The Journey

Chapter 1

1 year after the incident:

ROSA'S POV;

I padded softly through the woods, the leaves crunching beneath my feet as I moved closer to my target. The buck's head raised from the ground as a twig snapped, I stilled and held my breathe, my hunting instincts kicking in and keeping me calm. The buck relaxed and I inched closer, crouching low and getting ready to pounce. I launched myself off of my back paws, clamping my front claws around the buck's haunches and sinking my teeth into its soft skin. The buck kicked and jumped around, trying to throw me off but my grip held strong as I tore through it, breaking its hip and tearing the leg almost clean off.

My heart pounded as the buck slowly lost all of its blood, still kicking and moving but weakly. As the buck flopped down, I held on for another twenty seconds before releasing its haunches and going towards its head, biting down on its neck and putting it out of its misery. Once the buck was dead, I began to drag it back to my den a few metres away, but stopped short when I saw the den was still wet from the previous nights' rain. I ate the buck in front of my den before wandering in and pulling aside my rough blankets and laying on top of them. My eyes slowly shut as I had a full belly and was tired from the week of hunting. 

Leaves rustled in the background and my head snapped up, perking my ears to listen for the direction the sound came from. A branch broke off from a tree and a large wolf stepped out from behind it, growling angrily towards my small den. I stood up, ready to fight if needed and slowly but cautiously walked out, not taking my eyes off of the beast. It growled again, then shifted. "Shift, rogue. You have no business here and I don't take kindly to rogues on my territory." I looked at him confusedly, blinking slowly to show I didn't understand what he meant. "You must shift! Now!" He screamed at me. I whimpered at the power behind his voice but shook my head no. What does he want from me? I don't know how to shift... He gave me a ferocious look and grabbed me by my ruff. "You're coming with me then, seeing as you refuse to co-operate." 

He began to drag me towards the forest surrounding the clearing and I dug my claws into the ground, trying to stop him from moving further. He growled again and extended claws into the back of my neck, pulling me forwards and dragging me harshly. It was like that for a few minutes, him dragging me and me whimpering occasionally when a rock or sharp stick cut into my haunches. Suddenly, we arrived at a road and he pulled me to a stop, a car coming into view. It stopped in front of us and the back door opened, revealing a gruff man with stark brown hair and emerald eyes. I didn't have time to wonder what was happening before I was thrown into the back seat and the door was shut and locked behind me. The man who dragged me here jumped into the passenger seat and the driver immediately set off, rather quickly too. I was held in place by the green-eyed man as we drove down the bumpy back road. After around an hour, a large house started pulling into my field of view, it was almost like a mansion, but a little bit bigger. 

The car pulled into the drive way and a small group of men came out of the house, headed towards my side of the car. They opened the door and pulled me out roughly, slamming the door shut and dragging me towards the front of the house. We entered and I immediately smelt about fifty people, my heart racing and my head whirring with all the smells. I tried to focus and instead looked around, seeing a large set of stairs on one side of the giant foyer and a glistening chandelier hanging over my head. The men pulled me towards the stairs and dragged me up about three flights, before stopping and moving towards an oak door at the end of a hallway. They opened the door and the man inside growled. I looked up and almost instantly stilled. He radiated power and smelt of rage, yet he looked at me weirdly. 

"Shift, rogue. I will not tell you twice." I whimpered and shook my head, hoping he could understand that I didn't know how to do what he was asking. He sighed and walked up to me. "Do you even know how to shift? You look almost too young to have shifted, so do you know how to shift back?" I shook my head no and he ran a hand through his hair, sighing again. "You just have to picture yourself as a human again, your body will do the rest." I did as he said and felt my bones cracking and moving. I howled in pain and he looked at me in surprise. Like he promised, I was human again. "What happened to me? Where am I? What am I? Who are you? What's wrong with me?" I cried as I asked the questions that had been running through my head for the past year, for the first time since that night at the hospital, I was human again and it didn't feel as good as I had hoped it would.

His look of surprise made me question if he even knew what i was. But after a few seconds he looked at me, "sit, please. I need to know what happened before I can tell you anything." I did as he said, sitting on a leather couch in front of his coffee table where he sat. "My name is Rosa Lee. A year ago I was attacked by four wolves, they bit my neck and tore my leg apart but a man found me on the forest floor and took me to the emergency room. I had multiple surgeries done and woke up about a week after the attack. On the night that I had woken up, it was a full moon and the next thing I knew, I felt this excruciating pain coursing through my body." I sobbed once, then took a deep breathe and continued. "I was a wolf, I don't even know what it means. I heard a voice in my head that told me we needed to shift to live through it, but I was just so confused that by the time the nurses came rushing in, I bolted out of the door and the hospital. I was so scared..." Through my tears I saw a thoughtful look cross his face as he leaned back in his chair and nodded at me to continue. "After that night, I stayed in the woods. Travelling around, hunting for food. I don't even know where I am right now. I'm sorry if I did something to your men, but I swear, I don't know what's wrong with me." He contemplated everything I had told him whilst I continued to sob and cry. 

"You were bitten then." He stated as if it made so much sense now. "What? What does that even mean? I don't understand!" I shouted, I was so confused and he wasn't making any sense to me. Just listen to him, he will tell you everything, a voice whispered into my head, startling me. The man looked at me knowingly, then explained himself better. "Those wolves who bit you, they weren't just regular wolves, they were werewolves. One must have been an alpha if it turned you. But it wasn't a random attack, if it were they would have just killed you instead of turning you." That shocked me and I looked down at my hands. They looked different now, thinner, yet still strong. 

"They attacked me for a reason?" I let the question hang in the air and the man in front of me knew better than to answer it. "Well... Maybe, we don't really know their reasons. But I can tell you that you aren't like most werewolves. Being bitten, it changes the wolf. You'll be as strong as an alpha, even without the title. Maybe even stronger, but you'll have to be trained if you ever wish to harness that strength." I gave him a funny look, still confused. "Why are you helping me, if I were to be stronger than you, why are you helping me?" He laughed and gave me a small but loving smile. "Because I know how much it sucks to not know where you stand in the world. I want to help you, it's what my daughter would want as well." His smile dropped slightly and I immediately felt bad. "How did she die?" I whispered softly. He looked up at me with tears brimming his eyes. "Her mother was human, so was she. She got diagnosed with cancer, there was nothing anyone could do to save her. She died at 16, but she was one hell of a fighter. She wasn't even scared, she just said to keep her in my heart..." He trailed off, his tears falling down his face and leaving a trail of water down his cheeks. I put my hand on his cheek and he smiled, "I'm sure she would be proud of what you're doing, sir." He gave me a sad look but smiled anyway. "My name is Richard, it's nice to meet you Rosa."