The White Wolf

Etta-Grace Bowman: White Wolf

I came to the lake and I fell to my knees, crying a river. I cover my mouth with my hands to muffle the sound. I can still hear their voices in the background, they weren't getting closer but they weren't going away either, and if I continue to lay here crying loudly then they will hear me. So, I cup my hands and put them in the water, drank quickly, and then got back up on my feet and began running. The perfect white dress mother had warned me sternly not to stain before the party- ruined by mud, grass, and blood.
Even though I was terrified, I ran. I ran as fast and as far as I could- just like she told me. When I felt I couldn't go any farther, I sat up against a tree stump, and listened intently to my surroundings. She said she was right behind me, and that father was right behind her. So I waited for hours, nodding off to sleep then being jerked awake by every little sound.

The next day, when I finally heard voices, they were the voices of many. The voices of those who slaughtered my pack last night. I listened for only a moment before I took off running again, "Why are we all the way out here? The boss said to go to the ends of the pack territory and this is way past that." One man said.

"New orders, he hasn't found the girl yet so we walk until we find her." An older man with a thick Russian accent says.

"How will we know when we find her?" The first man asks.

"In the vision he said he saw her in a white dress, long, brown, curly hair, green eyes."

That's when I realized it was me. They were talking about me.

I started running again.
***
End of flashback
***

I didn't stop running until I got to a small log cabin with a smoking chimney. I watched it hesitantly from the outside for a while before having the courage to step up on the front porch and knock on the door. That's when I met Jess and Tony. They were a newly wed couple- mates. And they kindly offered me shelter for the night. The next day they introduced me to their alpha and I pleaded with him to allow me to join his pack. He had heard what happened to my pack and allowed me to become a part of his own. He became like a father figure to me, and for the past 7 years I have been a member of the Moonlit pack, living with Edna and Rose: two of the oldest women in the pack- both widows- they lived together and allowed me to live with them, neither of them had grandchildren so they looked at me as their own. I will never forget the Moonlit pack's kindness toward me, even if it did come at a terrible price.

The other kids my age in the pack never accepted me. Probably because I wasn't truly one of the them, or because they think I'm a latent wolf, or maybe both.

This brings us to the present.

"Etta-Grace for the love of goddess why aren't you awake yet? You were supposed to wake 30 minutes ago!" Edna yelled to me. I shot out of bed as soon as she said 30 minutes ago. I have this really bad habit of hitting snooze on all three of my alarms while half asleep and then eventually I turn them off completely. Usually it's an accident, and I'll confuse "stop alarm" for "snooze alarm" and then things like this happen.

Unfortunately I shot up too quick and was hit with a massive amount of dizziness and had to sit back on my bed.

My room is nice, but modest. Certainly not the best looking bedroom in the pack I'm sure, but Edna and Rose are very generous with me despite their little funds. However they've never not provided for me. I finally stood up from the bed and stretched while yawn-screaming loudly as I walked to my closet to grab a grey tank, a blue and white flannel and a pair of dark ripped jeans with my white vans. I slipped the outfit on as quickly as I possibly could and examined myself in the mirror. I pulled my long, brown, wavy hair out of its ponytail I had thrown it in last night, and fixed it how I liked it before running out the door. It came down past my shoulder blades when it was down. I usually never did anything with it unless I had to look presentable or if I was just in the mood to look cute. Not that anyone noticed or cared.