Chapter 1

The dim moonlight illuminating the forest was just bright enough for me to see clearly in. My movements were graceful and never faltered. Each foot was placed carefully one in front of the other, and not a single pebble underneath was disturbed. The slightest sound or vibrations would scare away my prey.

I padded forward slowly and steadily on my massive paws, grinding my nails into the soft ground of the forest as I prepared my attack. A slight sound made my ears twitch back and forth, and the deer looked up, scanning the clearing that he was nestled so securely in.

The deer, a large male, looked back down and started to graze again. Slowly I prowled forward, crouched down low for the attack. The taught muscles of my leg bunched up, and the deer looked around at me too late. Springing forward, I darted through the bushes after him, a low snarl tearing from my throat. The deer sprinted off into the trees, but was too slow to stop its fate.

I landed on its back, which snapped under my massive weight, bringing the frightened deer down in one swift fluid movement. I was careful to avoid the antlers as I dropped to the ground and began to feast. If I was normal, the thought of eating raw deer meat would have been a horrifying one, but I'd been doing it for a little over a year, and it came naturally to me now.

Still, I felt a small twinge of regret as I thought of the fear coursing through it's mind as the last thing it saw in this life was a massive silvery gray wolf lunging in for the kill.

Two more wolves slowly appeared from the foggy tree line. The first of them was a large black wolf with a star-shaped patch of fur on its chest. It was a little larger than a normal wolf and stood up to a man's hip. He looked at me with piercing blue-gray eyes that, even though a somewhat cold color, showed the warmth and affection he had for me; his daughter.

The smaller of the two pranced over, yipping happily. I snapped at her and she recoiled before settling down. She was smaller than me and was as black as the male. Her eyes were the same color, but different, for they held absolutely no warmth and affection.

"Ilene, you need to behave and calm down," the larger black wolf said forcefully.

She nodded once and, sitting down in the clearing across from me, began to daintily nibble on the deer's leg. Ray, the larger wolf, walked over and snatched half of the carcass. He dragged it over to the far side of the clearing and began to eat.

By the time they were both done I'd already finished eating, and had started idly gnawing on a leg bone. Suddenly, I had the feeling that I was being watched. I lifted my head and sniffed the air, searching for anyone or anything that didn't belong. There was something, but it smelled mostly like the woods; like dirt and fresh pine needles.

Maybe I was imagining things.

And maybe there was someone out there, watching three abnormal wolves eat a deer together.

Ray barked once when he was done, and Ilene and I both got up and followed him out of the clearing. To be honest, I'd be glad to leave the forest behind me.

Together the three of us ran through the woods, not caring if anyone saw us. We were proud. We were fierce. We were invincible and incredible. Nothing in this entire forest could ever stop us.

Ray brought us near our closest neighbor's farm, and I couldn't help the slight drooling that happened whenever I saw farm animals. They were so weak, stupid, and cowardly; the smell of their fear excited the three of us, and made controlling ourselves harder.

I was tempted to jump over the wooden fence and tear into the hind flank of the nearest sheep. But, I'd gotten used to the smell of these stupid animals over the last eight months, and I'd just eaten. Now I was able to control my hunger for these animals that flocked together when terrified. Even though it would be easy to tear into them, I didn't, because it would put my family in danger.

For a slight moment though, my iron-will wavered, and I walked up to the fence again. my snout touched the hard wood and I sneezed as their fear hit me.

The larger black wolf with the white star on his chest was keeping a close eye on Ilene. She was visibly shaking; this was her first trip to the farm, and she was having a hard time controlling herself. It wouldn't be long before she broke free from his control and hopped the fence. I just hoped we would be able to stop her before she did any serious damage.

The last thing we needed right now was the farmer and his shotgun coming out to investigate any disturbances. I'd never been shot and I was sort of hoping to keep it that way. Even though it would heal, it would be best to just avoid any injury possible.

I turned to follow them back into the forest, away from the farm. I sidled up next to the larger wolf and rubbed my head affectionately against his shoulder. He licked the side of my face before nudging me away. Leave it to Ray to show his love even in wolf form.

It was a few minutes later before I finally realized that Ilene wasn't with us anymore. She'd found a way to sneak off without being noticed.

I stopped in my tracks, spinning wildly in place to search for her. "She's gone."

The sound of screaming sheep broke through the night air, freezing both of us to the spot. Then we were both off, running back to the farm as fast as we could, hoping we could get to her before the farmer and his gun.

When I reached the farm, I didn't hesitate, but leapt straight up over the fence and into the crowd of fleeing sheep. I forced them all aside, trying to reach Ilene. She was crouched down low, gnawing on the throat of a struggling sheep beneath her. Her sharp teeth expertly ripped flesh from the sheep's carcass.

I tried to ignore the puddle of red liquid pooled around her. When I approached, she growled threateningly at me. Her eyes blazed as if on fire, and for a minute, I was almost scared.

She was no longer my sister. Instead, she was a primal beast, one that would rip out my throat if I got too close. But I had to take that chance; we didn't have the time for me to be gentle. If we didn't get out of here now, we'd be in serious trouble.

I circled her and lunged in, nipping at her hind leg. She turned and snarled at me, baring all of her teeth in a loud warning. The front door of the farmhouse burst open and the farmer stood there in his pajama bottoms. His shotgun was raised to his shoulder.

The first shot went high and the second wide. I didn't want to give him a third chance to hit us. I nudged her to her feet, and she finally came to her senses and realized the danger she was in. The two of us ran, and I jumped the fence right behind her, just as the fence post next to my head exploded into splinters. The sound of the shot nearly blasted out my eardrum.