How It Started Pt.1

Shouts and pounding feet fill the air behind me as I run for cover. I hear the cries of many. Men, women, children. Some even laugh! I am being pursued by a fleet of males, all dressed in black attire with exceptionally shiny shoes. Incase you are wondering, I'm being chased for my lack of attire. Apparently humans wear clothes. I did not know this. They are not customary where I come from.

A few loud whistles ring as I run, and soon I round the bend and run between two buildings. I am much faster than them, even in my human. I jump over the plastic barrels which smell like they contain garbage, and I leap high. My hands and feet find the holes in the fence of metal links and I scurry across in search of cover. Some day, I'll laugh at this. Right now though, right now is Hella stressful. Before we get into the now though, I'd like to tell you a little story. A story about how I got here in the first place, as you've probably already figured out that I am not human and have no business near them. So here is where we'll start.

I believe I am eighteen, or twenty. I am unsure. We really don't have clocks or keep track of time. Most think that clocks and calenders, numbers in general are a hindrance. Alpha often would say that humans were slaves to numbers. Money, time, deadlines, weight, age, height. I have little clue what money is though, or what it looks like. I do know it is a currency type deal. Like a means of bartering? Yeah.

That being said, I don't know my birthday or anything too detailed. I do know I was born on a full moon. They say it makes them special, those born under the full moon. Perhaps that is why my step brother hates me. I often believe he is envious that I was a full moon baby. Nothing to envy, really, considering I grew up sort of a stray pup in our pack.

We don't have fated mates as other bloodlines or species do sadly, and so my mother left when I was young. She took up with a male from a neighboring pack and never cane back for me. My father raised me until I was big enough to look after myself, then he took to a new female in our pack. He spennt all his time with her pups and they pups they made together. I became an after thought, once again.

We lived off the land. We had no electric, few machines. Only older males left to get supplies when moments occurred that we might need things produced by humans. We gardened, hunted, scavenged and preserved everything we ate. Even grinding grains and making our sugar from cane. We lived deep into the wilderness, areas so dense with brush, in such high elevations or too treacherous for humans to venture this far. Our village was a series of caves, huts and a few log cabins for our alpha, beta and important pack members. My father and his family lived in a large hut, and I a small makeshift lean to that I had concocted out of necessity. My stepbrother, Kassius being the reason my father had made me leave their spacious hut. He tired quickly of mine and Kass' fighting.

At one point I missed the warm, leak and draft free hut so much that it was almost worth dealing with Kass' bully just to live there. It was hard to store food in as well. Many nights I awoke to the rain having blown in and soaked my 'floor' and my food. Often I suspected Kassius of sabotage, I could pick up his stench lingering near my lean to.

An older male soon took up with me and began to share food and look after me. His name was Remus. He was an alpha in his prime. He much preferred being alone, but still liked the safety of numbers so he handed his position down and built a hut on the outskirts. He took my shanty contraption down and built me a nicer hut, close to his. He took the time to really teach me to garden and to store food in detail, something father had never done.

Soon rumor spread through our pack that Remus had plans to claim me. Others my age sneered and taunted me, but I paid them little mind. Remus was a special male. Wise, strong, and selective with his company. He despised everyone, if he approved of me and thought enough to potentially claim me then it was a high honor. I worked hard to stay in his good graces. In my mind, he was the rightful alpha.

I soaked up every bit of knowledge I could from him, and I could tell he enjoyed teaching me. Especially because I still called him alpha. I was one of the few wolves here to ever see him laugh, or grin. Or even have him engaged in conversation. He was also one of the few males here who had yet to take any of the alloted mates. Each male is allowed two. Our current alpha revised this to protect younger males. Many were getting maimed or slaughtered by older, battle hardy males who were hoarding females.

I was never worried about being hoarded by such males. Nobody wanted to square off with Remus. He had even frightened the two friends I had made into staying back. Kita would then speak to me through the woodline, under scrutinizing glare of Remus. Remus had never favored Kita, who was a rogue male. Kita was female crazy and eccentric. Too full of life and not enough of sense, Remus would say.

