It never used to make me think, or dwell, but now knowing I have red eyes and a strangely rare gift, it makes me wonder what I actually knew about my mother. Memories are mostly her in human form, and the few occasions I glimpsed her as a wolf, I don’t recall ever seeing her eyes. There isn’t much need for a pup to see their parents in wolf form when you live on a peaceful settled farm growing vegetables and raising cattle. Turning used to be a personal thing when there was no need. Like a recreational time to yourself activity among the peaceful dwellers who didn’t have to fight, or defend, or lord over anyone. The Whyte pack leader was equally stable, and calm, and I never saw him turn at all in the time I knew him.
My father never mentioned it, no one did, so I doubt they were red. I mean, she was a snow-white wolf, and that was mentioned enough over the years as though it was a bad thing. I knew it meant she was different. I’m sure her eyes would havIt must smell me or what I’m cooking and probably followed either scent out to investigate. It doesn’t look inquisitive, it looks mad as hell, with raging eyes and bared teeth and I can tell with the way it rears on its back legs and wails at me, that it’s probably my scent ticking it off and not here to say hello.Bears don’t like my kind, it’s a well-known, and documented fact, they deem us a threat and we never wander into bear territory alone. Those monsters are strong, relentless, huge, and weirdly capable of taking one of us on as long as it’s a smaller femme like me, with little to no combat skills.I get up and start backing away fast, knowing that this is some bad shit to be in right now, eyes darting around for a weapon, or escape route, as it wades towards me through underbrush, kicking rocks aside with its clumpy massive paws. I swallow hard, pull my wits about me, and start pulling off my clothes slowly, keeping my eyes trai
I don’t know what I thought I would achieve and honestly, I didn’t have time to ponder either the science or the stupidity, but I throw air at a bear in a bid to save my own hide. Then groan as logic slaps me in the head for being an idiot.Like something out of a Hollywood movie though, I watch in wide eyed disbelief, as the bear is hit with an almost invisible force that ripples the air around it, sending the milky veil into shimmering, flowing movement, like mesmerizing water after a rock is thrown in. It makes its body indent crazily, like I just rammed it with a truck at crazy speed, and for a milli-second, time slows down as I take this all in. It’s thrown back more than three times the distance it threw me, flying high in an arc through the clearing and lands with a shuddering thud on the floor below the tree line spectacularly. I swear, the ground quakes with the force and reverberates through my healing body dully, bringing a calm to the forest that w
I don’t know whether to feel relieved, proud, or devastated by the fact I did that, alone. That I managed to pull some weird power out of my gut and take down a bear, with nothing more than air. My heart constricts, my gut twists, and I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to throw up as human emotion kicks in and slight shock takes over. I begin to tremble, heart bouncing against my chest wall, mind racing, over the fact I literally just had my second ever, real full on battle, with something capable of killing me and this time, I didn’t almost die at his hands. Umm paws. I didn’t need Colton to save me either. He’d be proud, not that it matters, or that I care of what he thinks anyway.I push my paws out in front of me, moving to stand on my hind legs and stare at them, unsure how to feel about it. Really just gawping at these strange clawed, fur covered, rather blood-soaked weapons of destruction I never knew I possessed. I mean, of course, I knew I ha
I lay on the makeshift fur bed I made myself last night, resting on my stomach lazily with a good size of the pelt over the top of me, hands crossed under my chin as I watch the early morning birds peck at the scraps I left on my cooking stone. Dancing around and merrily, eating what little I left behind. The fire has long smoldered out and everything around me is dewy with early morning moisture. Everything still, and peaceful, in the morning glow of a newly rising sun, and oddly still. I made it through another night, and I’m still here, waking with a better mood with every day this pans out.I didn’t find a cave or shelter last night, so curled up in the bear pelt, that took me a full four days to scrape and clean and dry out in the sun on the hottest rocks I could find. I’m no expert in tanning, or preserving pelts, but it works enough, even if it’s a bit stiff and smelly, and it’s worth lugging with me every day, despite the added bulk and wei
I’m not going to lie and say I don’t miss a real home, beds, carpets, and all the luxuries of the valley, but I’m free. I can go where I want, answer to no one, and it’s not like I have any sort of desire to find a mate now, so there’s no point in being around wolves. My heart will always belong to him, even if he’s denied it and moved on. I would rather be alone than lie about my love for someone new, just to have company. Resigned myself to the fact, I’ll love him until I pass, no matter how many years that takes.I make swift work of getting up and pulling my now dry clothes off the rocks. I washed everything yesterday and slept naked in my fur bed, in the hopes of feeling less grubby today, less scraping by, and more pulled together. Washed myself head to foot with the last of my soap, braided my hair into two plaits hanging down each side of my head to let it dry. I was starting to feel scruffy and feral lately and needed to remind
Who knows? I don’t think I ever will. I don’t think I will ever find the ability to forgive him for it either, even if it was all in the fate’s crazy masterplan. Maybe I’m trying to find a reason to justify all of this because I was always taught that the fates are never wrong. They always have a purpose for everything they do, even if we can’t see it. Even leaving lonely little girls as unseen shadows in homes for unwanteds, and then showing her a light of hope before crushing it in her face and throwing it far away.I don’t dwell for long. I know if I do, the bitterness, the sadness, and anger, it starts to consume me and destroy my mood. I have to move and find somewhere to settle tonight, before the dark moves in, and I want some hours of daylight to properly set up my bed, find leaves and dried grass to pad it first. It’s become a ritual daily to help keep me sane. One thing I’m finding is instrumental to my mental well
I sit watching from my safe distance and secluded peeking spot at the large singular building nestled in an unnatural clearing, surrounded by ten feet of barbed wire fencing that stretches all the way around, save for a set of very large gates at the far side. All closed and locked tight and looking deserted. There are dirt tracks showing signs of infrequent visits from off road vehicles leading up to it, coming from the south, and I’m perched here for watching for signs of life for an hour now, as I try to figure out if it’s safe to get closer. It took the rest of the day to get here, following an imaginary line from my previous camp spot, in the general direction and sticking to hyper speed for most. I’m tired, my back agony from keeping on trekking at an hour I’ve grown accustomed to being the settling down and making camp stage. Sweating, breathless, hot, and sticky, and currently sat on my backpack as I try to figure out how stupid I would be if I
When I get up there, I manage to find a flat enough spot that with one of my pelts rolled out I snuggle into a dip between two parallel boughs and can properly lay down, without having to anchor myself to anything. I hang my backpack on a broken stump on the trunk and lay out on top of my makeshift bed, stretching and wriggling to see how comfy I can get, satisfied that this isn’t too bad as long as it doesn’t get windy or rain tonight. I don’t want to unroll pelts that could slide off if I roll in my sleep and draw attention to lurking wildlife. I won’t have a fire to keep some of the natural creatures at bay up here, so I have to make do with cold meat, a bumpy bed, and the rustling and swaying of the trees to lull me into slumber. Not that I think it’ll be an issue, as now I’m up here, my eyes are heavy and my brain cloudy with fatigue. It’s been a long day.I sit and watch the building through the foliage for a while, sat at my safe