Prologue
She shouldn't feel scared.
She was only a few days old, she should feel safe and warm with her mother. Nestled into her chest, tucked away from the dangers of the world. The steady and strong beat of her heart thrumming in her ears...
The pup trembled, the sound she found to be a calm replaced by the quiet sound of wind. Her shaking legs curling beneath her, she longed for her mother's warmth on her cold skin. Her stomach was angry with hunger.
She thought her mother and father would come back, but the moon was risen again, and the scent of her parents never returned.
Why had they left her?
What did she do?
Didn't they love her?
She howled, crying and calling for her mother. She had to come back. The pup wanted her back.
The pup outstretched her once white paws and dug at the hole she was in. Her claws sank into the earth and ripped it, pulling chunks away. She had to climb out. She had to get out of the hole. Fear burned her nerves as she frantically tried to dig her way out.
All she managed to do was cause loose soil to fall back onto what she dug away.
She scrambled backwards from the small avalanche of mud and dirt, her heart thrumming against her ribs rapidly. When the dirt settled, and turned and rose on her hind legs, placing her front paws on the solid wall of soil. Peering up at the starlit sky, she released another howl.
She heard footsteps in return.
Her tail moved with excitement, but quickly tucked beneath her when the new creature’s scent reached her nostrils. The scent was foreign, unknown. She couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. Quickly, she hurried to the back of the hole and hunkered, her breaths quick and panic fueled her already racing heart.
The footsteps were quiet, slow and purposeful, as though they were in no rush, but knew what they were doing.
Was it a beast coming to take her?
Then, the sound stopped. The scent even vanished. The pup almost tried to call out again until a head looked down the hole.
Everything in her body froze.
A wolf's head peered down at her, its golden eyes gazing into hers. It smiled, she smiled.
Somehow, the pup knew it was a female. Older, like a mother, but not her mother.
She should be afraid of the stranger, she shouldn't trust her. But she found herself feeling comfort by the female's presence. A new warmth she'd never felt rushed through her body. The female’s eyes, glowing an ethereal gold, showed compassion, love, but also strength and power. Her gaze was intense, but the pup didn't cower beneath it. Instead, she felt...peace.
"You poor thing," the female said, her voice soft and gentle, but carrying an authority behind it. "I'll get you out."
She slowly lowered her head, the pup standing on all fours and lowering her head, allowing the female to grab her neck. When she was placed back on the ground, the pup looked in the woods, then at the female with a yip.
The female’s eyes saddened. "Your mother isn't coming back, little one. Nor will she be found."
The pup stared at her with wide, confused eyes. She turned to the woods, her gaze longing.
The female chuckled softly and nudged the pup’s side with her head, nuzzling her. "I'm going to take you somewhere else, somewhere you will live and call home. Where you will one day find your family, your new family."
Turning to the female and sitting, the pup tilted her head. What could this female mean? Her eyes held no intent of harm, so intent of hurt. Confusion melted in the warmth.
"You are destined for something greater than you know, little one. The path before you will not be easy. Hurt will come your way, pain will haunt you, challenges will threaten your will. But I promise you, in the end, those hardships will form you into the strongest you can be." The female's golden eyes gazed right into the pup's own amber ones, a fire glinting in the depths. "You do not understand now, you will not remember this moment, but one day it will all make sense. One day everything will fall into place."
The pup didn't look away from the female, drawn in by the ferocity that tainted her voice. Her next words were soft.
"You are a fighter, little one. You are a storm. Never forget that."
She lowered her head to the pup, both touching gently, like a mother to her child. Calm, peace, and love flooded the pup like she'd never felt, even with her own mother. She closed her eyes, not wanting the moment to end. Wanting to stay like this forever. She felt something in her shift. She felt a connection to the female.
And when she opened her amber eyes, they were tinted with gold.
