Color Manual

Gold - pride

Light Blue - calm

Red - anger

Blue - uncertainty

White - hope

Neon Orange - confidence

Orange (darker than neon) - surprise

Violet - desire/passion

Dark Brown - tense

~~~~~~~~~~

Following the alpha's scent, which was a mysterious musk that I couldn't really put my finger on, I found myself where the scent was strong. Stopping in front of a door, I reached out to softly touch the wood. It was smooth under my fingertips and I could almost smell the earthy scent as I envisioned the tree that it came from.

"How did you know where my office was?" his voice growled behind me. I tilted my head and moved aside.

"I'll spill my secrets once we're alone." I grinned cheekily at him and he only inhaled sharply before letting it out slowly. I felt his body brush past me and the sound of the doorknob turning squeaked between us. He walked in first and didn't even seem to care if I followed or not.

"I guess chivalry is dead," I mumbled and walked in after him, shutting the door behind me.

"Only with you," he retorted dryly as I heard the sound of a squeak as he sat in what I assume would be a chair. I pretended to look around but only saw darkness. The only color I could see was from the alpha himself but everything else was just black. I let out a quiet sigh. It would be nice to see a flower or something. "Take a seat." Obeying his orders, I walked over smoothly, pushing my senses ahead of me until I could picture the outline of the room in my mind. There were two plush chairs in front what seemed like a large wooden desk, the alpha of course sitting behind it in a massive chair. A table was off to my right along with a couch facing me.

Striding over, I sat in the chair with ease and felt myself slightly relax. It's been awhile since I've rested on a piece of furniture like this. I let out a small groan and tipped my head back. This was definitely a little piece of heaven.

"Now, explain to me what you are and what you plan to do here." Cracking my neck, I lifted my head and faced him.

"I'll start off with my name," I cleared my throat dramatically and heard him tap his finger impatiently. I mentally grinned and finally spoke. "My name is Kei Valancia and I like think of myself as traveler of sorts. For a few years now, I have been traveling from weaker packs to teach them everything they need to know to protect themselves from other packs or rogues. Now your question as to what I am, I'll let you try and figure that one out yourself." His finger tapping stopped as I finished.

"Your features are too bizarre even for a witch, nor do you have the air of a vampire," he mused. "My only guest would be that you are half fae, the one species that is cloaked underneath a cloud of mystery." I smiled slightly at his words.

"Congrats, your deduction skills are impeccable. And you would be right about the fae being a mysterious bunch, not I even know much about them if I was being honest with you," I admitted to him. "Knowing this, I would love it if you wouldn't advertise it as well. I know rumors are bound to swirl around but it would be helpful if you didn't say anything about it." He was silent for a minute, feeling his eyes scanning my face.

"What are you benefiting from helping us out?" he asked in a serious tone. I crossed my legs and made myself comfortable.

"Nothing really. Maybe it's for my personal reasons but I genuinely do want to help you. Already I can tell you have some strong fighters in your pack and all you need is a little help with training them."

"Are you talking about Mark?" I grinned at him.

"He's definitely strong. You're lucky to have him." I noticed the alpha emanate a glittering gold for pride.

"Yes he is," was his only reply.

"So will you let me help you?" I asked seriously, knowing that this wasn't the time to joke anymore. He was quiet as he contemplated his thoughts, and I began to braid my hair out of boredom. I found the action to be surprisingly comforting.

The room was quiet as I did this, looping one strand of hair over the other and soon I found myself in a soothing rhythm.

Over, tighten.

Over, tighten.

Over -

"Alright." My hands froze and I cocked my head to the side with a smile plastered on my face.

"So we have a deal?" I'm guessing he nodded as he didn't say anything and my smile widened. Finishing off my braid quickly, I tied it at the end and stood.

"I promise, I won't let you down." He chuckled deeply and he rose along with me.

"I hope not," he rumbled deeply and I outstretched my hand for him to shake. After a moment, a large warm hand engulfed mine and we shook one solid shake. Once we parted he asked me one last question.

"Is there anything else I should know about you?" I had stopped in front of the door just as he asked and I turned to look at him with a devilish smirk.

"I'm blind."

**********

I laughed at the man walking besides me as he grumbled grumpily.

"What, still mad that I kicked your butt? And by a girl no less." He grumbled some more before speaking up.

"And it doesn't help that you're blind. I got whooped by a blind little girl!" I looked in his direction mockingly.

"Awe, did I hurt your precious ego? I would say sorry, but you probably know that I'm not." I felt Mark cross his arms over his chest and I laughed as he continued to sulk. Turns out, I did break his rib but he still managed to get up without breaking a sweat. I'll give him credit for his toughness.

"Don't worry Marky, you'll get your time to shine again."

