The She-wolf Who Hated her beauty

Elena It has been ten years since I last shifted into my second form. My human body. I have forgotten what it looks like. I have forgotten the shape of my own face. Sometimes, late at night, I try to remember. I close my eyes and search my memory. Was my nose small or sharp? Were my lips thin or full? Did I have a dimple when I smiled? I cannot picture any of it. The girl I used to be is a ghost. A stranger. I was twelve years old when I last stood on two legs. That was the day I became an orphan. That was the day I became a packless wolf. A rogue. Alone. On that blood-curdling day, I made a promise to myself. A vow carved into my broken heart: I will never show my human form to anyone again. So I never shifted back. I stayed in my wolf form. Gray fur. Silver tail. Four paws that carry me away from memories. And now, ten years later, I do not even remember what I look like as a human. Hot tears fill my eyes as I recall the death of my parents. The end of my pack. The fire that turned our village to ash. I see my mother's face — her warm smile, her gentle hands. I hear my father's last growl as he fell protecting our home. The tears wet the fur around my muzzle. I let them fall. No one is watching. I am curled in my cave. The wind howls outside like a wounded animal. Winter has come early this year. Snow covers the ground in a thick white blanket. My ribs press against my skin. I can count them one by one. My hip bones stick out. I have not eaten in three days. I am going to die here, I think. Alone. Forgotten. No one will even know I existed. My wolf whines inside me. She is hungry too. She wants to run. She wants to hunt. But there is nothing left to hunt. The rabbits have hidden deep underground. The fish have sunk below the ice. The deer have moved to lower valleys. I am starving in a forest that has turned against me. I lift my head and look toward the cave entrance. Snowflakes drift inside, melting on the stone floor. Beyond the opening, the forest waits. Dark. Silent. Deadly. But somewhere out there, beyond the frozen trees, lies Alpha Alexander's territory. His pack house sits on a hill, surrounded by tall pines. I have seen it from a distance, late at night, when his warriors sleep. The house is made of gray stone. Its windows glow with warm yellow light. And in the kitchen, there is bread. Meat. Stew bubbling in iron pots. I have stolen from there before. Twice. Both times, I crept through a broken window in the back, grabbed what I could, and ran. No one saw me. No one chased me. But tonight feels different. A cold knot tightens in my stomach. A whisper in my mind: Do not go. Danger waits. I ignore it. Hunger is louder than fear. Hunger is a wolf more vicious than any alpha. I stand up. My legs tremble beneath me. My paws feel weak. I have not run in days. I have barely moved. My body is eating itself from the inside. If I do not find food by tomorrow, I will not have the strength to hunt at all. One more time, I tell myself. One more theft. Then I will disappear deeper into the forest. I will find a new cave. I will survive. I walk to the cave entrance. Snow crunches under my paws. The cold bites my nose. The moon is full above me, cold and silver, watching like a hungry eye. I stop at the edge of the trees. My heart pounds. Something feels wrong. The forest is too quiet. No owls. No crickets. Even the wind has stopped. Turn back, the whisper says. Go back to your cave. Starvation is better than what waits out there. But my stomach growls. Loud. Angry. Final. I step into the trees. The snow is deep. Each step takes effort. My paws sink to the ankle. My breath comes in short, white puffs. I keep my ears turned forward, listening for any sound. My nose twitches, searching for the scent of wolves. Nothing. Just pine and ice. I walk for what feels like an hour. The trees thin. A hill rises ahead. At the top of the hill, lights flicker through the branches. Alpha Alexander's mansion. I drop low to the ground. My belly brushes the snow. I crawl forward, slow and silent. The back of the mansion comes into view. Stone walls. A wooden fence. And there, near the ground, the broken window. Still broken. Still unrepaired. Lucky, I think. They never fixed it. I reach the fence. I squeeze through a gap in the boards. My fur snags on a nail, but I pull free. The window is ten feet away. Dark inside. No guards in sight. I creep across the yard. My paws leave prints in the snow. I do not care. I will not be here long. I reach the window. I push my head through the gap. The kitchen is empty. A fire burns low in the hearth. On the long wooden table, a loaf of bread sits uncovered. Next to it, a chunk of cheese. A half-full bottle of wine. Thank the moon. I pull myself through the window. My claws scrape the stone sill. I land softly on the floor. The warmth of the kitchen wraps around me like a blanket. I almost cry from the heat. I move toward the table. My mouth waters. My stomach screams. I am three feet from the bread when I hear a sound behind me. A floorboard creaks. I freeze. Slowly, I turn my head. A servant stands in the doorway. A young woman. Her eyes are wide. Her mouth opens. "INTRUDER!" she screams. "INTRUDER IN THE KITCHEN!" I run. I do not grab the bread. I do not grab anything. I run toward the window, but my paws slip on the stone floor. I crash into a chair. The chair tips over. Loud. Too loud. Behind me, footsteps. Many footsteps. Growls. Shouts. "Stop her! Do not let her escape!" I reach the window. I dive through. My shoulder hits the frame. Pain shoots through my body. I tumble into the snow. I scramble to my feet. I run. Behind me, the back door bursts open. Wolves pour out. Gray wolves. Brown wolves. A massive black wolf leads them. Alpha Alexander himself. "AFTER HER!" he roars. I run faster than I have ever run. My lungs burn. My legs ache. The trees blur past me. But I am weak. Too weak. I have not eaten in three days. I cannot outrun them. They are gaining. I reach the river. The alligator river. The ice is thin. Below the ice, shapes move. Hungry shapes. Long jaws. Yellow eyes. I have nowhere to go. I turn. Alexander stands at the edge of the trees, his wolves behind him. His gray eyes glow in the darkness. "You stole from me," he growls. "Now you pay." He lunges. I step back. My paw breaks through the ice. Water shoots up my leg. Cold like fire. I slip. I am falling. Before I hit the water, a powerful jaw closes around the scruff of my neck. Not an alligator. Not Alexander. A wolf I have never seen pulls me back from the edge. And his amber eyes burn with a fire I do not understand.