CHAPTER 3 Outside of the depth of the forest

My four feet were leading me from the depth of the forest, further away from my home, but my mind wanted me to turn back. I could feel it was not safe, where I was heading. The more I trotted, I glanced behind me until my home was nowhere in my sight.

What was I doing?

As much as I feared dying of hunger it too could happen outside of the depth of the forest.

I paused and panted under a large tree by my thought.

My tongue hangs from my mouth as I took quick breaths and my heart palpitated observing my new surrounding. The sight of it gave me chills. There was too much light where I was, though I was still in the forest but not within the depth. I was visible and easy to be seen by other predators, wolves, which was not good. I could never feel safe here.

My ears and nose were on the alert the entire time for any wolf that could spot me. Luckily, I sensed none. I had enough time to quickly catch a small prey and hurriedly return. My back rested against the tree and my body quivered nervously as my eyes closed and nose raised sniffing through the air for any small creature lurking by. My eyes opened and my body jumped sensing a rabbit nearby. I could be lucky enough to find its barrow. I trotted through the forest. My heart leaped with joy and I paused between some bushes. I saw food, a fat brown rabbit seemed to have its breakfast, grasses. It was a great time to slowly sneak upon it. My eyes were glued to it as I stealthily crept upon it. Shit, I foolishly step on a piece of dried stick. The rabbit heard me and started fleeing. I raced behind it and grabbed it by its neck before it could jump into its barrow. I killed it and was lucky to be led to his home. My mouth was covered with its blood. I took its lifeless body into my mouth ready to return him. Suddenly, I stopped and my eyes paused at its home. A small hole in the ground. If I could find one or three more of its kind I could survive for days without having to leave my home for hunting again and hopefully, things will get back to normal back at home.

I lay my meal on the grass and began digging into his home. With excitement, I dug faster hearing about 6 I assumed. They tried escaping as I spotted them. It was a barrow of its family along with a tiny baby. I had planned to eat the baby first to gain enough strength to return. I killed all five and threw them beside my first kill. The baby rabbit squeaked terrifyingly as my sharp teeth wrapped around its neck. Before my teeth could pierce into its tiny soft body. I felt my body sent flying into my catches causing them to spread about. I quickly stood up, and my eyes widened scared to death. A large dark brown wolf was standing before me. His eyes glared at me while he growled. I spun around in a split second to escape. I was scared stiff when I did, more wolves were behind me. They all encircled me. Six of them. Wolves with different shades of brown and black. They were large, too large for me, and seemed strong to put up a fight.

I whimpered.

There was no way I could escape them all without being killed. At that moment I wished I had never broken my grandmother's promise. My pack enemies had found me. I was going to die. I will no longer be the last wolf of my pack, alive.

Their sharp teeth bite at me while they growled and snarled. I was horror-stricken within the center. My head kept turning to watch if any was trying to secretly attack me from any angle, and my body kept quivering. I was having a hard time standing on my four feet.

One on my left tried to attack me at my side. I growled at him, scared to the bone to back away from me. He stopped, not by my warning but by another wolf command.

"Damian, remember punishing an outsider is not our job."

"I see you've all caught the outsider, a rather filthy one." I smelled another wolf, different from the six wolves who had surrounded me.

I glanced behind me where the seventh wolf was and my body felt like it received a hard hit at how frightened I was. It was from a man. It was the first I was seeing a man and a wolf in their second form, human form. The time I first could shift into my wolf form. I was only six, my grandmother made me swear to never shift again. As for my grandmother, I've never seen her second form but only her wolf form.

It was frightening seeing a man much less him in his human form. His skin was furless and he was in some type of strange covering that was as if it was its human fur. The strange object he had on had no fur it was just smooth.

As the man's dark eyes went to mine, my body lowered, my ears flattened and I tucked in my tail whimpering out of fear.

Was he the alpha, the leader of The Grey Pack? I worried. I felt the urge of crying but I tried not to. My marks weren't showing. How could they possibly see I was a survivor of The River Pack?

"Put her down in completing your training," he instructed.

A shock that felt like lightning rushed through my body and shook me. Was I going to die?

I whimpered for my life.

"I'll take her out on my own," said the first wolf who attacked me.

The wolves encircling me seemed to all be males.

The first wolf crept into the circle, ready for the kill. My body lowered into the grass, onto my side, showing him I was not in for a fight. There was no way I could possibly outtake him or any of them.

"She's submitting to you, Alaric. She knows she is unable to beat you," their leader spoke.

"Tie her up."

The first wolf shifted into his second form. He had dark brown eyes and hair, and he was tall. Before him, I saw something that looked like a tail, a furless one. It was weird.

I whimpered on the ground.

They threw him a chain.

"You have no right hunting on the Blood Red Pack without our permission," he told me.

At that moment, I realized they were not my enemy's pack.

My eyes widen as the dark brown-haired male raised the chain in his hand and quickly lowered it to my head. My eyes closed as the chain came down with force. I whined loudly from his hard hit.