The True Bond

    I was running. Nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Oh my god please, please don’t let him catch me. I'm so scared, I can hardly breath, I can't go any further. "Dad!” I wept as tears choked down my throat. "Anyone! Please, help me!", I screamed desperately.     But no answer was given as I kept running through the dense forest. My muscles ached and lungs were on fire, but I knew I had to keep running. Running as far I could. Remembering what my mom had told me before this point kept me alive, but the guilt weighed heavy inside me still. It's all my fault, it’s all my fault. **FLASHBACK**     I heard the crashing of the windows and the sound of someone breaking down the front door booming through. "Mom", my was voice shaking. "They’re here". "I know honey, it'll be alright just stay close and stay calm", she assures me.     We were being attacked by a ruthless army of rouges. We didn’t know why but, they were killing anything that moved and was a werewolf. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought about ever seeing my friends again. Briana, Layla, and Vivian. I hope they are all alright. From what I heard their packs were being attacked too. I can’t believe this. It all happened way too fast, before I knew it people were dying right in front of me. The screaming, crying, the slaughter oh god it was all too much. Why here, why now. "Why did this happen mom?" I was trying to whisper as much as I could. "I don’t know sweetie, but I love you. That’s all that m---" her mother says before a huge bang on the door interrupted her.     We were hiding in the closet in the back of the room not making a single sound. I heard slow footsteps. Whoever it was, was definitely looking for us. I wanted to cry so bad but I knew if I let out the smallest weep the rouge would find us. Oh god why? Then my mom lowered herself to my ear and whispered. "When he finds us run to the waterfall. Aunt Clara will be waiting for you. Do you understand me Shania?"     I didn’t argue, I just nodded and I hugged her. "I love you mom", tears still streaming down my face. "I love you too", she said with tears streaming down her face as well. “Be strong.”     And at that moment the closet door banged open and an unfamiliar voice spoke. "Hello, I've finally found you", he growled.     He looked the same age as me, 15. Dark brown hair and cold brown eyes to match. Just as I saw an opening, I punched his gut. He winced down in pain, but as I saw a means of escape he grabbed my mom by the neck. Stopping me right in my tracks. "Run and I'll break her neck", he said ferociously. "No! L-leave her alone!” "Go Shania", my mom said barely being able to choke out words. “Go!” "Mom!", I yelped. "Come here and I release your mother", he said gripping her neck tighter. I could see the pain she was enduring. "No! Stop it!!" "Suit yourself", he said reluctantly. And in that moment, he snapped her neck and my mom laid lifeless still in his hands. "Aww too bad. So fragile too", he said while smirking all nonchalant. He let her body drop to the floor, her eyes cold. “Should’ve listened.”     I cried in anger and pain. The sharp sting to my heart brought me to my knees. She was gone. A power within me began to swell, a feeling unfamiliar to me. It gave me hope, the will to live. And then I heard a voice, the voice of my wolf. "Go. Run. Live. NOW!!" she yelled.      My instincts then took over and I shifted. Before I was realizing my actions I was already running at a high racing speed towards the window. Breaking out, shards of glass stuck into my body, but not enough to slow me down. Then I remembered the waterfall, I must run to the waterfall. I was so scared, so lost. The afternoon was growing into night. Would he find me? I thought. Those cold brown eyes. No, I must not think of them. I must keep running. **FLASHBACK OVER**     I kept calling out the names of my loved ones, but still no answer. I knew my mom was gone but what about my dad? I couldn't find him no matter how hard I tried or where I looked. But that was not the issue at hand. The waterfall is so far from our packs. It’s miles and miles away. Its black as ever at night but, I had to keep moving. I was so tired, I wasn’t even in my wolf form anymore. I felt like collapsing. But just when I thought about giving up, I heard running water. I may be tired, but my hearing did not deceive me. I ran no matter how much my legs felt like jello. I ran and there it was, the beautiful waterfall that glistened under the full moon and stars. Finally, after looking for awhile, I found Aunt Clara, Briana, Layla, and Vivian lying near it. As I ran across, I could see dry tears on their faces and when they saw me their faces brightened with disbelief. Fresh tears pouring down like there was no tomorrow. We didn’t talk just cried in each other’s arms. Aunt Clara had wrapped a towel around me since I was cold and my clothes were tattered.     But then I felt it. That presence. Oh no did he find me?! No it can't be. I tried to scream to the others but no words could come out. Whats going on?! Then I saw him coming towards us from behind the trees with his cold brown eyes.     No. I was trembling as he came closer and closer. No. He got closer and closer. No, please. No. He started to smile. "No!!!" I screamed waking up Layla, Briana, and Vivian. "What the heck?!!", Briana screeched. "There better be a someone trying to kill you at four in the morning", Layla stated in an annoyed tone.     