The Lone Wolf

5 years ago when I was just 18 I had to run, and I’ve been running ever since. I was living in my pack’s territory, the Greenriver Pack, we weren’t as strong as we could have been. Our alpha was weak. My father should have been the alpha but when I was born a democracy started. I was born from two lines of alpha blood that went back centuries, that made me stronger than almost any other wolf. Everyone in our pack assumed that because I would be so strong I would be cruel. My dad lost his mate, and I lost my mom, we grow up learning of the mate bond and there’s times when it is so strong is can kill you losing your mate. I’m glad he survived it. Because he had lost his mate, and because he didn’t have the same support as the other candidate for alpha, and because of me, he lost the vote and he didn’t put up a fight for it. My dad wanted to make sure we lived as normal of a life as possible so I was working with him at our auto shop. Then one fateful day, something happened. I was underneath a car trying to replace some parts when my father grabbed my leg and pulled me out suddenly, all he did was look at me with terror in his eyes and told me to follow him. He took me to the outskirts of our territory and told me I had to run, he told me that the Red River pack invaded with the intention of taking us over. The Red River pack is the strongest pack anyone has ever seen, their alpha cruel and will kill anyone for simply looking at him when he didn’t want them to. He told me their alpha killed ours with ease and killed any of our warriors that tried to fight. I told my dad I was strong, I could fight, and I could take my pack back, he insisted I had to run, he told me “Son, you need to get older, stronger, train more and most importantly you need to find your mate, finding your mate will solidify your alpha blood and make you stronger than you ever could be on your own, I love you son, you need to go, I know you will come back and save us all from this terror, please.” I pleaded with him to just let me stay and fight and I would take our pack back right then and there, he just shook his head and kept pushing me towards the woods, suddenly we heard warriors from the Red River pack coming, I had a choice to make right then and there, either I run and come back to save everyone, or I risk trying to fight now being freshly 18 and not as strong as I could be, and risk failing, and my dad and I both dying. So I ran. I shifted and ran as fast and as hard as I possibly could. I was starting to get tired as I came into a clearing, there was a pond and the way the moon shimmered in its reflection I could tell the Moon Goddess was watching over me. I looked up and begged her to help me, and to keep my pack safe until I was strong enough to help them. Then all of the sudden there were eyes in the woods that surrounded me on all sides and I saw a quick glimpse of another wolf directly in front of me across the pond. I called after the wolf but it just turned and started to run, I jumped over and across the pond with ease and started running after it, then it vanished, seemingly into thin air. I looked around, I tried to catch a scent, but nothing, there was nothing and no one. As I kept looking around I saw a house in the distance, I could see a light on, and cars in the driveway. I shifted back and started walking towards it, extremely quietly. I could smell the scent of 2 or maybe 3 different wolves, but I kept watching for a few minutes. I had no idea where I was and there was nothing else but woods around, I was exhausted and starving, it must’ve been getting late, I hadn’t noticed the sun had gone down a while ago until now. As my stomach grumbled louder and louder I decided to walk to the house and see if they’d be willing to give me some food. I knocked on the door and after a minute or so a man came to the door, he was grumpy, he looked to be in his late 40’s or so “What do you want?! Why are you at my door?!” He said “I’m sorry to bother you sir, but I was wondering if you had any food to spare, I’m very hungry..” He started getting annoyed at me standing at the door and was about to slam it in my face, when a beautiful woman who also looked to be mid-late 40’s came up and said “Honey who is at the door?” “Don’t worry dear it’s just some wolf boy looking for a handout!” The man said loudly The woman then looked at me and gave the man a look, he must have known what that look meant because he sighed and opened the door wider for me to come in. As I was walking in the house I made sure to mask my aura of power, I didn’t want them knowing how powerful I was because I still didn’t know who they were and who they were associated with. The woman then said to me “Dear you look so tired, please come sit down at the table and rest a moment.” She then went right into the kitchen and I could smell something delicious. As I was sitting at the table the man sat across from me, he was staring at me so intently I thought he might burn a hole right through me. I was sitting there thinking about everything that had transpired to get me here, all I could think about was my dad. Was he okay? Would I ever make it back there? Was my pack going to be okay? Who was that wolf I saw in the woods? I was ripped from my thoughts suddenly when the woman brought over a plate that contained the most delicious smelling food. It was steak, rice, corn, two bread rolls, and a salad on the side. She said “I hope you don’t mind I just heated this up, our son decided to stay out with his friends tonight so we had plenty of food leftover from our dinner.” I shook my head and said “Oh wow, no I don’t mind at all, it looks and smells absolutely delicious, I wasn’t expecting all this at all! Thank you so so much, I appreciate it so very much!” The woman nodded her head and smiled at me, she then sat down at the table with the man and I. I had just started to cut into my steak and take the first bite when the man started in on me “Who are you?! What are you doing here?! How’d you get here?! What do you want?!” He asked them so quickly I couldn’t