Revolutionary by C.T. Lang (bookstand for reading .txt) 📕

Saving was just as important as swimming, Jacob told me, because there had been so many cases where a Clan member had needed to save a human from drowning. We practiced on each other. I remembered the exhilaration of lying there face-down in the water, and feeling his warm hands upon me. CPR was another enjoyable experience. The only problem I had was that we alternated partners, so I worked with Sam and Naya as often as Jacob. I could hear Jacob's thoughts, screams of fury and rage, whenever Sam bent over me and pressed his lips on my open mouth. Swimming was much safer. We also played Shark, Pirates and Mermaids, and Swim-tag.
After Swimming and Saving, we laid out on the patio chairs beside the lake to dry off, and then bid the boys adieu so we could go dress for dinner. I loved the dinners at the hideout, (and Jacob did dress up nicely, looking unbelievably attractive in a three-piece suit, although he often swung the jacket over his shoulder for temperature's sake). Each night there was a different dress, and Naya and I always matched. The Clan began to refer to us as twins, which I didn't mind. We were of the opinion that we shared the same soul. I cannot describe the bounty found at the long table of the Polverian or Cercumsiol dining halls. I can only say this: the phrase "hungry like a wolf" is quite true, and yet the sheer amount of food left us all stuffed. I ate twice what I had eaten at home, and grew muscle tissue with each day. Finally, one dinner I'll never forget, Erik joined us, and after third course, announced, "Panchim's trials are to begin tomorrow." I must have looked a combination of incredulous and discombobulated, because he beamed and said, "Naya, can you explain to your twin just what the trials are?"
"The trials, which every new Clan member goes through, decide where you will be placed in the Clan. There are twenty-four levels, from Alpha to Omega. Alpha is highest, then Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi and Omega." She took a breath and Erik nodded to congratulate her in naming them correctly."Your performance tomorrow through Friday (it was a Tuesday night) will determine where you fit in. The subjects are those we've been practicing: Running, Fighting, Swimming, and Saving. Dance is optional, so you'll take it to boost your score. But also there is something called Instinct, and it varies with the individual. The test for instinct is never the same. Our Alpha, Erik, will administer that test, but the others will be administered by the betas. Erik," she asked, "Which Beta has been assigned to Panchim's Saving trial?" Her voice was cold, and I heard the dangerous edge to it.
"Sam. It's his turn on the rotation, Naya. It cannot be helped." But she turned red as a chile pepper, and her expression grew sour. I heard in her thoughts that she opposed with a passion the notion that I'd perform CPR on her beloved.
"Naya, I'm sorry," I began, but she cut me off.
"Don't mention it, dear. It's perfectly fine. After dinner we'll go up and practice some more in the pool." The pool was an ingenious invention, placed underneath the hideout, an Olympic-sized pool ranging from 3 feet to 20. I had no doubt she'd work me harder than ever. I still hadn't mastered the Thrash save, in which the victim tries to drown the rescuer.
"Okay, Naya. Thanks," my voice was hollow. We bid Erik goodnight after dessert, and made our way up to get changed.

We'd been at the pool training for nearly an hour, and save after save, I began to get worn down. It was a struggle for breath that left me gasping and choking when Naya pulled me under. Finally, when I'd locked her arms behind her back, she fell with submission and made it harder for me to tow her to the side. No doubt I'd ace this test tomorrow, if I lived to see tomorrow. Then she had me practice CPR. I must admit, practicing CPR on Naya was not unenjoyable to me. But on this occasion, the worst possible scenario occurred. I was mouth-to-mouth with my friend, when I looked up to see Jacob and Sam, clad in swimsuits, coming down for a midnight swim. I couldn't decide which was worse: the expression on Jacob's face, or his thoughts. "Panchim, how could you? I thought you loved me." Naya sat up and began to explain. But Sam had already stormed off, thinking the same thing Jacob was. I opened my mouth to explain, but couldn't find the words. Instead, I thought as hard as I could, "Jacob it was just practice, just practice!" Naya still lay there, tears running down her face; no doubt she'd seen Sam run away. But Jacob was rooted to the spot. I took a few tentative steps towards him, suddenly aware for the first time that we was bare-chested and I wore only a two-piece bathing suit. "Jacob," I voiced aloud, "It was just CPR. Please believe me." He didn't say anything, but he was so close I could hear him breathing. Then, so fast I could barely follow what was happening to me, he grabbed me in his arms and kissed me, kissed me so hard I gasped for oxygen. It was a wild entanglement, I pulled back on his hair and he gripped the small of my back, pulling me in closer. I kissed him fiercely, letting my animal nature show. It was wicked, how we interacted chemically and physiologically. When finally we parted, he growled under his breath, "I do believe you." Then he turned on heel and walked away, to find Sam, his thoughts said.

