Red Wolf Rising

Scent Of A Wolf

For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to go home.

As I stood in the middle of the forest, breathing heavily with my paws planted firmly against the damp earth, I thought about how only a few hours ago I had been terrified of what was happening to me. Now I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to keep running and stay here, where nobody could hurt me and nobody could tell me I wasn’t good enough. Out here, I didn’t feel like the girl who was always picked on or the daughter who could never do anything right. For the first time in my life, I felt strong.

Then my legs gave a warning ache, reminding me that even this new body had limits.

“We should stop.”

I slowed to a walk, reluctant to listen. “I don’t want to.”

Ruby laughed softly. “You’re exhausted.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re falling over your own feet.”

I glanced down at my paws. She wasn’t wrong. I’d been so caught up in the freedom of running that I hadn’t noticed how tired I was becoming. The forest was quiet around me now, the only sounds my breathing and the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze. I suddenly became aware of how far I’d run and how little I knew about where I was.

“What happens now?” I asked.

Ruby was quiet for a moment before answering. “You need to shift back.”

I stopped walking. “Back?”

“Into your human form.”

I’d been so focused on being a wolf that I hadn’t really thought about what happened next. “How?”

“The same way you shifted into this form. You just have to reach for the other side of yourself.”

I frowned. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

“It will.”

I sighed. Ruby was becoming very good at giving me answers that weren’t actually answers.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember what it felt like to be human. I pictured my hands, my feet, my skin and everything else that made me feel like myself, but nothing happened.

“Try again.”

I concentrated harder, reaching for that familiar feeling, and suddenly a wave of heat tore through me. My entire body seized as something deep inside me seemed to twist and pull. My muscles clenched so hard they ached, and a sharp pain shot through my spine.

I dropped to my knees.

“What the...”

The words barely made it out before another wave hit me, even harder than the first. My bones felt like they were being pulled apart from the inside, and I cried out as my legs buckled beneath me. Panic took over because I had no idea if this was supposed to happen or if something had gone horribly wrong.

“Ruby!”

“I’m here, Accalia. Just breathe.”

“Make it stop!”

“You have to let it happen.”

“I can’t!”

Another bolt of pain tore through me, and I collapsed onto the ground, desperately trying to hold myself together. I wanted to run, to get away from my own body, but there was nowhere to go. My chest tightened as my ribs shifted, making every breath feel like a struggle, while my body shrank and reshaped itself around me.

My paws burned as my claws pulled back and my fingers slowly pushed through, stretching into hands. My legs twisted beneath me as bones and muscles shifted until they finally settled into a shape I recognized.

Human.

The pain finally began to ease, leaving me trembling on the forest floor. I lay there gasping for air, tears slipping down my cheeks as I waited for the pain to return. For several seconds, I was convinced it would start all over again, but it didn’t. I had no idea how long it had taken. It felt like hours.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and realized I was naked.

“Oh my gosh.”

I scrambled to cover myself, even though there was no one around.

“You might want to find some clothes.”

I glared at the trees. “Very funny.”

“I thought so.”

As I looked around me, the forest seemed completely different now. As a wolf, it had felt like home, but as a human, it suddenly felt enormous. I wrapped my arms around myself and climbed to my feet.

“Okay. Clothes. Then home.”

I took one step before stopping.

Home.

The thought of it didn’t bring me any comfort. I looked down at my scratched arms and dirty legs, wondering what I was going to explain. I’d been out all night, and I was covered in dirt. More importantly, what the hell was I supposed to say about turning into a wolf?

I shook my head. There was no way I could tell anyone. They’d think I was crazy.

I started walking, trying to remember which direction I’d come from, when I heard a branch snap behind me.

I froze.

“Ruby?”

She didn’t answer.

Another branch broke somewhere behind me, and my heart began pounding. “Who’s there?”

There was no response. I looked around, but all I could see were trees. Then I heard voices.

Men.

My entire body went still as I realized they were getting closer. I quickly ducked behind a large tree and held my breath.

“There was definitely a wolf here.”

My blood ran cold.

“You sure?” another voice asked.

“I’m sure. The scent is strong.”

I pressed a hand over my mouth.

They were looking for the wolf. They were looking for me.

