The Sentinel

Chapter 1

** I'm going to preface this with this is completely unedited. Sorry. Please feel free to leave me comments on where I missed comma's or whatever.
**This is so not a short story. Again sorry... world building takes lots of words.
**The story is almost complete, but I'll post once or twice a week to catch y'all up to where I am.
**Yes this is my first story on here... hopefully not my last. We'll see. :) depends on what y'all think.
**Parts will be kind of erotic, it's werewolves... I know that's what we all read them for. :p (Seriously though I'm over Chaper 40 and it's just a couple of times.
** Enjoy...

I limped down the dark quiet street, with the death traps the fashion world knows as stilettos painfully rubbing the back of my heels. I knew I would have blisters from them, but I had wanted to look good tonight. Stupid, stupid me. I should have listened to my gut. My gut had said it was a bad idea to date Craig. Sure he was witty and funny sometimes. He was handsome and usually kind. I knew that he wasn't Mr. Right, he was more like Mr. Right-Now. Still that didn't take the sting away from me seeing him lip locked with another girl. Dating in college was tough, the stress of school on top of the stress of a relationship meant most didn't last. I was aware, I knew these things, but that didn't stop the tears from sliding down my face. Part of the tears were anger, part were self pity.

Would he have even told me he was unfaithful? I don't think he would have. I wasn't even supposed to be at that party, but I had to take a break from studying and figured why the hell not. I had dolled myself up a little I figured I would surprise Craig at the party. Only it was me who was surprised. Surprised to find Craig's tongue down some other girls throat and his hands full of her ass.

I had left without even saying anything to him. It just wasn't worth it. I wasn't the type to make a scene and he didn't deserve my tears. That's what I told myself, but I cried anyways.

The thing was I knew getting close to someone was a mistake. I've learned over my twenty one years of life to not get close, people disappoint you. I've never had anyone not disappoint me, except for my roommate Amelia. Amelia was like me, she and I had similar experiences growing up in the foster care system.

I continued my painful hobble down the street back to my apartment. The streets that I had traveled in this small college town were sort of lit by aging streetlights and the stray car headlights. Shadows from the occasional alleyways were not really a concern to me. The town was a pretty safe place. Most of the 'crime' here was underage drinking and drunken fights at parties. I had been here three years now, pretty much the longest I've been in one place.

The foster system moved me from house to house. I never stayed long. I didn't even really know my story until I turned 18. When I turned 18 my current case worker dropped my file on her desk and told me I could have it. She explained how I could go to college for almost free. She helped me fill out some financial assistance paperwork and wished me a nice life.

I pushed the tears off my face before I turned the corner. I was two blocks from my tiny apartment I shared with my roommate, Amelia. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and cry in the dark.

My file said I had been found as a newborn. I was left overnight at a fire station. The fire station was a 'safe place' to abandon babies, if my mother had ever been found she wouldn't have faced any charges of neglect or abandonment. I was in a cardboard box according to my file and there was a single Calla Lilly in the box. Nothing else. My very first case worker named me and gave me a birthday. Who knows if it's even truly my birthday. I was sick and weak as a baby. Often having to go to the hospital for things most kids wouldn't. A common cold would wreck me, my immune system was shit. So I was too much work for parents in the foster system. Once I grew some, I started to not get as sick as often and I thought someone would want me. I was mistaken. Once I started to fill out and the 'mom's' in the house would see their husband's or son's look at me a certain way I was gone. I tried to hide my figure and look as plain as possible. That seemed to worked for awhile. Almost two years in one house, but they had to move out of state and didn't want to take me with them. I ended my time at a group home, where I met Amelia. Twelve homes I stayed in, and she was the first person to crack my shell. I was so into not getting to know anyone that I stayed to myself. She aged out almost the same time I did and we have been roommates since. She even chose to go to the same college as me, even though she had the grades for a better school.

Amelia convinced me I needed to date. I needed to learn to let someone besides her love me. Look where that got me. Crying and once again disappointed in people.

I sniffed and tried to stop the tears. Almost home.

I heard the growling and snapping of dogs as soon as I rounded the last corner home. In the alleyway across the street I could just make out two large dogs fighting.

I ran like a wounded duck across the street. Sniffling and waving my arms like a maniac. Neither dog seemed to pay any attention to me as I yelled at them to stop. They continued to bite and claw at each other. Their fangs and claws flashing in the moonlight. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I couldn't just let them fight. Anytime a house had a pet, I was always more sad to leave the pets than the humans.

I tried to see if there was any possible way to get them apart. Neither were wearing collars, so I couldn't just snatch one away. Yelling didn't seem to be working. One was bleeding really bad, but the other seemed almost uninjured. I spotted the hose outside the back door of the restaurant. I tried to slip between the wall and the fighting dogs to get to the hose. Didn't I see on T.V. people separate fighting dogs by spraying them with a hose? Or was it when they were mating?

Right as I was almost past them, they tumbled backwards and crushed me under them. I panicked and kicked my legs and tried to raise my arms to protect my face. The dog on top chomped down on my leg and everything stopped. It become eerily quiet. Both dogs ceased fighting. They stared at each other for a second then took off in opposite directions. As I layed on the ground in the alley I took mental stock of the damage done to me. Besides the super painful bite on my leg, my elbows hurt from where they had hit the concrete. My body hurt from the dogs fighting literally on top of me. Other than that I was okay. At least as far as I could tell lying there. I tried to stand, but couldn't put any weight on my leg.

I reached into my purse that miraculously managed to stay across my body, - pulling out my cell phone and dialed my roommates number.