Naya sat up, as if coming out of a trance, and I ran to her. She dived into the pool before I could reach her, and assumed a victim's pose. I stood there, confused for a second. Was she truly suicidal? She didn't breathe for almost thirty seconds, and I jumped in to save her. To my surprise, when I approached her and slipped my arms around her, she did not resist, but swam with me against the gentle current of the chlorinated water. When we reached the side, she said laboriously, "Let's go to bed. You'll need your rest for tomorrow." She seemed on the verge of tears, so I caught her arm and hugged her tightly. "It's going to be okay. You'll see," I whispered into her ear. But the tears flowed down my face, and not all of them were hers.

The next morning, I awoke to find myself clinging to her for all I'm worth. We'd spent the night simultaneously tossing and turning, and as a result all the blankets were strewn over the floor. The morning rays of sunlight shone on her face, and soon enough Naya blinked and suddenly sat up. Her nightgown, which had somehow been unlaced in the course of the night, was terribly wrinkled, and her hair was tangled irrecovably, but she was nonetheless gorgeous.
"Good morning, Naya," I ventured.
"Morning, dear," she murmured as she stretched her arms behind her back, "Let's get dressed. You should wear your sweats, and a swimsuit underneath. And pull your hair up tightly, we can't have it falling down in your eyes today." I blushed; my hair always fell in my eyes sometime during Fighting Tactics. I remembered with a shiver when Jacob had brushed it out of my face, brushing his fingers across my face. Naya whacked me with a pillow, to bring me out of memory.
"Get dressed. Now!" And we were up at last. When we dressed and finally unknotted our hair, we headed downstairs directly to breakfast. I barely took anything, just an apple, but Naya piled a plate high with eggs, french toast, and grits, and announced that I had to eat the other half. Then, as if to make her decree official, she hawked the first bite of my apple. I seriously considered stealing it back out of her mouth, but Jacob's eyes were on me, and it was too soon after last night's drama. Instead I bit the other side of the apple, and it was bittersweet. I tried the eggs, but they stuck in my throat. The french toast was too sweet, but I ate all the grits. Naya ladled some more onto our plate as Sam and Jacob sat at a different table. My eyes automatically welled up with tears, but Naya gripped my hand. Then she whispered something in my ear and stood up. I munched away in silence while she went to confront them. Soon everyone in the Cercumsiol heard the shouting. "You swine! Why did you choose NOW to abandon us?! The very day of Panchim's trials, the girl is already all nerves about it!!" Their eyes begged her to be quiet, to see reason, but she was just getting started. "And you, Jacob! Don't act all offended! I know you made up with her quite well last night! We all heard THOSE thoughts!" He blushed deeply, and within seconds they were seated at our table as usual, and almost everything was normal again. There was one exception. Jacob usually sat next to me, but today the boys were ostracized to the other side of the table, where they had to talk to us over three feet of dressings, gravy, and side-dishes.

After breakfast, we went to the Great Hall, where Naya stretched me out thoroughly. That in itself was awkward, but having the boys watch made it seem almost like degradation. But no matter what our thoughts said, they wouldn't leave. So Naya pushed my leg up over my chin to an excrutiating position, and I grabbed her hands and hoisted myself up into a split. I heard the boys wince, and smirked to myself. Then, she straddled me and pulled my arms out as far forward as they could possibly reach, and still further. When we'd finally lengthened my muscles to impossible heights, she pronounced me stretched out, and we walked down to the practice field, on the east side of the hideout. I gripped her hand, my throat caught, and I tried to stay calm. Please, please let me make at least Iota! Naya had started as a Theta. If I could earn one place lower than her, I would be overjoyed. Erik and eleven other wolves were already on the field, dressed in all black. I felt very out of place in my green sweats. Erik announced that dance, my choice, would be first. Ms. Leigh, one of the figures in black, stepped forward, and signaled to her mate to start some music. Was she not going to tell me what genre of music? It was a tango, I could tell from the tempo, and she clearly expected me to lead. I'd only ever followed, but I screwed up all my courage and pretended I was just dancing when Naya. For when I