The White Witch Alpha

Chapter 1

This is a total a long shot, searching for him this way. I don't even know why I have faith in myself for finding my father when I haven't seen or heard from him in eight years. But after someone destroyed everything and everyone I ever knew; he is all I had left. I hoped.

I got word a few months back that he may be with a pack of rogues. The last sighting of this particularly large group was just outside of the D.C. area, so I am hoping against all hope that they are still there and that he is with them.

A needle in a haystack.

I lucked out at the last stop that I made at a convenience store, loading up on gas. A pair of animal control officers were speculating about some wolf sightings in Huntley Meadows Park, so that's where I decided to start my search.

The signs toward the Lockheed parking area are easy to follow and I quickly find a spot to park in. For such a beautiful autumn day, I am a bit surprised that it isn't crowded with a lot of people, even though it works better for me and my quest. It is a little odd that a rogue pack would choose a public place to hide out in but maybe they wanted the proximity to the city? Huntley Meadows Park is supposedly huge so there must be a reason why they chose it. That's if this is even the pack I am looking for. For all I know, the animal control could have just been conversing about run of the mill wolves.

Not werewolves. Not that the humans would know how to tell the difference except that Weres are much bigger than average wolves.

I make a mental note that the park itself closes at dusk, so that would mean I have a little over eight hours to hike through the park to see if there are any signs of this rogue pack or my father. With my backpack in hand, I double check that there are a change of clothes and a couple of water bottles before locking up my car and making my way into my adventure. If I don't find the wolfpack, at the very least this will be a great day of exercise.

Starting off on one of the maintained trails, I don't run into many animals, just a butterfly here or there. I wave to a few other humans that are hiking the trails and enjoying the last vestiges of the warm weather. I can't blame them, the crisp smell of fallen leaves was always my favorite part of autumn. However, after walking an hour on the trail as if I am birdwatching or whatever humans do when hiking, I realize I hadn't passed anyone for at least the last thirty minutes. I find an outcropping of rocks and quickly veer off the trail. After a quick listen for any heartbeats aside of my own, I shed my clothes at a frantic pace, stuff them in my bag, and start my shift.

The pain of my bones cracking and elongating to accompany my new form is welcome, no matter how uncomfortable it is. I hadn't shifted in so long; so I can't help it when I whimper slightly as my body sprouts fur and my jaw realigns into the skeleton of a wolf. No longer in my human form, I need to take a moment to lay down and acclimate myself to my new perception. My eyesight is keen as a human, but as a wolf, it is substantially sharper, causing me to feel nauseated and dizzy. I curse myself for not shifting in a while to avoid moments like this.

It takes a few seconds for that feeling to dissipate before I feel confident to begin walking again. I shake out my golden-brown fur before I grab my bag with my teeth and head towards a denser part of the park. The treetops are so tightly packed together that it seems almost impossible for any sunlight to get through to the forest floor. But enough breaks through to tell me that the sun has shifted considerably in the sky, indicating I'd spent hours in the park and have absolutely nothing to show for it.

I give myself over to my wolf as I can feel she is hungry. I figure once she is sated, I'd call it quits and begin my trek back to my car and figure out where I plan to stay for the night. The hunt for a nearby rabbit is on, when the scent I was desperate to find, hits me all at once. Shifter.