia laughed softly from the window.

Rosaline finally planted both hands beneath herself and pushed upright.

Her long red hair fell around her shoulders in tangled waves.

She looked toward the drawn curtains.

"The sun should almost be down."

"It is," Lavinia replied.

Rosaline stood and stretched, both arms rising above her head.

"I knew it."

Gwendolyn looked over, momentarily losing ground in the arm wrestling match.

Valerie immediately forced her hand several inches downward.

"Hey!"

"Pay attention."

"Rosaline woke up."

"That sounds like a personal problem."

Rosaline placed both hands on her hips.

"Rude."

She looked toward Lavinia.

"How long?"

"A few minutes."

Rosaline smiled.

Her entire posture seemed to brighten at once.

That same excitement lived in all of them now.

Vampires were nocturnal.

Not because daylight forced them unconscious.

They could remain awake through the day easily enough.

They didn't become exhausted simply because the sun rose.

Still, they needed a few hours of sleep.

Not as much as humans.

Not always at the same time.

But enough.

Daylight naturally made sleeping easier.

Even indoors, even with every curtain closed, their bodies understood.

They knew when the sun was high.

They knew when evening approached.

They knew when night finally arrived.

It wasn't tied entirely to light.

A vampire sealed inside a windowless room would still feel the change.

The slow stirring near sunset.

The rising alertness.

The growing anticipation as the last daylight faded.

Then...

Night.

A clean shift.

Like a locked door opening.

Lavinia watched the sun sink lower.

The others were becoming more animated without consciously deciding to.

Valerie and Gwendolyn's match grew more intense.

The table creaked again.

Celestine and Evelyn accelerated, their movements becoming faster and more playful until their bodies blurred briefly around one another.

Adelaide's foot began bouncing against the chair while she talked.

Rosaline ran both hands through her hair, untangling it as she paced.

The excitement built.

Lavinia could feel it in herself too.

Her fingers flexed behind her back.

Her smile slowly widened.

She didn't need to check the clock.

She didn't need to look outside.

The world itself seemed to be preparing for them.

A final sliver of sunlight remained above the skyline.

Then it disappeared.

The sensation within Lavinia rose sharply.

Not overwhelming.

Exhilarating.

Her ears lifted slightly.

Every sound sharpened.

Every scent seemed clearer.

The city beyond the walls felt closer.

Alive.

Waiting.

Rosaline laughed brightly.

"There."

Valerie forced Gwendolyn's hand down against the table.

Thump.

"I win."

"You cheated!"

"I won at sunset."

"That doesn't make it more impressive."

"It absolutely does."

Gwendolyn pulled her hand free and immediately stood.

Celestine caught Evelyn's wrist at last.

Evelyn laughed and reversed the hold, spinning them both until Celestine released her.

Adelaide ended her call with a final promise to visit.

Then all seven vampires looked toward the front door almost at once.

Lavinia turned from the window.

Her golden hair shifted across her back.

"...So."

She smiled.

"What are we doing tonight?"

Unnamed Alpha Wolf,