A/N: I know, I know. I disappeared. Please don't kill meeee 🫣

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Mika ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Before we knew it, it'd already been a few months since we've begun living here at the pack house, summer was finally coming to it's end and we enjoyed the couple days we had left before the cold weather rolled in.

We'd been monitoring the rogue situation and although it's taking a while, the plan we'd discussed prior has been working to my immense relief. The faster we could find a way to fix the problem, the sooner Yulin's pack could reclaim their woods.

We had to end up getting rid of a majority of the rogues that were foolish enough to try and cross but it seemed like they had long since succumbed to their primal states and only lashed out on us with no regard for their lives.

Less incidents had been occurring and we eventually managed to scope out the beginnings of their...nest so to speak. The scent Raven had smelt the day was surely prominent there, now only confirming that there was a rogue watching us which was of course unsettling but now that the source was found, it was a bit more relieving.

It still made me wonder why it was watching us specifically, but there was no way to track one single individual amongst all of those rogues when they all smelt basically the same.

Moving on from my thoughts, I came back to reality just as Raven finished stuffing his face with his last forkful of food. The food on my plate was decently gone but my thoughts had held me captive before I could finish.

Trotting into the kitchen with the perfect timing was Raven's friend, Lyra, if I remembered her name correctly. I've never really spoken to her, only really seeing the girl in passing whenever she and my brother were having whatever conversations they normally have.

"Oh it's you little bugger. Shouldn't you be doing your homework or something?" Raven said while leaning back in his seat.

The girl didn't seem very responsive to his comment, and if anything she seemed to be in a bad mood but nonetheless took a seat next to Raven while dropping her school bag on the floor.

"What's wrong with you?" Raven asked, the pegs of his chair finally meeting the floor again as he went to peek at the girl's face.

"Nothing much...is it alright if we hang out today?" Lyra asked, her eyes like a puppy's as she stared up at Raven.

She's certainly good at turning the subject away from its current one, that's for sure.

I couldnt help but let out a chuckle when seeing Raven's perturbed face, he's never been around children long enough to be strong against their cuteness and I was sure he was caving in at this very moment.

With a glare shot at me, Raven just nods his head.

"Uh...yeah" he said and Lyra's gaze suddenly turned to me and when I gave her a small smile, she averted her gaze quickly.

"Now that I think about it, you've never officially met my brother. Now's as good a time as any I suppose" Raven said as he gestured towards me.

"Mika, this is Lyra. My, uh, friend"

You guess? Really Raven? Sighing, I knew that it was pretty much up to me to ease the child's nerves since Raven was practically useless when it comes to the interacting with children department.

"Hello there" I said, giving a warmer smile this time to the young girl who's face, to my great surprise, blew up in flames.

"H-Hello" Lyra stuttered out.

Raven looked at Lyra for a moment before pursing his lips in disapproval and crossing his arms.

"Don't even think about it, squirt. He's too old for you and his mate is your alpha" Raven said and Lyra's face only turned a deeper shade of red, her embarrassment likely reaching an all time high.

"I-I wasn't thinking of any such thing!! I just think he's hand— I mean, mature!" She cried out.

With a smack upside the idiot's head, I stood up and crouched next to Lyra, taking note of her gripping the fabric of her clothing tightly.

"He says some pretty weird things sometimes, right?" I whispered and Lyra nodded vigorously.

"The weirdest" she said and for the first time, she didn't seem so afraid to meet my gaze.

"I heavily disagree. She wasn't even shy like this when we met! What am I supposed to think about— ow!" Raven stopped talking when I grabbed his ear and tugged on it harshly.

'Spare the child the embarrassment, won't you?' I said through our link and Raven just huffed childishly.

'I was just making sure the kid didn't develop a crush on you' He said.

Leaving it at that, we continued on with our regularly scheduled program.

Spending the day with Lyra was unexpectedly peaceful, she wasn't loud and boisterous like most kids her age and she even showed interest in some things that others would find boring. Hearing that she enjoyed playing chess with some of the older members of the pack was definitely quite the surprise.

However, as she began to open up more, I finally got to see the inner child that I knew lied within Lyra and naturally, Raven is the one to have brought it out. The bantering between those two had made me smile to myself, thinking to myself that it would have been nice to also have a little sister.

