Forever Luna

Sacrifices

verb ~ give up something valued for the sake of other considerations

CHARLIE

I have been following Calida for a week now.

The moment I left the pack, my soul felt torn in two. I had to leave my family behind, my life, my pack... Everything I have accomplished was gone. Time was indefinite when you lived for a long time, and I wasn't sure when I would be back.

But... Calida was mine. She was my soulmate, my everything. I couldn't just let her leave. My sacrifice was for the love of my life. She'd be alone otherwise, and I promised her I would be there for her, no matter what she chose. Phoenix said she was gone, that she was a rogue. But... So was I, and now look where I was.

Chasing a hormonal wolf through the woods.

Anytime I got close to her, she'd spin and engage in a fight. Despite my submission and escape, she wouldn't let me within one hundred yards of her. Her eyes were completely black. Her soul did not recognise me as anything else but a threat. It was tedious and horrid, but I'd do anything for her. Wolf, human, rogue, zombie...

Feral rogues were an awful lot like zombies.

I thought cardio and running with Sean was bad. I really have let myself go. The amount of running I have accomplished in the past seven days made up for my entire year. For rogues, instinct was everything. It kept them alive and sometimes it got them into trouble. So far, I have only had to kill one other rogue, and despite my mate engaging it, I couldn't let her get hurt.

So far, her hunting skills were impressive. Being feral came with benefits, and one of those was catching deer. I have learnt that I could not hunt with her, as she turned on me. Once she was happy tearing into her fresh carcass, I found a sustenance of my own. But of course, she's already scared most decent pray away, and I was growing hungry with the little rodents I could find.

But it was worth it. Because at least Calida wasn't alone.

***

A month after being on the run, I started to forget what my human form felt like. It took a lot of energy for me to resist giving into my wolf, because I knew it would be bad news if he took over.

But things were finally changing.

Just this morning, Calida caught a stag and only ate half of it. Despite hiding in the shadows, her eyes scanned the trees near me as she licked her snout clean. Huffing softly, she turned with her head hung low. I watched, curious, as she entered a stream a few yards away and washed her muzzle.

Starving, I thought I would test out our relationship. Her wolf knew I was here; I wasn't making myself that scarce.

Creeping closer to the food, I kept my head low on my approach. I didn't be quiet, not wanting to spook her into thinking I was going to attack, but I kept my ears pinned to my head and my tail between my legs. It was... emasculating, but I didn't want to fight.

My nose sniffed at the fresh catch, and just as I went to sink my teeth into a piece of skin, she growled. I retreated three steps, whimpering softly to show I wasn't a threat. She exited the stream, her hackles on end as she crept closer. Fully prepared for her to attack me, I braced my paws on the ground. Lowering my head, she stood at the other side of the corpse with her head held high.

I whined as she growled. So I crawled, and she snapped her teeth in my face. Just when I thought I could get a decent meal, she sank her teeth into the deer's throat and dragged it away from me. I lay in the dirt as I watched her drop it by the stream, huffing as she lowered to her stomach and finished it.