But how could they know? Nobody had seen me shift. I barely understood what had happened myself.

The footsteps moved closer.

“It’s heading east.”

“No. The scent is all over this area.”

I swallowed. They couldn’t find me. I didn’t know who these people were or what they wanted, but I knew I didn’t want them finding me naked in the middle of the forest.

“We need to tell the Alpha.”

I frowned.

The Alpha? What did that even mean?

“Ruby, who are they?”

For the first time since she’d appeared inside my head, Ruby didn’t sound amused.

“We need to leave.”

“No kidding.”

She hesitated momentarily. “They aren’t human.”

My heart stopped. I stared through the trees as the footsteps continued toward me.

They weren’t human.

I had no idea what that meant, but suddenly I was more afraid than I’d ever been in my life. I turned and ran.

I ran until my lungs burned, with branches whipping against my arms as I pushed deeper into the forest, barely paying attention to where I was going. I could hear the voices behind me, but they were getting harder to make out.

“Keep going.”

Ruby’s voice was calm, but I could hear the urgency underneath it.

“I don’t know where I’m going.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just keep moving.”

I stumbled over a root and caught myself against a tree, trying to catch my breath. “I can’t keep this up.”

“Yes, you can.”

I shook my head. “No. I mean all of this. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”

Ruby didn’t reply, so I leaned against the tree, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

“They said there was a wolf here. They’re looking for me, and you keep telling me I need to run.” I swallowed hard. “I turned into a wolf, I have a voice in my head, and now you’re telling me there are other people after me who aren’t human. What the hell is happening?”

“You’re not losing your mind.”

“It feels like it. Maybe I am. Maybe I finally snapped and this is all in my head.”

“It’s not.”

“Then tell me what I am.”

I stared into the trees, trying to keep the tears from falling from my eyes. “Please. Tell me what’s going on. Why is this happening to me?”

Ruby was quiet for a moment before answering. “I can’t tell you everything right now, Accalia.”

“Then tell me something.”

I pushed away from the tree. “My entire life has just been turned upside down. I woke up this morning thinking I was normal, and now I’m hiding in a forest because apparently I’m a wolf.”

“You’re not just a wolf.”

I froze. “What does that mean?”

Ruby didn’t answer immediately.

“I wasn’t supposed to come to you yet.”

I frowned. “What?”

“I wasn’t supposed to wake up until your eighteenth birthday.”

I stared into the trees. “Then why are you here?”

Ruby was quiet for a moment. “Because you needed me.”

My chest tightened as I thought about everything I’d been trying so hard to survive. My father’s anger, my mother’s silence, the endless days of being bullied, and all the nights I’d spent lying awake wondering how much longer I could take it.

My eyes filled with tears before I could stop them. “I was holding on as hard as I could.”

“I know.”

I wiped at my cheek, but another tear slipped free. “So you woke because of me?”

“Yes.”

I swallowed, trying to make sense of it. “But why now?”

Ruby hesitated. “I don’t know.”

I frowned. “You don’t know?”

“I know I was needed. I just don’t know what caused me to wake early.”

That answer only left me with more questions. “It feels like there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“There are things you don’t need to know yet.”

“Why?”

“Because some answers are dangerous before you’re ready for them.”

I stared ahead, frustrated, but before I could push her again, another branch snapped behind me.

It was closer this time.

My entire body went still.

“Ruby.”

“I know.”

“They’re coming.”

“Yes.”

I listened as the footsteps moved through the forest. There was more than one person, and my heart started racing. “How many?”

Ruby was quiet for a moment. “About six of them.”

I looked around desperately. “Where do I go?”

Ruby didn’t answer.

Instead, something strange happened. A sudden pull tugged at my chest, and instinctively, I turned toward the north. I didn’t know why. There was nothing different about the trees in that direction, no road or lights and no good reason for choosing it, but something inside me was telling me to go.

“Ruby?”

“I feel it too.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

For once, she sounded just as confused as I was.

“I think we should trust it, though.”

Another branch snapped behind me, and I didn’t have time to think about it anymore. I turned north and ran.

I had no idea where I was going or who I was running toward, or what waited for me at the end of this path. All I knew was that something inside me was telling me to keep moving, and for some reason, I trusted it.