I was never human

The roots

Who is this lady? I've never come across a person who's had no scent. She stood tall with a hint of color to her pale skin. Her black hair blew slightly in the night breeze, exposing her purplish hue. Her white, almost clear eyes were hypnotic and off-putting at the same time. She smelled of nothing, but my body tingled like an alarm, as if warning me of danger. The woman did nothing but stare at me, scrutinizing my every movement. She took a step closer, and I immediately got up from the ground. She stopped and smiled.

"Not really the social type, huh?"

I didn't respond and continued to stare at her. She nodded and folded her arms under her breast.

"So, is this a competition to see who can stare at who the longest?"

The mystery woman made another comment.

"I don't feel the need to introduce myself to strangers, especially those who appear outta nowhere."

She smiled.

"If anyone's the stranger, it'd be you. I live in this pack... in fact, I'm very good friends with the Luna. Your brother and sister are like my niece and nephew."

My eyes bulged. I don't cuss much, but shiiiiiittttt... she got me all the way messed up now. I rolled my eyes and took a step back.

"If you're friends with that, she devil in disguise, then you're definitely no friend to me. And I for sure ain't saying another word to you. Bye."

With that said, I started walking away. I couldn't smell her, so I used my ears to hear if she made any sudden movements. I was almost up the path completely when a chill ran up my spine, and I spun around to see if she was still there and she was. I could see her through some trees. She just stood there smiling at me. I frowned, feeling the need to get away from her hit me like a ton of bricks. The moment I turned back towards the pack house, I saw nothing but black. I felt what seemed to be the roots of trees, reach up, and wrap around my whole body, covering my mouth down to my legs. I was trapped. I was dragged away quickly. Everything happened so fast. I struggled against the roots, trying to break free. The further I went, the more I began to panic. I couldn't see anything. It was like a cloud of darkness was placed over me, and the roots were strong. Tears began to fall from my eyes as fear began to overtake me. That's when a voice whispered out.

'Speak to them'

My eyes popped open. I searched the darkness and found nothing. I thought I was going crazy until I heard it again.

'You are enough.'

More tears poured as I thought of my mommy.

'Mom?'

I cried to myself in my thoughts. I relaxed against the pull, closing my eyes. My mouth was completely covered with roots, so I didn't know how I would speak to them. I took deep breaths, calming my racing heart, as my eyes continued to let the water flow.

'Please... please. Let me go.'

I continued to be dragged. I was becoming desperate.

'LET. ME. GO!!!'

I shouted in my head and I suddenly came to a halt. The darkness that surrounded me slowly began to dissipate. My surroundings became clearer, and the roots unwrapped itself from me, slithering away from my body. When I was finally able to look around, I was at the top of the waterfall. I was dragged to the top of a 20-foot waterfall, and whatever had grabbed me intended to drop me over. I looked down at myself and saw I was scratched up and bruised. A few areas were bleeding, but nothing serious. I stood on shaky legs as my hands trembled.

What the heck was that?

I looked around, trying to find my footing, and began to walk... more like limp away. My tears slowed as my anger rose. As I walked, a man appeared out of the forest. He looked rugged, but not in the good way. He smirked at me, and I stopped in my tracks.

"You weren't supposed to get free. I wonder how that happened."

I said nothing as I stared at him. He began tapping a knife on his chin with a look of ponderance. He shrugged with a smile, tossing the knife back and forth in his hand.

"No matter. Now, be a good girl and come here. Somebody wants something from you."

I frowned, confused. He tapped the knife to his head.

"Your hair."

He chuckled out. My eyebrows hit my hairline in shock.

What is it with everyone and my freaking hair??

Before I could get any deeper in thought, the man began to walk towards me. I was already in pain, but I refused to go without a fight. I steadied myself in a fighting stance. He continued to walk towards me, chuckling.

"Oh? Whatcha gonna do? Fight me? You're just a little human girl."

I frowned.

"How do you know that?"

"Psshhh. I can smell it on you. But I didn't even need to scent it out. I was told."

What type of f**k s**t is going on around here? Who snitched?

He reached a hand out to me as the other held the knife. I waited for him to get closer. He lunged to grab me. I ducked under the arm with the knife, driving my knee into his ribcage. I turned, twisting his wrist for him to drop the knife. I kicked it away from us both. He kneeled down on the ground, holding his side, breathing heavily and glaring at me.

"You little s**t!! I was tryna be nice to you. But now, I'm gonna f**k you up!"

He again lunged at me. I took a step back, slipping on the knife. He caught and spun me in towrds him and wrapped an arm around my neck. I struggled in his embrace.

"Uh huh. This what you get for making things harder than what they need to be."

