Sapphire Stone - The Story of Survival

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It's been a month since I left the New Moon pack, the pack my grandmother were part of and I've been trying to stay as far away from their territory as possible. I had ran wild in every piece of abandoned woods I could find, only running into a couple of packs along the way who were kind enough to give me some food and clothes for a night before I'd take off again. One of the pack's had referred to me as a young lone-wolf, saying there weren't a lot of us out there because we preferred moving in packs. I have told every one of them that I had stayed with a pack but was never accepted into their ranks and that I finally decided I needed time on my own. They accepted my words and it came out that most of them knew the New Moon pack and they would call in and tell Adrian that I was safe. Only two packs I crossed were not as friendly but still gave me some scraps of food to fill my stomach along the way. Right now, I'd just left another pack and was in the woods they referred me to, stating that it was the perfect place to settle down for the time being. I moved swiftly through the trees and felt my stomach rumble yet again as I made my way to the perfect place for me to settle. I finally found a nice small clearing at the river that ran all the way through the state and soon had a small tunnel secured for me. I was still small but not as weak as before even though I still looked starved. I got enough food to get me to keep living throughout the month but it didn't fatten me up like I'm sure a real hunt would allow me to. With that in mind, I got up and stretched, prepping myself to do something I've never done before in my life. I just hope my body is as channeled in on natural instincts as my mother told me.

It has been two hours since I left my new home to go for a hunt and still nothing. Not only were there no people in these parts, the animals seemed to be excellent at hiding or were simply non-existent. Maybe I was right when I was a five year old, in thinking that animals simply appeared when they had to be slaughtered for the super markets. Taking a deep breath, I tried smelling any potential for food but so far nothing besides, what was it supposed to smell like? Burgers or fries... okay, definitely not French fries but still... I didn't know what I was looking for. With a deep exhausted sigh, I dropped down onto my belly and was a little relieved when I felt it growl in hunger, that already told me that I'd eaten enough over the past month but it still didn't help me that I didn't know how to hunt even though I'm a wolf. My head shot up off my paws when I heard a branch snap and felt a little confused when I didn't see anyone around me. This was really starting to get on my nerves; I really am a pathetic excuse for a wolf. With a roll of the eyes, I dropped my head onto my paws again and closed my eyes. It wasn't a minute later when I heard a pounding on the ground and again my head shot up only to be met by silence. I slowly got back onto my paws and did a full circle before deciding I was getting paranoid because of my hunger and decided to head back to my little place of refuge beside a river. I had only taken a few steps before I felt this nagging feeling that I was missing something and turned around to face the other side again but still there was nothing. How is it possible, that I could know there is something when I can see there is nothing? My ears swerved around a little to try and hear something but I couldn't catch a sound other than my own heartbeat and breathing. That's it! I felt a stupid grin on my face before dropping onto my belly once more and for the first time ever; I slowly pilled away from myself, pealing away the layers of comfort and opening a whole new way of seeing the world. The moment I stopped thinking of my own body and hunger, I heard the sound of the river running miles away and then I finally heard it. I was wrong before, there were animals out here, they were everywhere and there were a lot of them. I could hear them and smell them, practically taste them if I allowed myself to. For the first time ever, I felt free, I felt like I was one with nature and it was exhilarating. I would have been running through the woods experiencing this at once if my stomach didn't growl to remind me that I was in fact, still hungry. Instead of losing my mind out here, I zeroed in on the sound of deer grazing a few miles away and if I wasn't mistaken, one of them was injured, an easy target. With that in mind, I got back up and strangely found that I'd grown lighter on my feet. When I usually walked or ran, animals or shifters would hear me from miles off but right now, as I was walking towards my target, there was no sound alerting any of the animals surrounding me, that I was even there. As I drew closer to the deer my steps grew faster until I was only a few inches away and ducked so I was hidden within the weeds surrounding the clearing in which the deer calmly grazed. From what the other packs have said, these woods have been without any other shifters or wolves for years now because of the lack of any real interest. This