The Steelcrest Luna

Chapter 3 - Escape

Willow POV

I woke up late this morning because I stayed up so late last night. I run downstairs to ask for a ride to school as I've already missed my bus, but there isn't anyone here. “That's odd” I mutter to myself. I'm about to step out of the door to try and run to school but then I drop my bookbag to the floor. What am I am going to do about tonight? Yesterday I was so excited for my first shift, but now? My wolf hasn’t made herself known to me, and I know that means I'm wolfless. How am I supposed to shift in front of the whole pack when I don't have a wolf?

I'm in the middle of a downward spiral panic attack when the thought becomes clear. I have to run. Without a wolf I will be less than an omega. I have to run before the celebration starts and the alpha finds out I'm wolfless. So that's that, I'll quickly pack up and make my way out of the territory as fast as I can.

A little while later, I'm trying my best to sneak through the trees away from the pack house. I'm trying to make as little noise as possible until I get far enough away where no one will hear me running, but it's proving difficult without any wolf abilities. I have a large backpack on my back that I filled up with my opal necklace, 2 sets of clothes, water and food for at least 4 days, a first aid kit, a flashlight, a bottle of sent block, my passport and all of the money I've been saving up for the past few years. I've always felt more at home in the forest. I feel whole when I'm in nature. Any time I'm stuck at that awful school, I feel like a part of my soul is missing and I long to be in the woods with the dirt and the moss and the trees.

I've been walking for a while now. I only know that it's late in the day because the sun is starting to set and the trees are casting shadows across the forest floor. I focus all of my energy on putting distance between myself and the pack. I know it will be my undoing if I allow myself to think about things back at home. I refuse to think about where Mrs Tasha and the other kids ended up.

All of a sudden, a familiar sound hits my ears and I stop dead in my tracks. “s**t!” I think to myself. I forgot to cover my tracks. How could I be so careless and stupid? I stand so still with my back to a big tree that hides my entire body, and try to figure out where the sound is coming from and, without warning, I'm surrounded by a smell and it is not pleasant. It's like an old trash can and rotten meat. It's so strong that I have to suppress a gag. I'm on the verge of hysteria, but I force myself to hold it together and think rationally so I don't accidentally give away my location. I look up towards the large tree branches in the hopes that I can climb up into the cover of the canopy and start to slowly turn my body to quietly begin to climb onto the closest branch, when I come face to face with a large pair of glowing red eyes and I know I'm looking at the source of the smell.

Rogue wolves are wolves that no longer have a pack for whatever reason. Most rogues are just like pack wolves, the only difference being their smell. Some rogues, however, can turn feral. When a wolf goes feral, it is no longer able to change back into a person and its eyes turn red or black. This wolf in front of me isn't a normal rogue, it was definitely a feral rogue. It's so filthy that I almost didn't recognise it as having fur. Its whole body is covered in mats and its missing patches in places, as if it was attacked by something. It looks like at one point it had really deep brown colored fur with light colored paws, but it is clear by its rough state that time has not been kind to this wolf. I want to scream but when I open my mouth I only hear a squeak that barely pierces the early night air. I can see the foam dripping out of the side of his mouth onto the forest floor.

I've never had any battle training with the pack. The royals don't believe in women training to fight. Regardless of my lack of training, I did manage to grab a stick off the forest floor and smack it up into the rogue's chin, knocking it back a few steps. It took me a couple of seconds to get over the shock of what I had just done. It was just a second too long because right then the rogue lunged at me, snarling and snapping at me. I used the stick to hold its head just far enough away to save myself from being ripped open. I could feel its hot breath at my neck and its drool dripping from its sharp teeth.

Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. If I don't do something right now, I will die. “No!” I manage to scream at it. I use all of my strength to force its face back, but I am no match for this beast and this flimsy piece of wood is going to break any minute. I try to kick its stomach but it takes that moment to swing at me with its long sharp claws, ripping my pants just over my shin. “I don't want to die” I thought to myself, but I don't have much strength left. Just as I'm about to give up and accept my fate, the wolf is pulled off of me with a whoosh so fast that I lose my balance and fall forward. I hear snarling and growling somewhere close, too close for comfort. When I move to try and run away from this horrific situation, pain shoots up my leg. I scream in agony and notice the huge puddle of blood in the dirt and grass. I've never been too good with blood, and this is no exception. I rip off a shredded part of my pants and try to wrap it around my leg where the rouges claws left a mangled mess of what used to be my leg. There's too much blood pouring out. It seems like it's coming from everywhere and I can't staunch the flow even after what feels like hours of struggling. Everything begins to get ice cold and a deep darkness covers my vision. “This f*****g sucks” is the last thing I think before I succumb to the black nothingness.