Chapter One

I shrieked as the whip found my bare skin once again. I could feel the blood as it ran down my body before pooling on the floor. My life hadn’t always been this way. I started out with a normal life in a normal family. I was, dare I say, happy? I thought I would lead a normal life, find my may mate, have pups, and live happily ever after. Little did I know, the universe had other plans for me. My mother died when I was 10. She was the only one who kept my Dad in check. They were mates. When my Mom passed, My Dad’s true colors were revealed.  My Dad was a drunk. He gambled a lot and did all kinds of illegal things. I hated him. My stepmother, if you can even call her that, was as awful as they come. She hated me. I would have to clean all the time. When I wasn’t cleaning, I had to wait in my tiny room under the stairs. I slept there, ate there, and when there was a game on or company, I had to stay in there being as quiet as I could.

When I turned fifteen, my stepmother decided to take me to a place where men watched girls dance naked and touch themselves on stage. The men would pay lots of money and the girls working there, got paid well. The men would throw money on the stage if they liked the girl. It was like a strip club but worse. I didn’t want any part of it. The owner, a fat old guy who smelled like rotting fish, told me to get on the stage, take my clothes off, and show him what I could do to myself. I refused. He got really mad. He told my stepmother to take my clothes off and throw me up on the stage. She did.

I stood there naked and shaking. I was petrified. I started crying. They both laughed at me.

“Don’t worry, the guys like it when you cry,” the fish guy said. He offered to pay five hundred dollars a week, and another five hundred for any weekend I worked. My stepmother said he was to give her the money directly. He agreed. My Stepmother looked at me with the most horrific smile I had ever seen.

I cried more.

The fish guy said I should come back the following Friday. He said that would be a busy night.  I promised myself I was not ever coming back here.

When I was back in my room, I planned my escape. I packed the few things I owned into my bag. I had forty dollars left that they hadn’t found. I grabbed it and stuck it in my bag. A couple of days passed. Finally, my chance arrived.

They had been drinking all day. I knew it was a matter of time before they both passed out. When it was quiet, I opened the door a tiny bit. I didn’t see anyone. I opened it a tiny bit more. I could see my father passed out in the chair; my stepmother was passed out half on the couch. The whole place smelled of whiskey. I crept out carefully. I tip-toed across the room to the door. I carefully turned the knob. I stepped out onto the front step. I made my way down the steps and across the tiny yard. When my feet hit the pavement, I took off running as fast as I could. I tripped falling hard on my knees, I didn’t care. I got up and continued running. I kept running until I couldn’t see any houses anymore. I didn’t have to worry about my pack, my father had been thrown out because he refused to do anything useful. Naturally, he took me with him. The Luna had tried to keep me with her to protect me, but my father disappeared with me the night before I was going to live with the Luna.

He turned us both into rogues. It wasn’t a bad thing to be rogue, it was a bad thing to be me. I tried to go to school, but my father wouldn’t do the paperwork. I hadn’t been to school since fifth grade. I had taught myself stuff from reading books I found on the streets. I learned math by practicing different problems I would see on trivia shows. I didn’t know what else I should learn so I just learned anything I could about different things.

My father had met my stepmother when I was twelve. I had hoped she would be nice and take care of me. I couldn’t have been more wrong. At first, she would be nice when my father was around. When she moved in, she stopped being nice at all. She would yell at me and always told me how worthless I am. My father never really did anything about it, he didn’t care as long as he had alcohol.

I thought about everything as I ran. It felt like I had run forever. It was getting dark, I needed to find somewhere to rest. I looked around for a cave or some kind of overhang. I found a big tree which had fallen. I dug a bit under it making a spot big enough to lie in. I thought it would help hide me from anyone looking for me. I wasn’t really worried about anyone looking for me. I knew they wouldn’t.

