The Scared and The Scarred

Chapter 9

A small spread across my face as I stood, motionless. He may have left, but he didn't get mad, and I know I felt him brush his hand through my hair. I looked out the large windows Luca had previously been gazing out.

A thick layer of snow sparkled below, coloring the forest white. The scene was breathtaking, but I wanted to be out there in it, not cooped up inside. I loved running in the snow, being a wolf, I kept warm, but it was still a great feeling.

Once I was out of the house, I made my way through the forest, just walking for a while, admiring the beauty of the wintery forest around me. Stopping at a small stream, I removed my clothes. Instantly shivering in the cold, I shifted quickly.

I jumped around in the snow for a while, before breaking into a sprint. Kicking the snow up behind me as I ran, I was feeling happier than I had in months.

I ran for quite some time before I came to a small area where the tree tops were low, their snowy tops creating a canopy around me. I shifted and quickly untied my clothes from my ankle, putting them on.

I walked to a log that lay on its side, and swiped the cold snow off its surface, before sitting. With my hand hovering above the snow I focused. Suddenly, a green stem shot out of the ground and followed my hand as it went higher. Opening my hand around the stem I watched the bright red rose bloom under my fingertips.

I sat for a while, the peaceful silence a perfect time to think. Deciding the others would begin to wonder where I'd gone, I figured it was time to head back. I shifted back and began the long walk home.

About halfway home I was smelling an unfamiliar wolf. I stopped, sniffing the air around me. There was definitely someone here. I slowly took a few more steps, and then stopped suddenly. Whoever was following me stopped just a second after I did, so I heard the snow crunch under their feet.

Whipping around I growled at my surroundings. They were closer now. Finally, a figure dressed in white stepped out from behind a patch of trees. I lowered myself closer to the ground, my growls growing louder and louder.

"So strange.. A perfect rose growing out of the snow in the middle of winter." The man was close enough now for me to see him twirling my rose around his fingers.

His eyes met mine and he smiled menacingly. His intimidating dark orange eyes proved what I had been fearing; he was a rouge.

"We've been watching you, you know?" His voice was calm, but terrifying. "Maybe they'll make me Beta when I bring you back to the pack." He snarled.

I felt like I was watching in slow motion as the rose fell from his hands, and he leapt into the air, shifting into a huge, burnt orange colored wolf.

I knew if I ran he would catch me. There was nothing to do now, but fight. My legs began to shake as he neared me, his growls so loud it was as if they were shaking the ground. I couldn't be scared now.

I stood taller, growling back as threateningly as I could. I pushed the fear back until it was gone.

Fight or die. 

And with that last thought,

I attacked.