Last One Standing
Chapter 1
Two weeks have passed since I’ve left the place I was held up in.
I ran as far as my paws could take me, didn’t stop until my body couldn’t handle any more.
Rafe had told me to go North, being cooped up inside a building for months and not recognizing any of my surroundings didn’t help.
I wasn’t sure if the direction I chose was North, the little instincts my wolf had weren’t encouraging. How would I know when I came upon his pack?
The first night out in the woods was the hardest.
The rain made it difficult to find dry shelter, I wanted to howl to see if there were others like me around. But the fear of communicating and being heard by the enemy kept me quiet.
I don’t think I would’ve understood the response if there was one given.
I don’t know how far I had traveled that day, I just knew that my paws ached and my stomach growled.
As a pup my parents were just beginning to bring me along on hunts. I observed, but never had the opportunity to hunt something for myself.
Each morning I woke up, there were clumps of fur lying beside me. I knew the last formula given to me was the reason for this.
It took a week before there was nothing left, I woke up shaking. I no longer stood on four paws, but instead two feet.
This had confused me, as I had never transformed into my other half.
When I looked down into the water, the reflection I saw was not of a grey wolf. Instead I saw a human.
Tears came to my eyes, there was nothing about this form to appreciate.
The human I saw looking back at me in the water appeared lost, hopeless. Like there was nothing to live for.
----
The temperature changed the further I followed this instinct that I was going the right way.
When I climbed up a short hill and saw a tree line, hope took over me. I wasn’t sure if I was close to this pack, but I had a feeling I was near something.
A branch snapped in front of me, I stopped in my tracks to see what was hiding in the trees.
A white wolf stepped out of the tree line, he barred his fangs, a deep growl forming in his throat.
I could tell he was an Alpha of some sort by the way he stood. Chest puffed out, tail held high, ears perked upwards.
I was never given more of a title besides being a pup, I was too young at the time to be placed into a category.
I stood tall, hands clenched at my sides. I closed my eyes for only a second, when they reopened I knew my iris color changed.
His posture changed slightly, he seemed surprised that I dare challenge him. I knew I didn’t have my sharp canine teeth, nor did I have my claws. The only thing I had left were the glow of my golden eyes, with those I had to want to be the wolf for them to show.
Otherwise my eye color became brown.
I took a step back as I saw the Alpha transform in front of me. If his wolf form wasn’t intimidating enough, the human half showed no mercy.
I gulped as he stepped closer, I didn’t dare look away from his eyes.
As soon as he stood in front of me, my lip curled as I let out a low growl.
He chuckled this time, “That’s cute, you think that little growl of yours fazes me?” I heard him inhale slightly, a look of disgust covered his face.
“Smells like a human, looks like a human, but has eyes like a wolf. Tell me why I should let a pathetic excuse like yourself live.”
I walked around him slowly, watching as he shifted slightly in his place. It didn’t take a genius to know that this Alpha was feeling a little uneasy from what I was doing.
He cleared his throat, “Do I have to ask you again or should I just kill you now, runt” he snapped.
I stopped in front of him, looking closely at his facial features.
My eyes returned back to their chocolate color, I wasn’t feeling threatened to bring out the wolf.
The Alpha’s hair was a mixture between black and brown, depending on how the sunlight hit it. His hair was spiked in the middle, the sides of his head having shorter hair than the center.
The way he stood, arms crossed in front of himself as if to block me from entering the forest he had walked out of.
The same brown iris color peered back at me, they resembled a look I knew I was wearing.
This male wasn’t as big as the one I had previously fought, but he sure looked like he wouldn’t back out of a fight no matter who his competition was.
With this in mind, I reacted quickly, grabbing a fistful of the spiked hair.
A loud yelp echoed throughout the forest, I brought the Alpha’s head down closer to my level before looking into his eyes once more.
“You’re just the Alpha’s son, a pup just like me. If you are trying to present yourself as an Alpha, you wouldn’t have hesitated on attacking me to protect your territory.”
The older wolf growled, he started to lift his head up to move away from me but I released his hair for a moment before grabbing it again.
I pulled his head down lower, pressing my nose lightly into the side of his head. I inhaled softly, my posture relaxing immediately.
Although my nose didn’t work as well as a wolf anymore, I could detect the smell of pine trees, maple syrup and a little cologne that I knew belonged only to the human world.
I released his hair, upon doing so he lifted his head up and looked at me.
My eyes hurt a little as they now held the golden color that separated us from the others.
“Sorry, my nose doesn’t work so well anymore. I gotta really focus to catch any sort of scent.” a light blush tinted my cheeks.