"Don't call me Marky," he growled and I just smirked at him as we walked in the middle of the clearing in the backyard from earlier. We stopped and I saw many auras surround us, all their colors blending together and looking like a messed up rainbow but still beautiful nonetheless. Becoming serious, the two of us faced the crowd.

"Alright people. As you can see, we have a newcomer. Her name is Kei Valancia and she's here to help train our warriors to be the best." Almost instantly the air around us was filled with angry chatter, dark red splattering across my sight like spilled blood.

"How can we trust her?"

"She's only a filthy rogue!"

"She's only going to kill us all!" I stood there with a stoic expression, not surprised by their accusations. Actually, I even mouthed along with them. Seemingly seeing this, Mark nudged me with his elbow.

"What are you doing?" he whispered in my ear.

"I've visited over a hundred packs and have heard over a hundred of the same lines that I'm hearing now. I could practically recite it in my sleep," I whispered back with a chuckle. I didn't know what his response was but I decided to calm the crowd myself. Putting two fingers in my mouth, I blew out an earsplitting whistle. This got everyone to shut up real quick.

"Okay listen up! I get you're all kinda cautious about letting a strange she-wolf just waltzing in and training you but I'm going to say this only once so you better listen," I waited for anyone to interrupt but was mildly surprised when no one didn't. "I'm here for one thing and one thing only: to train you." I let my eyes wander over the blurry colored masses, not letting my gaze stay still for a moment.

"On my travels, I have heard of the rogue attacks that have happened here and frankly, I'm surprised you're all not dead," I said bluntly. This caused a few angry mutters but overall they were calm. "So I thought if I could help you become stronger, this pack may be the best and strongest pack in the world. 'Cause lets face it, not many packs could hold off five rogue attacks and make it out alive. You can hate me, love me, wish for me to burn in the deepest depths of Hell, I don't really care. Just let me help you feel safe to be in your pack, let me help you become feared instead of stepped on. That is all I ask of you." I sucked in a deep breath and waited for their response, watching as their auras all flickered with flashing colors but one of the main colors I had spotted was blue. They were still uncertain but I noticed one color that was also becoming common.

White. Brilliant and pure, white was hope. They finally had hope. And it was riding on me to make sure that I didn't let it wilt like flower before it could bloom.

"Fine, we'll listen to you." A man stepped from the crowd, and I caught his scent of pine trees. I tilted my head and examined the man before me. His aura was a calming light blue tinged with a neon orange. I smirked at his calming aura but at the same time he was brimming with confidence. My kinda person.

"I'm so glad you'll listen," I replied casually.

"But that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you when kicking your ass." At his comment, I threw my head back and let out a gut deep laugh. It was the only noise echoing around us, as if I was the only person here. Facing him once more, I grinned almost manically.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

**********

I sat ramrod straight, gasping with  sweat dripping down my face. The nightmare was already fading away, leaving only bits and pieces of the gruesome images that have haunted my mind for years now.

Swiping a hair out of my face with a shaky hand, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

My dreams are the only things that I can actually see visual objects. Yet, I would prefer not to dream at all. The nightmares that plague my conscious haunt and torment me, making me feel as if I'll never get away. What's worse, I could never remember them nor could I decipher the images that cause me so much stress. Groaning, I hid my face in my hands. There's no way I'm going to fall back to sleep now.

Growling in frustration, I got out of the bed. The bedroom that I was currently occupying in the pack house was almost empty except for the bed and a dresser pushed against the wall across the medium sized boxed room.

Earlier when Mark had dropped me off here, I immediately went into action of running my hands all over the place, pushing my power's out to get the layout of the room. The walls hung bare of anything, and a rug covered some of the cold wooden floorboards.

Stretching, I leisurely walked over to a old ransack on the dresser where I held all of my belongings. Opening the top, I reached my hand in unseeingly and found a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. Changing quickly into my new attire, I slipped on a pair of extra tennis shoes lying besides the door that the alpha was kind enough to give me.

Digging my hand through the sack blindly, insert here of me scoffing at my blatant joke, my fingers finally found what I was looking for. Smiling slightly, I pulled out the elastic and put my long hair into a bun.

Come on, I need to run. I chuckled at my wolf's impatience.

Chill Rei, I'm going.

Well go faster.

Rolling my eyes, I opened the door and walked out. Power buzzed around me as I kept my sense on the alert, the dark outline of the hall taking a dim form in my mind. It was empty of any other souls and I walked down with silent steps and entered the kitchen.