means these deer probably didn't even expect anyone to attack them today so that just gave me even more of a chance to claim my pray. My tongue slowly ran over my muzzle before I finally set my eyes on the large buck a few feet away, he was abnormally large with huge antlers. I took a discreet sniff of air and realized the blood was oozing from him. With an appreciative sigh, I readied myself before throwing my body into the clearing, showing myself to the grazing deer. At first all they did was staring at me with huge round eyes before they all at once started stampeding in different directions, anything to get away from me. I felt the adrenalin rush through my body as my eyes focused on the huge buck that was limping away, already sensing his doom. I gave him a lead in the chase, feeling ready for it and having a little mercy on the animal before I took off after him. My speed might not be at the best but I still caught up to him pretty fast and felt a little pity for the creature as I saw his lone body weaving through trees, hitting every odd branch because of his limp and when I finally decided I'd just save him the further pain he was causing himself, I lunged forward. I didn't even realize I knew how to hunt until I had my teeth deeply imbedded in his jugular and hung on it for a few seconds while his blood oozed into my mouth before he finally gave up the fight and dropped to the ground hard. His body weight was probably five times mine was so one look at the creature, and I knew I had to feed off him here before heading 'home'. My teeth were still in his jugular while I waited for him to die, knowing I couldn't get myself to inflict more pain to this creature than I already had, meaning I'd have to wait it out. It didn't take long either before I felt his heartbeat die off and then glanced up to see his eyes staring vacantly into the sky. This creature was truly a beauty but unfortunately I was starving of hunger and there had been no other way of filling my stomach at this point and I knew it would be like that for the next while before I finally could have the courage to return to the pack and face Adrian. I felt my adrenalin fall away and hunger take hold of me before I allowed myself to tear into the buck's skin and finally let the animal in me take the lead so I wouldn't have to try and control my gag reflexes. One thing I could admit too was the fact that being more animal than human was helping me slowly blend in with the wild and that was one thing I was trying to do. This was my first hunt, the first catch and also my first time being animal for so long. All in all, I was truly starting to feel free, the only thing missing were my parents. I would have loved to see my father's proud eyes when he watched me hunt for the first time, would have loved hearing my mother's words of encouragement when I felt lost earlier and most of all, I wanted to be able to see what my parents looked like as wolves. Was my father as black as I am with green eyes and was my mother a dusty blonde with blue eyes? I needed to know and I craved to know, looking at it this way, I was still just a pup in need of her parents for guidance and even just having my inner wolf to talk to would have helped but out here, I was alone. My mother was never going to come and help me anymore, no matter how much I tried asking for her she'll never be there just like my father will never give me that smile that said he loved me more than anything else in this world. They were never going to be able to explain to me why I'm like my grandmother in the shifting way and why I am so different at the same time. I want to know why I'm able to be unconscious and still stay in wolf form and why I don't have an inner wolf like everyone else. I am a wolf and I'm human at the same time... why is that? It was only six hours later that I finally left the carcass of the buck and made my way to my shelter, already smelling the start of the rain. It's amazing that my senses have already gotten sharper since I let my mind go and simply followed instincts. I didn't slow my jog until I made it to the cave and just as I stepped in I looked up to see the first drop of rain fall right at the entrance and gave an excited bark before going all the way in and curling up as far inside as I could. The storm that fell that night was the strongest I've ever seen in my life and after three more days of living there, I understood why no wolves or shifters lived here... it was too wet and too cold at night and sometimes even mid day but even so, I spent my time training in the only way I knew how. Hunting for animals without the intention to eat them but merely deciding on what to find the day and then never stopping unless absolutely necessary, this was my life now. I had turned from a teenager to a shifter, from a girl with a happy family to an orphan, from an orphan to a runt and then finally, from a runt to a huntress, the girl finding the best way of passing her time while eating in abundance and filling out along the way. I would never set myself out there to be hurt again, even when it was my mate trying to destroy me, I am a lone wolf and I will stay one even when I'm back at the pack house.