Forgiving A Murderer

Part 1 - Lights Out

        Running always came with a sense of peace for Davina. The wind, the burn, the rush. All of it was so addictive and alluring. She couldn't get enough of it. She loved to push her limits, to run t'ill she couldn't breathe and her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest.

She was glad she loved it so much, it came in handy in times like these.

Times like these were those times where she had to cross through a pack's territory. It was a tricky ordeal, but one she had to do every time. Usually she didn't mind, she was faster than most patrol wolves, but this time she scowled. Snow was everywhere, and not the good fresh powder stuff. This was all mud and slush.

The worst when you're trying to stay alive.

She stood about half a kilometre away from the invisible border. She never really understood how she or other wolves knew a border was there. There was a different smell in the air, the closer you got, and every time she crossed a border the smell would intensify the deeper into the territory she ventured.

She knew she couldn't get too deep into the territory this time, she had to be as quick as she could. A clean in and out. This evidently wouldn't be easy. For starters, there was about a kilometre of empty field between her and the edge of the forrest on the property. That left her vulnerable, but she had no choice.

She had been crouched in this position for the better part of an hour, immobile as she assessed her surroundings. She wanted to see how many wolves were patrolling, and what their pattern was. But she had yet to spot any, which was either really good luck for her or they were hiding right behind the edge of the forrest.

She huffed, annoyed. With another glance around she readjusted the straps of the backpack on her shoulders and took off, sprinting past the invisible line and onto the pack's territory. The scent hit her like bricks, but she kept going.

The smell was much stronger than she had anticipated, and for a moment she felt a pang of fear. The stronger the smell, the bigger the pack. She cursed at herself mentally. She should have done her research like she was supposed to. She had no idea which pack owned this land. It was dangerous, but she had no choice after a few familiar looking wolves had made their appearance at the motel she was staying at.

She broke through the cover of the trees and stopped instantly, ducking down close to the ground and hiding behind the trunk of a tree. Foliage concealed her from behind, and the cover of the tree allowed her to peer around and assess the forrest.

She knew if any wolf was around she was toast. Because she was a rogue, a lone wolf, the lack of a pack and Alpha somehow didn't sit right with her body. Her scent and the scent of every other rogue wolf out on the globe held a distinct characteristic that differentiated them from pack wolves. That characteristic being stench. They stank, literally. She could still smell it, even after years of being a rogue. No amount of lotions or perfume could mask it.

Glancing around, she saw no one. If there was anyone they would have shown themselves already.

She took out her compass and glanced at it before taking off straight ahead.

She ran at full speed, jumping over logs and swerving around trees. There was no point hiding now, she was in and there was no going back.

She had been running for about ten minutes when she heard the first startled bark.

Here we go, she thought grimly, pushing harder when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps fall into rhythm behind her

She didn't need to glance back to know there were two. Males, judging by the heavy footfalls. Not an alpha or a beta thank god, or else she would be toast. There was always that chance that either one would be out on the territory at the moment she chose to cross through. That would be bad, there was no outrunning them. Outrunning normal pack members was hard enough, and even then there was a big chance of getting caught, even being as fast as she was.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She needed to be focused. She concentrated on not tripping, seeing as the forrest floor was very uneven. Roots shot up from the ground haphazardly, and some branches hung dangerously low.

It was a half hour later, with five more wolves following closely, that she started to feel the fatigue. How big is this fucking territory?? She felt the fear again. She really should have done her homework. If the land was too big there was no way she was going to outrun these mutts.

She didn't have time to find out just how big the land was. A black wolf jumped out from behind a tree as she ran past, tackling her to the floor where her head smacked painfully against a boulder, and it was lights out for Davina.