Kita always spoke of other beings, packs, sights he had seen and the human world. This picked my interest! I had fantasized of seeing new things. Of meeting humans. I wanted to play with them, smell them. See then create the feats of enguinity they are capable of. I had only read about such things. Reading was important here. Reading was always pressed and encouraged. We need it to understand old relics, history through journals of our pack ancestors and allies, and even rituals and spells. It would also become important if the elders died and one of us had to do the errands and interact someday with humans. Enough about that though. I'm certain I'm boring you.

You want to know why I am here, among humans? Well, it started late one night. Our pack has never minded rogues, rogues are mostly harmless travelers or loners. Occassionally though you will have a shunned alpha or disgruntled beta who is cast out, and they will form a new pack. This is rare, but it is what caused our downfall.

An older alpha, recently dethrowned from his rank, had created a new pack from his beta who had left with him, and rogues they had formed alliance with. Our pack is decently strong, but small in numbers compared to others. We consisted of mainly older males, alpha family, females and children. Our younger males were almost nonexistent due to being killed over females. This left us with almost three times as many females and children as males. This was an extreme disadvantage, as our females couldn't fight and protect their children at the same time.

We were ambushed by this new renegade pack in the middle of the night. They first struck the cabin with the alpha's family, subduing our luna who was caught off guard trying to reach her babies and alert the alpha. With her captured, they used her as a shield. Alpha was back jumped and murdered trying to defend himself, and not harm his mate. The rest of my pack was picked off one by one by this offending one. They were deathly silent, and had no scent to alert us.

Remus and I were along the last to be attacked. He had just recently moved me into his hut, and shown more interest than he typically had. We had shared food together, slept on the same cot together, we swam and bathed together. And in a tell take display of interest, he would leave the last of our meals for me and had been running his head and jaw along mine to transfer scent. I was buzzing with excitement from all this affection. I was warm, protected, and my belly full. I had came of age and my heat would be coming soon, and I had been unofficially claimed by a remarkable alpha male. Who technically was undefeated. I went above and beyond to return the affection. I kept the hut tidy, I would hunt and bring back food to surprise him, and I would display skills he had taught me to show him that I was applying his hard work.

We were nestled in his cot, with him against my back. He slept facing the entrance of the room, always alert and on guard even in his sleep. I was tangled under his limbs when I heard a step. He shot up on instinct and crawled across me to listen. We listened for a moment in silence before he scratched my neck and rubbed his scent along me again. He gave me strict orders to remain still and in this cot. I hugged him before he left, and he puffed out with pride as he made his exit to check the other sections of the hut and it's perimeter.

Through mindlink, he alerted me that he smelled blood and found footprints. When he didn't respond to me and I heard growls, I creeper out of the cot and through the hut to try to see what was going on. I could see shadows battling through a crack in the wood door, and I could hear the sounds of struggle. I obeyed Remus' orders, until I seen him taken down through the crack in the door. I bolted out of the hut and across the back of the wolf that had Remus' brilliant copper wolf on the ground. Another foreign wolf lay dead nearby. I quickly tore into the throat of this wolf, right as it slung me away. It collapsed and spasmed near Remus. I had taken advantage of the element of surprise, the huge wolf was nearly as big as Remus and would have made quick work of a young wolf like me.

Remus was seriously injured, and could hardly hold himself up. I was angry that he hadn't asked me to aid him, but I knew that he was only afraid of me getting injured too. It was difficult to drag him back into the hut, but I got him into the cot and stoped his bleeding. I bandaged him with what we had on hand. We remained silent, communicating in mind link and trying to hear from the others. We recieved no replies.

He was dead set against the idea of me going out to investigate, but I had to see what was going on and if others needed me. I blocked off the cot as secure as I could and I made my way back to the main parts of our village. I occassionally linked Remus to confirm we were both fine. I immediately could scent the blood and death in the air. Bodies lay near houses, some wolves and some in their man with torn threats and bellies. These were men and a couple women I had known my whole life.

My knees got wobbly, and I became paranoid as I neared my father's hut. I wasn't at all prepared for what I found inside. My father, his mate and their two oldest were slain. I howled and weeped. I checked them over, desperately awaiting a sign of life. There was none. The other pups and Kassius nowhere to be found. The other pups and females gone too. I finally left my father's hut in search of the alpha's cabin.

