Chapter 2 - Decisions

The golden letters were written in impeccable handwriting:

"Dear Ada, I speak to you of WolfPaws College to ensure the admission of your daughter, Sera Cohen to my institution when she turns 18.

As you have been our outstanding student and contributed too much to our college, Sera will have a safe place at WolfPaws to learn and become a young woman of exceptional talent and training.

Grateful.

Director Cordelia Dawood"

Sera reread it several times. She didn’t believe she had a safe place for herself. A smile filled her lips until two questions came to her mind:

The first, there was no more sign of her wolf within, and certainly not the little girl Cordelia imagined. Would the director accept someone on special terms?

Sera sat on the cold floor of the hut and thought about what to do. With her hands on her knee, the girl soon realized that there were not many options.

Her enemies would soon return and could find her easily. Already, leaving a forest to go to an unknown place was not equally simpler.

"I have to decide." - Thought nibbling on the fingers of anxiety.

Sera knew that he was "weak", could not cope with fighting wolves, much less when they were transformed. If I was caught, I’d be killed or worse, I’d go back to my old life of terror.

A small anxiety seized her and she felt her body shiver in the midst of nausea, remembering how she was mistreated and treated unfairly.

For a moment she thought of putting the knife blade on her own neck. But a small spark came into her mind and tears fell from her eyes. Why didn’t she deserve to be happy like other people? Didn’t she deserve a chance?

And with that in mind, Sera had already made her decision.

-----

The night was cold that day. The moon shone high in the sky and even with so many evil events in her life, Sera still believed that the mother of wolves was with her. And it was his voice that she listened to to hold on when marks of fear and hatred were made on her body.

And it was Mother’s voice that probably spoke to Sera so that she wouldn’t give up at that moment.

The girl took a deep breath and entered the room, a feeling of repulsion struck her as she watched the bed that had already been the stage of so much suffering.

Her vision was finally directed to the wardrobe, where there was nothing but men’s clothes and a single female.

Sera’s hand trembled as she touched the red fabric. She had never been allowed to touch the piece. Not even when I wanted to remind you of your mother with one of the few she had left. After all, dirty little things should not touch something so pure and beautiful.

Removing the dress from the hanger and placing it on the bed, she removed her own. The cloth made of white and dirty rags was thrown to the ground, and she covered her body full of scars that Sera did not like to remember, with the red dress of puffing stalls. The V-neck did not cover her greatest shame and so it would have to be fixed.

Sera briefly observed the scarf she had left in bed and knew it would be ridiculous to put it with such a beautiful piece, but nothing would make her leave her safe haven. With a sigh, Sera returned to her old clothes and began to work. A short collar that would cover her scars was already of good size.

When she was about to fall asleep, she heard a slight noise that awoke her. She watched the surroundings and there was nothing. Sera swallowed it dry, her fear probably was speaking for her. If they were, the blood wolves would have already invaded the place.

She sighed with relief and took courage for what to do, which would be the decisive step in her life.

He began to prepare to go out. She drank the soup he had taken early in the morning and began his new work.

She put maps, notebooks and pencils in an old backpack and put her hood and scarf above the red dress again.

"Come on! Courage, Sera! You’ve been through worse. A change of life is nothing..."

She thought to herself, but thinking was easier than doing. Her hands trembled, she squeezed her fingers marking her skin and could feel the sweat slightly wet her hair.

The first step was difficult. Going out in the rain to go back to the house was something, but getting out of there to maybe a worse place was something else.

Sera knew it was the only option. But she still felt that insecurity in her chest.

She sighed deeply and said mentally, "Courage, Courage, Courage."

And so he finally took the first step.

Mother Moon still lit the sky, and the fresh wind of the Forest stroked Sera’s hair, making her smile.

The forest was a familiar place for her, a place where she would be far from home and safe among the trees. However, alphas would always find her, even if nature could help her delay her suffering a little.

And that was one of the reasons why Sera hated and feared alphas above all other wolves. Because they were always found and superior to others.

Her father was an alpha, the one who abused her for years was an alpha. Someone who was supposed to protect her pack and her cubs. But it had never been like that, not with her. So alphas were unreliable.

These thoughts of hatred made her forget a little where she was and her purpose.

Upon hearing a sound of a bird, Sera recomposed herself and continued to walk to the exit of the Forest. That had been their home for years, the only place they "should" be.

The sounds of the Night Forest frightened her as she moved, but she could not risk being caught by the blood wolves. Her steps were precise so he wouldn’t slip on a log or something, not that it hadn’t already happened.

Was it minutes or hours? Sera couldn’t tell. She was tired, her legs hurt and now an old flashlight was in her hands, lighting the way.

In a few steps, she saw a different illumination, the end of the Forest and the beginning of an ancient civilization.

Holding the map tightly, she prepared to find the WolfPaws college, not realizing that yellow eyes were watching her.