The Shadow Wolf Chronicles: Book One

Chapter One: Jade

The hum of her old 91’ ford engine came to a stop when she pulled up to the beautiful cabin she had just bought in the outskirts of New Orleans. The small three bedroom red wood home sat hidden behind the wood out of sight from the streets and too far back for someone to just roam onto her property. The cabin itself was built between two giant oaks with just enough space between them to look up and see the sky between their branches. There was a nice little porch on the front, a red barn-like front door and a set of mural windows looking in on the living space. Most of her stuff was already inside, boxed up and waiting for decor, which would probably never get put up.  She had managed to get a small round table and two chairs propped up on the porch looking out at the front of her property last time she was here, but it wasn’t likely the space she would be coming to most. 

She got out of the truck, slamming the driver side door shut. Taking a deep breath of that fresh air she walked around to the bed of the truck and lowered the tailgate with a bit of a jiggle to the handle. She grabbed the mini fridge which was front and center for easy grab and walked towards the back of the house. In the back of the beautiful log structure was a huge cedar porch that already had her red stained oak patio furnichure set up. The back porch looked out to a small private runoff from the Mississippi coming up on the small beach front and in the distance on the water were two enormous cliffs that opened out to the open raging river. The waves of water lightly lapped up on the bank of the beach making peaceful whooshing sounds and stirring up the critters in the tall grass around it. There was plenty of woods as far as the eye could see, with hundreds of acres of land at her disposal to run and explore, but this scene could not be beat no matter how hard the woods competed.

She soaked in the smell, sounds and feeling of the new place she would be calling home and sighed in relief. This was more than she could have asked for and it felt good to come to the place that had always been calling her name since she was young. She walked up the four little steps leading onto the porch and around the table to where the back plug was. Plugging in the fridge she clapped like a little school girl hearing the hum of the small little fan pick up already cooling the  fridge down. There was a whole cooler of beer and whiskey to fill this sucker, but there were things to get in the house first before she rewarded herself. Using the back sliding glass doors she made her way through the cabin and unlocked the front door. Down the two steps of the front porch she went to the truck and started to unload the bed. Most of it was things she had brought from her apartment in New Mexico. Blankets, pillows, clothing, and a few other spare things she had kept out for her last week there. The boxes however, were stacked high between the living room and kitchen waiting to be unpacked by her and likely wouldn’t be done anytime soon. For her  it could have taken seconds, but she felt bad using her powers for selfish reasons. After seeing what selfishness had done to her mother she didn’t want to risk it hurting her in the same way. It was mundane, but mundane it had to be if she wanted to keep from ending up like Ravena. 

She spent the rest of the day unpacking which was slightly annoying since the drive here wasn’t exactly simple or easy. It took her nearly two days and all she wanted to do was rest, but if she didn’t at least put some of the boxes in the basement it would have never gotten done. Having moved so much she just doesn't expect this to be the last place she’d move to. She wouldn’t likely settle down here for long, even if it felt like it was the end of the endless battle  to find a home. She didn’t feel like she had to keep a low profile or risk exposing her immortality. It felt like the end of the line in searching for a home and for her it was enough to be entitled to that whisky she was hiding in the cooler outside. Putting the last of the boxes she wouldn’t unpack anytime soon in the basement, she hit the light switch shutting off the lights and walked back to her truck bed. Walking out back with the cooler in hand, she spent some time putting the drinks away before grabbing out the bottle of Jack that’d been coolin and sitting on her porch furniture. With the lid off, her legs up on the table and the chair tipped back on it’s two legs she sat as if she had not a care in the world for the next few hours. Nature's song buzzed in her head, making her hum the tunes of Myanmar while the sun began to set with a perfect view between those two cliffs in the distance. 

The day faded away quickly into night replacing the day's critters with the nights. The songs changed to that of crickets, owls and what seemed to be wolves or coyotes. The crisp evening hung in the air with the full moon lit up in the sky almost calling to her like a beacon. Besides the soft breeze blowing around her, there was nothing to disturb the peaceful bliss of the world around her. Eventually the bottle did run dry and even if she couldn’t feel the full effects of the alcohol itself the taste was refreshing and it made her sad when it was gone. Letting the chair come down with a soft click when they hit the deck she kicked her feet off the table and stood up letting her body stretch. There was still so much to get done and she didn't really need to sleep if she didn’t want to, but there was something else that was keeping her from doing what needed to be done inside. It was as if she was being pulled towards the woods and the urge to run was almost uncontrollable. Her green hues looked out towards the property where the small grassy clearing met the wood lining and she felt it stir for the first time in years. 

