Page 18 of Loving Amari

Damon even has a small look of concern, but he pushes it back. “Do you think it’s something we should alert the King and Queen about?”

The shifter children and little witches enter, their faces alight with wonder, ending our conversation.

“I’m giving it one more day before I start to panic. Please hold off worrying the King.”

“Alright, but I’m going to check in on you tomorrow.”

Damon and I light up our faces, greeting the children. “Hello! Welcome, welcome!”

I walk over to a little shifter I’m familiar with. His name is Torin, an orphan shifter who lives at the academy. I approach him as he examines one of the many desktops.

I greet him with a hello, extending my hand.

Torin stares at my hand like I’ve lost my mind. “That is not how you greet a shifter.”

I chuckle and pull my hand back.

Torin demonstrates, his sandy locs swaying over his shoulders as he takes a hand to his fist and bows his head. It looks ridiculous, and I know that’s the greeting way of the shifter.

“Ah, the young alpha.”

I give him the same gesture, just in a more gentle way.

“What do you think about the new technology?”

Torin shrugs. “I’m not much of a lover for this stuff.”

I furrow my brow at that.

“How can it help me?”

I lean against the desk, looking at this young shifter who represents everything I’m trying to protect. “The world is changing, Torin. Faster than it ever has before. When I was turned, knowledge traveled at the speed of a horse. Now it travels at the speed of light.”

I gesture to the computers around us. “These tools can help you in ways you can’t imagine yet. Databases that can track pack lineages going back centuries, so you never lose your history. Communication systems that allow packs to connect across continents instantly. Security measures that can protect your territories better than any physical fence.”

Torin listens, his young face serious.

“But more than that,” I continue, “the world outside Wintermoon is becoming more digital every day. Radicals use technology to organize, to spread propaganda, to track supernatural movements. If you don’t understand thesesystems, you can’t protect yourself from them. You can’t fight an enemy whose weapons you don’t understand.”

I pull up a chair and sit at eye level with him. “The virtual reality stations over there? They can simulate hunts, teach you tracking in environments you’ve never seen. The coding programs can help you build apps for your pack, secure communication channels that humans can’t intercept. The 3D printers can help you design better structures, test architectural plans before you break ground.”

I soften my voice. “You’re going to be an alpha someday, Torin. You’re going to have wolves depending on you for protection, for guidance. The world they’ll grow up in will be even more technological than this one. Don’t you want to be ready for that?”

Torin smiles at my enthusiasm and listens intently. I notice his canines, slightly elongated even in human form.

After I finish telling him the wonders of technology, He just shrugs again. “I’m more interested in learning how to build pack homes, building fires, learning how to stock pantries.”

I just smile at him.

Torin pulls a piece of wood out of his pocket along with a small carving knife. It looks like he’s carving a small wolf. “I like carving a lot.”

“You can build three-dimensional prototypes with the 3D printer.” I point at the large device at the window.

“What’s the fun in that?”

I just smile again. Well, he’ll just need some time to grow into the technology. The primal call of his wolf nature is still too strong. That’s not a bad thing. He needs both.

Damon approaches us. Torin greets him with a fist to his chest and bowing his head.