The Shifters: Katrina

A couple hours later, Koren came to find me. I was in front of the school like I told him I'd be, Rowan having already gone back to his own place to stay. The fire wolf wasn't shivering anymore, looking rightfully ashamed as he approached me.

"Did you play nice with the other kids?" I asked, my tone snarky and teasing. Koren sighed, fingers brushing through his hair. The ends of it still had snow stuck in them, and I did him the favour of reaching up to brush them out. It meant that I was leaning closer to him, but I couldn't find it within myself to care. He and Kami were like older, micro-managing siblings. "I'll take that as a no."

"Sorry," he grumbled, sitting beside me on the front steps. "We just... fight easily. It's stupid."

"You're alphas," I commented, "and neither of you really have full-fledged packs. It's expected that things are a little tense between you two."

He nodded silently, eyes scanning the road in front of us. It was quiet, most of the students still out in the streets enjoying what little time we had left of the festival.

"You know..," I began slowly, "it'll have been a month since I came here on Saturday."

Koren scoffed. "A month since we dragged your ass here?"

I shoved him mercilessly, scowling. The wolf laughed, nudging me back with less embarrassment.

"You know, Quintin was probably just mad because he thinks of his friends as his pack," Koren murmured after a short pause. I frowned, raising an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. "We don't have enough wolves to make a pack, so we naturally start to think of friends and other shifters as our pack members. For me, it's the other elites."

That made sense, especially considering how he was able to order them around and take control of their group. It really was like he was an alpha to them.

"For Quintin, it's the friends he makes. You, and probably the other water kids."

"We have a pretty good friend group," I confessed, thinking of Shae, Quintin, Cory and Tyree's group. Even Luke, Rowan and a few others had wormed their way into my social circle. Unlike when I was back in Greenhill, I found myself happy with these people. They weren't stuck up or back-stabbing each other left and right.

"I'm glad," the fire wolf replied, getting to his feet afterward. He brushed himself off before offering me a hand. I took it, getting yanked off my feet with a surprising amount of force and grace. Rocking onto my toes, I managed to stick the landing of the pull and brush myself off as well without falling on my face.

"You guys always do that," I muttered.

"Do what?" Koren asked, a genuine look of surprise on his face.

"Pull as hard as possible," I told him, "it's like you're trying to throw someone."

He laughed, leading me toward the school. "It's cause we do throw people. The elites do it all the time. If you pull hard enough, the person goes up into the air and it's just simple fun. Especially if you're laying down first."

Note to self, don't lay down and let these guys help you up.

Koren walked on and on until we reached the main gym, which was one I didn't normally use for practice. Whatever students were inside cleared out as Koren wandered to the center.

"Alright, Katrina," my teacher began, "you know what water feels like. Calm and controlled, right?"

"Right. And fire felt like determination," I added.

He nodded. "Good. But remember, you need to be firm and steady. Small bit of a large amount of power through a tiny hole."

My mind flicked back to the night I helped him move boxes, asking him about fire. "Got it."

The fire wolf grinned. "Then let me show you what you can do with fire," he announced. I watched him jog to the side of the room and flick the lights off. Instinctually, a small flame appeared above my shoulder to provide a bit of light.

"Fire is destructive," Koren's voice came from in front of me, "but it's also commonly used for art."

My eyebrows raised as my curiosity was piqued. I let my flame go as his own appeared, two medium fires flickering above either one of his palms. Amusement rose within me as they spread along his arms, extending like wings. He twisted the side to give me the full view, the flames acting like waves as if they really were a part of him. The next trick was interesting as it consisted of a thin layer of fire spreading out over the outline of his silhouette, making it looking like firelight was coming from behind him. As he spun, moving like he was in a fight to the death with someone, the fire moved to accommodate the new silhouette. My mouth twisted into a smile as I watched him throw a punch, the fire zipping so that it was contained on his knuckles. When his fist connected with what he was 'fighting,' the orange flames spread outward like he's struck a wall for a split second before returning to his knuckles. That particular trick made my eyes widen. It was like a violent light show, and I was front row.

Eventually, I could hear soft panting. I hid one hand behind my back, watching the fire glow along Koren's skin to light the room while the smallest blue glow lit up my hidden fingertips. A bouncy ball sized sphere made of ice materialized above my hand, responding to my every thought. It spun along my fingers before I focused on the wall where Koren had used a lightswitch. Since I didn't know where it was exactly, my shot missed entirely, the ball landing with a soft thunk when it missed. I tried again, listening to Koren's breathing as his show went on. The second one missed as well, and I frowned.

I need light. But if I ask Koren, his pride could be ruined since I'll essentially be telling him to stop since he's clearly tired.

My focus slipped from Koren. I turned my back to him, the darkness hiding the fact, and focused on my hands. On one, my index finger had a blue glow and another sphere hovering above it. I had almost practiced my skills with water enough to not need the glow of control for smaller abilities, but my fire was still new and needed a large glow. It spread from my fingers to my elbow, even though all I needed was a small flame to hover above the sphere. Gradually, said flame attached itself to the sphere, my mind constantly needing to freeze the water to keep it in shape. The two elements flew to hover at the wall, my eyes scanning the lit area as it floated around, allowing me to search for the lightswitch. Finally I found it, the ball hitting its mark. Koren flinched as light flooded the room, my two elements disappearing like it never happened.

"Good show," I said before he could wonder what happened. "I'm definitely pumped to learn to do that as well."

He took one look at my grin and forgot all about his confusion.

"Then let's get started."