Spirit of the Wild

Kaelen’s Point of View

The forest always knew my name.

It whispered it in the rustling leaves and howled it in the wind that cut through the trees like sharp claws. The air smelled of wet earth and pine, thick with the kind of silence that makes your skin itch. I knew this place. I lived in it. Breathe it. Bled in it.

But tonight… something felt different.

My feet crunched softly over the dead leaves as I moved through the dense undergrowth, trying to calm the storm building inside me. My wolf was restless—no, wild. More than usual. She clawed at my chest like she wanted out, now. The red moon wasn’t even in the sky yet, but I could feel it coming. Its energy pressed down on me like a weight I couldn’t shake off.

“Easy,” I whispered, placing a hand over my heart as if that could quiet her.

It didn’t.

She growled low, deep, ancient—like something older than me, older than anything I knew.

My fingers trembled. The tips of my nails burned as they threatened to shift into claws again. I clenched my fists and leaned against the rough bark of a tree, pressing my forehead to it.

Breathe, Kaelen. Breathe.

The cool bark scratched my skin, grounding me. The scent of moss and wet leaves clung to the air. A flash of something bright—a red streak cutting through the trees—caught my attention, but I ignored it. Focused instead on the sharp sting of the bark beneath my fingertips.

I had lived in exile for as long as I could remember. The Silver Moon Pack threw me out when I was just a child. Said I was cursed. A bad omen. Something to fear. My mother died not long after that—some said she killed herself because of me. I never believed them. Not really. But sometimes... sometimes the doubt crept in like rot.

I had no answers. No real memories of why they cast me out. Just pain.

Pain and this power I couldn’t control.

“Why now?” I muttered to myself, my voice a low rasp. “Why does it feel like it’s getting stronger?”

The energy crackled under my skin, humming, pulsing—pulling. Toward something. Somewhere.

I turned to the left, drawn by the invisible thread tugging at my chest. The forest grew thicker in that direction. Darker. A chill ran down my spine, but I moved forward, swift and quiet, until I caught sight of movement up ahead—figures. Large, armed. I ducked behind a wide tree, heart thudding against my ribs like a drumbeat.

Sentries.

A pack border.

I narrowed my eyes, watching the way they moved. Tight formation. Alert. Definitely a pack. But why was I feeling this pull… toward them?

Was it the red moon stirring something inside me again? Or was I just tired of running, tired of always being alone?

Don’t be stupid.

I shook the thought from my head and turned to leave, putting distance between myself and the border.

Then, something flashed in my peripheral vision.

A small grey wolf came barreling at me from the trees. I barely had time to sidestep before it launched at the spot I’d just been standing on.

It landed clumsily, skidded in the dirt, and spun back around, charging again.

“Seriously?” I muttered under my breath, stepping aside once more and grabbing it mid-air, flipping it on its back and pinning it down.

The wolf squirmed, growled playfully.

“Shift back before I break all your bones,” I said, half-grinning.

The wolf stilled… and then shimmered. Fur shrank into skin, limbs snapped back into place, and a young girl with messy black curls and wide eyes grinned up at me sheepishly.

“Hi, Kaelen,” she said, breathless, her grin cheeky.

I sighed, but the corner of my mouth tugged up.

“Lana,” I said. “How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that?”

She laughed, the sound light and carefree, though I could hear the soft rustle of the leaves stirring around us in the background, a reminder of the wilderness surrounding us.

“I wanted to see if I could catch you off guard,” she said, her voice always teasing, never fully serious.

I let her up, brushing off my pants.

“You failed,” I said, brushing dirt from her shoulder.

“I’ll get you next time.”

“Keep dreaming.”

We started walking side by side through the trees, her bare feet light on the forest floor. The sound of the leaves shifting beneath us felt almost rhythmic, like nature was in tune with our movements.

“I saw you looking at that pack border,” she said after a moment. Her tone was soft, inquisitive.

