Chapter one

Our family is composed of feisty, attractive and strong-willed woman. Our clan is being dominated by females since my grand ancestors migrated in this country. Most of women in our family look young despite of their age. My mother and my seven older sisters’ all possess the same trait. They say when you reach the age of preservation (for our family it’s when you celebrate your 21^st birthday) you will understand and see the world more. I don’t understand why men in our family live shortly. My grandfather died after my mother was born while my father died after my high school graduation.

One thing is for sure, our family in not ordinary. My ancestors have always been closed with nature. Especially with wolves, since we live in the woods I always see wolves coming around the house. Sometimes, randomly goes to the house… err… watches TV programs with my sisters. I always see my sisters with a wolf accompanying them. My eldest sister Mayu told me that her “Bimmu” (name of her pet wolf) is more than just an animal. She said that they are sacred wolves and they are born to protect and guide them. For me, everything is a riddle until today… I’m turning twenty one and my head really hurts.

Morning came, I stretched my arms high.  I slowly opened the wooden sliding door of my room to see if Keii is waiting for me outside. I smiled, as I’ve thought my elegant grey wolf is patiently sitting in front of my door, waiting for me to grace at him. I patted his head gently then hugged him. “Good morning! My precious one! How have you been? Today is the day you’ll get to sleep inside my room. Aren’t you the most persistent of all?”

Keii rubbed his upper nose near my shoulders as I was leaning down facing it. The wolf suddenly me. “Oh no… It’s too early! I have to prepare myself. I want you to wait for me in Oba-Chan’s (grandmother) room okay?

Oh, sorry. I forgot to mention that my grandmother is the head of our family. She is well respected. I don’t know how old is she but her hair is as white as the snow but her face is very angelic. Her grey eyes and smooth your skin makes her a very profound woman. Yeah, my Oba-Chan… probably, if we go outside people would mistake her as my sister because she bares a face of a woman in her early twenties. I guess, this is a gift in our family. Even my mom looks like a college student at the age of fifty-one. XD

“Here comes the birthday girl! Happy birthday, lil sis!” Felicity, my third sister who is the most famous model in the district greeted me. She has a long wavy orange hair (it used to be black but because of her work she has to dye it) and her eyes are dark silver. Her stunning beauty attracted a lot of modeling agencies when she was in her teens. After she finished high school she finally gave in. Of course, with my Oba-Chan and mother’s consent. She handed a purple box.  “Open it! All of us made that for you. “She insisted. She always has this perky attitude which makes her fit for the entertainment industry.

A pair of jade bead earrings was waiting for me when I opened the box. Felicity put it on my ears.

“It matches your Ash-eyes…” Mayu, my first sister calmly said. Well, if I will compare big sister Mayu from big sister Felicity. She is more refined like my mom but she sometimes has these childish gestures which I think is very cute of her to do. Hehe…

“Thanks everyone! “ I said trying to hide my excitement because today is the day that all riddles about my family will be solved.  All secrets will be revealed.

We started off with a small party with all my busy sisters whom took a day off from their job to be part of this event. Their pet wolves were also present.  Keii, Bimmu and the other wolves are getting well together. Sometimes it feels like those wolves acts like a person they even go to the bathroom to pee and take a bath by themselves. Yes, strange but I got used to it. After all, they’ve been in my family for generations.

“Okay everyone! Please settle down your grandmother is here.” My mom calmly announced to get everyone’s attention. It seems that some of the wolves are fighting over a big piece of meat. When they all saw my Oba-Chan approaching they all became tamed.

Cough… Cough… Did that big wolf beside my grandmother coughed? Am I high? “Ai today is your twenty first birthday and we will now perform the ritual. Keii, please step aside.” My Oba-Chan said.

The grey wolf who was fighting over the big chunk of meat earlier, obediently sat beside me. Then, my grandmother crossed her two fingers and closed her eyes chanting verses. Eventually, my mom and my older sisters did it two. Before I knew it, Keii and I were inside a glowing circle with strange markings all over. I was thinking of asking them what’s going on but Keii grabbed my hand and looked at me.

Maybe it means to stay put. So I just kneeled still and closed my eyes. When it was over, I saw all of my family members with foxy ear and tails. Each of them has different numbers of tails. My mother has five brown fury tails, big sister Mayu has four white furry tails, and Felicity has two red fury tails while my Oba-Chan has nine golden fury tails. It was shiny, everything was bright. I also saw eleven young good looking men with tattoos on different part of their body. When I looked to check for Keii, I saw a man which I think is the same age as me or a year older. He has the whitest hair (whiter than my Oba-Chan) and stunning purple eyes. His skin tone is as white as the snow. He looks like a celestial being that came down on earth to celebrate my birthday. (Ok just like Tomoe of Kamisama…)

“K-K-Kei? “ I gather all my voice to ask him the question. Since my dear wolf is missing I assumed he miraculously transformed in to this gorgeous man. Hehe… Before he could answer, I saw some black fury tail-like wiggling one every side of me. Then something fury is twitching… I immediately reached for my ears. Oh my God! It’s gone! My ears are gone!  

“Calm down, your ears are over here.” The bewitching man flicked my ears.

“Ouch! It hurts!” I grabbed on the long pointed ears. Wait? What! I have long pointed ears just like my sisters? “W-what the hell is going on?!!!?” I stood up and ran in front of the mirror. There, I saw myself. I looked very different. My body figure looked developed and my skin tone improved one million times! It’s glowing and it’s white! Whiter the Oba-Chan’s skin and Kei’s! What bothers me is that my ears changed to a fox-liked ears and I have nine furry black tails!

Everyone kneeled in front of me except for Oba-Chan. “You are not just an ordinary Gumiho! You are the first Gumiho!” Oba-Chan said in a very shocked manner.

End of Chapter One : Happy Birthday