Pathways

The forest was a calming place that only I felt a connection to, or at least it felt that way. Even since I was little I remember lying on the moss and hiding against the trees. No one ever seemed to see me and I was able to disappear. Of course I wasn’t able to disappear forever like I wanted to, I was ‘to important’ to my pack. Pack of wolves that is, werewolves technically but we didn’t call ourselves that. It was actually a highly offensive term, worse than anything you can call someone…well besides pup or dog.

In my pack was the odd ball, the black sheep if you will. In my case though, I was the brown sheep. My fur was a mixture of browns that blended me against the towering pine trees in the small forest that my pack resided next to. Most of my ‘family members’ were coated in a pearl white that hid them against the snow, I was the only wolf that had even had that was brown. They found it an oddity, but it also came to their advantage. I was able to catch larger pray that hid in the woods from them when we were hunting, but that was the only thing I could really do. Because of my fur I only blended into the trees, I stuck out like a sore thumb against all the snow hills. No one accepted me in my pack, well no one besides the alpha but that was just because he was nice and it was his job to accept everyone in his pack, even if he didn’t want them there.

To this day no one knows how I ended up here. I’ve heard stories, to many to count. Ranging from an infant wolf found in the woods, to an infant brought with traveling wolves and left here. My alpha told me once when I was young that I was a mixture of two different types of wolves, the tundra wolf that I live with now and the enemy pack that resided in the forests in northern America. He told me that when the tribes got along there were others like me, few others but still some.

I kept that hope in my heart that one day I would stumble across someone like me, because until then I would always me the different person in my pack. Sadly, it’s too much to bear. The teasing and taunting that occurs when I go home every night, the words that they called me…its hard. That would be why I ended up sulking in the woods everyday, hunting for the pack and bring it home at night. I lie to my alpha and tell him I’m traveling far from our home turf to find better meat, but the reality is that I get as close as I can to the enemy pack, wondering if one day I’ll see someone like me. Although I have yet to see even one wolf besides myself, maybe it’s because I’m to chicken to travel close to the boundary, but I’m sure that if I hang around here one day I’ll at least see what they look like.

Sighing to myself I stretched my wolf body against the cold snow, pulling my paws tightly in front of me and spreading apart my deadly claws. The pads of my feet ached from running to my spot all day. It was a long run here, but it was worth it to stretch my body across that moss that only grew this close to the border. The air down here was easier to breathe and I felt more like home. Sure I loved all the snow at home, but it wasn’t me. Down here they snow wasn’t as deep, it felt better to walk in. If I could move down here on my own, and live without being considering a rogue wolf then I would. I could make it on my own. I may not be a strong as the others but I can hunt, and I could travel around American. Maybe find out where I really belong.

A sound caught my attention. The crunching of leaves under the weight of another. My head shot up from the pile of moss I had been burrowed into and my baby blue eyes danced around the area, searching for something that meant harm. I caught sight of birds perched on the limbs or trees and some stray leaves floating through the crisp autumn air. I relaxed a bit but then the sound echoed through the trees again and I caught sight of the thing that was making it.

In my sign of light, a hundred yards away from me, blended against the trees was a dark brown wolf. He was twice the size of me and was simply gorgeous. The fur on his back wasn’t the color of my brown, it was darker and streaked with black. My heart pounded against my rib cage, he’s the first brown wolf I’ve ever seen besides myself, what does that mean?

I realized to late that his extremely brilliant hazel eyes were staring at me as well. His stare was different though, it was the gaze I earned from my alpha when I was doing something wrong. I stood up quickly, preparing to run. I learned at a young age that beautiful things were deadly. He began to approach me, his muscles rippling under his mussel as he realized he didn’t recognize me. Had I traveled over the boundary line? Its not like I can just run back home now, I need time to sniff out the trail. To my surprise I found myself lowering my head submissively, retreating away a little the closer he got. When he reached me he sniffed every where, trying to find out who I was. Maybe I looked like someone he knew. His nose pressed to my head, my neck, my back, even my backside. I gasped when he did that, simply because it didn’t really happen in my pack…it was a sign of interest. That of course never happened to me in my pack, I don’t think anyone besides the alpha has shown me anything like a loving glance.

I noticed I was holding my breath when I gasped that one time. That’s when it hit me, his scent. It was like the forest, the smell of dew and leaves. It was nice, comforting. That’s when my guard shot up and a snarl lifted from my chest. He froze in surprise-not that I blame him for that. Once he was an inch or two away I bounded away from him, running quickly in what I thought was the general direction of the pack. Sadly, I instantly heard him bounding after me. I wasn’t getting away without a fight. One question arose in my head, what was he going to do with me. Did he want me, or was he going to attack me. I’m not strong, I know for a fact that I cannot take him. With his size no one in my pack could even take him, shit.

Another sound echoed throughout the forest. A terrible ripping noise that only signaled a change. What was he doing, what was he planning?

“As your alpha I command you to stop!” A voice snapped. The voice was forceful and sent chills down my spine, it made my fur stand on edge. A growl tore through my mussel and I spun around to look at him, holding my ground and trying to show him that I wasn’t afraid. Sadly what I seen just about brought me to my knees.

He was buff and stark naked. Honestly I’ve seen a lot of men in my pack naked, it wasn’t their fault simply because when you change back its not long you have random clothing on. My eyes traveled across him. The curve of his neck, the muscles on his arms and chest, then my eyes rested on his middle, I swear it I could blush right now I would. I probably shouldn‘t be looking at his manhood, whoops. Instantly I changed, not on purpose but because I was too embarrassed. The sound of my body morphing echoed throughout the trees and we both flinched, that was until I was standing there in front of him. Crossing my arms over my chest to cover myself.

His eyes fell over me, looking at every inch and not being shy about it. He licked his lips and sighed a little, beginning to make a wide circle around me, looking over every inch. By the time he was done I was shaking with annoyance, I wanted to scream at him for this.

“Come here.” He growled, curling a finger in his direction. Standing in front of me once more, I didn’t move. I simply cocked a hip and prepared to rip his freaking head off. “Now!” He snapped when he got impatient.

I snarled again. “I’m not inclined to listen to you. You’re not my alpha, beat it.” I made a motion with my hand for him to leave then I turned to run in the woods once again. Jumping through the air and feeling my bones rattle once more when I changed back. If he’s an alpha, that means he’s for the enemy, and he was already heading to my pack to create a truce. I’ll be in trouble when I get home. The last thing I head of him were another loud sound of his changing, then an extremely angry howl. He just got rejected and he didn’t like that.