Lone Wolf

I run and transform mid jump. I land as a large gray wolf. My heterochromia is existent in both forms, so some may say I look strange. Oh well. I sneak around the forest trying to find a small animal to kill for dinner. As I move around in "stealth mode", I begin to worry that my den is being messed with. I have a sort of sixth sense where I can tell when something's wrong. I hear a twig snap in the direction of my home and begin running towards it. I skid to a stop as I see Lola sniffing around outside the den. I nudge her with my snout, trying to make her go back inside. She stares at me for a second before going wide-eyed and focusing on something behind me. I hear a low growl and in that growl, my fears are confirmed. We're being followed. She grabs our stuff and climbs onto my back just as I begin running. She may not be able to shift, but her senses and reflexes are good enough for her to hold on and guide me through the woods. My sense of smell gets a little blurred sometimes. I run straight out of the forest and onto a highway. I pick my speed, dodging cars to make it to the other side. I keep running until my body is worn out and we feel like we're starving. By the time I stop, we find ourselves in a different forest, one that we've never been to before. I used my wolf speed and it's dark outside, so it makes sense that we're in a different town. Just outside the treeline, I see a campfire and a couple tents. I wait for Lola to dismount me and I shift back to my human form. I dig in the small bag of our stuff to find some clothes...for both of us. Lola is covered in dirt. We change and hide our belongings. I step out of the trees first, gesturing for Lola to stay behind me. There's a couple sitting on a log by the fire and two other guys and one girl sitting in chairs. "U-um...could you spare some food?" I asked as politely as I know how. The girl on the log removes herself from her boyfriend's side long enough to scoop some stew out of the giant pot over the fire. "Do you both want some?" She peeks behind me at Lola. Lola nods shyly. The girl raises an eyebrow, handing me a bowl. I pass it to Lola, nodding to her to eat. "Is she your sister?" I think about my answer before responding. "Yeah. She doesn't talk much." She hands me a second bowl and I sit cross-legged on the ground next to Lola. I try not to scarf my food while they watch us eat. Lola generally doesn't care, as she's only 5. Their curiosity gets the best of them as the boy closest to me begins to speak. "So, are you two homeless? You look like you've been sleeping in caves." I ponder my next response as I eat the last of my food. The girl refills my bowl. "Are you gonna call somebody?" "Like who? The cops?" "Yeah." "Nope." "We ran away. It was a shitty situation." Lola whispers in my ear. "Mama, I want more." I hand her bowl to the girl and she fills it again. "Did she just call you Mama?" The boy next me c***s his head to the side. "How did you hear her? She's not a loud whisperer." He smirks at me and I see a glint from his canine. I move in front Lola as to protect her. "Relax. We won't hurt you." The second girl says. "So, you're rogues?" The boy on the log asks. He reaches towards me with something in his hand. I bare my teeth before realizing it's a blanket. "It's just a blanket. You don't wanna freeze out here." I wrap it around Lola to keep her warm, mind linking with her. "We're leaving soon. Don't wanna get comfortable." "Okay." I nod towards the group and begin to stand. I lift Lola onto my hip, her small form clinging to me. "We appreciate the food and blanket, but we should get going." They just give me a confused look before the boy next to me stands. I step back, growling low in my chest. "Relax, I'm just grabbing a few things for you take." He hands me a bag of food, water, and some other stuff. I take the bag and backup into the woods. I don't turn around until I'm sure we're out of sight. I bend down to grab our things from under the brush with a sleeping Lola in my arms. I kiss her forehead and walk until I find a cave deep in the woods. I turn the cave into a den for us to sleep in and I sleep on high alert. Early the next morning, I hear the sound of trucks leaving the campsite. I guess their camping trip is over. I think to myself. I find clothes in the bags they gave us. There are two outfits although the one for Lola looks a little big. My outfit must have belonged to a much less curvy girl. I may not have much meat on my bones due to living in caves and eating whatever I can find, but I have big hips, decent boobs and a big butt. I undress and look over at Lola to make sure she's still sleeping. I try to hide my bare back from her as much as possible. I have scars all over my back from the lashings I'd get as a child. I don't want her asking questions. I put on the shirt I found in the bag. It's a white t-shirt that's a little too tight on my chest. After further investigation, I find it's too short. There's a name for this kind of shirt. I forgot what it is, though. I shrug to myself before slipping on the army green leggings with netting cut outs at the bottom. It takes me a second, but I soon realize they're meant to be pulled up above my belly button. I think these are called high-waisted. I find socks with tiny pizzas on them and a pair of combat boots. I smile when I see the boots. I had begged my nana for a pair before she died and I can't believe I have a pair now. They look just like the ones from the store near Nana's house. I hear Lola start to stir and I quickly lace up my boots and put them on. I dig in the bag of stuff we took from our house. I pull out my old hairbrush and some hair ties. I only have two left and the brush is on its last leg, but they'll do. I brush out my hair as I watch Lola wake up and braid it before wrapping the hair tie around it. Lola sits up and looks at me, smiling. "Mama, you look so pretty." She says happily, sleep heavy in her voice. "Thank you, Baby. Come here and let me dress you." I wave her over and sit on a large rock. She stands on front of me, smile plastered to her face and I kiss her forehead before removing her clothes. It saddens me to see her so filthy and skinny, but I don't know how to fix it. I have no money and no home. I shake the negative thoughts out of my mind and put her clean shirt on her. It goes to her knees. I extend a claw to cut off the bottom. It's a rainbow t-shirt with a weird leaf on it. I then pull out the sweat pants they gave her. I have to cut the bottom of those too. She got socks that are black with that same weird leaf. They gave her pink boots. They're snow boots but at least they fit. It looks like one of them had small feet. She sits in front of me and I brush and braid her hair like mine. We pack up all of our stuff and head out. We head towards the campsite hoping they left that pan they had over the fire last night. We arrive and we have no such luck. So, we just eat a can of Vienna sausages and some canned potatoes. They seem to have only given us canned foods and water. That's fine, though. I use my claw to open the cans, so that's convenient. After we eat, we start off in the direction of the tire tracks from the trucks. "Maybe we can find them and ask to join their pack. I think it's time we find a home, don't you?" Lola nods her head and I grab her hand to hold while walking. "Will I have to hide that you're my Mama?" "No. Of course not." She looks at me with hope in her eyes. I've never seen that expression cross her features before. In her entire 5 years of life, I've never seen her truly happy either. The smile she wears sometimes is just how she shows me that she loves me or that she's okay. Her smile never reaches her eyes. I watch her as we walk hand in hand down the road the trucks went down. It's a dirt road, possibly a shortcut they chose to take. We reach the end of the road and follow the curve. As we approach the end of that part of the road, we see a huge settlement. It's pack land. I can sense all of the other werewolves on this land.