SYDNEY

Everything was begging Sydney not to follow Jay into the woods towards a place Jay wanted to show her.

They had been sitting in his car outside of the ice cream parlor, when Jay asked if she was ready to know more about werewolves. Sydney was craving more information about this bizarre and seemingly mythical world she had been thrust into. It was that same hunger for knowledge that made her want to join journalism, as Rachael had embarrassingly told Jay at dinner earlier.

With her affirmation, Jay told her to buckle up and with that they taken off, away from the fading sunlight.

Sydney couldn't help being slightly perplexed by Jay's sudden silence, even though she was still struggling to get a handle on his personality as it was. Sydney was pleasantly surprised by his consideration of her feelings after the trama she had last night, following into this morning where he had been sweet and lighthearted trying to put her at ease. Then he was joking and being downright jockisch in her books by making suspicious half-lies to his friends about why him and her were talking. Not that Sydney wanted him to go around telling people that he was a werewolf and she had been attacked by one last night, and now they were supposed to be mates as per this Nature thing that Jay keeps talking about. Either way, in the short day where Sydney had actively been acknowledging Jay, she wasn't sure what to make of him. All she knew was that his silence was one of her least favorite things, next to the strange interaction with the clerk at the ice cream shop.

Nevertheless Sydney just sat in the passenger seat and watched as they drove in the opposite direction of the school and their homes, seeming to leave their town. A growing nervousness was beginning to blossom in the pit of her stomach.

When they finally pulled off to the side of the road, there were a few parking spots, which relieved some of Sydney's tension seeing an actual nature preserve signs for a trail, as opposed to aimlessly entering the woods which in Sydney's mind were darkly ominous in their dark silhouetted form as night took over the sky. .

Jay nodded for them to get out of the car and Sydney followed suit when he headed towards the beginning of the path. She paused right before setting foot on the paved trail. Her skin started to crawl out the memories of the forest night before and her attack. Her eyes found Jay's hand that left his side to bury itself in his pocket. Her fingers wanted to reach out and grab Jay's arm just for the reassurance that he was there.

She was mentally scowling herself for allowing such feeble desire to enter her mind. She then found herself questioning why she had let a guy she barely knew take her somewhere she didn't know, somewhere she grew a negative stigma to. She didn't need the ID channel as a reminder anymore, now she had a first hand account.

"Hey, do you mind telling me where we're going?" Sydney tried asking lightheartedly, her body refusing to budge.

Obviously hearing more than just a question and but the slight tension, Jaycen glanced back at her. He frowned and walked close to her.

"Don't worry Star, you're safe with me. I'm taking you to a place Terrence and I claimed when we were kids. I come here to think from time to time. Plus I thought you might want to see something."

Sydney was a little wary of what he thought she wanted to see, but Jay hadn't done anything serious to make her doubt him yet, so she would continue putting her faith in him like she said earlier. As long as he was open and honest with her, she would do what she could to make this weird discombobulated friendship work. With her admission somehow obvious to Jay, he gave her a small smile then hooked his pinky finger around her index, and pulled her along.

The trees were starting to bare their limbs on this trail, as the ground was littered with leaves making for a small crunching noise every time they stepped. The small chirping of insects, and the occasional scuttle of a small animal accompanied them, but Sydney couldn't stop herself from scanning the trees trying to be on the lookout.

She also noted during her examination of the woods around them, she felt the sight around them was off. Her eyes blinked open and closed again, but a dull ache in her eyes had formed and wouldn't go away.

Marking it up to fatigue, she tried to ease her mind away from the traumatic memory of last night and attempted to override it with one of the hundreds of beautiful memories of her childhood with her dad and her siblings.

Honestly putting effort into recalling a pleasant memory in the woods with her family, one memory in particular came rushing to the forefront. She, Rachael, Aaron, and her dad have gone camping over the state line and were staying at a cabin near a lake. Sydney remembered how much fun that camping spot was, since whenever they went, her dad would let her man the john boat. Her father, being a middle child himself, was concerned with middle child syndrome and Sydney felt that her father had paid particular attention to her, just so she would never feel left out between her overachieving sister and her father's only son.

That particular trip though, Sydney remembers being no older than fourteen, and while she usually loved the time she spent with her family, she had just entered her teen years and was frankly annoyed that she had to go on the trip. That weekend she had wanted to stay home on her own so she could have a sleepover with Meg and Emmery. It had been the opening weekend of some movie the three of them wanted to see, and Sydney couldn't understand why her father wouldn't let her skip out this one time, when he had easily let her siblings do the same on other occasions.

She had been sleeping peacefully in the top bunk of the cabin till some roused her from her dreams. Blinking away the fuzziness of sleep, she had looked around the cabin to see if someone had been trying to wake her up. Aaron and their dad slept in the fold out futon across from the bunk, her brother sprawled across the bed leaving little space for their father. Sydney dipped her upper body over the side of the bunk to see Rachael, had stacked claim on the bottom bunk declaring herself to be too old to climb the ladder, curled up and fast asleep.