If Raven had a younger sibling, then maybe he'd get along with children better but being friends with Lyra was just as helpful. But in Lyra's case, she isn't like other kids, she brushes most of his teasing off with counters of her own which leaves the ever chatty Raven struggling to come back at times.

One thing that I noticed however, was how Lyra didn't seem comfortable whenever the mention of friends came up. I was in no way aware of why that was, but at least Raven seemed attentive to that detail as he changed the subject quickly whenever it arose.

"Have you had your first shift yet?" I questioned as we sat in the open space just a few feet away from the house. Sitting in the grass didn't bother me but Raven was constantly swatting away little bugs with a disgusted face while Lyra remained unbothered as well.

Something told me she hasn't given that her aura is very weak, and her next words only confirmed my thoughts.

"No...I'm only twelve. I don't think I'll be able to shift for a while" Lyra said as she shook her head.

"Only? Most wolves awaken at 13 so you should be preparing for it. When's your birthday?" Raven asked.

"Two months from today" She said and our eyes widened.

"That is way too soon...your parents have told you how it's going to go right?" Raven asked.

"...vaguely. They just said that it's going to hurt, a lot. They didn't spend a lot of time getting into it...not like they were ever going to spare the time anyways" the last part, Lyra had muttered sourly and I just sighed.

What in the world is going on these days? Most children are taught about their first shift around the age of 10, the fact that Lyra is almost 13 and only knows that it's going to 'hurt' is ridiculous.

"For starters, you're going to experience symptoms up to at least three weeks in advanced, maybe even a month if it happens. It'll feel like growing pains, constant aching and you'll notice that your appetite is getting bigger and nothing will seem to be enough to satiate the hunger" I explained.

"Yeah, that part wasn't fun at all. It felt like I was hungry 24/7...nothing has changed much these days for me since I can still eat at any given time but you get the point" Raven chimed in.

"Lyon said having my first shift would be cool and that doesn't sound cool at all. I don't think I want to shift anymore..." Lyra said, the discouragement being evident across her features.

"It's natural to be afraid but this is a very important moment in your life, Lyra. You'll finally get to meet the friend that's been lying dormant within you all these years. I'm sure your wolf is ready to show itself off to you and you should greet it with the same attitude" I said.

I left out the part on how easy it was to lose your wolf should you not have the same desire to meet them. There are times when one's wolf is stronger than they can handle which could result in their wolf taking over completely or if the connection is extremely weak, they return back to their slumbering state. I've never seen a situation where the latter has happened, but my mother had once told me about it happening to a close friend of hers.

The girl's wolf was unable to connect with her because the connection was so weak, and eventually it broke. The wolf nor the girl having the strength to become one and in a sense, the wolf died. My mother never knew if the girl ever got a second chance to awaken but seeing as even she didn't know if that was possible, I didn't want to take any chances with the bright young girl in front of me.

"...wanna see my wolf?" Raven asked suddenly and I was shocked to hear the offer.

Raven was typically reluctant to shift in front of others, the fawning over his fur had always made him annoyed and uncomfortable, so to hear this was practically music to my ears.

My little brother is slowly changing bit by bit, Goddess please guide him on his path to becoming a civilized wolf for the sake of my sanity.

"Can I?!" Lyra's surprised shout dragged me out of my prayer and Raven shrugged as he stood up.

"Yeah why not" He said.

"Okay, I'll go over there so you can change!!" Lyra said before running behind a tree so as to give Raven his privacy.

"You sure are being generous" I said as I caught Raven's shirt that he tossed at me. This would have been easy if we had those pendants we bought from that witch that prevented our clothes from becoming completely torn to shred when shifting but we haven't taken them out since being here.**

"The kid is in the dumps, if she's my friend then that means I gotta cheer her up right?" He asked and once I finished gathering the last of his clothes, I gave him a nod of approval.

"What a good friend you are" I said, my back turned to him and Raven let out his own hum of approval.

"I know right?" He said before the sound of bones cracking filled the air, the noise being completely normal to me but I hope it didn't scare Lyra too much. I'm sure she could hear it since she wasn't that far.

"Lyra" I called once Raven was finished shifting, his wolf standing tall and proud as he awaited his friend.