While Vivian simply pulled the covers over her head and went back to sleep. Poor Vivian. "Um sorry, I, I had the dream again", I said quietly still shaking a little getting my breathing under control.     They said nothing but pulled me in closer and cuddled with me giving me comfort. "Maybe our mate will give comfort as well", my wolf purred in excitement.     Yeah maybe he will. In about 3 hours we were going to have to get up for our first day of our senior year. Maybe this year would be different. Maybe I'd find my mate. For once I was actually excited. I closed my eyes as my imagination went crazy thinking about what my mate would look like or even be like. A small smile stretched across my face as I slowly drifted off into a long peaceful sleep.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------       I pushed down the off button on my alarm as soon as it rang through my ears. Oh my god no. It's Monday and the first day of school. It's not like I hated school it's just the stupid, annoying, rude, girls and boys that make school so much less enjoyable. As I tried to get up, I felt something heavy completely on the right side of me. Who wants to bet it's either Layla or Briana. I opened my eyes and see they are both on top of me. Great just great. What a surprise. Ugh, sometimes I wish this house had more than two rooms. It's that or we need to get a bigger bed.      So with all my strength I pushed them both onto the carpet floor. And with a huge thud they both woke up looking at me mad as ever. "What the heck?!!!", they both said in unison. "Get up, school is in an hour and a half. Shower, get dressed, brush your teeth, and I'll have breakfast ready in 30 minutes", I said firmly.      With that they lazily got up and cursed under their breath and headed to their bathrooms. Now all I needed to do was figure out how to get Vivian up. "Vivian I know you’re awake", I said. "Soooo", she said slowly.     I raised my eyebrow. "Get up.” "Why?" "School.” "I need a better reason than that.” "Our friends will be there.” I crossed my arms waiting patiently for her. "So.” "Hot guys will be there to gawk over you", I said hoping she would get up. This was wasting time. "So.” "You'll miss P.E."      She loved P.E. "So", she said again.     Ok now I'm getting annoyed. "Ugh Vivian you might find your mate today!", I yelled. "Omg yes!", she yelped in happiness.      I rolled my eyes as I watched her head straight for the bathroom. The freakin world could be ending and she wouldn't get up but no, if it means finding her mate she is all up for it. I got out of bed and headed downstairs to make breakfast. I headed for the fridge when I noticed a note stuck to it.           Dear Girls, I'll be gone for a week for a business trip in New York for work. Shania, you’re in charge and please make sure you all go to school and do your homework. There should be enough food to last all week. Call me between 4-7pm if you guys wanna just talk, but call any time for emergencies. Have fun your first day of your senior year guys. NO PARTIES IN THE HOUSE PLEASE!     I rolled my eyes. As if we’d have a party.                                                                             LOVE,  AUNT CLARA   P.S.- Vivian is not allowed any squirtable cheese this week. That girl is costing me a fortune on that stuff.     Vivian does love her squirt-able cheese. Well I better get started on making breakfast. By the time I was done making the bacon, eggs, and toast they all came rushing down. Layla in her white tank top, with a cute jacket to go over it, blue skinny jeans, and her white sandals. Briana in her "Dont Mess With Me" T-shirt, blue jeans, and her stylish zipped up sandals. And Vivian in her “Love to Dance” T-shirt, blue jean capris, and her black tennis shoes. They all looked so amazingly beautiful. Believe me when I say these girls all had such lovely figures. Layla was tall, thin, and toned. Briana was curvy and tall as well. Vivian was the shortest out of all of us and had a nice figure as well. I'm tall, but I didn’t like my figure very much. I always felt like I was just too big. When I was little, I was picked on a lot for my weight and even though I’ve filled out a lot I still feel those insecurities. Bri, Layla, and Vivian protected me from bullies and I was so very grateful to have friends like them. I still need to somehow raise my self-esteem, but I’m trying. Pushing that aside I handed everybody their plate of food. "Ok guys Aunt Clara has left for a business trip and she left me in charge," I said firmly. "What?!" Layla yelled. "I know y’all heard me". "You’re younger than I am, why didn't she put me in charge?" Layla questioned. "Or me?!”, Vivian interrupted. "Because I'm more mature and because I freakin said so", I teased smiling at their sour faces.      They both were about to say something but closed their mouths and went back to eating. Within 5 minutes of awkward silence we all busted out laughing. Oh jeez, I love them so much. Life would be so boring without them. "Aunt Clara left a note", I said still giggling. "Really? Can I see?", Briana asked. "Sure".      I handed over the paper. Layla and Briana read it over while Vivian continued eating. