The Wolf of the Woods

Chapter 1

A few years passed since the she-wolf lost her brother Ren. For the first few weeks as she ran he brothers and father followed and tried to catch her before she got too far, being a newly shifted wolf she was still full of energy from her wolf being dormant for the first 15 years of her life. When she traveled far from her packs lands he father alerted the neighboring packs to her and they would send warriors to catch her to bring her back to her pack. By pure luck, she managed to evade them and continue running.

She refused to shift back, she was afraid that if she did they would be able to catch her and bring her back to her pack. She grew to rely on her fur side more than the human side in just a matter of weeks after shifting the first time.

She travels months away from her pack, deep into the forest where no other wolves lived apart from the she-wolf's wilder cousins. She was running from the pain she caused in her pack, the deaths she caused, and the destruction. It would take years for her pack to rebuild after than attack. Even months later she could still smell the burning buildings and death that filled the air.

Deep down she knew her family had to blame her for this, how could they not? Countless pack members were injured or killed in the attack including her own brother, the future Beta of the pack. They had to blame her. That's why she ran, she couldn't face her family after that. So much death was caused by her.

She finally stopped after finding a beautiful area to claim as her own. It has a small stream and near that was a hollowed-out tree root bottom, perfect for a den. The first thing she did was wash away the blood that stained her dark silver fur and scrub away the feeling of death. She stayed in the water long after the sunset and climbed into her den for a rest. When she awoke she set out hunting small game to gain some strength back, eventually moving to the larger game and preparing herself for the winter she felt coming.

Now she woke after being here for 4 years. She has made a home here and had no intention of ever leaving.

Yawning, the she-wolf stretched as she came out of her den and shook her coat out from the morning dew. The sun was just rising into the sky and the birds were starting to wake with the she-wolf. The ground was covered in frost and she knew it would snow soon. The winter here was harsh and brutal. It was unforgiving and forced only the strongest to survive.

The she-wolf's first year here nearly killed her, she was unprepared for the brutal cold and snow and nearly starved to death the first two months into the winter. Her wilder wolf cousins didn't fare any better, she found two wolves starved to death curled up next to each other. Frozen in that position. The she-wolf was more a skeleton by the time spring came around.

She knew she had to gather more meat if she wanted to survive this year if the air was any indication it was going to snow soon and start driving her prey away. She had only eaten smaller games this week and she needed a deer to help put on the weight to survive this year.

After getting a drink from the stream she took in a deep breath and started tracking some deer. she made her way over to an area the deer were known to live and put her nose to the ground to pick up a fresh scent. She was finding old scents and was starting to grow impatient when she finally caught the fresh scent of a deer.

She wagged her tail and followed to scent to a pond. She spied a young buck, no older than 2 years old, halfway in the pond drinking some water. Slowly the she-wolf stalked the deer, weaving through the tall grass and staying downwind of the young buck. She waited until he had his fill of water and would be slow before rushing out of the tall grass and grabbing onto the deer's shoulder, dragging him down to the ground with all her weight. She lunged at the young buck again and grabbed his throat just under his jaw and held tightly. She ignored the buck's screams of death and held tighter, mouth-watering as his blood filled her mouth and dripped to the ground.

When he finally stopped struggling and went limp she quickly went to work disemboweling the young buck. She ate as much as she could fit in her stomach and laid down underneath a pine tree and dozed off with her belly full and warm.

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When the she-wolf woke an hour later she grabbed her buck by the neck and started to drag it back to her den. She couldn't afford to leave her den alone overnight anymore. It was getting too cold and just a few weeks ago she scented a new wolf, a werewolf, nearly 10 miles from her den and she didn't want to risk being caught so far from safety.

The sun was starting to set by the time she reached her den and she was tired from her long day, her belly full of meat was also making her sleepy. She dragged the buck to a hole she had dug and buried it inside to keep it safe from any scavengers that may try to make off with her hard-earned meal.

She washed in the stream and went to her den to settle in for the night. Sniffing the air one last time before she crawled in, she smelt the storm arriving. This time tomorrow she would have snow to trek through.

Her den was a hollowed-out bottom of an old pine tree, it provided her with enough room to lay down comfortably and stay warm during the cold months. She had dragged dried grass and pine boughs inside and lined her den with them as extra bedding.

Her fur was already growing much thicker to prepare her for the colder months, her body fat was building more as she caught anything she could. Soon though, her normal prey would move to the winter grounds far away from her den and she would have to travel much further to catch anything.

She has to gorge on as much food as she can before the snow hits to help get her a head start on the harsh winters when she would lose weight, by the time spring hit she would lose nearly 1/3 of her weight. Then she would spend the spring and summer months gaining it back and fattening up in the fall only to lose it again in the winter.

Her family was probably preparing for the winter gathering of the neighboring packs right about now. They hosted it every year as they were in the middle of the other packs and it was easiest for them to host it, though other packs did host the spring, summer, and fall gatherings. The gatherings were a way for wolves to find their mates, for Alpha's to discuss issues, for Luna's to meet, and for the Alpha children to create alliances with each other to ensure a strong pack when the eldest took over.

The she-wolf used to love the yearly events, she used to prank the other Alpha children with her brothers Darin and Tommy, they would put hair dye and glue in the shampoo bottles. Switch out the sugar with ground horseradish root, put bags filled with glitter and water under pillows, and even glue all their suitcases to the floor. Needless to say, her mother and father had to keep her attached to them or she would wreak havoc on the visiting families.

She wondered what the pack chefs were cooking this year, it was her packs tradition to cook a dish no-one has ever tried every year. One year they cooked a very weird long fish that took them a long time to stew. She loved it and had it every year on her birthday, the pack cooks were more than happy to cook it for her each time.

Her oldest brother, Ezra, would probably be taking over soon and helping her father with the event. Her brother, Darin, would probably be the new Beta instead of Ren since he passed. Tommy and Mich would more than likely take on top warrior positions, Derick and Jr would probably be the top trackers for the pack. They all would be coming into their positions soon and she was happy for them. Secretly she knew none of them truly needed her as they claimed all those years ago.

With the memories of her pack filling her head she laid and slept.

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The three wolves all listened to the she-wolf sleeping in her den from afar. The oldest and leader of the trio, Kostis, scented her last month when he was out exploring the territory given to him and his brothers by an Alpha last spring. They had been busy building a cabin to live in and a barn and fencing for livestock so they didn't explore the area much. They had even started a garden to provide them with fresh vegetables and fruit in the winter months when they were snowed in. it was only in near the middle of fall were they able to explore the territory more. He had alerted his brothers and that alpha to the mysterious scent and he ordered them to capture the wolf and bring her back alive.

They tracked her for a long time. Her scent often fading to nothing or the rain washed it away before they could get a good lead on where this she-wolf's den was. Finally today they caught the scent of a fresh kill and found blood and the smell of the she-wolf and were able to track it to this den she had set up. She was a larger wolf, her paw prints proved that. Not quite as large as Kostis and the second eldest Tanwyn. She was larger than Swithun however, as the youngest of the three he was the smaller wolf. Though he was much faster than Kostis or Tanwyn.

They waited until her breathing evened out before surveying the area. Swithun cheerfully explored closer to her den while Tanwyn strayed further away than his less cautious brother. Kostis followed a worn path made by the she-wolf to a cliff and sat down near the edge. It was a beautiful view even in the pale moonlight, he wondered how it would look in the day. Its no wonder the she-wolf traveled here often.

"Enjoying the view Kostis?" Swithun asked sitting next to his brother's large brown wolf. "It is beautiful, the she-wolf must come here often. It reeks of her scent" Kostis replied turning to his brother's blonde wolf. "She's lived here a few years as a wolf brother, she may be more wolf than human now," Tanwyn said as he too trotted over to the cliff edge. His large light grey wolf was uneasy about staying near this female, something told him that even sleeping this she-wolf was deadly. "Doesn't matter, we stick with the plan. Capture her and bring her to the Alpha." Kostis said to his brothers. They would return in the morning and capture the she-wolf to bring to the Alpha, then they could go back to their land and prepare their livestock for winter.

With that, they left the sleeping she-wolf alone and traveled back to their cabin to prepare for capturing the wold in the morning.

AN: First chapter is done, tell me what you think!

I apologise for the short chapter. Next ones will be longer.

All photos in this book I own, they are photos I have taken.