The Wolf Within Me

Allana As I walked down the road to school on my last day as a senior, I started reminiscing about all the changes I had been through the last four years. Two years had gone by since Peter passed away in that horrible car accident down the same road I walked everyday to get to school and, although it's odd, I can still smell him. My mother, Grace, says it's one of my many gifts and I should cherish it. Peter was just 16 and although we were very young we were very much in love. We had so many plans and would be graduating soon and attending the same college in the fall. It's always been my dream to study journalism abroad, but since I met Peter I couldn't fathom staying away from him and we decided to attend business school in Nevada instead. My parents were quite pleased with the news as they were nervous about me moving away, but since Peter passed I couldn't help but wonder if business school was the right call anymore. The crisp morning air filled my lungs and I could smell the trees and flowers blossoming. Spring was beautiful here. I could hear the shewolves talking and giggling in the distance about an upcoming alpha conference that was happening on the other side of town where the Red Moon Pack's territory was located. Since the war, it's not uncommon to see wolves on this side of town. My mother says the war was a dark time before I was born. Packs attacked each other, others vanished without a trace, and humans helped as best they could. Many wolves lost their lives and others were too wounded to go back to their pack and seeked shelter in town. I've always been fascinated by how they look while shifting and the sounds of their bones snapping to make room for their wolf form. Red Moon pack has some of the most beautiful wolves I've ever seen, ranging from colors such as burgundy, dark brown and gray to white, silver and golden tones. Some are really large and others are not much bigger than a German shepherd. I once snuck into the reserve and there I could see Alpha Henry shift into a beautiful black wolf. His wolf was much larger than any other I had ever seen and had beautiful ocean blue eyes. I could see him moving swiftly through the woods before he took off running towards the mountains. I had met him a few times before and he was always very polite and kind towards us humans. The last time we ran into each other he seemed almost surprised to see me and I could hear him mutter something about a mate before he scurried away. Werewolves are created in pairs by the moon goddess as soulmates and find each other later in life, usually around the time they turn 18. It is from my understanding that even though Alpha Henry is around 24, he has yet to find his mate. Hopefully, he finds her at the alpha conference.