“You don’t need that cologne the human males wear. The natural scent you have is already appealing.”
The Alpha cracked a smile, when he blinked his iris had turned golden as well.
“Can’t say the same, you reek of human, don’t know which one is actually your scent.”
I looked down at the oversized shirt and rolled up jeans I was currently wearing. My head lowered in embarrassment.
“My first transformation did not go so well, waking up naked in the middle of the forest is something I don’t ever want to experience again.”
Something flashed in the Alpha’s eyes as he raised his eye brows, a questioning look was set upon his face.
“These aren’t my clothes, and they surely don’t fit well on me. But, it’s better than wearing nothing at all.”
A soft sigh left the elder wolf, “So, why didn’t you transform back?”
I shook my head slowly, my eyes returning back to their dull color.
“I wish it were that simple.”
The Alpha suddenly had a look of surprise on his face, he chuckled quietly.
“I guess I should introduce myself since you already know my scent. Which was kinda weird how you went about getting it by the way. Wolf-bloods can usually smell ones scent from quite a distance.”
I took a step back, becoming embarrassed once more. “S-Sorry about that.”
He shook his head with a huge smile on his face, “It’s not every day I see a female, let alone any other wolf come up to me without my permission. I was taken by surprise on how intimate the moment felt. All because an Omega wanted to know what I smelled like.”
The Alpha took the step towards me that I had distanced ourselves with, “My name is Pierre.”
A smile came to my face, “Pierre.”
He gave a slight nod of his head, a wink following it. “That’s right.”
“Well Pierre, although the moment may have felt intimate for you, I was only trying to figure out if you were a threat. As I have stated, I have to focus in order to smell anything.” I crossed my arms, an uneasy feeling crossing over me.
A concerned look covered Pierre’s face as he saw how I responded.
“You tense up and distance yourself from me every time I bring up the wolf. It’s as though you’re ashamed of something.” his eyes looked into mine before traveling downwards, as if to look for some sort of defect that he wasn’t seeing.
They landed on the collar that was around my neck, “Are you..a tame wolf-blood?”
Before I could respond, a growl came from our left. A brown wolf walked out from the same path that Pierre had came from.
The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t here to listen, this wolf was ready to attack.
Pierre took a step back, holding his hands up and walking slowly towards who I assumed was a pack mate of his.
“Seb, everything is fine here. My yelp was just one of surprise.”
The wolf continued growling as he looked past his Alpha and straight towards me.
“You’re going to have to transform if you want him to believe you’re not a threat.” Pierre stood between us, a low growl in his throat.
A shaky breathe left me, I knew I couldn’t transform back. The little bit I had left of my wolf was exhausted from the journey.
I was tired, hungry and just didn’t feel like fighting anymore.
“I can’t do it, Pierre.”
Pierre turned to me, “Well until you can, we won’t let you through.”
I nodded my head slowly, how could they know I wasn’t a threat. They were true wolf-bloods, I wasn’t even sure what I was anymore.
I made my way back down the hill, trying to think of where I could possibly go to next.
Tears streamed down my face as I looked up at the top of the hill to see the brown wolf watching me.
I loosened the collar on my neck and dropped it on the ground, “Can’t believe I wasted my time, traveling this far just to hit a dead end.”
I began walking back the way I came, my head lowered.
I stopped minutes later when I could hear something following behind me, “I’m leaving, I don’t need you to follow me-” I turned.
I felt my heart nearly stop as I saw a brown bear less than a hundred feet away from me, two cubs were by her side.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Thoughts crossed my mind, I debated on acting as if I were bigger than the bear. I knew that idea was ridiculous as this beast was giant compared to my human form.
Playing dead would just get me killed since she knew I was alive.
I backed slowly away from the bear, my feet stepping on to the fallen tree I had crossed to get on to the territory.
My heart began to race as the bear followed, the river beneath me flowing at a fast pace.
The bear stood up, she then came back down slamming her paws down on to the tree.
I lost my footing, but quickly grabbed on to the side of the log from one of the remaining tree branches.
As the bear walked across the tree, I could hear the cracking from the weight. I had hoped I would’ve been on the other side before the tree had snapped.
My fear became a reality as the bear was two feet away from me, by this time the cracking became a loud snap.
I knew we were falling into the rushing waters of the river below us as the bear roared.
I tried keeping my head above the water as the river pulled me downstream. I caught a glimpse of the bear struggling to swim out from the deep water as she slowly made her way on to the opposite side.
The river was not kind to me as it continuously dragged me underwater, forcing me one way then another.
I cried out in pain as I felt my foot get caught between something, my back hit into a rock.
