Hopeless

Going...

"Shinobu, you should really be awake by now you know!" Yasu barked at me in his deep voice as I rubbed my paws on my snout, just waking up in a pile of leaves where I'd fallen asleep the night before.

"Ugh... Yasu, I was already awake you little..." I scrambled over the undergrowth into a pounce, leapt, and pinned his powerful shoulders to the ground. He might've been a male wolf, but I was older, and I was most certainly not going to let him feel stronger than me.

"Hey, hey, no need to get hasty here Shino! I know you're older than me, you don't need to prove it every morning!" Yasu woofed with a grin as he heaved me off of him.

"Oh ha ha ha, Yasu. You just want me to let my guard down!" I growled playfully at him as I trotted off to hunt in the thick woods, as I did every morning until that one day... Erm, never mind that thought. Yasu barked me a good-bye, then ran off to see if he could do anything with mother or father.

"Hey, Shinobu, I'm coming with you today!" I heard another male wolf's voice, this one deeper than Yasu's, meaning he was closer to my age. I warily and agitatedly turned around. Wolves were constantly asking me to be their mate, and I knew exactly which wolf this was.

"Go away, Minoru..." I rolled my eyes as the black and gray wolf ran up beside me.

"Aw, but Shinobu! Why you gotta be this way, huh? I know you kind of, avoid society and all, but come on! Give this wolf a chance!" Minoru pleaded.

"Minoru, I've told you before, I don't want a mate, especially not an outgoing wolf like you!" I growled. Then, I ran off into the woods. I ran quite far, actually. All the way to the river, which was about two miles from where the pack was currently resting. There, I silently hunted.

After about two hours of hunting, I returned to my pack, having eaten two rabbits, a squirrel, and a mouse, which really wasn't much.

"Shinobu! So, nice to see you back here!", my mother, Ayano, smiled.

"Yes, Mother, hello..." I sighed. You see, I was very secluded from my pack, even my own parents. I just never felt at home with them. Ever since I was old enough to hunt, it's what I'd loved to do. I'd spend hours in the thickly wooded forest, hunting for sport, and usually costing the pack a few meals as I had a habit of taking all the prey in the area. I was pretty sure the only reason I hadn't been banished from the pack yet was because my father, Daisuke, was the Alpha.

"What's wrong, Shinobu?" Mother had asked me.

"Nothing." I had grunted, when really, I was thinking of doing something reckless... My mother just nodded silently, as if she knew what I was thinking. I then went off to find Yasu.

"Yasu!" I howled as I walked around the camp.

"Yasu!"

Still, I couldn't find him. I howled his name once more, and suddenly, my legs collapsed beneath me, and I felt a huge weight on my back. I swung my front paw towards my attacker's face and felt skin and fur peel off. I batted once again, and felt warm, sticky blood drip onto my muzzle as my paw connected with a muzzle.

"SHINOBU!" I heard Yasu's voice, but it seemed to be coming closer with every second of the attack. Instantly, I felt a huge paw connect with my ear, and then a sudden surge of pain zipped through my head. I yipped in pain, and then began snapping at my enemy's throat. Immediately, I felt something hard between my teeth, so I bit harder, and then I heard it snap. After that, my enemy was limp. Abruptly, the body was removed from me, and I realized what I'd just done. Yasu's shocked green eyes looked as if they were glowing against his dark gray fur, and the attacker, as I noticed after I glanced at the body, was Taiki, the Omega of the pack. He was known for his unstable brain state, and that he usually attacked any wolf on sight, effectively trying to murder them. Now, I had just killed him. I had killed him by biting through his neck. I had killed him. The weird part was, it didn't feel good, but it didn't feel bad...

Everyone stared at my white and gray flecked fur and my blue eyes, everything now stained in Taiki's blood.

Silence.

Silence...

More silence...

"Sh-Shinobu killed h-him..." A younger sounding wolf whispered. I glanced around with a glazed expression as my father slowly walked towards me, teary-eyed. I knew exactly what was about to happen.

"Shinobu... I am so... so... sorry..., but... we can't have...", my father began to get choked up, "a killer... in the pack...", tears began to trickle down his muzzle, "I exile you... from the... p-p... pack..." And that was how it happened.

"But, Father! She was defending herself!" Yasu cried out.

"Yasu, if you care so much, then... YOU LEAVE WITH HER!" Daisuke cried. He sounded angry, but I knew it was a cover up for being sad. It was at this moment that I knew, I knew that leaving would make me better. I knew that being alone with the only one I care about would make me a better wolf. I knew that it was time to leave, to take care of myself, to say good-bye to my parents, my pack, everything I had known since my puphood. It was time to become a lone wolf.