I didn’t answer.

“You were thinking about it, weren’t you?” she pressed, her voice filled with that usual, innocent curiosity. “About joining?”

I snorted. “Please. Packs are overrated.”

She giggled, but there was a flicker of something behind her eyes, a hope she didn’t fully understand. “Really? I don’t know. I think it’d be nice. Having people around. Protection. Warm beds. Hot food.”

“Freedom’s better,” I muttered. “Out here, no one tells me what to do. No Alpha barking orders. No rules. Just me and the wild.”

Lana looked at me with soft eyes. “But don’t you ever feel... lonely?”

I stopped walking and looked ahead, the weight of her question settling over me like the fog that sometimes crept in from the mountains. The wind had picked up, rattling the trees, but her words held me in place.

“Lana,” I said, voice low. “You have your mother. Your father. They care about you. You’ve never been alone.”

I turned to meet her eyes. “I have. That’s all I’ve ever known. And I’m okay with it.”

She looked down at her feet, then back at me. “You don’t have to be. You could come live with us. We’d stick together. It’d be fun. And maybe one day we’ll find our mates.”

I barked a laugh, a bitter sound that seemed to get lost in the rustling trees. “Mates?” I scoffed. “You’re dreaming. I’m not the mate kind. If I ever do find mine—which I doubt—I’ll reject him on the spot.”

Lana rolled her eyes, her voice light and teasing again. “You say that now. But wait till it happens.”

“It won’t.”

“It will.”

“Go home, Lana.”

She pouted, lips pulling into a soft frown. “But I’m bored. I wanna hang with you. Train with you.”

“I hang alone,” I said, firm but kind. “Go back. Your mom’s probably worried.”

She made a face but nodded, turning back.

“Fine,” she muttered. “But one day I’m gonna be just like you.”

“Scary thought,” I said, smirking, though the smile didn’t quite reach my eyes.

She laughed and vanished into the trees, her presence melting back into the wild as quickly as it had appeared.

I turned away, heading deeper into the woods, breathing in the night air. The scent of pine and earth, the crisp edge of the cool air—it always calmed me. But tonight, the stillness felt wrong.

But then… everything went still.

The wind stopped. The crickets fell silent. Even the trees felt like they were holding their breath.

Something’s wrong.

My skin prickled. I spun just in time to see a rogue wolf leap at me from the shadows, snarling.

I didn’t think—just moved. My body shifted mid-air, bones snapping and fur bursting from skin. My claws met his face before he landed.

We fought hard, tooth and claw, snarls ripping through the air. His scent was wild—fear, desperation. His movements were sloppy, untrained.

He was desperate, but not strong enough.

I sank my teeth into his neck, twisting, and ended it. The rogue dropped, a lifeless heap in front of me.

I shifted back, breathing hard, heart racing. The adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, but the gnawing feeling of unease didn’t leave.

Then I heard it. A scream. No—Lana’s scream.

My blood froze.

I sprinted through the trees, branches whipping my skin, leaves crunching underfoot. My lungs burned, but I didn’t stop. My heart slammed against my ribs as fear clawed at my chest.

I broke into the clearing where she’d gone. And my world shattered. There they were—Lana, her mother, her father—slaughtered. Beheaded. Torn apart like animals.

“No,” I whispered, stumbling forward, my legs weak beneath me. “No. No no no.”

I dropped to my knees beside her small, broken body, hands shaking. Her blood soaked into the earth, staining it black, and I felt my heart shatter like glass. I reached out but stopped short, afraid to touch her. Her eyes were still open, glassy. Staring at nothing.

Rage boiled in my chest, a fury I hadn’t felt in years. It burned through me, taking over my every thought, every breath.

Then I heard movement behind me. I turned slowly. More rogues. Four of them. Emerging from the trees like shadows.

They grinned. I rose to my feet, fists clenched, my body trembling with the need for revenge. My wolf didn’t wait. She erupted.