I was lucky enough to get a room on the first level so I didn't have to bother sneaking down the stairs. Opening the back door, I shut it behind me with a quiet click and felt myself relax slightly.

Inhaling the crisp night air, I let out a small sigh. Without no hesitation, I walked with long strides across the damp lawn and stopped at the edge of the woods. Finally, I let go of the powers flowing through me and everything in my mind went back to black.

I had a moment of panic as the familiar feeling of energy didn't register in my mind but I soon calmed when a small spark of green flashed at the edge of my vision along with other small flashes, signaling all of the different kinds of plant life. Popping my neck, I could feel the restlessness of my wolf begin to affect me.

"Alright alright. I'm going," I said before running at a full sprint through the woods. I just let my body move on its own accord, dodging any obstacles without even seeing. I wouldn't be able to explain how I do it, but it's just that I know that I can. Makes total sense, right?

I suddenly felt myself jump and I had that one second of being suspended in air, the feeling of being weightless. Until gravity reminded me it was still there and began pulling me down. Just as I felt myself nearing the ground, Rei decided to take the reins.

Transforming in mid air, I landed on the forest floor with four feet instead of two. I yipped in excitement as I felt like I was breaking free from a tight dress I had worn too many hours. Though I still couldn't see, as my wolf it sucked a little less. Actually, everything was sharper, my powers more tuned in with the energy surrounding us.

Now full of happy energy, we ran at full speed through the woods. I heard the whizzing of trees passing us by inches, the smell of the sweet honeysuckle and fresh pine mix to make a heady concoction. I was on a high that I never wanted to come down from.

We ran like that for hours, until I had circled and was now just a couple miles away from the pack house. However, I was stopped by an overbearing presence that dripped with power.

Halting immediately, I swiveled my head around, my ears perked up high. I froze when I caught sight of the source of my caution.

Power that seemed to reach the morning sky waved in a hypnotic dance, a glittering black that consumed anything in its path. I felt my breath catch just from the beautiful sight.

This type of darkness was different than the cursed blindness that I have. No, this kind of black glittered. It wasn't suffocating or heavy. Instead, it was light and free. It was beautiful. Entranced by this phenomenon, I took a step without even realizing it but stopped when a vicious growl ripped throughout the early morning air.

"Stay where you are." The power from this source increased even more, spreading out even further. I looked and saw what I assume would be a man. His form was outlined by his dark power, catching a glimpse of his form. The funny thing was, he wasn't big like his power suggested. No, he was lean and sinewy with his long limbs but he would loom over my human form easily. That was the only thing that I could really define as everything else on him was covered in darkness. I felt myself sigh.

Too bad, I bet he's hot as Hades.

"Shift," he demanded, his deep voice filling me with contentment which I found strange.

Hmm. He smells heavenly, Rei said dreamily and I agreed. He smelt of dark chocolate and a certain masculine musk that called to us.

Maybe it's that Axe cologne that is popular among humans, Rei suggested.

Rei, I don't think that's quite right, I told her in amusement.

"I won't say it again, shift." He growled and I knew he was beginning to become more irate. So I changed back into my two legged form, my clothes magically reappearing. A tint of orange floated around him and I heard his breathing momentarily stop. Violet enveloped his form like a blanket, and I furrowed my brows. I would have liked to think that is was my supernaturally good looks that made him go all lusty or something because I haven't seen this much violet from a man in quite a while. Yet, how could his desire grow from simply looking at my rumpled clothing and sloppy hair?

He's obviously not seeing the same thing as me, I snickered to Rei.

You are so childish. Nonetheless, I could still hear her hidden laughter in her words.

I cocked my head towards him with a small frown on my face. It's doesn't seem like he's the only one having some major hormonal issues however. The strongest urge to leap into his arms and devour his face was beginning to fill my mind. Not only that, but I could smell his scent from where I was standing and pray for my soul it was absolutely mouthwatering.

I took slow steps towards him, seeing the familiar color of dark brown surround him. He was tense. Why though? He seemed to be a grown man while I am only a small girl. Or woman I guess.

"Who are you?" This time, his voice held an edge that could have cut the hardest stone on earth. I didn't answer as I kept creeping my way even closer to the source of my unknown feelings.

"Answer my question," the mystery man growled but I simply continued to ignore him. Following where the powerful presence was coming from, I stopped when he was right in front of me. Reaching out, I felt my hand touch a prickly cheek. What I wasn't expecting was the sudden explosion of colors and electricity zip through me. Gasping I pulled back but a large calloused hand gripped mine in a tight hold.

The one word that I never dreamed of ever hearing was suddenly spoken.

"Mate."