The Legendary Red Wolf

Chapter 1

'Time to leave'

I turn and run away from the borders of Emerald pack, named that for the plant life that grows there, in the right light the greenery shines almost like emeralds, a very interesting sight to see. My hair whips around behind me, red strands the colour of blood get in my face, I should have tied it up this morning instead of letting it flow straight down past my sturdy shoulders and to the middle of my back, or is it breast height. I continue moving even as I get a respectable distance from them, the patrol that caught wind of me, I hadn't hidden my scent today, not an easy thing to learn to do might I say and packs aren't exactly welcoming of most rogues near their borders.

I let out a sigh as my mind wonders, still can't believe it's been nearly six years since I became a rogue, I ran or well escaped when I was twelve, I'm going to be eighteen soon. I've made a bit of a name for myself with the packs and rogues that I've come in contact with, I'm famous according to the wolves I eavesdropped on a few years back. That's mostly because I've been around longer than most wolves, well as far as they are aware of, I'm 'peculiar' for a rogue as they like to say.

It also might be because I'm very hard to catch, I've been caught a few times but most of those was intentional, I test myself sometimes. Not often though I can't handle being in a pack. I always manage to escape, I usually make sure it's before they get me in a cell, I can't stand them. I often allow them to think they've got me and then rip myself out of their grip when they relax a little and bolt, I'm very fast when I want to be and if that fails then I fight my way out, I try to avoid killing anyone and just maim them. For some reason packs still underestimate me, I mean I know that she wolves aren't often as strong as males but come on, you can't say that we aren't worthy opponents. Although I have to admit with the way I have trained myself, I am a formidable fighter. Sometimes I would train to the extent that I would pass out from sheer exhaustion, knowing I should have stopped earlier.

A howl echo's through the trees signalling the possible threat had fled reaches my keen ears.

I slow to a stop and look to the skies, a range of colours greet me, a large covering of cerulean blue, with a few white fluffy clouds dotted here and there. On the horizon the setting sun paints the sky auburn, blushing pink and a small amount is even the colour of lavender. A mesmerizing sight to behold. Thanks to that I now know which direction is which, I also know that rogues are going to be a little more active now, but they aren't much of a problem, most know by now to give me a wide berth, only a few stubborn, foolish ones continue to aggravate me.

Veering left I set off at a jog, still moving away from the border and I listen to the noise of the forest and locate the sound I was searching for, not that I needed to. I know this forest very well. A stream appears after a minute or so, winding between the trees. I kneel by it; getting my jeans a little wet in the process and pull my flask out from my back pocket, I unscrew the cap and dip it in the clear water. I watch the water as it laps over my hand and around my wrist, pebbles lie on the base of the stream, various shades of grey, white and brown, some small as a crumb others the width of a two pound coin, a couple get picked up in the current and I follow them as they flow downstream before resting on the bottom once more.

I don't stray too far from where I've taken up residence, safe houses. I have five in total, four of them are around the outside, casually named North, East, South and West sections and then there is my middle house, the most secure of them all. All sections are a hundred miles in diameter with the safe house roughly in the middle. I move between each one for various reasons, in the outer sections they all have packs and sometimes they organise a search and capture which means I had to move again, or I got bored in one section or rogue groups began to irritate me. However I never marked the sections so pack wolves don't know where I am when they go looking for me, especially when I have masked my scent. My secure house is where I go if I get fed up of constantly being on the run, there's no packs there and I can just relax in peace for a few weeks.