Chapter 4

The next six years went by in a flash. The Alphas after eventually finding out about the information Slade held back at the Gathering worked together to keep the mysterious attackers and disappearances at bay. Lee, scared of what the note would bring, took to training every Clan member and making sure they had somewhere to go if they needed protection. The kids got into fights, played as much as they could and started joining sports teams to find out where they would be in the daunting hierarchy of high school. As summer came to an end the Walkers, Hal, Franky and the other kids their age started getting ready for freshman year at the Mammalian private school, for shifters.

As Jack lay awake dreading going to high school he thought to himself, this can't be any worse than puberty. Jack was by far the biggest freshman that anyone at Mammalian would ever see and he knew exactly what he would be classified as, a jock. He loved to play sports but all he ever wanted to do was train and be a Cat. He wasn't big on only playing sports. 

He was nervous about what others would say about his Cat form. At Mammalian shifting, hunting and learning how to talk as an animal was a class and a priority. He was going to have to show people his animal form for the first time in his life. The only people who had ever seen it was his family, Thorn and Hal. 

Jack wasn't scared to show his form nor was he embarrassed, but being such a large person made his animal form five times bigger than most other shifters. As the twins dashed into his room to get him up and going, their delight that school was going to start helped Jack into a better mood. Walking down to find a note and breakfast waiting the siblings dug in while Alex read them the note. "Kids, your Dad and I are going to be at the office until right before dinner. Clean up breakfast, get to school and do your homework and chores when you get home. If everything is done you can have the rest of the night after dinner to yourselves. Love Mom and Dad" Cheering that they were going to have the night for whatever they wanted they cleaned up and headed to the town car.

Sitting in homeroom with Hal waiting for school to start, Jack was starting to get nervous again. He turned to Hal and asked what hour they were going to have to shift. Hal in his easy drawl told him. "Dude! We were lucky enough to have control class as last period! That means we go home after having fun." Jack replied "Ya fun for you, you aren't a giant black lion with stripes on your coat. I'm not supposed to be bigger than a polar bear! Your Dad said I was going to pass him by senior year…" Hal felt for his friend but he thought Jack looked freakin sweet in his Animal form. As the two went through classes and Jack became more and more nervous of what the other shifter kids were going to think of him.

Hal had to literally pull him into the Gym for control class, and that made Franky notice them. Franky yelled across the room at them "What's wrong big guy are you a scaredy cat!" Some in the room laughed to themselves but they had grown up with Jack and they either liked him, knew how well he could fight or had seen him lifting weights in the weight room. Before Hal could defend his friend, their control teacher Mr. Bill Brady, an Arctic Fox Shifter, interrupted the class of fifty students and told them to take their seats. Mr. Brady, a good friend of most of the Alphas interrupted that exchange because he thought he understood why Jack looked nervous, he was an extremely large young man.

 Mr. Brady announced that they would be going through the class to hear what animal form each student received at birth and their parents forms. Quickly the students went through all fifty calling out clearly or mumbling the information. Once done he faced the class and said "Okay now that we have that out of the way why don't we have a show since we have already had the tell." The kids laughed at that. "Why don't we start left to right from the back? Mr. Slade would you do us the honor of stepping behind the changing screen, shifting then walking out to the left. Once you have shown your animal form and growled, barked,etc... please return back to the screen and put your clothes on." 

Instead of making a rude comment like usual he just nodded and headed to the screen. As Franky stepped out from the screen in his wolf form everyone lightly clapped while he paraded around in front of them. Franky's coat was a mixture between light grey and white, he had black circles around both eyes and white tips on his ears. Moving through the class took a while because of the undressing and redressing but the three walkers and Hal were all that were left. Alex and Sam went at the same time to different screens then jumped out and huffed to the delight of the class. Both lions almost golden in color, were almost the same in every way, except Alex's mane. Alex wasn't old enough to have a full mane but he was proud of the length he had. 

Hal up next shambled over to the screen undressed and shifted. Being the only Polar Bear in his age class made him the biggest animal so far to be seen. Being an outgoing kid Hal stood on both his hind legs and beat his chest, the whole class cheered and laughed as he dropped down shaking the floor and went to get dressed.

Up until now everything had been going just fine. Mr. Brady was glad Jack was the last one to have to go. He was running out of time and needed to make sure they knew to practice shifting back and forth as many times as they could as fast as they could, and to eat as much as they could to stay healthy with all the calories they would be burning. 

Jack knowing his time had come, slowly made his way to the screen undressed and took a few deep breaths. The screen that the kids were changing behind could hide a small house, no one could see him as he shifted to his Lion form. Walking out from behind the Screen was probably going to be the hardest thing he thought he would have to go through in a while. His Lion form was six feet high, his body was around eight and a half feet long, and he weighed almost roughly fifteen hundred pounds.

Jack's coat is completely black, mane and all, but what singled him out were the lighter gray stripes covering his whole body just like his human hair. Every shifter grew into their animal, they never shrank. As he rounded the corner of the screen one of the girls actually fainted, a rat shifter squeaked and Mr. Brady said "Oh My." Jack, finally feeling empowered, walked around the front of the class reared back and roared as loud as he could making most of the students back up or hold their ears. Having done that and feeling much better he sauntered back behind the screen and got dressed.

Mr. Brady quickly checked on the girl that fainted, woke her up and seeing Jack sit in his seat decided to take his class back. "Alright children, thank you for showing your animal forms to the class. We will work on shifting back and forth in smooth controlled motions for the next two weeks. I want you to practice that and remember to eat enough to fill the calorie burn! I hope you had a wonderful first day of school! Everyone have a wonderful night."

After the Class left Mr. Brady couldn't believe how large Jack's Animal form was. The kid was ginormous! Finishing his notes Bill decided to tell the dean Jack might be put on the watch list for kids with abnormal or great abilities. Talking with his siblings and Hal after class they were congratulating him on scaring the crap out of Franky. Hal said "You should have seen his face! He was expecting a normal sized lion to pop out and here comes this one ton giant leisurely walking around and roaring to wake the dead. It was amazing man!" The group of kids talked and laughed as they walked home but they knew something in Jack changed that day and he wasn't going to hide anymore.

Franky walking home was in absolute shock. He thought because Jack would never shift his animal form was crippled or wrong in some way, maybe just small. He couldn't comprehend how he could be so wrong, or how Jack could be so big. Arriving home he went straight to his Dad to tell him that Jack was a threat and he didn't know what to do about it.

Slade hearing Franky step into his home office looked up and sighed. He wished his son was… well just more. How could such a coward come from him he thought? "What do you want Frank? I am doing work and you know I don't like to be interrupted." Franky knowing it couldn't wait said sorry and lowered his eyes. Then filled his father in on what happened in control class. Slade, not liking what he heard about the Walker boy knew his clan's future could be in jeopardy. Alphas usually retired after their children came of age so they could fight for dominance and control, it gave them an out if they wanted it. 

Understanding that Lee would want Jack to take over the Cats clan when he was ready, he also knew Lee wanted all the clans to be one. Unless he was the Alpha Slade couldn't let that happen, but he wasn't strong enough to take on Lee alone, Wolves were pack hunters and Lee was too good. Thinking about the constant threat of the mystery attacks Slade started to put a plan together, telling Franky to come close and listen, they were going to get rid of the Walkers and the other pathetic Alphas once and for all.