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FIVE

ARTEMIS

"Astoria when can I meet the rest of the pack?" I mused as I stirred the bubbling red liquid that soon began to smoke, Astoria rushed over, snatching the pot away. "Stolida! Don't let it burn!"

"Sorry." I mumbled, following her over to the wooded table where she crushed three fat red berries and poured the juice into the mixture. "It's just it's kind of lonely out here... Don't you think?"

"No." She snapped. "I prefer it this way, besides we need to keep you hidden from the Alpha for as long as possible."

"But why? What would he do?" I groaned, she had been telling me the same excuse for three days straight though I had not yet gotten an answer.

"It's not what he would do that worries me, it's what it would do to him."

"..I don't understand?"

"You don't need to... at least not yet." She hummed as the mixture turned a deep purple and she poured it into a glass vile.

"Please Astoria, at least let me hunt."

"The game here is different to out there, it's far more dangerous." She sighed, she was no doubt getting tired of my constant wining yet I couldn't stop myself. "You have to realise that, there are bears and wild boar that would make mince meat out of a runt like you."

"Please!" I sounded like a child but I didn't care, my wolf ached to run, to kill. She licked her lips at the thought of a nice juicy boar.

"The Luna is leaving a hunt going to the north border in a few hours time." She seemed worn as she ran a hand through her dark raven locks. "I will let you go on one condition..."

"Anything."

"Don't show you're skin to anyone, especially Flick." Her eyes bore into mine, hard and unwavering. If looks could kill I would have died a thousand deaths. My wolf pranced within me, I had no idea who Flick was not why I couldn't show her my skin but I didn't care. I was just glad to be free. "Let's just hope your fur side doesn't standout as much as your skin side."

"I promise."


"Just join the hunt as seamlessly as you can. Don't let anyone know you're not from here." The Oracles voice echoed through my head. I shot her one final look in the distance as I ran behind a tree, stripping bare and shifting.

"Shit." Astoria cursed through the link. "Why do you have to look just like her."

"What?" I questioned, feeling self conscious in my fur. "Just like who?"

"Doesn't matter. Now go!" She hissed before blocking me from the link.

I turned to stare at the gathering of fur in the distance. I trotted up to them as casually as I could, only a few eyes lingered on me much longer than I would have liked. My fur bristled, and a soft warning growl began to rumble in my throat.

The only one that remained in their skin side was a slender woman with hair that fall in dark chocolate waves. "Is everybody here?" She boomed, she had the confidence needed to hold such a rank, though her scent wasn't that of a Luna, it was more akin to that of a lower ranked wolf but the clear trace of Alpha scent lingered on her skin almost masking that of the lesser ranked. The pack of wolves yipped in excitement of the hunt. "Then lets go!"

She shifted into a decent sized dark brown wolf and bolted off into the darkness of the forest.

The pack followed, we ran, twenty bodies merging into one. One heart, one soul.

My wolf let out a howl of joy, throwing her head to the sky. I was about to scold her, we should be trying to blend in not crying out to the moon when another wolf echoed her call, then another, and another. Soon the Forest was filled with the calls and yips of the Selene's children.

Feet thundered over dirt and stones, I felt the pounding of our feet in my head and heart, like the beating of a drum. The wind whistled a bitter sweet melody through the hollows of the trees that spurred me on, though I was careful to remain last.

The Female leading the hunt let out a growl to sound that she had caught a scent, the pack slowed to a halt at the mouth of the clearing.

The clearing opened up to a large and lush field, and there stood no more than fifty feet away from us stood a proud buck watching over small his heard of four or five others.

Something was tugging at the edge of my mind, a niggling feeling that wouldn't quite leave me alone. I let their voices in to my head, I accepted the link that they sent and soon I could hear the female lead whispering. "Follow my lead, don't move before I do."

The wolves around me grunted softly in acknowledgment.

"Not yet..." Her brown wolf looked ready to pounce. "Not yet..." Her hindquarters swayed in preparation for the kill. "NOW!"

The wolves sprung forward like one rehearsed movement. I lingered behind, waiting for a moment before joining the chase.

We ran as one.

The leading female reached the the nearest of the herd first. She launched herself into the buck tearing into the animals throat with her sharp jaws.

I, however had my eye set on the largest Buck. He took off at speed, but I was faster.

My stark white wolf threw herself into the chase, blood pumping, heart racing. It ran out of the clearing and into the dense woodland.

We ran away from the others that stayed behind to aid in the massacre in the clearing whilst I chased the Buck that jumped over bushes, fallen trees and rivers.

I could hear my heart thundering in my ears, drowning out the sound of our pounding feet. The buck glances behind it, he knew his fate.

New paws joined behind me, the rest of the pack was now behind me.

A flash of brown beside me told me that the leading female was beside me, though surprisingly she didn't try to overtake.

But then something happened.

The deer ran into a thick growth of trees, we followed without hesitation. At first I thought it was the leading female running at me from the side. But the closer she came the bigger she grew and then I realised that the female was beside me. The brown blur lept I front of usand the pack skidded to a halt maybe ten feet from the creature. The Buck disappeared into the undergrowth and for the first time I got a good look at the brown blurr.

It was a bear.

A great big rip your face off pissed off bear.

She stood on her hind legs, swiping her paws through the air. A wolf behind me whimpered.

The Leading female and I exchanged horrified glances before the bear slammed its paws down into the earth and charged at us.

We turned tail and ran as fast as we could, a new sense of adrenaline pumping through my veins. This time it was the need to survive.

The bear was fast but we were faster and soon a kind of unabashed ecstasy fell over the pack. One of the wolves let out a howl as we ran. My wolf grinned, throwing her head to the sky and howling along with the intrepid juvenile. The bear roared but the wolves simply yipped and laughed as we ran. A kind of dauntless freedom fuelled us as we ran until we could see the bear no more. Even when she was gone we carried on, jumping fallen trees and splashing through rivers to hide out scent.

The leading female shifted back to her skin, none of us even hesitated as we followed her lead, still running. Bones cracked as they shifted to fit a human.

The female threw her fist in the air laughing and shouting. I threw my head back in the throaty laugh, I hadn't heard the sound in such a long time. We were fearless, without a care nor worry in the world.

We slowed to a halt, bent double and panting.

The female approached me with a shit eating grin on her face. "Did you see the look on that bear's face!" She cackled. "I'm Flick by the way!"

"Artemis." I replied, shaking her hand.

My eyes widened in shock. The name rolled so fluently off of my tongue, I didn't even hesitate. It wasn't until now that I had even thought of my name.

Flick dropped my hand as though it were on fire, staring at me through wide and haunted eyes. "What?" I questioned.

"Nothing..." She mumbled. "For a moment then I thought you were someone else... it's just... you look just like her."

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