I felt my body begin to weaken, my eyes drifting shut as the water engulfed me.
I ran as far as my paws could take me, didn’t stop until my body couldn’t handle any more.
Rafe had told me to go North, being cooped up inside a building for months and not recognizing any of my surroundings didn’t help.
I wasn’t sure if the direction I chose was North, the little instincts my wolf had weren’t encouraging. How would I know when I came upon his pack?
The first night out in the woods was the hardest.
The rain made it difficult to find dry shelter, I wanted to howl to see if there were others like me around. But the fear of communicating and being heard by the enemy kept me quiet.
I don’t think I would’ve understood the response if there was one given.
I don’t know how far I had traveled that day, I just knew that my paws ached and my stomach growled.
As a pup my parents were just beginning to bring me along on hunts. I observed, but never had the opportunity to hunt something for myself.
Each morning I woke up, there were clumps of fur lying beside me. I knew the last formula given to me was the reason for this.
It took a week before there was nothing left, I woke up shaking. I no longer stood on four paws, but instead two feet.
This had confused me, as I had never transformed into my other half.
When I looked down into the water, the reflection I saw was not of a grey wolf. Instead I saw a human.
Tears came to my eyes, there was nothing about this form to appreciate.
The human I saw looking back at me in the water appeared lost, hopeless. Like there was nothing to live for.
----
The temperature changed the further I followed this instinct that I was going the right way.
When I climbed up a short hill and saw a tree line, hope took over me. I wasn’t sure if I was close to this pack, but I had a feeling I was near something.
A branch snapped in front of me, I stopped in my tracks to see what was hiding in the trees.
A white wolf stepped out of the tree line, he barred his fangs, a deep growl forming in his throat.
I could tell he was an Alpha of some sort by the way he stood. Chest puffed out, tail held high, ears perked upwards.
I was never given more of a title besides being a pup, I was too young at the time to be placed into a category.
I stood tall, hands clenched at my sides. I closed my eyes for only a second, when they reopened I knew my iris color changed.
His posture changed slightly, he seemed surprised that I dare challenge him. I knew I didn’t have my sharp canine teeth, nor did I have my claws. The only thing I had left were the glow of my golden eyes, with those I had to want to be the wolf for them to show.
Otherwise my eye color became brown.
I took a step back as I saw the Alpha transform in front of me. If his wolf form wasn’t intimidating enough, the human half showed no mercy.
I gulped as he stepped closer, I didn’t dare look away from his eyes.
As soon as he stood in front of me, my lip curled as I let out a low growl.
He chuckled this time, “That’s cute, you think that little growl of yours fazes me?” I heard him inhale slightly, a look of disgust covered his face.
“Smells like a human, looks like a human, but has eyes like a wolf. Tell me why I should let a pathetic excuse like yourself live.”
I walked around him slowly, watching as he shifted slightly in his place. It didn’t take a genius to know that this Alpha was feeling a little uneasy from what I was doing.
He cleared his throat, “Do I have to ask you again or should I just kill you now, runt” he snapped.
I stopped in front of him, looking closely at his facial features.
My eyes returned back to their chocolate color, I wasn’t feeling threatened to bring out the wolf.
The Alpha’s hair was a mixture between black and brown, depending on how the sunlight hit it. His hair was spiked in the middle, the sides of his head having shorter hair than the center.
The way he stood, arms crossed in front of himself as if to block me from entering the forest he had walked out of.
The same brown iris color peered back at me, they resembled a look I knew I was wearing.
This male wasn’t as big as the one I had previously fought, but he sure looked like he wouldn’t back out of a fight no matter who his competition was.
With this in mind, I reacted quickly, grabbing a fistful of the spiked hair.
A loud yelp echoed throughout the forest, I brought the Alpha’s head down closer to my level before looking into his eyes once more.
“You’re just the Alpha’s son, a pup just like me. If you are trying to present yourself as an Alpha, you wouldn’t have hesitated on attacking me to protect your territory.”
The older wolf growled, he started to lift his head up to move away from me but I released his hair for a moment before grabbing it again.
I pulled his head down lower, pressing my nose lightly into the side of his head. I inhaled softly, my posture relaxing immediately.
Although my nose didn’t work as well as a wolf anymore, I could detect the smell of pine trees, maple syrup and a little cologne that I knew belonged only to the human world.
I released his hair, upon doing so he lifted his head up and looked at me.
My eyes hurt a little as they now held the golden color that separated us from the others.
“Sorry, my nose doesn’t work so well anymore. I gotta really focus to catch any sort of scent.” a light blush tinted my cheeks.
“You don’t need that cologne the human males wear. The natural scent you have is already appealing.”