The alpha himself and his son were also dead. Luna and other pups were gone. Only a few injured men, the beta and one of his daughters, and an older female remained. I offered to help with the bodies and clean up, but I was rushed away. Nobody would say it, but I could hear the c whispers. They intended to relocate, and despite my youth and gender, did not want to bring me with them. I was a troublemaker, because I wouldn't let Kassius bully me and I fought too much.

I returned to tend and feed Remus, relaying my information to him and describing the damage. I tended to his every whim, despite his encouraging me to abandon him for safety. He wasn't going to heal, and he was getting weaker. I couldn't give up on him though, and I dutifully cleaned and kept him fed and warm. I brought him water and slept by his side. During this time we talked and he shared stories of his youth and adventures. He gave praise to me and would lick and nip at my face in moments that he had the strength. I learned that he had never mated, he had held out to find a female he liked. I was indeed the one he wanted, but he was worried to outright proposition me. So he just marked me with scent and put me in his hut until he would find his nerve.

Imagine being so big and powerful, but being too nervous to claim a mate. Most would just mark them without any consideration, but Remus was a rare and genuine wolf. He had heart and conscience, and much respect for me. I will never find another Remus. We remained here, in our own little world, for a week. Remus was fading quickly, and despite his threats through the link I did not leave him. It wasn't in me. As badly as I hated to see the others die, he was the one that devastated me. He became colder, and his pain increased. I gathered every herb or salve I could scavenge, and blanket too. I laid against him beneath the blanket, and we continued our conversation through link to keep his mind busy.

"You know, I had told him that there was a large group of rogues watching us just weeks ago. They had been drawing closer and watching females. He said I was no longer alpha and to let him do his job. I should've never stepped down. He was unworthy. I was justvtired if the responsibility." He sighed after linking this. I nodded and nuzzled closer to him.

"I would have done things differently than he. I had a good system going and then he ruined it when he came in. Nobody needs more than one mate. Killing fellow pack members out if anything but self defense should have been grounds to banish. We should have kept the pack guards on patrol. I digress." He was silent for a moment and I studied him, hanging off every word. I reached for a piece of jerky for him, and guided to his mouth. He ate eagerly and watched me with adoring eyes.

"You should be luna right now. I should be healthy. We should be strolling around surveying our pack and land, side by side. Maybe we'd be expecting a pup..." My face flushed and he chuckled.

"I have no idea what I would even do with a pup. It's probably better than I had none."

"You'd be a great father. You are already a great alpha." He forced a smile, and moved a hand into his mouth to rip a canine tooth out. I gaped at him as he grinned a bloody grin. He kicked his blood away and handed me the tooth.

"For you. I want to go where you go when I die. I want to remain with you." He urged me to lay back down against him while he napped, and it was in that nap that he left this life.

I howled and screamed, I tried anything I could to bring him back, but his body was tired. His soul had moved on. I laid by him for hours, howling and grieving until I heard the howls of rogues in the distance, reaching out to join me in my sorrows. One howl stood out the most, the howl of Kita.

Kita soon located me, and he helped me to lay Remus to rest. I drew the shape of a wolf in the dirt near a sacred cave, and I sat out crystals as I read from old ritual books. I wanted to send him into his next life blessed and loved. Kita lit the fire and I couldn't watch as he burned, so Kita sent me in search of a jar with lid. He told me humans would often burn their deceased loved ones and carry them in such things. I was drawn to the idea on instinct, because I knew Remus wanted to go wherever I went. Now I could take him with me.

I gathered his ashes and sealed the jar tightly, clutching it to my chest. Kita had offered me home with him and his two expecting females, but I heeded Remus advice and turned him down. I appreciated his help and friendship, but I knew what Remus said was true. Kita was trying to add another mate to his collection. He was already trying to get Remus' scent off me by brushing around me or spilling my water from my ladel onto my face where the scent was strongest.

I didn't know where I was going, or what I was supposed to do now. I knew staying here alone would be invitation to others who would soon show up to snoop and raid or even claim the housing. So I packed Remus' ashes, his tooth on a grapevine around my neck, and a light blanket. Inside it I packed food, medicinal herbs, and only necessities. I left out in the daylight, trying to cover as much ground as I could.