The Power Within

Chapter One

The sounds of leaves ruffling and slight humming noises from the east caught my attention. I listen carefully while walking towards the sound. Taking a deep breath I smelt the sweet aroma of a small rabbit. The closer I got to the sweet smell the more alert he became. The swooshing sound of his blood through his veins due to his increased heartbeat made the predator inside come out.

As I hide behind the bush, watching him watching me to see what I will do. We are both staring wondering which way to go. I am going straight for him and pounce....

Beep beep beep

"What the hell" I say angrily to myself. Slowly realizing that annoying sound is my alarm clock reminding to get out of bed.

Beep beep beep

I slam my hand on it to turn it off. Wishing I could have ten more minutes of sleep to finally catch that damn rabbit. Every night for the past month I have had this dream.

I am in my wolf, which I don't have, looking for my next meal when I hear him. Then I smell him. I always get to the bush but can never seem to get to the rabbit.

"Ugh," I say as I swing my blankets off of me to get out of bed. As I am sitting there wondering what cruel things will said to me today, I look around my room.

Remembering all the good times I have shared with my friends and family in this room. The colors and bed linens have changed over the years but never the memories. The walls are blue-grey with white trim and a few pictures and shelves with knickknacks of all the places I want to travel too. My dresser is small but my vanity is perfect. I always wanted an antique vanity as you see in the movies where I can see my face and hair from all sides. My parents surprised me with it for my 16th birthday.

My bathroom is small but perfect for just me. I have it all too myself, which is great because we live in the pack house with 25 other werewolves.

I get out of bed to shower, being I have an hour to get to school. I want to get to school before everyone else so I don't have to hear their insults.

As I get out of the shower and walk into my closet to find an outfit for the day my brother bangs on my door.

"Get up wannabe wolf," Jackson says. He wants me to know that I never received my wolf from the moon goddess.

"I am up asshole," I yell back, " give me five minutes and I'll be out."

"I don't care when you're done. Mom told me to make sure you aren't late again for school, idiot," he says. I hear his footsteps going down the hall.

He doesn't want anything to do with me since I have no wolf. Even parents have backed away from me. They don't ask me how things are going or make sure I am doing good anymore. It's as if I became a nuisance to everyone because I don't have a wolf.

I am weak and useless because I can't fight or carry my own weight around, as they all say.

After putting on blue skinny jeans and oversized grey tshirt with my white converse sneakers I grab my backpack and head to school. It is my senior year, and I am glad to be almost out of this terrible place.

I lost all my friends because I didn't shift. I understand why they don't talk to me anymore but it still hurts. No one wants to be friends with the rejected wolf.

Walking down the hall, I hear the start of all the torment for the day.

"It's the reject Hailey," says Parker, the soon to be alpha. "No one wants a pathetic human around here, so do everyone a favor and die!"
Everyone starts to laugh with him, including my ex-friends.

I want to cry, but if I do they win. I hold it in. I make it my fuel. My fuel to be stronger and better in life than them.

The morning just keeps getting worse. The torments get worse. Everyone keeps telling me to leave, to die, and I should never have been born because I am a disgrace to all wolves. Being lunchtime I skip the cafeteria because I don't want to hear the horrible things anymore. I spend my hour in the library reading. It's my escape from reality even if it is only for an hour.

As the bell rings, signaling lunch period is over, I head to my locker to get my last set of books for the day. That is when I hit rock bottom. That is when I finally had enough. I was slammed into my lockers by the queen b of the school, Natasha.

My head hit the metal hard. I felt the blood running down my face into my left eye as I slide down to the floor. I looked up at her and she slapped me across the face, hard.

"Don't look at me you pathetic human. You don't belong here at this school. You are nothing and will never be anything." She said.

"Look at her," a male student says, " she can't even take a slap on the face without bleeding. Pathetic!"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I got up as everyone was laughing at me and walked out. I walked all the way home, which is only a mile an half from school. During that walk I realized that they are right, about one thing and one thing only.

I don't belong here.

When I made it home no one was there. My parents, George and Theresa (dad and mom) are the beta and beta female of the pack so they were with the alpha and Luna working on an event dinner coming up. My brother was god knows where, so I packed. I emptied my backpack and put my bathroom essentials in there and a duffle bag for my clothes and shoes. I didn't want any pictures because I don't want to see any of them anymore. My pathetic human life will be my own.

I have saved up almost $10,000 from odd jobs and holidays. This should get me by for a while until I can find a job and permanent place to live.

I decided it will be best to leave a note. Not that anyone cared, but it is a nice human thing to do.

To Moonlight pack,

I am gone.
I am done.
I am not coming back.
You all won. Congratulations you made the pathetic human leave.

Always,
Hailey

I left my note on the kitchen counter and grabbed my bags to walk out the door. I walked into the forest behind the pack house and never looks back.

This might be a long journey ahead of me but I am willing to give it a try.