The Alpha cracked a smile, when he blinked his iris had turned golden as well.
“Can’t say the same, you reek of human, don’t know which one is actually your scent.”
I looked down at the oversized shirt and rolled up jeans I was currently wearing. My head lowered in embarrassment.
“My first transformation did not go so well, waking up naked in the middle of the forest is something I don’t ever want to experience again.”
Something flashed in the Alpha’s eyes as he raised his eye brows, a questioning look was set upon his face.
“These aren’t my clothes, and they surely don’t fit well on me. But, it’s better than wearing nothing at all.”
A soft sigh left the elder wolf, “So, why didn’t you transform back?”
I shook my head slowly, my eyes returning back to their dull color.
“I wish it were that simple.”
The Alpha suddenly had a look of surprise on his face, he chuckled quietly.
“I guess I should introduce myself since you already know my scent. Which was kinda weird how you went about getting it by the way. Wolf-bloods can usually smell ones scent from quite a distance.”
I took a step back, becoming embarrassed once more. “S-Sorry about that.”
He shook his head with a huge smile on his face, “It’s not every day I see a female, let alone any other wolf come up to me without my permission. I was taken by surprise on how intimate the moment felt. All because an Omega wanted to know what I smelled like.”
The Alpha took the step towards me that I had distanced ourselves with, “My name is Pierre.”
A smile came to my face, “Pierre.”
He gave a slight nod of his head, a wink following it. “That’s right.”
“Well Pierre, although the moment may have felt intimate for you, I was only trying to figure out if you were a threat. As I have stated, I have to focus in order to smell anything.” I crossed my arms, an uneasy feeling crossing over me.
A concerned look covered Pierre’s face as he saw how I responded.
“You tense up and distance yourself from me every time I bring up the wolf. It’s as though you’re ashamed of something.” his eyes looked into mine before traveling downwards, as if to look for some sort of defect that he wasn’t seeing.
They landed on the collar that was around my neck, “Are you..a tame wolf-blood?”
Before I could respond, a growl came from our left. A brown wolf walked out from the same path that Pierre had came from.
The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t here to listen, this wolf was ready to attack.
Pierre took a step back, holding his hands up and walking slowly towards who I assumed was a pack mate of his.
“Seb, everything is fine here. My yelp was just one of surprise.”
The wolf continued growling as he looked past his Alpha and straight towards me.
“You’re going to have to transform if you want him to believe you’re not a threat.” Pierre stood between us, a low growl in his throat.
A shaky breathe left me, I knew I couldn’t transform back. The little bit I had left of my wolf was exhausted from the journey.
I was tired, hungry and just didn’t feel like fighting anymore.
“I can’t do it, Pierre.”
Pierre turned to me, “Well until you can, we won’t let you through.”
I nodded my head slowly, how could they know I wasn’t a threat. They were true wolf-bloods, I wasn’t even sure what I was anymore.
I made my way back down the hill, trying to think of where I could possibly go to next.
Tears streamed down my face as I looked up at the top of the hill to see the brown wolf watching me.
I loosened the collar on my neck and dropped it on the ground, “Can’t believe I wasted my time, traveling this far just to hit a dead end.”
I began walking back the way I came, my head lowered.
I stopped minutes later when I could hear something following behind me, “I’m leaving, I don’t need you to follow me-” I turned.
I felt my heart nearly stop as I saw a brown bear less than a hundred feet away from me, two cubs were by her side.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Thoughts crossed my mind, I debated on acting as if I were bigger than the bear. I knew that idea was ridiculous as this beast was giant compared to my human form.
Playing dead would just get me killed since she knew I was alive.
I backed slowly away from the bear, my feet stepping on to the fallen tree I had crossed to get on to the territory.
My heart began to race as the bear followed, the river beneath me flowing at a fast pace.
The bear stood up, she then came back down slamming her paws down on to the tree.
I lost my footing, but quickly grabbed on to the side of the log from one of the remaining tree branches.
As the bear walked across the tree, I could hear the cracking from the weight. I had hoped I would’ve been on the other side before the tree had snapped.
My fear became a reality as the bear was two feet away from me, by this time the cracking became a loud snap.
I knew we were falling into the rushing waters of the river below us as the bear roared.
I tried keeping my head above the water as the river pulled me downstream. I caught a glimpse of the bear struggling to swim out from the deep water as she slowly made her way on to the opposite side.
The river was not kind to me as it continuously dragged me underwater, forcing me one way then another.
I cried out in pain as I felt my foot get caught between something, my back hit into a rock.
I felt my body begin to weaken, my eyes drifting shut as the water engulfed me.