What was Lost

Alba Lupus

I ran faster than I ever had in my life. Ran till my paws bled from being cut by broken branches on the floor, ran till the Sun sank beyond the horizon and the Moon took its vigil over the Earth. I ran till my eyes could no longer see my front paws, let alone what was in front of me, till my bones ached too the marrow, and then I kept running. Until the darkness came.

I woke up to the sound of a car driving by close to where I was lying. No - not a car, the sound was a lot deeper than the engine of a car, perhaps a truck or a lorry. Whatever it was, it was loud enough to wake me from my slumber.

Waking up brought back a flood of memories of how I came to this position, and I could feel myself about to break. My wolf whined, and whimpered in my mind. At that point, my mind decided to remind me that I hadn't even gotten the chance to apologise to Requiem.

Squeezing my eyes tight, I swallowed, wincing as my dry throat caused the action to feel as if I were swallowing fine sandpaper. Now was not the time to wallow in my grief. Right now I had more pressing concerns, like where the hell was I? I could grieve. Later.

Groggily, I tried to stand up on my paws, but they were weak, barely coping with the torture I had put them through, and with a shake they collapsed under my weight. Yup-there was no way around it, I was not going to be moving for a while. However, just because I couldn't move to explore my surroundings, didn't mean I couldn't employ my other senses.

First, I used my eyes. Thankfully, I was still in the forest, safe from prying humans, but I could tell that I was very near a highway for comfort. Around me grew trees taller than 15 ft., and I could see the trickle of water signalling a stream nearby.

Good.

Soon, when I regained control of my legs, I could soothe my aching thirst. I was curled up against the bark of a giant Oak, and apart from the beautiful trees that filled my line of sight, there were no other things of import that I could see in my surrounds, so I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds around me.

The scuttle of leaves, to my left, a few yards away-two squirrels had made haste up a tree. On the same tree, high up in the thick branches a bird let out a low sweet note that was answered by an equally sweet note, this time from a tree directly in front of me.

The call set of a domino effect, and soon the entire forest was filled with the echoes of a thousand birds, singing in perfect harmony. I noted that it must be early morn, for the birds to be this chipper, and I could barely feel the rays of the rising sun hitting my coat.

Finally, I focused on my nose, my sense of smell being greatly enhanced by me being a werewolf. Two scents stood out at me, foreign in the woodland landscape. The first was the sharp, addictive smell of detergent, of freshly washed clothes. The second, more frightening than the first was Were. The husky smoked meat smell was faint in the air, which meant that the werewolf had passed through here a while back. At most, three days ago. That had me sighing in relief-there was no immediate danger. It did, however, lead to other problems.

What if I was on another Pack's territory? Since I was banished from the Hells Gate pack, I was now a Rogue. Fair game to any other Rogue, and Pack alike. My breath hitched. If there was a Pack, then they would sense me soon, and send wolves after me, and not so we could sit and have a cosy chat. If there was a Pack here, I was dead.

Packs didn't take lightly to Rogues in their territory. We were wild and untameable, a stain on the face of werewolves, and most of us were either deranged, murderers, or rebels. Of course there were also the few like me. The banished. The thought brought tears to my eyes as I remembered my mates, but I blinked them away. Grieve. Later. I told myself, and once again tried to stand up on all fours.

Thankfully, this time, I managed to stay up, although my legs were still trembling in a way that resembled the leaves on the nearby oak shaking in the wind. Okay, I thought. I was up, but the question was, could I walk?

Tentatively I lifted a shaking paw and placed it down in front of me, and tried to take a step. It was wobbly, and unstable, but yes, I could walk. Smiling a wolfish grin, I proceeded to slowly make my way east of my current position to where the stream was. I bent my head, and began earnestly lapping up the liquid ambrosia that flowed.

In fact, I was so caught up in the euphoria of drinking water after having starved for so long, that I didn't realise that someone had come up behind me until it was too late. A voice dipped in ambrosia and full of the depth of a wise soul called out from behind me.

"And what is your business here, Alba Lupus?"