My breathing was quick and ragged as i ran. My heart pounded so hard in my chest but that was the least of my worries. I dug my paws into the dirt as i ran, bringing up dust behind me. Behind me I knew they were still chasing me but i didn’t want to look back. Jumping over dead trees and rocks, I weaved my way down the mountain. Thinking back, I probably shouldn’t have let my friends convince me to go up the mountain. The was no ordinary mountain. It pulled out your inner animal. No one knew if it was the mist that surrounded the mountain or if it was the creature that lived up there and that was currently chasing me.

          Maybe I should go back to a week ago. My friends and I were getting out of our ‘intro to primal instinct’ class. Everyone had to take this class in their 9th year since that was when most started to experience their ‘changes’. My friends were talking between each other as I got lost in thought. I guess we all had the same question, what would we change to? We were taught that a lot of the time, it was genetic. My friend Oran didn’t like that idea as her mother was an owl and her father a rat. My friend Matt had better luck as both his parents were bears. He has always been tall and broad so we all knew that he would be like them. However, I never knew my parents.

          I had been raised by my adoptive family. They were both wolves. The would reassure me constantly saying that they could tell I was strong and had many wolf attributes but I was still very uncertain. My three younger siblings would always run around chasing each other, howling and wrestling. They were triplets so they were troublesome most of the time. The girl, bell, was surprisingly stronger than the other two boys, Brin and Oak. Our mother would say that she was alfa material even though there were no packs anymore. They had gone away with packs when everyone decided they all wanted to live together. So our ancestors created a community where everyone lived together harmoniously. We survived primarily on wild animals and crops that the farmers produced.

          “Did you hear me? Booker.” Matt said, waving a hand in front of my face. Him and Oran were looking at me with concerned expressions.

          “Yeah, sorry. I guess I was just lost in thought.” I replied and adjusted my backpack strap on my shoulder.

          Matt and Oran nodded. “Yeah I get that.” Oran said and gave me a reassuring smile. “Maybe we could try to guess what you are. Like a game.”

          I knew that she was trying to cheer me up but it honestly was making me feel worse. I’ve been thinking and guessing my whole life. Asking my adoptive parents didn’t seem to help because they always came up with different answers as well. “Don’t worry.” They would say, “I’m sure that you will be the strongest of us all.”