Finding Her Way Back

Chapter 1

The Anjing pack hasn't always been my home. According to my parents, when I was nine, we had visited my grandfather in the Northern Isles. During our travels back, our camp was attacked by a pack of rabid rogues.

My father was severely injured trying to fight them off when the Anjing warriors arrived. Due to my fathers injuries they brought us to their pack hospital. The day my father was supposed to be released and we were to return home, Alpha Fredrick Potts announced the end of the decade long feud between two packs. Resulting in the complete destruction of the Collinus Pack. My Pack.

My parents told me this story every time they felt I did something to warrant their anger. They told me this story because they blamed me. They were two unranked wolves with little fighting skills, but whenever I so much as breathed too loud, I was the reason they were not home to help fight off the attack. If I wasn't with them, if I wasn't born, or if they had of just left me in the Isles, then they wouldn't have had to stop for rest, my father wouldn't have been injured, and their family, their friends might still be alive.

I do not remember much of anything before arriving here. Of course, I knew who I was and my parents, but not enough of my life in the Collinus Pack to make any sense of it or know it was home. The pack doctor says because I was so young, the trauma of the rogue attack and the news of my home being destroyed, that I blocked it all out. My brain's way of protecting me, she said.

What I do remember is in the weeks following the news, I recall being in my own world. I avoided everyone, especially my parents, as that is when their anger truly peaked. I sat by a nearby creek most days until the stars came out. I would climb the tree beside my window to sneak back in so my parents didn't see me, not that they would have cared, but because if I was lucky, it was a few more hours of forgetting I was the most hated thing in their world.

The neighborhood kids all made fun of me and pushed me around. I was the new kid, the outsider. When I turned 13, my wolf Nyla spoke to me for the first time. A group of girls had knocked me to the ground at school, they were going through my bag when Nyla growled. It terrified me but I knew I was of age for her to come around so I kind of expected it, what I didn't expect was her fierceness. " Don't just sit there, get up and knock them on their asses!" ," When you are old enough to shift I am going to make them all wish they didn't bully you" she'd always say. Nyla became my best and only friend. She was always there and even though I couldn't shift yet, she always had my back.

**********

" Sarah, time to get up, you have a busy day! " Luna Cecile called from outside my room. I groaned and threw my head under my pillow. It was my 18th birthday today. In our world, 18 isn't just a big deal, it is one of the most important days of a wolf's life. Not only will we experience our first shift, but we might find our mate and Nyla couldn't be happier. I though, was ok just staying in bed but Nyla was important. She deserved her happiness too, and I would be happy for her.

Another knock sounded at my door ," your breakfast is going to go cold Sarah, move your butt " I could hear the excitement in the Luna's tone, I think she was looking forward to today more than even Nyla.

When I was 15, we received word that my grandfather had fallen ill. My parents decided it was the perfect opportunity. They brought me to the pack house, asking Alpha Fredrick and Luna Cecile if I could stay for a few weeks while they went to care for my grandfather. The Alpha and Luna were wonderful people, my parents knew they wouldn't turn them away, and they didn't.

What was supposed to be a few weeks has now been 3 years, but the kindness from the leading family never failed. They have cared for me, supported me and provided for me in the last 3 years, more than my parents ever did in those 15 years. Even still, they were my parents and today, of all days, I missed them.

" I hope we find our mate today! I wonder who it will be " Nylas voice in my head shook me from my thoughts as I grudgingly placed my feet on the floor and pushed myself off the bed. "It is a mystery, unless your hiding something from me, nobody here has really peaked your interests, so I guess it could really be anyone." I considered the options as I turned the faucet to warm and watched the shower come to life.

"Not to mention, we have always been the outsider to the entire student body. Even if we found our mate today, who is to say they don't reject us?" I pointed out, knowing this will just upset her, but it needed to be said. " I understand you don't want to get your hopes up, but you shouldn't give up so easily, maybe that is why we have always been the outsider here" Nyla snapped back and I flinched at the harshness of her tone, sighing I stepped into the shower, facing the steady stream of water I let run down my face and forced my head to clear of what ifs. " I'm sorry, let's just get ready, head downstairs and see what the day brings, there is no need for either of us to put too much thought into it until we know ", I could tell Nyla did not agree, but she didn't argue it either, I could feel her pacing around in a huff.

Another knock came from my bedroom door. " Sarah, let's go, let's go! " This time it was the Alpha, "s**t, s**t, s**t " I mumbled to myself as I ran to my dresser and grabbed a black long-sleeved shirt, faded dark blue jeans and darted back into my bathroom to finish getting ready. Looking at myself in the mirror as I pulled my jeans on, I brushed my teeth so quickly I would need to brush them again before I went anywhere.

I grabbed an elastic off the counter and made my way to my bedroom door, as I brushed threw my hair with my fingers. I paused at the door and pulled it open to see Alpha Fredrick and Luna Cecile beaming at my door.

" Well it is about time. I was getting ready to send the dr in for you, you must be sick if you are this slow on a day such as today" chuckled the Luna. Pulling my hair back into a messy bun and wrapping it in the elastic I had grabbed, I stepped out of my room and swung the door shut behind me. " I'm sorry Alpha, Luna, no need for the dr. I am not sick, just stayed up to late, that's all " I gave a small smile, hoping they wouldn't question it.

Alpha Fredrick wrapped an arm around my neck and yanked me into a half hug, Luna Cecile lay a hand on my back as the Alphas booming voice filled the hallway. "How many times do we have to tell you, away from prying eyes, we are simply Cecile and Fredrick, but not Fred, that was my father, bitter old man he was and that I am not" he ruffled his hand in my hair as I felt a few strands fall from place, lining my face, tucking them behind my ear I made a mental note to fix it later.