I woke up hungry. I had stuffed a couple of slices of bread, a couple of cookies I had stolen from them, and a bottle of water in my bag. I took out a slice of bread. I only ate half of the slice because I knew I didn’t have much food. I was still hungry, but I put the other half back in my bag. I stood up looking around. I decided to keep walking. I walked for a few days, When I ate the last half a cookie, I was scared I would starve to death. I wished I had my wolf. Being only fifteen, I wouldn’t have my first shift for another few years. I walked and slept for the next five days. I hadn’t eaten, my body felt weak from hunger. I saw smoke in the distance. I hoped it would be a cabin or a house.

When I reached the cabin, it was empty. It looked like it was used for hunting or fishing. I tried the door. To my excitement, it was unlocked! I crept carefully inside. I checked the one other room; it was also empty. I went to the kitchen. I opened the fridge, there were a few bottles of water, fruits, and a couple of pieces of left-over meat. I grabbed it and shoved it into my bag. I checked the cupboard. There were a couple of cans of baked beans, some trail mix, crackers, and jerky. I stuffed all of it in my bag. I snuck out the back door. I didn’t see anyone. I took off running. I ran as far as I could, even crossing through a stream before my legs nearly gave out. I crawled inside a bunch of brush. I pulled out the left-over meat, stuffing a bunch in my mouth. It tasted so good. I drank half a bottle of water. I had to lie down after; my stomach hurt as it adjusted to having food again.

I guess I fell asleep. I woke up and it was dark, time didn't matter. I lay down again. I got up a while later. I started walking in the dark. I wasn’t tired so I decided it would be ok.

When I decided I was far enough away, I wanted to make myself some kind of home. I had left six weeks ago. I kept track by drawing a line on my bag for each day. I looked around for something to make a home. I tried building a makeshift house out of branches, but it wouldn’t stay up. I tried building with rocks, but it didn’t work either. I gave up deciding to find something I could live in without building. After a couple of hours of looking, I found a small cave. It was big enough for me to put my stuff in. I could fit to sit up and I could stretch out if I was lying down, but I couldn’t stand up in it. I had to crawl in or out of it. I didn’t mind though. Once I was happy with the camouflage of branches, I used to cover the entrance, I went in search of more food and a water supply. I found a clear stream not too far away. I had saved all the water bottles so I could refill them as they emptied. I found a couple of berry bushes, but I didn’t know if they were poisonous.

I still had a can of beans left and a couple of cans of fruit I had found in another cabin. I knew I would have to find food soon. I went back to my shelter. It would be getting dark soon. I crawled in and curled up inside. The next morning, I left in search of food. I walked for a couple hours. I came to a road, I stayed hidden in the brush. A road meant I could be seen. I followed it marking trees with a rock to find my way back. I walked forever before I came to a town. I was scared. A town meant others who would ask questions.

I crept around staying in the shadows. I came to a place with big sliding doors. It was a grocery store. I didn’t go in because I didn’t have money. My forty dollars was in my bag. I looked around before crossing the street. When I got near the store, I slipped around to the back. There were a couple dumpsters back there and a truck. The truck was opened, and I could see boxes. The boxes had pictures of cans with fruit on them. I watched as the men wheeled some boxes to the opening of the truck. They jumped down and then picked up some boxes. They left two boxes on the edge of the truck. They carried the others into the store. When it was quiet, I ran from my hiding spot. I grabbed a box from the truck before bolting down another alley. As I rounded the corner, I remembered the road. I darted across nearly getting run over. I jumped the small dip between the road and the trees. When I landed, I ducked behind all the brush. I waited a few minutes before I stole a peek at the road. To my surprise, nobody seemed to notice. I stayed hidden as I made my way back along the brush to my shelter. I opened the box, 20 cans of fruit! I felt like I had finally found a way to survive.

If I ran low, I would go there and steal more food. Sometimes it would be fruit, other times tuna once I even got a whole box of canned pasta! It had little meatballs in it. It was like having a whole meal!

I lived that way until I was eighteen. I had my first shift alone. It was painful to say the least. I found my wolf could hunt and get food easily. I didn’t have to steal food as much. It helped with the cold too, if I shifted, my fur kept me warm.  I knew I could live this way for the rest of my life. I didn’t know how wrong I was.