An Alpha without a Pack

Chapter 1

Sometimes being a loner has its perks. I don't have to worry about people bothering me or worry about making plans, I can focus on myself. Being a lone wolf also means that there are a lot of downsides. There will be constant whispers that say I'm savage or that I hate everything. I must watch where I step, who I bump in to, and who I look at. Being a loner automatically makes life ten times harder than it needs to be.

Unlike the rumors that go around, I wasn't always a loner. Just like everyone else, I use to belong to a pack, I use to have a family. I was the youngest daughter of the alpha of the Silver pack. The Silver pack was by no means large or powerful. We were made up of 50 official members and was slowly growing. Not many wolves wanted to join a small pack, instead, they wanted to be part of some of the larger ones like Quarts Gem or Gold Ore. Of course, that never bothered us. We tended to ourselves and did everything we could to avoid problems with other packs.

All that changed when the Ruby pack attacked. They were also known as Vampires.

Now, when I say Vampires, I do not mean the blood-sucking creatures of the night. That is a silly story that would be told to young pups to scare them straight. Although they act like Vampires, they are the strongest wolf pack known across our world. Several weeks before the attack, my father received a letter that asked him to meet with the alpha of the Rubies. No one spoke to me or my siblings about what the meeting was about but whatever it was, it had my father afraid and ready to fight to the death. I have never seen my pack train so hard in my life. Not only did we train to fight with better and stronger tactics, but we also trained on surviving which included walking without leaving tracks, how to hide in plain sight, and how to hide our sent.

Several weeks after the meeting, the Vampires attacked in the middle of the night. Seeing the Silver Pack fight so hard was a sight to behold. Even my siblings and I were in it. I made it a point not to kill another wolf, but I did make it to where they could not fight anymore. I wish I could say the same about the others in my pack. We knew there was no way we were going to win but we did not give up, and we were going to take down as many of the vampires as we could with us. The fighting, however, did stop when my father fell. Drake Blood, the son of Ruby's alpha, had ripped out his throat and howled, his red eyes as dark as the blood that covered his teeth. Others joined him.

After the horrible sound of howls ended, my pack ran from the fighting and into the woods in a different direction, the Vampires close on their heels. Drake left my father's lifeless body and chased after my pack's Beta. I went to head towards my father but Katie, my older sister, ran into me trying to push me in the direction of the woods.

We need to get out of here, her voice rang in my head. Our brothers are already heading to the safe spot, we need to hurry.

I went to jump around her, but she blocked me. We need to bring him, I whined.

Katie looked at me with sorrow filled eyes as her beautiful brown coat dripped with blood. He would want us to get to safety, Sophie. You Know that.

I took one more glance at my father and ran to the woods with Katie close behind. We ran and ran, away from the cries of our pack. Soon the night turned quiet and all I could hear was my heartbeat. We made it to our brothers at a safe spot along the river.

They were already changed as humans. The relief in their eyes as they saw us made me cry and I ran right into the river. The icy water shook me to the core, but I didn't care. All the blood, dirt, and sweat washed off me with ease. When I emerged from the water, I morphed back to my human self and grabbed my bag that we had hidden in the trees a few days ago. We all got dressed in silence, either because we were too scared to talk, or we were in mourning. The quite had only lasted a few more seconds. I smelled the blood right before a chestnut brown wolf jumped from the trees and pinned Katie down to the ground. Three more followed after. My brothers morphed into wolves, shredding their clothes and attacked the Vampire wolves. I went to join when Katie yelled at me to run. At first, I hesitated, but then I morphed, grabbed a bag, and ran. I wish I could grab more but I had to get out of there. A fifth Ruby wolf jumped from the brush and ran after me.

With the bag between my jaws, I ran along the river fallowing the flow of the water. The Ruby wolf was quick but was a little too heavy to catch me. Up ahead I heard rough waters as the flow of the river got faster. The Vampire made to bite at my back leg when he was close enough, but I jumped into the river. The water's current was so strong it pulled me along with it and I struggled to keep my head above the surface. I was never a good swimmer in my wolf form. The current got stronger, more dangerous. Before I knew it, I was free-falling. I watched as the Vampire wolf almost didn't stop in time at the edge of the cliff.

I hit the bottom of the waterfall hard and the current whipped around me, pulling me along with it yet again. Water smacked me around, shoving its way into my nose and mouth. There were more rocks with jagged edges here and it was difficult to dodge them. On either side of me, the banks of the river were too far, and the water was too fast. My body was thrown against a rock after rock. I saw a low hanging branch and went to grab it. When my claws sank into the wood, it snapped, and I fell back into the freezing water. The branch fell, landing on me hard, making my world go black.

*****

The water splashed against my naked body rocking me awake. I opened my eyes to see that I was laying on a pebbled bank with half of my body in the river. Not far from me was the bag that I had grabbed, soaking wet. My body protested when I made myself stand up. Bruises were already beginning to form and the cuts I had were already clotted. Limping, I grabbed my bag and walked further onto the bank.

I was on unfamiliar territory. There was no sign of the waterfall, no familiar sound or smell, or any landmark of any kind. A small breeze blew making me shiver. Turning towards the woods, I walked in and came across a small cave. I started a small fire and laid out the contents that were in the bag to dry. Then I went back into the woods to grab some mint leaves and a couple of wildflowers that I came across. I mashed up the plants into a paste and rubbed it into my skin. When I was sure that I did not smell like myself anymore, I got dressed in my brother's now dried clothes, put out the fire, and began walking along the river towards what I hoped was civilization.