He tried bending down with me in his arm to reach for the knife. I couldn't let him get to it. I stomped on his foot and elbowed him in the gut. He bent over from the impact. With that, I threw my head back, headbuttting him. He cried out, holding on to his face. I ripped his arm from around my neck. I ran back in, punched him in the throat, kicked his knee in, causing him to choke/scream and fall to the ground, holding his throat and knee. He glared at me with pure hatred in his eyes.

"Ima... fucking... KILL YOU!"

He tried saying between pants as he fought to get oxygen back into his lungs. I was getting tired from my fight with the roots and my emotional turmoil, and my body was screaming from being dragged. I needed to end this now. I ran to him, kneeing him in the mouth. He fell back from the impact. I quickly picked up the knife and turned back to my captor.

As I looked down at him, many thoughts ran through my mind. One of those thoughts... the idea of killing a man.

I've never done that before.

If one of us had to go, it'd be him. I tighten my hand around the blade, ready to drive it through his heart, when something tackles the hell outta me. I heard and felt when my ribs broke, knocking the wind out of me. My head hit the ground hard, and my back hurt from sliding across it. I was knocked back towards the drop of the waterfall. I didn't know what just happened. All I knew was that my body hurt, and I felt dizzy. I groaned out in pain, flipping myself over to my side to see what just hit me. It was a large brown wolf pacing back and forth staring at me. I knew it was over for me. I had no energy to get up, and I felt myself going in and out of consciousness. I heard a chuckle.

"How the f**k did you let a human... a little girl at that, get the better of you."

"Oh shut the f**k up!! That little b***h hits hard and is fast as f**k. She may not have a wolf, but she's still an alpha's daughter."

"Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me."

The new guy laughed at the other guy as the wolf kept a trained eye on me until he turned into a human himself.

"Will you two shut up and do what needs to be done so we can go. You do know who her father is, right?!"

The other men sneered.

"Oh, please. He's a powerful alpha. There's no way he cares about an offspring with no wolf."

"Yeah, whatever. Let me cut the little b***h's hair off. I'm owed that for the s**t she pulled earlier."

I whimpered as I tried to move. Tears fell as the pain flooded my body.

The man I fought earlier laughed as I he grew closer.

"No time for tears now."

I screamed out in pain as he picked me up by the neck, choking me. As he held me up, I realized neither he, nor the other two men had a scent. I can't figure out how they're able to hide their scent from me. I keep getting caught unaware because I can't even tell that they're there until it's too late. The man squeezed harder around my throat, causing a strangled cry to be heard. He chuckled as he held the knife next to my face, laying the blade against my skin.

"You lucky I don't cut this pretty little face of yours."

He smiles as me, looks down, then back up.

"What a waste. If only you were a bit older."

My stomach turned at what he was implied."

"Alright, that's enough. Just cut her hair already."

The man that was the wolf said. The guy holding me huffed. He pulled me into him. The other guy came up on the other side of the one holding me and pulled my puff, holding it out straight so it could be cut. The one holding me chuckled.

"Dont move. I'd hate to slip and cut your throat."

He said wickedly.

I felt as he jaggedly cut my hair. He let the hair fall in front of my eyes, only to mock me further. Then, went on to the next side and did the same.

"Good. Now let's go. Grab the hair."

The man standing off to the side said. The man holding me walked over to the top of the waterfall.

"Well, this was fun, but we gotta go, kid."

He held me up by the throat again over the waterfall. I scratched, pulled, and tugged at his hand. He laughed at my feeble attempt.

"Aww, what's wrong, little girl? Not so tough, are we?"

My tears were falling quickly as my fear spiked. That's when I smelled a scent I missed like crazy like it's been a lifetime since I smelled it.

"Fuck."

The wolf turned man said.

"LET HER GO. NOW!!!"

I watched as Brody paced like a madman. His eyes darted to all three men, then at me in this asshole's grip. I guess I looked pretty bad because he roared out in rage at seeing me. The guy holding me squeezed tighter around my neck, making me whimper.

"I'd relax if I was you. I'd hate for you to make me jumpy, and I accidentally snap this girl's neck."

Brody glared at him but made no sudden movements.

"I will kill you all. If I don't, my alpha will."

The men seemed to tense up at the mentioning of my dad.

"The alpha really cares for this thing?"

One guy asked. Uncertainty and fear laced his voice.

"She's the daughter of his first love... he will kill you slowly for it."

Brody spoke through gritted teeth. The men all exchanged looks of concern.

"I... I thought she said he wouldn't care because she's human?"

The man holding me said. All of a sudden, we all felt the ground begin to shake underneath us. Before I knew it, the wolf turned man, snatched me out of the guy's hand, and held me out over the water. He looked at me.

"I'm sorry."

He whispered. He turned back to Brody with a saddened, determined look in his eyes.

"Either catch us or save her?"

My eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen. The man let me go a second later. I couldn't even scream. Before passing out, I heard the screams of Brody ring out through the darkness that welcomed me.