𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀

ᴘɪɴᴇ-ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ

-Gabriella, age 16-

Luka trotted up after me, his sandy colored paws hitting the leaves on the forest floor, making satisfying crunches. He nibbled gently at my ear when he got close enough, and then licked the side of my nose, simply because he knew how much I hated it. I nipped his own ear back in retaliation, much harder than he nipped mine. Will watched us warily with his large brown eyes, having been curled up at the base of a pine tree while he waited for us. Even though he said nothing, he managed to make it very obvious he thought we were silly. 

For some reason, I had only had my first shift a few months prior, despite our theory about 'the more emotionally mature you are, the quicker you shift' (and I was a girl). It meant that I was still getting used to being in this different body, but I was a fast learner, and so had quickly figured out how everything worked. Except jumping. I often fell on my face and gave my friends a heart attack.

I loved finally being able to run with them every night, instead of forcing them to hang out with me in their dorm room as they jittered with desperation for exercise.

The thrill was incredible. Especially when the moon was full in the sky (despite it not impacting shifting in the slightest), and the night was crisp and cold.

"Hello, Gabby." Luka mind-linked me as he began to slowly lick behind my ears. 

"Stop grooming me, you creep." I snapped back jokingly. "Are you trying to say I am not clean already?"

"Is this not how wolves show affection?" He referred back to a documentary we had watched a long time ago. I snorted, and it came out in a wolfish huff, the sort of huff Will used to make when he was younger. 

I escaped from Luka's 'affection', and ran over to Will, where I curled up into a ball beside him. He rested his chin over my neck, and I could just tell he was giving Luka the wolf version of a 'sucks to be you' smirk. I began to lick my own leg to get the dew off it. I could groom myself, thank you very much, even if I was not yet at the same level of being comfortable with it like Will and Luka were. And even though Luka would be more then happy to help me groom any day. Weirdo.

"Don't be like that, Gabby." He complained, and did a funny tapping motion with his front feet. "Let's go on a run. You can give Will a hug when we get back."

"Shut up." Will replied, and gave my scruff a lick while he was at it. 

"You too?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and unfurling away from him. "Well, fine, then, Lukas. Last one to the pond has to buy the snacks next time we're in town!" And I went into a full sprint through the pine trees, ducking and weaving over any obstacle that I came racing towards. I was clumsy in real life, sure, but in wolf form? I could do anything but jump with a graceful ease. It was nice to be good at basic movement functions for once. Though Luka still managed to tease me by laughing every time I tried to jump. 

Soon enough the man himself was running up by my side, whilst keeping his eyes on me the entire time to show off. Will walked slowly behind us, more then happy to be left in the dust.

We reached the sparkling lake, and Luka immediately began lapping at the water. It wasn't mucky, but it was still outdoors water, and made me scrunch my snout. 

"That's so gross."

He dipped his head into it and shook himself dry, getting water droplets all over my coat in the progress. I couldn't be bothered to come up with an insult, so I waited for Will to traipse over. He really took his time. Truly like a snail. 

"You lost. Snacks are on you." I told him. 

"You don't need to make a race for that. I'm more then happy to buy you snacks anytime you ask." He replied.