Lyra peeked out from behind the tree and she let out a small gasp before fully stepping out. It almost made me laugh with how her curiosity was showing itself through and through as her smaller form circled Raven's towering one.

"So pretty...I've never seen all black fur before" she whispered, as if speaking too loudly would spook Raven's wolf.

Raven's wolf pushed it's snout against Lyra's cheek a few times and Lyra let out a laugh as she tried to stop the playful being.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since anyone in our family was born with black fur. Guess you could say it makes Raven special, hm?" I said and Lyra's smile never left her face as she continued to play with Raven.

"You're so pretty!" Lyra exclaimed and Raven's wolf ate the praise up with glee as it's tail was wagging insanely fast.

'This dumb dog...getting all happy about some compliments. Tell her to stop saying nice things about me, it's embarrassing to hear her compliment me and not be able to respond' Raven's words were complaints but I knew more than anyone that he was happy that Lyra liked his wolf.

Who wouldn't feel complimented by a child's glee? Children are brutal after all, most having no filter and wouldn't hesitate for a second if they didn't like what they saw.

'Are you feeling shy all of a sudden?' I teased and when I recieved no response, I knew I was right.

Raven's wolf suddenly laid down, nudging Lyra's leg with it's head and the girl looked to me for a translation.

"He wants you to get on" I said and Lyra's eyes widened.

"Uh...I don't know. Won't I be heavy?" She asked and a laugh left my lips at the absurd idea of the girl being heavy.

"Raven's really strong, you don't have to worry about something like that. Now come on, I'll help you up" I said as I lifted Lyra and positioned her so that she wouldn't fall.

"Make sure to hold on ti—"

Before I could finish my sentence, Raven had already took off, Lyra's excited shrieks filling the area as he ran around with the girl gripping for dear life on his back.

He's too excited for his own good.

I looked around and noticed that some of the pack members had stopped to watch the sight of them running around just having fun. I'm sure they were all envious of the two for being able to be themselves even from within the invisible gates of confinement we'd been subjected to.

It honestly only made me even more fueled to get this rogue problem under control for the sake of our pack members. They should all be able to roam free without the worry of a random attack.

I paused for a moment when I realized that I'd just referred to them as my pack members. When did I begin to think this way?

Lyra's giggling broke me out of my thoughts as the two came closer, Raven finally deciding it was a good time to return the girl to the ground and Lyra's smile was brighter than any star up in the night sky after the experience.

"That was really fun...I can't wait to meet my wolf!!" She said.

"That's the spirit. Just keep your head up, and stay strong. You'll surely be ready when the time comes. I'm sure you're hungry after all that, why don't you wait inside while Raven changes back? We can all have a snack together" I said while offering a pat to the girl's head as further encouragement and Lyra seemed to receive it well, her head nodding in understanding before running off into the house.

'You did good today' I said to Raven as I watched the girl run off.

'I know that already...just give me my clothes, I'm sick of these people staring at me like I'm some animal in the zoo' Raven complained.

"Don't you know how to ask nicely?" I said out loud with a raised brow and Raven's wolf huffed.

'...please' he said.

"There's the kind little brother I know" I said, patting his head before offering the clothes up to his snout where he grabbed it and went behind the trees to change back.

"This pack is full of weirdos" Raven said as he came back, frowning at all the people that were still staring, no one was really giving bad looks but they seemed more intrigued than anything.

But I did see why Raven was uncomfortable, they were really only looking at him.

"I think everyone is just trying to get accustomed to us in their own ways. It's the same for us after all" I said and Raven shook his head.

"I don't understand why people go crazy over my fur. Isn't it white fur that's like, super rare?" He asked.

"Well, usually the mixture of black and white fur is pretty common from what I know. Seeing the two colors separately, not so much. However, white fur is oddly worshipped, some stories say a wolf with white fur is one blessed by the goddess herself" I said as I thought back to all the tales my mother used to tell me as a child.

"Sounds like a children's story to me. Anyways, these fuckers better not try to sell me to poachers or some shit" He grumbled and I laughed at his absurd accusation.

"Your imagination runs wild once again" I said.

"It's possible!! I'm beautiful inside and out after all!!"

I really do have such a silly brother, it was times like these where I wondered where the depths of his imagination begins rather than where it starts.

I guess only Raven would know.

**: this is wattpad y'all, let me make up my own shit lmao