The windows covered by thin white clothes gave little light, indicating to Sydney it was either night or very early dawn. Nuzzling back into her blanket and pillow Sydney tried falling back to sleep, but after twisting and turning she gave up.

Sighing she had climbed quietly out of her bed and found her phone charging on the tiny kitchen table. Reading it was five o'clock, Sydney deemed it not completely unreasonable to go sit out by the lake.

Pulling on a slip of a jacket and sliding her feet into some flip flops, she left the cabin and began down the bend of the gravel road to the lake. The clapping of her shoes kept her company as she made the small trek to the lake. Once down the road, the serene water came into view. She remembers walking across the stony beach to the edge of the water. Pulling her feet from her sandals she turned and used them as a seat to look out at the lake and take in the light fog settling in the early morning air. The sound of early birds chirping and the light buzzing of dragonflies and other insects filled her ears. Sydney dipped her toes into the lake and wiggle them around admiring the little wripples her chipped red painted toes created.

When she submerged her toes and leaned back on her hands, letting her fingers weave their way through the equally smooth and jagged pebbles into the moist under layer underneath, she felt at ease. She let her head drop back and took in a deep breath of the slightly humid air.

She sat at ease in just focusing on the sensations at her feet and hands, till the soft flap of wings made her ears perk. Opening her eyes she witnessed a white swan glisten into the lake. Sydney remembers being in awe of the pure white creature and thought it was a bit odd that she didn't see any other geese or birds, despite knowing she could hear their calls speckled throughout the forest.

This one carrened through the water gracefully and then just let it glide through the water with the remaining inertia from it's flight. Sydney watched the creature in silence before cocking her head to the side as she noticed the bird's path was headed in her direction. The bird began to accelerate forward, with light ripples behind it as it propelled itself with its webbed feet. Sydney giggled at the little creature as it drifted towards her.

"Sydney!" Her sname and the sound of someone running from behind erupted and tore her attention from the scene in front of her, and she saw her dad barreling towards her.

"Dad!" Sydney, overcome with the realization she could share the beautiful moment with her father, threw out her hand to point at the lake. "Look it's a swan!"

Her father followed the outstretched index finger to the middle of the lake when Sydney turned to look in the same direction, saw the swan was no longer swimming there but only a slight ripple in the water remained.

"Come on inside, don't scare me like that again." Sydney frowned but nevertheless followed her father back into the cabin and talked about what the day would encompass.

The slight squeeze of Jay's hand brought her out of her thoughts and back to the present. She frowned slightly realizing she'd forgotten that day until now, but chalked it up to the dead swan swirled in blood for jogging the memory.

"We're here," Jaycen said as they stepped free from the coverage of trees into a misshapen opening.

Sydney gasped in shock as she took the sight around her. It was in fact not just an opening in the forest but a small waterfall off to the left that trickled down into a small collection of overlapping rocks that slowly wanned into a quant stream. The rising moon's light sparkled in the tumbling water and there were also the small flashes of the little light bugs that Sydney thought was too cold for them to be out anymore.

Pulling her hands free from Jay's she walked over to the waterfall where it ended in a small little puddle that then careened off into even smaller little creek electrical down the slope of where they stood. Sydney dipped her fingers in the cool water and looked at her wild blonde hair ripple in her reflection.

Sydney grinned at the small beauty that Jay had brought her to, marginally annoyed she didn't have a camera of any sorts to take pictures that would serve it justice.

She rose from her squatting position beside the small water feature and turned to Jay. He stood a few steps away, hands stuffed in his pant pockets just looking at her. A blush colored her cheeks and she nervously tucked hair behind her ear and tried to avoid his seemingly glowing eyes.

"So is this what you wanted to show me?" Sydney fumbled.

"Oh, no this wasn't what I wanted to show you, I brought you out here to introduce you to my wolf."

Sydney felt her eyes go wide like a deer caught in headlights.

"Okay then," Jaycen chuckled scratching the back of his head, "You don't seem too enthusiastic about that idea."

Sydney awkwardly laughed, "I guess I just didn't expect us to come all the way out here for this show of a mythical creature! You do know that I've only been aware of your guys' existence for maybe twenty-four hours."

Jay smiled grimly before removing his jacket and setting it off on a rock that was near the water that Sydney stood by.

Jay raised his hands in a slightly cautious way, "I just want you to know when I shift, I am handing over the reins to the side of the wolf, but know that he would never hurt you. So do not be alarmed if he approaches you, he simply will want to scent you or give you affection."

Sydney nodded wordlessly. With that Jay stepped back.

The cracking of bones startled Sydney and the serene quiet of the nature around them. She hugged herself tight, squeezing her arms around her as she watched the transformation.

She didn't know whether to be horrified or mesmerized by the shifting and cracking of his bones that grew into new curves and bends and within a matter of what may have been all of a minute a wolf stood in Jay's place.

