On the run

Chapter 2

Aaliyah

I awake with a start. I couldn’t have been out long. I’m still on the shoreline, and hunters have yet to find me. I struggle to get up, my shoulder and body aching. I had to keep moving, get out of this area, and find a place to rest. I take in the area, looking for anything I can use to wrap my shoulder. We wolves can heal fast, but not with wolfsbane coursing through our blood. I spot my favorite tree in the distance. The Moon blossom tree. When its winter, it will produce the most beautiful white and gold flowers that have healing abilities. Now, in the dead of the summer, its leaves are giant, and vines hang around it with tiny yellow flowers attached. I limp over to it and pull one of the giant leaves off of it. Carefully I wrap my shoulder in it. It still hurts but it should help the bleeding. I head deeper into the forest. The sooner I’m out of here the better. The hunters will be hot on my trail, and I find myself wishing I had clothes to put on. When I was attacked, I shifted midair, destroying the clothes I had on. Running from my motel, I had to leave all of my belongings. There is no way in hell I am going back there. I have to find a place to rest for the night, and let the wolfsbane leave my system, so I can shift again. This time I will never stop running, and will live off the earth, in a place that no one knows exists. Well, that’s the plan anyway. I walk for hours, not satisfied with any of the places I have come across. I have to be getting close to the border of this territory. That in itself brought on another fear. The last thing I need is to end up on another alpha’s pack land. I could smell it... wolves. They would smell my blood and come for me, and I wouldn’t be able to defend myself. Alphas are ruthless and he would order me dead in a heartbeat. I stop and look around again, scenting the air. I have always loved the smell of the forest and I seem to have a better nose than most wolves. I can tell the pack house is fairly far off. Far enough that I am confident they won't smell me unless they wandered this way, and since it is getting dark, I doubted anyone would be out. I spot a cave in the distance. It looks like the perfect place to sleep for a few hours before taking off again. I start grabbing sticks and tinder, and everything I need to build a fire, before slowly limping my way into the cave. It is dark and wet and had an eerie vibe to it, but I feel safer in here than I did out there. I am safe from the hunters for now, as they are not allowed on pack lands. I start the fire and sit back on the stone ground, the last 10 years replaying in my head for the millionth time. I have been alone since I was 8. My dad died protecting me from hunters. My mom died protecting me from witches. I am a half breed. Half wolf half witch. The only of my kind. My dad was an alpha of the strongest pack at the time, the silver moon pack. My mom was a witch, leader of the strongest coven. Usually, a wolf can only have a wolf mate, but for some strange reason, the moon goddess decided to pair them. When the world found out that a wolf and witch mated, they were appalled. It is against the laws to mate with different species. They loved each other so much that they went on the run together. My dad left his pack behind; my mom left her coven behind, and they lived a life in the wild away from everything, living off the land. They were hunted by wolves, hunted by witches, hunted by hunters. They didn’t care. They were powerful and their bond unbreakable. They had each other. When I was born, it was on the forest floor. They knew that if word ever got out about me, I would be hunted for the rest of my life. I was an abomination to my kind, witches and wolves alike. My dad was killed before my mom. I was 6. I had just shifted for the first time and ran unknowingly into a pack territory. My father tried to fight them off. They knew who he was, everyone did. When they saw me, they put two and two together. Word got out about my existence and without my father, my mom was a shell. She was heartbroken. She tried to make sure I was ok, but she had given up. When her own coven came after us when I was eight, she was ready to go. The light in her eyes had left with my father. She sacrificed herself so I could get away. I have been on the run ever since. I am now 18 and have learned to control my wolf and witch abilities. I have been able to fight off anything that has come my way; wolves, witches, and hunters. They were all scared of me. They had no idea what I was capable of. They wanted to end me before I could tarnish the race anymore and perhaps kill them. This brought all the races together for my purpose. To end me. A few tears escaped my eyes as I thought about my parents and my life. Tomorrow I would be strong again, but tonight, in this cave, in front of this fire, I was going to let it all out. After 10 years alone, I have come to rely only on myself. I let the tears come in waves as I mentally break down for the first time in a few years. I cry until I have nothing left and pass out from the exhaustion.