Fatal Justice

† Chapter Twenty-Four †

There's no place like home, but what if there's no home? 

Four Years Later 

A lone rogue, that is what he was.  

He went from pack to pack, stealing just enough to survive, and he never stayed in one place for longer than a day. He had never gotten caught in the act of stealing because he slipped in with the cover of night. The darkness had become his best friend. 

Every time he paused for too long, they got too close, so he learned to love running. From the past, from himself, from everything that hurt him. As long as he kept ahead of his twisted family, he would be just fine. Just like he always was, he was keeping his head down. It was working because he was surviving against all the odds. 

Sometimes the silence was all too much and he wondered if he was going insane. Of course, he had his wolf and they spoke on and off during the day, but he found himself longing for another form of company, especially as the time stretched between, days, weeks, years. He had never felt so alone in his life. At times, he would pause to listen to passing conversations from pack members because it was the only form of communication he engaged in. His words had long since abandoned him. 

However, he had heard quite a few rumors about himself and the rest of his family. He never got enough information that was actually valuable but he heard the fear in their voices as they whispered their knowledge. Apparently, Braxton had allowed Russell to lead as an Alpha, and there was more bloodshed than ever before. It had only gotten worse and they wouldn't let him escape the red on his ledger. 

Regardless, he had run into his fair share of scraps, either with other rogues who had completely lost their humanity or pack wolves on a hunt. He was careful never to cross into a territory and he strictly traveled aimlessly in No Man's Land, a territory that wasn't claimed by any pack. He had acquired quite a few new scars on his skin from the quick fights, more often than none he was outnumbered as a lone wolf. 

From sleeping in the mud, to shivering through rough winters, to frolicking in the summer sun, he lived strictly in his wolf form through all the seasons of nature. Only shifting when absolutely necessary. He was less human than ever before. He had learned a lot about survival out in the wild for the past four years. 

His appearance had become rough and unkept but he no longer cared. He had accepted that this was who he had become and he hadn't taken a single life besides animals for food, so he wasn't bothered by any of it. At least out here, with only forest around him, nobody could ever lay a hand on him. It was the closest he would ever get to being free. 

He had come across a few human towns but he didn't like being near them that much. Humans were quite annoying and they babbled endlessly about pointless things. His ears had been ringing by the time he finally left and vowed to avoid any future human towns. He had just wanted to see if there was food in a dumpster or something but one time, an older man fired a shotgun at him and he never wanted to be that close to death again. And his wolf had agreed as they shook their fur, vowing it would never be a rug for some pesky human. 

His past was forgotten as he ran with the wind and slept with the moon. He didn't care about anything. He didn't have to because he only needed to take care of himself. There was no one else and at first that had been splendid until he began missing Anise. He wondered what had happened to her. She would be a toddler by now. Was the Alpha treating her well? Did she take after her father? 

He didn't remember the name of the pack, as he wasn't sure it had ever been mentioned, and he didn't remember his way back. He hoped that during his years of wandering, he would find a familiar scent to lead him back to Anise but no such thing happened. Better yet, he stayed far away from Conquistador because he knew by heart where that hellhole existed. 

Of course, he helped anyone who he came across that needed help. One time, he had run a few months with a tiny little rogue who had the fiercest spirit. They went north together until they finally broke apart. He missed the rogue but he knew he was a danger to anyone he met. He wanted to honor his vow to protect the innocent but how could he when he brought nothing but the shadow of death with him?

Besides, he was alone. He couldn't do anything alone. He didn't have a pack, nobody to have his back, and so he continued to survive. Maybe one day he could keep that promise to his past self, the man who wanted to protect those like him, but he couldn't do it alone. Everything boiled down to that. 

And he wouldn't admit it but he was lost. Like the wilderness that he made home. 

Furthermore, his thoughts often wandered aimlessly and he let them because there was nothing but silence in his head. Maybe it was the edge of insanity but it didn't seem too bad. He wasn't in paralyzing pain, he wasn't struggling to breathe, and he wasn't haunted--at least not right now. Something about being wild and free had satisfied his soul enough to forget those memories for a while. 

He had been to the mountains in the north, he had been to the sandy beaches in the south, and he had explored everything in between. He was simply existing and it was a bit nicer than being confined to four walls. He just needed to forget everything in his past for a bit. 

Even more so, he had gained his weight back in a few short months. He hunted and ate all that his stomach could hold. His wolf was able to heal them with the proper speed instead of extremely delayed responses because they were too weak. No more did he have an empty stomach, never again would he starve. His muscles had filled in, even growing larger than once before, but he kept his lean physique from all the running. 

However, he had purposefully been running loops and creating dead ends trails, just so the ones hunting him would be thrown off. He hadn't found a place to settle down or even remotely consider stopping his run. It was like that moment when he ran four years ago, he just never stopped. He knew he couldn't and as much as a part of him enjoyed constantly moving, he was older now. Nearly twenty-five. 

He found himself thinking about a home. Would he ever find one? He wasn't sure but he was looking. Though, the rational part of him knew that there was nowhere he could hide in this country. His family would find him. He started considering the idea of crossing the border, straight into Canada. He didn't think they held power over a different country.

Perhaps he could cross the border just enough to escape his twisted family and then he could finally live in peace. As he pondered that idea for many days, he found himself liking it more. It would be like a chance to start over. A new life. 

Slowly, his path changed and he headed north. 

※      ※     ※

Oh, my child, he finally got some sort of break from all the pain. 

I imagined this whole chapter to be so peaceful...but lonely. This life for him has been nothing but loneliness and pain. So, in the next chapter, we shall meet his very first friend. 

It's half-past midnight and I'm making horrible life decisions once again. Ah well. My whole life became a circus this past week and I'm just... idek