Sydney was in awe of the creatures standing there in the opening of the forest with the moonlight slowly bleeding into their space completely. The black haired wolf's seafoam eyes met with hers, his snout coming to her abdomen.

"Wow," was all that Sydney could breathe out, mesmerized as they stood together. The sound of the waterfall trickling behind her was the only noise Sydney could hear as she hesitantly stuck out of hand. The dark haired wolf lumbered forward towards her, it's massive paws making impressions into the dirt and grass.

The wolf met her outstretched hand and Sydney buried her fingers into the dense mass of hair. She was surprised to find his coat to be thick, warm, and soft. Her first thought would've been that his hair would be course like that of a wild wolf.

The wolf turned his head pressing into her hand more willingly with a desire for her to pet closer to his pointed ears. Sydney giggled stroking the wolf between its ears and down its neck, before she finally braved tracing her fingers down his muzzle then drew her hand upwards, fingers dancing between his eyes, then back to the top of his skull. Her finger should drag through massive hair and drag her fingertips against its skin as though she was giving him a deep massage.

She repeated this action a few more times and the wolf's eyelids closed, only briefly opening when she went to rest her actions. After doing this a handful more times, the wolf suddenly cocked his head and dragged his long wet tongue across her forearm, starling Sydney to stumble backwards and fall on her bottom. A laugh of reassurance bubbled out of her to let him know she was alright, but he seemed already aware as he looped around form like a shark getting ready to attack, but instead plopped down on the ground and it's large head pillowed in her lap.

Tongue dropping out of its large jowls, Sydney laughed and rubbed the beasts chest.

"And to think you and Jay share a body," Sydney said to the two of them.

The wolf made eye contact with her with a twinkle of humor in those same sea foam eyes.

As though her words summoned him, the shift from wolf back to human happened startlingly more quickly than from human to wolf, because one second she was looking at a large for creature curled up across her lap, then the next second Jay's human smile was flashing back up towards Sydney with his head still resting in her lap.

"You gonna show me the same kind love you just showing my wolf?" Jaycen teased.

Sydney was flustered and quickly shoved him from her lap, "You jerk!"

This only made him laugh more before snagged his jacket from the nearby rock. He slipped on the jacket and reclined back into the dirt and grass by the water. He faced the sky, arms folded behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankle.

Sydney's eyes dusted over him, starting from his large shoe covered feet, around the strong curve of hsi calf muscle which shifted into the bends of his knees towards his thicker thigh muscles. She swallowed harshly seeing his shirt and jacket had ridden up giving her a small peak of his hip bones, that fade from his hips into the strength of his abdomen up to the plains of his chest and slowly her eyes the curves of his neck and adam's apple up to the softness of his lips and the sharpness of his cheekbones that lead to his reflective eyes.

Shocked by her own actions, she reclined back similarly and focused her attention to the sky.

"So you gonna start explaining things now that you've given me that little show?"

"I suppose," he said somewhat wistfully. "Nature. How to describe her mission, because there's a lot that goes into it and I feel like most of it will not satisfactorily answer your questions or worries."
"How about just explaining what the werewolves have been doing?"

"Like I said before werewolves have been around for hundreds of years, once earth started to become polluted from the abuse of humans she granted a small selection of families who she believed could benefit the most from the pairing of the wolf."

Sydney waited in silence realizing the implication he was implying, "So do you know your family's history as to why she decided you guys should be up for the werewolf lineage?"

"No, but not because for lack of trying though, when my parents told me about our lineage before my first shift, telling me the gift of the werewolf ability, I went wild and tried to find what we could've done in our past to deserve the curse. That's a reason why I don't just believe I should just follow along with Nature and her decisions of one made, no offense."

Sydney not sure about any of this but was still befuddled as to how he refused to believe in the matching of them as mates, but could blindly follow the words of this Enclave he spoke of. Instead of asking that though she asked, "So what exactly have the werewolves done to help Nature's cause."

"Whether or not you believe it, any big conflict throughout history werewolves have been involved in the side of ending humanities cruelty towards one anotherand towards protecting mother earth."

Sydney laughed, "You mean to tell me that werewolves are part of the secret military or something that helps fight against bad guys."

Jaycen laughed mirthlessly at this, "That's exactly what we've been doing."

Sydney could tell he wasn't joking. "So where exactly do I fit into all this?"

"And that's the million dollar question. I don't know why Elliot attacked you but clearly Nature has some sort of destiny plan for you and I but she wants us to do together."

Despite getting some of the explanations and answers she was looking for, it felt there was a growing list of concerns and questions also arising with everything he told her.

"So when will we go see this enclave doctor?"

He pulled out his phone and it flickered on, Sydney thought it was a startling difference between the beauty of nature around them and the luminescent light coming from the phone in his hand. "I have practice the rest of the week after class, and we have a game this Friday, so are you free Saturday?"

Again Sydney is better judgment she said, "Yep."

Jaycen turned his head to face towards her and flashed her a smile, "Well are you up for a road trip?"