Dreaming of Wolves

I wander into the woods late one night with my friends, Shane, Rose, and Calder and we head out to find out why the people in our village have a curfew. As we walk through the woods and head towards the center of the forest.

Rose hums as we walk, her attention on the trees in front of us. She is the fearless one, and as she moves along, she holds Calder's hand. Shane walks in front of us, and holds his flashlight up high as we walk. He suddenly stops, and we all freeze, nearly bumping into him.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Did you hear that?" Calder whispers.

Shane nods his head. "I'm not sure what it is."

"Are you kidding me?" I ask. "What the hell are you two talking about?"

"There's something in the woods with us," says Shane.

"Yeah, right," Rose snaps. She turns in place, pointing her flashlight into the forest and peering after it. She then narrows her eyes and walks forward, leaving Calder where he is. She vanishes into the underbrush, and Calder gasps.

"Rose? Rose! Where'd you go?" Calder asks.

No response.

"She couldn't have gotten that far," says Shane, as he looks all around us. He points the flashlight into the brush where she walked into, but there's no sign of Rose. "Rose? Where are you?!"

Suddenly, a howl cuts through the night air, and my hairs on my arms stand on end. Shane backs up a step as a huge wolf steps from where Rose went, its muzzle is covered in blood. Calder screams and charges at it. The wolf meets him halfway, and tears into him. Shane grabs me and takes off running, and I scramble to keep up with him.

"Run, Opal, run!" he cries.

Shane pulls me towards the village, and suddenly, a second wolf lands on the grass between us and our home. It snarls at us, its fur standing on end. Then, the wolf lunges forward. Right at me. Shane shouts, leaping in between me and the wolf.

It tears into his chest, ripping him to pieces. Shane's screams fill the night air, and wolves howl in the distance. But as I scramble back, trying to get away from the wolf eating my friend Shane, I hear the first wolf that likely killed Calder and Rose approach me from behind.

I flinch as drool lands on my shoulder. My heart beating a mile a minute, I am shaking as I turn to look at the monster. The beast lowers its mouth towards me. The blood and gore on its muzzle is pungent and nasty, and I freeze up, unable to move.

Then, there's a flash of light, no doubt from the flashlight that Shane held, and I watch as the next wolf approaches from the side. I watch as the beast steps closer, its fur is all white. Its eyes are gold and bright. Then, it leaps up, smacking into the wolf behind me. I cry out, and watch as the two wolves fight and roll around in the dirt and snarl, barking and yapping.

And then, the monster leaps to the next wolf, and I hear an awful snap as it breaks the neck of the wolf that had killed Shane. It turns to me, and I am legitimately freaking out as I stare at the thing before me, who snarls. But then, those golden eyes soften. Change to more friendly. Soft, almost.

But as I stare at the wolf, the one who — for some reason — saved me. It whimpers and lowers itself to the forest floor. It looks at me and sighs. I am shaking hard. This wolf....

"Why save me?" I whisper, although I know I won't get an answer.

There's another flash of light, and then, a girl who is naked appears before me and looks around nervously. She then looks at me. "Hi. I am Rue, and I saved you.... because.... I couldn't let you die. You're a wolf too, and one without a Pack."

I blink. "Do you live in Moonblood Village?"

She nods. "I've seen you around the town. Why did you choose tonight to come out? Didn't you remember the curfew?"

"Y - yeah, we just wanted to see why it was in effect," I say.

"Oh. You didn't know?"

I shake my head. "Know what? And what did you mean, I'm a wolf without a Pack?"

"Just that," she says. "Wait, you didn't know that you are a wolf, like me? Like most of Moonblood?"

"No," I whisper, shaking my head. "I'm a .... how? What the hell is happening to me?"

"Look, you're a Pack-less wolf, and you need to get a Pack, because a wolf who doesn't have a Pack, you won't survive. How have you never morphed?"

"I - I don't know," I whimper. "But what about my friends? Are they dead? Rose and Calder and Shane?"

She nods sadly, flipping her blonde hair over her pale brown, freckled shoulder. She looks at me, her expression one of sadness. She sighs. "No one told you that you are not human. I wonder why."

"I - I need to go home," I say.

"Okay," she says softly. "I, uh, will take you home."

"Here," I say, handing her my jacket. She pulls it on, and its long, red and black plaid pattern is bright and hangs down by her knees. She stands, smaller in height than I am, and she helps me up with surprising strength.

"Thanks, now, where do you live?"

---

When we reach my home, the girl, Rue, leads me to the porch and tells me to sit. She knocks on the door, and moments later, my mom opens the door. She gives me a quizzical look, but then to Rue.

"Rue, what are you doing here?" Mom asks.

Rue gives her a saddened look. She tells her about everything that has happened tonight. And when she at last is done, and explains how two wolves (real ones, not werewolves) killed my friends, but Rue saved me. She explains to my Mom how I am a wolf, but then, she says something about my being a Pack-less Alpha.

"An Alpha?" I ask.

Rue glances at me. "Uh, yeah? You didn't know what an Alpha is?"

"Is it like, the leader of the Pack?" I ask.

She nods again. Then looks at my Mom. "I'm sorry to bring this to you, Ellie. But I think maybe your daughter here should come with me, and go to the Elfhall Academy. She could get taught things about being a werewolf, and becoming an Alpha."

Mom nods. "Okay. Opal, what do you want?"

I sigh. What do I want? Before tonight, my life has been normal. I have never once thought I was special, aside from the fact that I have always felt close and connected to wolves. Maybe this is why. Have I always been this way? Or is this something different, something new?

"Why didn't I know about this?" I ask my mom.

She sighs and shrugs. "You were cursed when you were young. A witch decided that you were too dangerous to be left alone, and so, she made it so you could not transform until you decided you needed to. And I guess that since I didn't know that you had inherited your father's powers, I never told you about him. I'm sorry for this, Opal."

I look at Rue, who shrugs. "It is up to you, Opal."

"Okay," I say. "I will go."

Mom nods and rubs her eyes. "Come on in, you two. I'll get you some clothes, Rue, and help you pack your things, Opal."