001

Winter.

The fucking bitch was brutal as it slapped Storm on the face, wave after wave.

She could feel her bare palms going numb from the cold.

The fallen snow was almost at her knees, her legs too growing very numb in the snow.

But she didn’t stop walking, although she had no idea where she was heading to. But that didn’t matter. She needed to get as far away as possible from the quarters as possible.

The storm was not letting up.

She smiled painfully as she still marched her way towards the woods.

Her foster parents had named Storm. Because, according to them, they had found her, in the storms, all wrapped around a purple blanket that she still carried around.

She wondered how long she had stayed out there as a baby before they found her.

And if it was a storm like this, how on earth did she survive?

Her lungs were aching from the cold, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she finally found herself under a big tree in the woods.

Beside the tree was a little cave. She crawled inside the dark cave and sat down drawing her knees against her chest and wrapping her arms all over herself.

This was the best place to wait out the storm. 

But then where would she go next after?

She had no idea.

She had never left the quarter, especially when her parents were still alive.

She had never had a reason to leave.

The Celia pack was home to her.

Where she grew up and learnt everything she knew.

But then the older she got, the more obvious it was that the pack was not for her.

She had kept a very low profile. Keeping her head down, staying among the omega.

But for the past few years, since she lost the only family she had, something in her had kept fighting to break free.

Somehow, she knew that this was not where she was meant to be.

But despite this growing feeling, never did she have the guts to leave the Quarters.

Never.

She had never known life outside and what it was like.

All that changed last night.

She shivered, this time not from the cold as the memories of the night before ran through her mind.

I, Alpha…. Hereby banish you from this pack. From today, you are no longer one of us. For trying to kill your Pack. First thing tomorrow morning, pack up your belongings and leave the quarter”

The look on the Alphas face was something Storm didn’t think she would ever forget.

His cold eyes, his hard face, not flinching a bit as he laid heaps after heaps of false accusations on her.

She had wailed. Her throat was still sore even.

She had wailed, pleaded and cried to the council that it was not true. She had pleaded for a chance to prove her innocence.

But who was going to believe an Omega over an Alpha?

Definitely not the council.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Storm felt the storm stopping. The violent and noisy rustling of the leaves reduced and the howling of the wind too.

She might as well continue on her journey to the unknown.

She was just following her nose and instincts.

Anywhere had to be better than the quarters.

She crawled out of the cave, dragging her little gray bag in which she had tossed a few of her clothes in a hurry that morning.

But when she got out of the cave, the trail of blood on the white snow stopped her in her tracks.

For a moment she checked herself but the trail led to the direction she was heading to.

Someone was hurt.

The healer in her kicked in immediately and she brushed the worry off.

Might be an animal. She thought and flung her back over her shoulder.

She was not going to involve herself in something that didn’t concern.

But then what if it wasn’t an animal? The scent of the blood was too strong to be an animal’s blood anyways.

Someone was seriously injured, and what if they were dying?

But then what if the person or animal was something that could harm her?

Her wolf scoffed and she smiled.

She followed the trail of the blood, deeper into the woods. 

She paid attention to the footprints left and concluded that it was a wolf.

What was a wolf doing out here by this time of the day?

She kept walking and came to a stop at a huge tree, where the blood stopped.

Listening closer, she heard heavy breaths coming from the tree.

Calling herself all sorts of names, she made her way to the other side of the tree and gasped when she saw a lady, very naked sitting under the tree.

She looked terrible. Sweating profusely despite the cold and her hands were clenched at her stomach.

She was seriously injured and she didn’t seem to notice Storm’s presence.

Who was she, and what happened?

Storm rushed to her side, opened her bag and brought out a sachet of herbs she had prepared for the alpha the day before.

Good that it was going to serve a better purpose.

She opened the sachet and touched the lady’s hand.

She snapped her eyes open and snarled, baring her teeth angrily at Storm.

Storm rolled her eyes.

“I am not going to hurt you” She whispered, gently driving her hands away from the injury.

The cut was deep but it was already healing. At least the paste of herbs could hasten up her healing and reduce the pain.

“Besides, let's be real. Even if I wanted to hurt you, you don’t stand a chance. Let me help you”

The lady glared at her, her dark brown eyes throwing fire and Storm smiled.

She applied the paste on the injury as her patient watched her carefully.

When the wound was totally covered, she took out a gown from her bag and handed it to the lady.

“You are healing fast. Get dressed. You should be the same size as I am.”

The lady obeyed and Storm helped her up to put on the red dress, which was her favorite.

“Thank you” She whispered as she sat down again on the snow.

“It's terribly cold out here. What are you doing here?”

Even her own lungs were aching from the cold.

“I am a winter wolf” She said and Storm frowned.

Winter wolves? There was such a thing as a winter wolf?

The lady, who was regaining her color back, must have noticed the confused look on her face and smiled.

“I am the last of my kind. Winter wolves are very rare and unique species of wolves. We possess magical power and we have a relationship with the cold. I love running in the cold.”

Storm had never heard something like this before. Byte then again=in, the lady didn’t seem too bothered by the cold either.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t know that there were wolf traps in the woods and I wanted to pay attention. Thank you so much for helping me out.”

Storm waved her thanks away. This is what she does. Healing.

Her mother was among the pack’s healers and she loved it.

“My name is Tasha. What are you doing out here in the cold? You don’t look too fine to me”

Storm opened her mouth to tell Tasha that she was banished from her land, but that would lead to many more questions and she really didn’t want to answer all those now.

“My name is Storm” 

Tasha smirked and she smiled at the reaction.

“Nice to meet you Storm. I am heading back home. You can come with me; the storm will come again and the weather is not really friendly to travel in. You can stay with me until the sky is clear, okay?”

Storm didn’t know what to make of the invitation. Not like she had a choice. She might as well accept the opportunity she has now.

Tasha clapped gleefully, obviously now all healed.

“Great. Are you up for a run?” 

Storm hasn't really changed to her wolf for a very long time now. She never had the chance to.

“Yeah, why not?” She picked her bag and tied it around her neck as Tasha pulled off her red dress with a smile.

“Can’t be ripping off such a beautiful dress honey” She said, now standing fully naked.

She winked and then her face started changing, becoming hairier and muscular.

Storm had never watched a werewolf turn before. So, she stood transfixed as Tasha crouched down, her bones snapping, her form changing until a beautiful silver wolf was staring back at her with round brown eyes.

Tasha grunted and walked around her, nudging her leg with her nose.

Storm closed her eyes and with a deep breath she surrendered to her wolf.

She grunted her pain when a joint cracked. She had forgotten how painful it was to change. 

She crouched on all fours as her joints and bones shifted and lengthened, her skin shrinking as fur sprouted all over her body.

She threw her head up to the sky and let out a loud howl as her human became completely replaced by a wolf.

She felt free. Good.

Then she caught Tasha staring into her eyes with a very astonished look and Storm wondered what was wrong.

Oh heck. Her contact lens was gone.

Which means that her purple eyes were currently staring back at Tasha and that must be the reason she looked shocked.