Hunted

Chapter 1-Noises in the Dark

Chapter 1

Crunch.

“Did you hear that?” I whispered. I froze as I strained to hear any further noise, our hunt for firewood forgotten. So far, I only heard the usual sounds of the forest: the soft rustling of leaves, birds calling to one another, our light, steady breathing.

                At my words, Dad tensed. His grey eyes narrowed, scanning the area for danger. Sharpened after years of practise, his senses were much better than mine.

                I couldn’t see any myself, but that didn’t mean we were safe. The trees were tall, only allowing a little of the summer sunshine to trickle through. Bushes littered the floor, a good camouflage for those who needed it.

I inhaled deeply, trying to scent anything out of the ordinary. On the whole, I just smelt that familiar muddy, musky smell of the forest. There was also the sickeningly sweet smell of raspberries that we’d covered ourselves with to mask our scent to others. But when I looked past the aromas that I knew should be there...

I smelt wolf.

                My wide, panicked gaze met Dad’s. The tightness of his eyes told me that I was right. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he sought an escape plan.

                If we’d managed to smell them, it wouldn’t be long until they smelt us beneath our camouflage. Then again, who’s to say they hadn’t? Maybe they were stealthily creeping towards us right now and we didn’t even know...

                We had to get out of here.

Our cave was only a short distance away, a ten minute run at most, hidden behind a waterfall. If we were lucky, they hadn’t heard us. But you couldn’t count on luck. That made you stupid, and stupid was one thing my father and I were not. 

He tapped his heart, baring his teeth at me.

‘Stupid, Azula,’ I scolded myself, ‘zoning in the face of danger?  How careless are you?!’

The obvious question in my eyes made Dad repeat the motion. Shift. He wanted me to shift.

Nodding, I closed my eyes and reached inside for Mahina, my wolf. She and I were close. Mahina was as near to having a sister as I’d ever get. She was separate to me, but at the same time, we were one and the same. She was like another person living inside my body, hibernating unless I spoke to her or something caught her interest.

When she realised I was calling for her to rise, she let loose a silent howl of joy. The crack of my bones rearranging filled the air as my body shifted, trying to accommodate my wolf. White fur sprouted across my skin, scratchy and uncomfortable.

I fell to my knees as my nails lengthened, becoming claws. Paws took the place of my hands and feet, my eyes flooding Mahina’s ice blue. My hearing and eye sight sharpened painfully, the last stage of the transformation.It felt like an eternity had passed, when I knew that it had only taken a couple of seconds.