Shattered Rules

Part 1-Hunted

     I ran, sides heaving, tongue flapping, paws pounding. Blood stained my tawny coat from the many places where the silver pellets had struck. I had been hunting rabbits at the edge of human land, one of the boys saw me and ran me off with the shotgun and his hounds. I was more afraid of the hounds than the human, since many hounds had been trained to kill wolves, shifter or not.

     My goal was a small shelter at the edge of the Silver Moon pack territory. After the humans learned of Weres we were hunted down mercilessly. The hardest hit were the small packs, the loners, rouges, and outcasts.

     Rouges are the shifters that were troublemakers, often rejected by the pack. Loners chose to leave the pack, often in search of a mate, or looking to leave behind political trouble, loners are loyal only to the Alpha King, and trusted by all packs, often acting as messengers and envoys . Outcasts were the shifters left behind when a pack was taken over by another pack,attacked by humans or  split by rouges.

     My small pack, Aspen Vale, was one of the ones destroyed by the humans. It had been made of my extended family and a few outcasts and loners. There had been twenty of us before the humans hunted us down, and poisoned our well before a sneak attack. I had been away on a trading mission to get safe water and medicines when the attack happened. When I returned, I found my pack slaughtered. A few of the loners helped me bury my pack and taught me the signs of the loners.

     As my strength faded, I found the marker cairns for the pass-by shelters. After the humans began hunting us down, the Alpha King required all packs of fifty members or more maintain shelters with a few travel rations to protect the outcasts and loners. If a shifter was hurt, they could go to the shelter and the pack healer would be called. All that was required, was that you not go more than one hundred feet past the border to hunt, and that you share any news with the patrols. Most packs also had a system where a loner could trade work and such in exchange for a few days of sanctuary.

     I reached the shelter and collapsed, letting down my scent barrier to alert the next patrol. How long I slept, I do not know, but I was awoken by the discovery howl of the patrol. Still laying down, I opened my pouch.  Each Shifter has the ability to control an inter-dimensional pocket, preventing us from having to carry packs or tie things like clothes around a limb while in wolf form. I extracted my harness and prosthetic paw. Yes, I am a cripple, I was born missing my left hand and lower forearm. I was allowed to live because of my superb tracking and hunting abilities, which were apparent even as a young child. I trained hard from a young  age until I could run, hunt and fight in both human and wolf forms whether or not I was wearing my prosthesis, determined to never be a liability to my pack.

     Before the Patrol entered the shelter, I had my foot harness settled. The harness helped keep the foot on in my wolf form. Three dark brown wolves with golden eyes blocked the shelter entrance, I remained on the floor with my head down to show submission and lack of threat.

:What is your name and blood pack?:

:Kyra, sole living wolf of the  Aspen Vale Pack, tracker/hunter.:

:Why are you here? What or Who killed your pack?

: Humans killed my pack, tainting the water, and  hunting us down one by one. I returned from a trading mission to find the pack slaughtered down to the last cub. The Humans, starting about two days hard running north of here, are hunting Weres and shoot at any one or canine unknown to them. All I ask is to be allowed to rest and heal for a few days.:

 The left wolf pricked his ears and took on the listening look we all get when mind linking to a distant wolf.

:Beta Jackson vouches for you, says we should bring you up to the pack house so Healer can look at you. He said to tell you that Fang is his brother.:

 My eyes widen when Fang is mentioned. Fang was the loner who stayed with us on bad winter when snow and ice made all but the most traveled paths untraversable. He taught me how to craft the wooden foot and harness, then trained me in tracking, fighting, and survival skills. The skills he passed on and the connections he helped me make saved my pack and I numerous times over the years.

:Well if Beta Jackson is anything like his brother, I won't keep him waiting.:

I stood, whining slightly as my aching limbs and wounds made their presence known. The right hand wolf, who had remained silent during the encounter, squinted as he saw my artificial paw, but still said nothing. Trembling from pain and fatigue, I walked the four miles to the pack home, surrounded by the patrol. The healer, a silvery grey wolf met us at the door, and ushered me straight insided, against the protests of the patrol.

:If you think she can do any harm to me right now, he rolled his eyes, she's got a pelt full of  silver pellets, you idiots!:

The healer snorted and closed the hall door with a paw kick. :In you go, up on the bed there.:  I just managed to haul my sorry tail up while the healer shifted and dressed.

:I'm Healer Gerard:

:Kyra, last of the Aspen Vale pack:

:Sorry to hear that, would you rather sleep while I patch you up, or...:

:Sleep please!:

 Gerard smiled, "Good, now I can work in peace without complaints or squirming", he said with a wink and a chuckle. He soon had the iv and  mask set up and I was happily out cold.