Last of her Pack

Chapter 1

February 26th, 2021

I awoke at dawn to the smell of freshly cooked fish being cooked outside my tent. I quickly got dressed in clean undergarments, a set of black leggings with gold vine patterns, my Cygnus family shirt, and my new black sneakers. Stepping out of my tent, I see my 85-year-old grandfather crouching over a fire, with the freshly cooked fish, being seared by the red hot flames. "Finally decided to join me did you?" He asked with a chuckle. He sat up, stretching his tired muscles. In doing so he also handed me breakfast. "Thanks, Gramps," I mumbled with a small smile on my face.

I ate the fish quietly, as gramps put out the fire and took down the tent. We were traveling on foot to the Mating Trials. A series of tests for female wolves to show their strengths, mentally and physically. It was only for the ages of 19 years old to 29 years old. Males and females in that age range were going to attend. Every year it was held on one set of land, it wasn't neutral land or land that belonged to any large pack. It was land that belonged to a pack that was supposedly eradicated years ago. We were close, just a half-hour run and we would be home. "Let's go home gramps," I said with a sad smile.

He nodded while placing the last of everything in the old-fashioned wagon. I attached myself to the wagon like normal, while gramps climbed in. I took my shoes off, as the feel of the ground beneath my feet was comforting. Sprinting off, when I knew gramps was settled, we headed for the one place we missed most, home. I sang loudly while I ran, keeping myself focused, driven, and so people knew I was coming in with force.

When we came to the gates of our old town, I slowed, but still kept a good pace. The town of Eridanus was silent. Only one building remained, and it was the Alpha's house. I ran right for that. I pulled the cart to the side of the house, quickly detaching myself from it, so I could help gramps get out. No one else was here yet, so we didn't have to worry about being seen. "We're home," I stated with tears in my eyes. I took the tent out of the cart, and set it up and the top of the hill where we were. I glanced around the place I hadn't been for ten years. Everything was so different. The streets were empty, and no houses or stores stood. I remember running up the hill from my house, on a Saturday morning, to go play with my uncle on his day off. I remember him taking me into the woods to a clearing he had made just for me, where we would have a picnic in the summer and fall months, and in the winter he would make a skating rink, to teach me.

But now, everything was bare, even the statue of the swan was gone. I wandered into the house. Making my way from the dusty kitchen to the living room with the old box tv. I wandered into the main floor bedroom, and there on the wall, was a picture of my family, with me in my mothers' arms, and my father standing proudly beside her. I took the picture off the wall and carried it with me upstairs. I went into my uncle's old office, and on his desk was still the picture of him and me, when I was four, at our weekly picnic. I picked that up and clung to it, while I rummaged through the drawers to find his pack member logbooks from that year. They were in the same place as always, under a finger painting of mine.

I carried everything out of the house, and back to the tent. By the time I actually got outside, people were arriving. I growled lowly, not liking other people in my homeland. I set my stuff down on the tent floor, before I changed into a tank top, with the same Cygnus family logo on it. I fixed my straw straight, black hair into a tight fishtail braid. I placed my swan pin over my heart before I faced my grandfather. He came over to me with something in his hand. He quickly fastened it into my hair, before smiling down at my five-foot figure. "There, now you're ready." He said. I nodded my head in thanks, looping his arm in mine, while we walked down the hill in silence.

Once we arrived at the crowd of other wolves, I noticed that I was underdressed. But I didn't care. Things like this happen all the time. Everyone was talking loudly, mostly among their own packs, but I also noticed the unmated alphas were talking amongst each other. I shook my head, thinking how my uncle used to be one of them. Suddenly a voice rang out, silencing the crowd. "Ladies and Gentleman, the trials are about to begin. Can I get all the women to line up in alphabetical order based on packs. And then line up from weakest to strongest, and their representatives standing behind them." The voice said.