Pack

Chapter 1

Howls seemed to echo from every corner of the forest. Wolves from neighboring packs came together in peace to celebrate the new pups of the spring. The pupping celebration was one of the only times that these three wolf packs could peacefully exist together. So, for this one night, the wolves danced and howled at the full moon. 

The wolves of other packs were always wary of Jada. As a fifteen-year-old human girl, she could understand why. The elders of the packs had been hunted for decades by men from villages all over the kingdom. Even Jada's own packs elders hadn't wanted to take her in, even as a baby. 

The wolves celebrated all night, but Jada sat in the cave as the others were out partying. She recalled all that she could about her life with humans. Jada's parents had left her abandoned in the very forest that she lived in now, they had a picnic, and as they were packing the car, her mother brought her further out into the forest, and left her there. With no way to get back to her village, Jada was soon taken in by a young omega wolf, who had no mate or pups. Her name was Maeve and she became Jada's mother. 

Maeve taught Jada as she would teach a pup. And soon, Jada fit right in, wrestling with other pups, and sleeping with the pack. Now that Maeve had a pup, the elders that once disapproved of Jada, saw her potential and agreed to move Maeve and Jada up in the hierarchy. They were now alphas as Maeve mated with Bryce, the alpha male, giving Jada younger siblings. 

They were a perfect family, until one day when humans invaded the forest, looking to kill wolves and sell their pelts. Bryce bravely defended the pack, but there were too many of them. Three wolves were killed that day. And one was Bryce. 

A new alpha would soon take his place, and hopefully accept Maeve as his mate. So, the competition was held. And a strong male was chosen. He had black fur with grey markings and looked nothing like the other wolves. He had cruel punishments for any wolf who misbehaved but was kind to Jada and her family. He accepted Maeve as his mate and brought Jada more siblings. 

After that encounter with humans, the wolves would live mostly in peace. But, the humans weren't their only problem. There were other wolves that didn't coexist peacefully. They tried to take the pack's territory and kill the alphas. Luckilly, no alphas were killed. But others were, including Jada's youngest brother. 

He was only a few weeks old and an easy kill for the other pack. All of the wolves mourned the death of the young wolf pup. He was given an alpha's burial, with a large ceremony that was required of the pack to attend. 

Then, there was the sickness. A fungus had spread in the forest, and it made the wolves very sick. So sick that they could not hunt or fight. Jada was the only one who didn't get the sickness, as she was human. She was only ten, but she hunted, cared for her sick packmates, and defended the pack when fisher cats came to steal their meat. 

That was when the elders realized her full potential. As soon as the sickness went away, they began to train her as a warrior and a hunter. She took to it quickly, almost as if she was born from the two best wolves of the pack. She beat out many pure wolves for a high position. by age thirteen, Jada was as skilled as some of the wolves in their prime, much older than her. 

Jada had impeccable strength and speed. She was a killing machine and was treated like royalty by all wolves of her pack. When she returned from hunts, she would parade through the territory as every other wolf would. Until one day, the day she noticed that she was different.

As Jada paraded into the cave, she noticed a human girl, around her age. As she looked at the girl, she zoned out of her wolf world and tried to imagine what was going on in her mind. She snapped out of it when a large wolf, she recognized him as an omega, pushed her out of the way and stood protectively in front of her and growled. 

The human girl ran away, and the next thing she knew, she was standing over the mangled body of a man with a gun, covered in blood. As more men flooded the territory, Jada was rushed into the cave. She heard gunshots and howling. As Jada tried to run out to help, Maeve stopped her. 

"You're hurt," Maeve said. 

That's when Jada felt the throbbing bullet in ger head. Then it all came flooding back. The man had fired shots at the wolves, and they had run away in fear. But Jada had stayed, gotten shot in the head, and she had attacked him. 

Jada scampered back into the cave and sat down in shock. She had killed another human, she'd killed another human, she had killed animals. But this felt different. This felt more personal. Jada tried all night to forget what she had done. But she couldn't even after two years, she couldn't forget the expression on the young girl's face. It looked, horrified. 

Now Jada is fifteen and the pack is dying. Humans from all over the kingdom are invading. There is a large sum of money for wolf pelts now. The king loves them. And Jada's pack is the one closest to the village. 

Every other wolf is outside between the three territories, having a good time. But this is what Jada has been thinking about. The danger that her pack is in. The times she's killed just to survive. And how she isn't a wolf, she's in the pack, she feels like a wolf, but she's human. And someday the humans will find her. Someday she will have to go back.