answer one before the other came out, as I swallowed my first bite of food the woman spoke up “My goodness dear! Let the boy eat! When he is done then we can talk!” We sat in silence as I finished my plate and thanked the woman again for her kindness, then the questions started again, “So like I asked before” the man said “who are you?” I took a deep breath and very quickly tried to think of what I could say about myself without giving too much information away. “My name is Callan, I’m 18, as I’m sure you know I am a wolf too, my father and I own an auto shop, and there was a situation that arose that forced me to run” The man looked at me very skeptically, but the woman seemed much more understanding. She said “My name is Tara Smith, and this is my husband Barrett Smith, and we have a son who is a year younger than you named Tyler.” I nodded, and told them it was nice to meet them, and asked Tara if I could know more about them, she nodded “So, where are we? Are you a part of a pack?” I asked, halfway scared of what the answer was going to be. “We are kind of in the middle of nowhere right now, but we are in human territory, our son is a very small wolf for his age and he dealt with a lot of bullying and had a very hard time with other wolves his age, and gets along with humans his age much better. We came to an agreement with our pack and our Alpha that we could live in human territory as long as we lived far enough away that we would never be discovered for what we are. So we are still technically a part of the blue mountain pack but we don’t associate with many wolves.” I was glad to hear we are in human territory, where not many wolves will dare to venture. Humans grow up thinking werewolves and other supernatural creatures are just fairy tales and the hunting of werewolves are just stories that were passed down through generations, but all wolves know, the hunting was real, and we couldn’t be discovered and risk being hunted and almost going extinct again. “To the East the Greenriver pack is about 100 miles from us if you know where that is, and to the west the human town is about 50 miles from us.” I had run 100 miles from home that morning, and it had taken me all day to do so. As I kept thinking about how far I had gone I started feeling very tired, I tried so hard to hold in the biggest yawn I had ever felt, but to no avail. Tara said “Oh goodness dear, you must be exhausted, please follow me, I’ll show you where you can sleep tonight.” My jaw dropped, these people had already been so kind to let a stranger in their house and fed me food, I couldn’t accept that offer. The man must have seen that I was about to decline because he finally spoke up and said “Son, I would listen to the woman, she’s more stubborn than a mule, so you won’t get out of it easily.” I just nodded my head, I felt a little better that the man was starting to warm up to me a bit, I was doing a very good job keeping my aura under control, I didn’t want them knowing I could easily rip them to shreds in seconds. I am not like that though, I’m not mean or cruel, I am misunderstood because of the power I possess, but I would never hurt anyone unless absolutely necessary. I followed the woman upstairs and she led me to a room, it was their sons room. It was absolutely beautiful, a big plush king bed, a bathroom, a skylight, and a terrace that looks out to the woods in the back of the house. She handed me fresh sheets and a blanket, and a couple towels and toiletries. I made a note to myself that I would have to ask her why she was being so kind tomorrow. She said “Well that should get you through tonight, feel free to use the shower and please get a goodnight sleep, we will talk more in the morning.” I went in the room and straight to the shower, I didn’t want to stink up their sons bed, all that running made me sweaty. As I walked into the bathroom I saw the most luxurious shower I’d ever laid my eyes on, I went in and let the water run over me, I washed my hair, washed my body, and then just stood under the hot water for a bit relaxing my muscles. When I was done I wrapped the towel around my waist and looked in the full length mirror, I didn’t understand why my dad didn’t think I was strong enough yet to fight, at 6’5” I was taller than almost every other wolf, I had 6 pack abs, and biceps that were bigger than some peoples heads. My hair black laid perfectly for the shape of my face and my eyes were a shimmering silver I had never seen on any other wolf. I saw the clock then, it was already 3:00 am, as I walked out of the bathroom I remembered I only had the clothes I was wearing and what was in my pockets with me, I figured then I would be stinking up their sons bed anyway having to put my dirty clothes back on. But as I got up to the bed I saw a basket with clothes, and some sweatpants and a sleeveless t-shirt sitting next to it with a note Callan, we got these clothes as hand-me-downs throughout the years for our son, I don’t think he will ever fit into any of it so please feel free to keep all of them. If any of them don’t fit just leave them in the basket and I will collect them tomorrow, get some rest and have sweet dreams -Tara I looked in the basket and there were all different kinds of clothes in it, along with a back pack and a duffel bag. I put the sweatpants and shirt on and they fit perfectly, all of the clothes were the same size so I packed them all into the duffel bag, I couldn’t believe how kind these strangers were being to me. I laid down looking at the stars through the skylight above the bed and slowly drifted off to sleep thinking of my dad and my pack. “Callan!!! Callan wake up!!!” I opened my eyes but I wasn’t in the room in the bed anymore, I was in my head, looking at my wolf Everett across from me. “What’s going on Everett?” “You need to find our mate, I can feel her out there, it’s very important, just don’t forget that, you will understand why I’m telling you this soon enough.” When I opened my eyes again I was back in the room, and in the bed. I looked at the clock and it was 11:00 am, I couldn’t