Chapter 9: We All Need More Protection

A few weeks into the winter we start to realize that many of the females and males did not store enough food for winter. Since we had extra stored in anticipation of having multiple babies, we decided we would help the other families in the village.

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I could faintly hear a conversation across the village, "Shania, please allow me to go out and hunt for you. If I do not bring back a prey, you may consume me instead." My ears perked up at that last sentence and I looked at Alfie to make sure I heard what I thought I heard.

Alfie was completely unfazed by the conversation and didn't even acknowledge it. "Alfie, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" he jerked his head to look at me. I think he thought I heard an intruder outside the cave.

"Their conversation about not having enough meat. Did you hear it?"

"Oh that! Yes, I did. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we are their leaders, we can't let her eat her mate! We should bring some of our extra meat over to them."

Alfie looked me in the eyes and furrowed his brow. He came walking over to me and pinched my chin lightly so I was looking up into his eyes, "Alyssa, that is completely normal in my world. If it were us, I would gladly allow you to consume me if it meant your survival. And besides, we shouldn't get involved in other relationships. And even if we were going to bring over some of our meat, it is near the end of winter and the coldest it will be all year. It is dangerous to go out of the cave right now."

"You said weeks ago that there are certain true forms that can survive longer in the winter, well, I'm a shifter. I can turn into any winter animal I want and bring the prey over."

"You will not go out of this cave alone." He blurted out as his eyes started to glow.

"I am supposed to be a leader, if I can do something to help the villagers, I should. And besides, we have been training all winter. I will be able to protect myself long enough to bring a prey over and come back.

"You will not, and that's final." I felt like he was treating me more like a child than an equal partner. If I wanted to help people we should be leading, then I should be able to. Besides, I lived in Wisconsin in my world, how bad can the winters be here?

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I continued to listen to the conversations of the mates and the female called Shania, "I am back Shania, and I brought back a nice big prey for you!"

"Great, Rocky! Did you make sure nobody followed you back? We don't want intruders finding us in here."

"Of course I did. I didn't see anybo…" just then he was cut off. I didn't hear what cut him off mid-sentence, but I knew it couldn't be good. Alfie looked up from the fire and towards the entrance of the cave.

'Get Royce and hide deep inside the cave. There are intruders in the village.' He thought as he transformed into his pure black wolf form. I hadn't seen him in this form since him and Doc rescued me from those other intruders. I brought Royce into a small hole near the back of the cave where no normal adult could fit. We had dug this hole in case an intruder came into the village. We transformed into two small field mice and went inside where we wouldn't be found.

I could hear Alfie digging out of the cave to get outside to help fight the intruders off. We couldn't let them take a female from this village. When I finally heard him squeeze out, I knew I couldn't just stay here. I signaled to Royce to stay in the hole until I got back and ran out as I transformed into a pure white fox.

I squeezed through the hole in the entrance. I could see Alfie running towards another cave with a large hole in the snow and light from a fire illuminating the entrance. I could hear screams and cries coming from that cave and ran faster.

Alfie entered the cave, and I was moments behind him. As I entered, I saw at least twenty males fighting off twice as many intruders. Alfie turned around to look at me and started running towards me 'Alyssa why are you here! You need to go back to the cave NOW!' he thought but I ignored him. We entered the fight together and he stayed close-by the whole time.

I grabbed one intruder by the neck as I pinned him down. Alfie had one in the same position and in unison we snapped both of their necks as their bodies fell limp on the cave floor. Four more turned around from the fight against the mated males. They all looked me up and down as they signaled to the other intruders. They all turned around together and started lunging towards me. All I could think was 'Oh Shit!' as I realized me and Alfie were going to have a hard fight on our hands. Just then, I saw Doc in his Arctic fox true form and a small black fox come into the cave in the corner of my eye. Royce must have heard the commotion and came running over as well as Doc. We all ran towards the fight with the intruders with the mated males of the village and gave it our all. Each and every one of us took down an intruder one by one until there was only a few left. The last of the intruders jumped over Alfie, Doc, Royce, and I and ran out of the cave as fast as they could.

I was ready to run after them, but Alfie held my arm back. I turned around to look at him but before I could ask why he did that he just turned his head to look at the village males and female. I followed suit and saw them all bowing down to the four of us. Suddenly, I felt a tug at my legs and as I looked down, I saw six assorted baby animals. Two were bear cubs, one was a fox pup, and three were lynx kittens. Just then I realized that I wasn't just the alpha's mate, I was shifter. I thought shifters were just a rare form of beast in this world, but I was wrong. Shifters are like an avatar; they are the hero and protector of the world and are supposed to bring the world together.

As my mind came back to reality, I realized they were still bowing down to me. I reached down to pick up two of the babies and said softly, "You guys can stand up now. I am not someone that wants you to bow down to them every time they do something good. I am a normal person and I want you guys to treat me like it, ok?" they all quickly stood up and nodded their heads as if they were following an order from a chief.

I walked over to the female Shania and handed her babies to her as I whispered, "Please take good care of your mates and children. They all care about you a lot and would do anything for you, it should be the same for you to them. We are all equal." He quickly nodded her head as she gathered up the other four children and let them kiss all over her face. I turned around to walk towards Alfie and Royce and we ran out together back to our cave.

Once we got back to our cave, I realized how cold it had gotten because of the small hole Alfie had dug to get out. I grabbed a left-over piece of wooden door and tied it to the existing piece with vines. Once the air was stopped, the cave instantly warmed up from the large fire still blazing. When I turned around, I saw Royce asleep on his bed, now with no walls, and Alfie sitting on our bed staring at me with an intense look in his eyes. I got lost in his beautiful eyes for a moment. These were the eyes of the man I love and the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with. He has been there for me through a few hard times, but also there for a few great ones. Yeah, we fight sometimes and got see eye to eye on a few things because of our different cultures, but we have worked through that and learned to work together and not against each other.

As I was getting lost in his eyes, Alfie stands up from our bed and walks towards me. He pulls my chin, so I am looking at him and pulled me back to reality once again. He looked deep into my eyes as he thought, 'You are an amazing female. You have been through the toughest tragedy a female could ever go through, and you are still willing to grieve silently while still helping others. I understand that I have not been the best mate that you deserve, but I will work to be better. I want you to know that I am here to stay by your side and if you are having a hard time, please come to me. I know that you are trying to hide your grief from everybody, but please don't from me as well. I am also grieving the same tragedy even though it is not as hard on a male as it is a female.' After hearing that, I could feel my tears stream down my face and drip off of my chin. I was trying to act like I was okay, but I know I wasn't.

I buried my face into his chest as I silently cried. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him as close to me as he possibly could be. I could feel his soft touch on my head and back move to the back of my legs as he swiftly picked me up. My legs wrapped naturally around his waist and the arms around his neck. I kept my face buried into his shoulder as he walked us over to the bed and laid us down. I could feel the heat from the fire on my back and the large black tail covering me like I have every night. I continued to keep my face buried in his body as I let out a river of tears. I felt so protected and safe when I was in his arms. I started to lose the strength to cry as I drifted off into the darkness.