The Curse of the Human Wolf

Dreams of Wolves and Maidens

Viola POV:

It was raining hard and loud outside. The smell of fresh earth and rain was nostalgic and comforting. I took a deep breath in and enjoyed the calm that washed over me. The lake looked beautiful and wild. I walked to my door and tried the door handle, it was still locked so that means the crazy dream I had wasn't a dream. "Seriously Viola!" Snaps my wolf Onyx, sorry.

I look at the rain once more and how hard it's falling and feel an overwhelming sense of calm. Okay let's do this! Do I pack anything? "Do you have a waterproof bag?" No. I start feeling anxious, where are we going to go? What are we going to do? "One step at a time. Leave everything let's just go." It feels so difficult to leave now. I feel scared, what if it's worse out there then it is here? "We can't stay either way. Once you shift, if they find out about it, they'll send you away and if they don't, you might accidentally hurt them. This is the only way." I take a deep breath. Onyx is right, the only way right now is across the lake. I walk towards the window and swing my leg over the ledge and jump, I land on the ground with no broken bones but the soles of my feet burn and itch. "Run Viola!" Onyx shouts in my head and I run and jump into the lake and start swimming. The rain is hitting me hard and the water is strong and fighting against the current takes a lot of energy. "Keep swimming! You can do this!" Shouts Onyx and it's all I need to keep pushing, I can't see the other side of the lake but I'm still pushing. I can't give up and I can't go back, forward is the only way to go. I dive under and swim under the water to avoid the pelting rain and finally I reach the embankment. I dig my hands into the soft dirt, grabbing onto roots and solid tree branches for grip and drag myself out the water. I look across the lake and I see my house, everything I once hated that hurts to leave. "Bye Dad," I say and run up into the trees to get out of sight. My heart hurts and I want to cry, I'm just not sure if I should. I continue walking in the rain. I'm still covered in mud from dragging myself up and I'm cold and shivering. I need to find shelter but where?

"Keep walking! There's a cave uphead, you should rest there," says Onyx, I nod at her or to myself and continue trudging forward to the cave. I'm exhausted and a little scared but walking is all I can do now. Tomorrow is my birthday and in a bit it will be moon light and that should be nice. When the rain stops, I'll look for dry wood to start a fire and try to catch some rabbit or mice. It sounds disgusting but I'm in the wilderness now and it's survival of the fittest. It won't be easy but I have to do this. "We're close!" Onyx exclaims excitedly, where is it though? "the moss covered stone!" She's practically jumping up and down in my brain. I run towards it and I pull aside the moss like blanket and crawl in. It's warm and comfortable. "Take your clothes off." I peel the drenched and heavy clothes off and wring the water out of my hair. The moss is cold against my freezing body, I try to rub my arms for warmth and lay in a foetal position, breathing warm air down my chest.

Can you tell me about wolves now. "Yes, I did promise. Let's see, okay so we are descendents of Selene the moon goddess, she's a powerful entity and as her children she's blessed us with gifts of living in both worlds, animal and human." "But why would she give us such a gift?" I ask aloud, my eyes are closed and I'm so tired. "There are different beliefs about it but the one that most wolves believe is that a wolf fell in love with a mortal maiden and he so desperately wanted to be with her, so he howled at Selene until she came down to find out why her son was in pain and then he told her and she granted him his wish to become a man so that he could marry the mortal. Once married, they had children that were half wolf-half human. And that's the beginning of werewolves." I nodded to Onyx, "Everything Selene does is out of love. She sees everything and watches over us." Do people still worship her? "Yes, they do. We have temples dedicated to her in each village and many believe in her but not all. It's the same with any religion." I had fallen asleep now, with dreams of wolves and maidens.