1.

Farryn once had a normal life, as normal as one could have in a world where werewolves were hunted down for sport because they were different. She was raised in a loving home, a strict but loving father, a wonderfully caring mother who brought out her father’s soft side, an older sister who was a royal pain in the ass but would have Farryn’s back when she needed it. Everything was so perfectly normal in her wolffish life. She could still remember her tenth birthday when she shifted for the very first time. Her pack threw a big celebration for all of the little ten-year-olds for their first shift. Sometimes it seemed like just yesterday. It was easy to remember the happy moments of life when things got hard…and they always seemed to lately.

Farryn lifted her head slowly over the fallen tree trunk she had been hiding behind. Her nails gripped the rough bark, ready to force her body to her feet as her moss green eyes tracked the movement of three men up ahead of her. They moved clumsily through the forest, their footsteps were loud and unsure. It was obvious they were human. They were out of their element, but they knew they were in the right area. A soft hand clasped Farryn’s shoulder tightly, her sister Rae was signaling for them to go, while they were far enough away to know the humans wouldn’t hear them.

Swallowing hard she nodded her head; the pair took one last look at the humans before slowly beginning to slink away and then gradually rising to their full height. Farryn was four years younger than her sister but was still a good head taller standing at 5’10 which was rather unusual for a female. They had just clasped their hands together when the humans behind them shouted. They paused for a split second to look over their shoulders, that was all it took. A single gunshot echoed through the forest; Rae’s head rocked back as the bullet found it’s home between her eyes. Her body collapsed before the blood even began to flow.

Farryn screamed out in a mixture of horror and pain, her wolf inside howling her anger towards the humans. Red began tosettle over her gaze like a film, her wolf wanted bother but to rip them all apart but as she lifted her gaze she watched as they lifted the gun once more, this time pointed at her. She knew she couldn’t shorten the distance between them before being shot. With a heartbroken sob, she released her sister's hand and ran, while the bullet zinging by just a split second behind where she had been. To leave behind her sister's body to the hands of the humans hurt worse than taking that bullet would have but she had a survivor's instinct. The anger in her head slowly changed direction to herself. What kind of a wolf was she? How could she just run like a coward? Farryn growled as she closed her eyes, shaking the accusing thoughts of her wolf out of her mind.

“I will not die! If it means running then fine, but I will not die.” She snarled to her wolf. The forest around her was silent as she ran, the odds of the humans catching up were slim. Her wolf pushed at the edge of her mind, she wanted out, she wanted revenge. “Stop it! I will not die!” She shouted before bringing her run to a halt. Her eyes squeezed shut as she forced her wolf down, forced her to be silent, to stop pushing her.

Farryn sat upright with a gasp. Her body was hot, and there was sweat along her brow as she fought for breath. It had been three years and almost every night the same memory haunted her dreams. Her fever made the dreams worse, more vivid, and made the pain fresh. Stifling a cough, she rolled over onto her side and brought herself to her feet. Her body swayed, muscles screaming in protest, but she had stopped long enough, and she needed food. Food and freshwater would be great right now huh? It seemed as if her thoughts echoed inside of her mind causing her to cringe. With a raspy gasp, Farryn clung onto each tree branch she could to help propel herself forward. The forest seemed to grow even more silent each day, autumn was almost over, and food was getting harder to find, as well as anyone like her. A wet cough forced its way through her body, her teeth clenched at the pain in her head as she attempted to strain her ears for the sound of running water. She seemed to have walked for a little more than a mile before she hit the jackpot.

The trees had begun to thin out and slowly opened up to reveal a clear water stream that fed into a lake. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stumbled to the stream before collapsing in relief. Her hands scooped up small handfuls of water which she sipped up quickly. Once she had her fill of water, she brought herself to her knees and gazed out on the lake. It was beautiful. Her mother would have loved it. Suddenly the refreshing water turned bitter in her mouth at the thought. With a shake of her head, she stood up slowly and peeled her t-shirt from her body and unbuttoned her pants before clumsily pulling them off. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a bath or a swim in general, and the cool water would feel amazing on her heated skin. As Farryn unclasped her bra and slid off her underwear she looked down at her body. Her 5’10 frame was mainly bone, there was no muscle left on her body, each rib was countable, so she knew her cheeks were hollowed out. This was what she deserved for abandoning her sister.

Farryn had gotten to knee-deep water when the forest burst into life around her. It startled her for a moment to hear the birds and insects come to life again, but it was odd timing. After looking around she took a few more steps before the sound of a low rumble reached her ears. At first, it sounded like thunder but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, when the sound came again, she realized what she was hearing. Slowly, cautiously, she looked over her shoulder to find two large black wolves with their heads lowered, tails high, and lips curled back in warning as they growled at her. The wolves were identical heights with identical grayish-blue eyes, the fact that they hadn’t launched into an attack brought a bit of confusion but she raised her hands none the less in a sign to show she was unarmed and surrendered. The wolf on the left lifted its head, taking a step forward and gazing at her thin body before growling again. Farryn slowly turned around to face the pair fully. She did not care that she was naked.

“I’m not human.” She whispered, her voice was rough from lack of use, but she kept her tone low, she was no threat to them after all. The growling fell silent as the pair spoke between their bond; the wolf closest sniffed once, then twice. The wolf’s eyes narrowed, and its body did not relax. It didn’t seem to trust her. With one last growl, the wolves shifted, just as Farryn suspected they were identical twins. The two girls before Farryn were well fed, which brought a growl from Farryn’s stomach. They had the same shoulder-length chocolate brown hair and light blue eyes.

“If you aren’t human than shift.” The girl closest commanded.

Farryn’s hands lowered to her side, her dull green eyes held the challenging gaze of the stranger.

“I can’t. I lost her.”