The feeling shocked her and made her heart skip a slight beat. She hadn't felt it, the beast inside her. The true form of her wolf, the creature she tried to keep contained for years. It had been docile since that day nearly a thousand years ago, give or take a few years. The day she exposed what she was in order to save the village she called home. The same village that kicked her out because of fear. It hadn’t been a danger for so long and she had been able to safely shift into her wolf form without the dangers of the beast coming out. It might have been just a stir, or so she hoped. After a long thought she decided it was too hard to ignore the call. It was worth the risk this one time. Worth the risk if it meant she could run free on the first night in her new home. Taking off the flannel shirt, black tank, jeans and undergarments, she stacked them neatly in a pile next to her boots by the stairs. She stood for a moment bare naked under the moon's rays letting it soak into her pores and fuel her ability to shift. Most wolves were forced to turn on the full moon but she was never held prisoner by the moon’s curse, but the full moon did enhance her powers. She was happy not to be forced to shift, who knew what might have happened if she was forced to turn. The risk of her beast coming out would end up becoming a major danger or worse, draw the attention of the humans and their government. Shifting for her was better controlled, like she was about to do tonight.

Ignoring the lingering fear in her mind about unleashing something dangerous by not heading the call of the shadowwolf, She turned to face the back door and instructed her body to shift. The pain started soft, at first, just muscles stretching and bones aching, but then came the dreaded pain of her body being forced to contort into a new shape. Bones broke, stretched and moved forcing her to take place on all fours. Her shoulders widened, her spine rounding adding more bones to make it more flexible and longer so she might run faster and her hands took the form of paws. Her mouth became a muzzle, years stretched upwards, her body taking the shape of a caine while her skin stretched and peeled away from her body exposing the dark black fur underneath. What felt like hours of torment ended in minutes taking on my new form. She shook out her fur, stood tall on the wood of the porch and opened her eyes. She lifted her head up and looked at herself in the mirrored image of the glass doors. What she saw shocked her, making my frightened form run off like a scared pup, not realizing at first it was her. This was not her normal looking wolf form. She was nearly three times her normal size, her head reached well over the side of the porch railing, she was still slender but also far muscular and her eyes were red from one corner to the other. They were usually red, but only the iris never took over the whole eye. Never void of emotion and empty. Perhaps what scared her the most was there were shadows dancing around her. It was almost a smaller version of what the villagers said her shadow wolf looked like. The beast in her grumbled to life telling her it wasn’t going to be silent or still any longer. She was about to be face to face with her devils, but she wasn’t sure when or how. 

Panic should have set in but the beaming moon drew her away from the worries for the night and led her feet away from the small wooden home towards the forest around her. Her giant paws pushed on the ground underneath her weight and she could feel the city of New Orleans underneath them. Between the forest and the city erupting to life around her senses she was overwhelmed with the urge to just run until she only felt the moon and the air against her fur. To run until her heart would nearly burst. Flattening her ears back against her head she lowered into a low prowl stance letting the moon goddess tell her where to go and guide her. Releasing every emotion inside her, she lunged forward into a tree line. After she landed, she erupted into thundering booms against the ground from her massive paws gaining speed until they became so light she was almost not touching the ground but with her toes. It was almost like she was floating on air or on the moon herself. It was cliche and such a dog thing to do, but she let her tongue flap in the wind that was brushing her fur back and giving her the proper momentum and speed. Her tail was taught in place against her leg moving in perfect sync with her movements letting the moon be her guid. 

She had no idea where she was going, not yet exploring the grounds, but her legs knew where to go. She rounded the trees and shifted directions frantically until she was running up one of the hills leading to the cliffs overlooking the Mississippi river where she had watched the sun set. She didn’t stop at the edge of the cliff, picking up as much speed as she could muster until she reached the edge. Crouching down against the cliff edge, her back legs pushed off the rocky edge taking a leap no normal wolf would have been able to make. Her paws came crashing down on the other cliff side before coming to a skidded stop on the other side. Gathering her footing she stood up, shook and walked back to the edge of the cliff taking a seat on a raised flat rock overlooking the water. She was closer here, to the huge picture of the moon that was hanging over the water so perfectly. A soft breeze blew mist against her face and carried a haunting howl of others, which was matched when she rose muzzle up to the blanket of stars releasing her own howl. A howl like she had never done before, and couldn’t fathom where it had come from inside her. 

The howl died down after a few moments before she just sat there listening to them drift off into the wind and put the city back in the silent song of nature. She sat until the sun began to come up behind her. She jumped off the rock, took a longing look back at the setting moon and set herself on a nice jog back to the cabin. This side of the cliff led to the front of the cabin, but she couldn’t push this door open without shifting back and she wasn’t ready yet. Trotting around to the back porch, she almost didn’t want to see herself in the glass. She didn’t want to feel that fear again, but she wanted inside more than she wanted to get away from her fears. Ignoring the lingering thoughts she pushed the door open with her muzzle and paw and made her way to her room. Her dark black figure jumped onto a neatly made queen size bed, curled up in the middle and sleep took her over. Darkness enveloped her the moment her eyes closed and for the first time in a very long time she dreamed.