The Shifters: Katrina

The dodgeball game was still going on when four phones chimed in unison. The group froze, curiously looking at the sidelines where most of the phones were. There weren't that many to begin with, but four screens were lit up. Talia, Liam, Emma and Anna all shared confused looks.

The four from Orgull.

"Guys?"

Anna was the first to walk over, gracefully sweeping her phone up. She stared at the screen, her entire body tensing.

"Anna..?" Emma prodded, strolling over a well. She looked at her phone, her eyes widening.

"What's going on?" I asked, watching as Liam and Talia joined the other two. When they read whatever was on their screens, Liam dropped his phone with a gasp.

The rest of us began to walk toward them, only for the four of them to clutch their phones to their chest like we were thieves.

"What's going on?" Rowan asked, standing on my left. Tyree was on my right, her arms crossed as she eyed the others. She looked downright terrifying.

Talia was the only one brave enough to meet our eyes, the other three seemingly shocked into a state of silence.

"It was just a message from our leader," she stated, "it was nothing."

"That wasn't nothing," Quintin countered. With most of us still standing on the court, it felt like we were separated from the four Orgull shifters.

"We were surprised to hear that someone was having a baby, that's all," Anna said quickly, shutting off her phone.

Tyree scowled. "That wasn't the type of reaction you'd expect after that kind of announcement. Where was the happiness and excitement?"

The four fell silent.

I took a hesitant step forward, Talia's icy eyes coming to meet mine.

Please trust me, I wanted to tell her. You pushed me to be better. You can rely on me.

Sure, Talia seemed like a bitch.

But that girl was my friend.

"Katrina..."

Anna grabbed Talia's arm, cutting her off. "Are you serious right now?"

Talia looked down at the much younger shifter, brushing her hand off. "They deserve to know," she muttered. "Do you really support the decision that everyone back home made?"

"That doesn't matter," Anna hissed, "because at the end of the day, we have to go back to Orgull, Talia."

The tigress shook her head. She took a step away from the people she'd known for a while, walking toward me.

The girl handed me her phone, already open to the right app. I began reading through text messages.

"You know how your missions to find Xavier were always useless, Katrina..?"

I heard the others suck in a breath.

"You guys thought he must be with the hunters," Talia chuckled darkly, "but really..."

I barely caught Talia as she leaned forward, clinging to my shoulders. She laid her head on my shoulder, holding back a frustrated sob.

"Orgull is housing Xavier and the hunters. They're going to help him take down this compound and any others he feels like targeting."

I felt the disappointment coming off of Talia in waves. For someone who focused on being worthy of the admiration of others, it must've been a hard blow. It was easy to tell that Talia looked up to the strongest shifters, and she must've looked up to her leader as well. Otherwise, the grouchy girl would've never agreed to watch over someone from another compound.

Talia loved Orgull.

And Orgull had sided with the hunters.

"So are you guys going to betray us too?"

Talia pulled away from me as Quintin's words rang through the room, making her flinch. She wiped away the trails of mascara on her cheeks, pointing at Quintin.

"There's a reason I told you," she hissed. "I would never do that."

"An entire compound just did," he added. "I get that some compounds don't really like each other... but siding with the people who think we're monsters?"

I tried my best not to flinch at the word monster, standing tall as I met Quintin's eyes. He looked tough and stoic on the outside, but the second he stared back at me, I saw a flicker of fear. He was afraid of losing his friends, of Iluita being in danger, of getting hunted.

He's a wolf, I thought, loyalty is everything to him. He's hurting from this.

"It wasn't their decision," I said softly. "They didn't choose to help Xavier, Quintin."

"But it's their home," Rowan chimed in. His eyes were on the floor, his fingers tangled together. "Don't you guys want to be loyal to your compound?"

The attention turned to Anna, Emma, Liam and Talia.

And it stayed there as the four of them stood in an uneasy silence.

"Guys?"

Anna threw her hands up in surrender, looking unsure. "What do you want us to say? 'Screw Orgull, we're in love with Iluita'?"

"It was the two shifters from Iluita that started this entire thing," Emma blurted, her voice flat. "Sonya and Xavier. This is their fault. It's Iluita's."

"They're rebels!" Tyree defended. "It wasn't the compound that made them that way!"

"I already fought that panda girl!" Emma yelled. "I helped this compound, why would I want to betray you?!"

"So then are you going to betray your own compound?" Quintin asked once again, shuffling toward them. I could see the entire thing play out in my mind; this would eventually lead to a nasty fight.

"If the two shifters from this compound hadn't decided that Coraline was a sucky leader, than the hunters wouldn't have become such a problem," Anna snapped, pointing her finger at Quintin. "You forget that our homes are at risk too, and yet we're here."

"Oh, your home is at risk?" Quintin snarled. "How can it be at risk if it's the home base for the people who want us all dead?!"

"Enough!"

This time, the ice didn't even come from my hands. It just appeared, shooting through the air. Two boxes took shape, one around those on the court, another around the Orgull shifters. That left Talia and I in the middle, the tigress still looking defeated and close to sobbing.

Thankfully, I didn't need her for this little speech.

"All of you are afraid and upset," I began, clenching my hands into fists, "but this isn't the time to hate on each other.

"So, we all got betrayed. Some of us got betrayed by a friend. Some of us got betrayed by a protector. Others... Their entire compound."

Since the ice was nearly completely clear, I could see Anna's chin drop as her composure deflated.

"But we can't just stand here blaming each other. We need to tell Coraline. We need to do what we can to make sure people survive this. The hunters can't win, which means anyone helping them has to be taken down as well.

"Because if they win, then so many people like us will die. People with amazing abilities and personalities. People who didn't betray anyone."

Emma's anger melted out of her expression, replaced by a lost look. Quintin seemed to relax as well, his brother throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"We need to tell Coraline," I continued. "We need to notify the compounds. If we aren't careful..."

Talia straightened, staring at her friends stuck in a box of ice.

She glanced at the rest of our friends stuck in a separate box.

Then, she looked down at me, forcing an uneasy but trusting smile.

"If we aren't careful, we're going to end up in a war with Orgull."