believe I had gotten nearly 8 hours of sleep, I hadn’t slept that well since my mom died, she was so special to me. I made my way downstairs and smelled the most delicious food coming from the kitchen, Tara was making breakfast and Barrett was at the table with the newspaper in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hand. “Goodmorning Callan! I hope you got some good sleep, take a seat and breakfast, well I guess brunch now, will be out in a moment!” I did as Tara said and sat down, and just like she said, only a moment later a whole feast was put in front of me. Coffee, orange juice, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, and pastries. Barrett scoffed a little “Well you must be special, she never cooks like that for me!” “Oh you shush Barrett, we’ve been married for over 20 years now, I KNOW what you like to eat! I didn’t know what Callan likes and I wanted to make sure he had something to eat!” I tried to contain the drool that was threatning to drip down at the sight of such delicious smelling food in front of me, and my chuckles at the couples little comments to each other. “Tara thank you so much, it all looks so good, I will definitely be full for a while after all this!” I said, I ate about 6 plates of food, had more than a little of everything, and there was still plenty left over. As I sat there fuller than I’ve ever been the three of us talked some more about me and my situation. They told me they had to go into town and asked if I wanted to come, I agreed so I could help them if they needed it and to get anything I needed. Luckily I had my debit and credit card in my pocket and my dad always made sure I was a well paid employee of his. The drive into town was long and there was nothing but woods the whole way there, I was thankful for that because my wolf and I needed a run. We all got a few things in town and went back to their house. When we got there Tyler, their son, was there. “Hey mom hey dad, who’s this?” He asked “Hi Tyler! I hope you had fun with your friends last night! This is Callan, he had dinner and spent the night here with us last night.” Tara explained “Hey Callan, I’m Tyler, how are ya?” “Hey Tyler, I’m Callan, I’m doing alright, I made sure not to make a mess of your room, last night.” We all exchanged a few more pleasantries and went inside, they had invited me to stay for dinner and stay the night again. “Thanks so much for the offer, but Tyler is home now, I couldn’t take his room from him!” I said “Oh nonsense! He stays in the basement all the time! His video games are down there and it’s an in-law apartment so there’s a kitchen and a bathroom down there too!” Explained Tara And Tyler said too “Yeah man really, I don’t remember the last time I slept up there, feel free!” I agreed and told them I wanted to help with anything at all they needed. I helped get dinner ready that night and afterwards we all played a board game, it was so nice feeling like I was so welcome and a part of the family. It was getting late so everyone was about to head off to bed, I was helping Tara clean up and I asked her why she was being so kind to me, a perfect stranger who showed up out of nowhere asking for food. She said to me “Oh Callan, if Tyler was ever out somewhere and needed help for some reason I would want someone to be kind and help him, and not only that, wolves help wolves, and I feel a kind of loyalty to you, it’s strange, yes but I want to make sure you have everything you need.” I guess I wasn’t covering up my aura as good as I thought I was. We said our goodnights after that and went our separate ways for the night, I went to the room and out onto the terrace, as I was staring out into the woods I saw a pair of eyes watching me, and not just any eyes, the same eyes I saw the day before at the clearing. I immediately made the 6 foot jump down from the terrace shifting halfway, only for the wolf to be gone as soon as I looked up again. Still couldn’t hear anything, see anything, or pick up any scent from it. I went for a run that night and it felt so good. I went to bed as soon as I got back to the Smiths house, and again slept the best I had slept in a long time. I stayed with them for 6 months, each day almost the same routine, I helped them with anything and everything they needed, and even started helping Tyler train in his human and wolf forms. I had bought myself a car with some of my savings and things were going so well, I was starting to really feel like I was a part of their family, I started feeling like I could stay forever. Until one night, Everett woke me up again for another meeting. “Callan, listen to me carefully, it’s going to be time to leave soon, don’t forget your dad, and our pack, we still need to save them.” “I know Everett, I could never forget that, even if I have been feeling like staying here may be the best thing.” “It is the best thing for right now and has been the best thing, but we have a responsibility to go back and save our people.” With that the conversation was over, and I was left feeling defeated, I started contemplating why, why did I have so much responsibility at only 18, unmated, and having shifted for the first time only a few days before I had to run from my pack’s territory, but I knew I was the only one they had to depend on, and I was hoping everyone was okay, and I hadn’t lost anyone else since I had to leave. From that night I had explained to the Smiths that I would have to leave, and I didn’t know when and I might not be able to say goodbye when I did, they were upset but they understood, they assured me they would always be here and I could come back if I ever needed to. Everything was great for another month or so, and we kept up the same routine. I was out on the terrace one night and I saw the wolf again, it looked me directly in the eyes and I knew then and there it was time for me to go, I packed all of my belongings into the backpack and duffel bag and wrote a goodbye note. I left trying to find the wolf, I found some prints and started following them, and ever since then, I have been on the run.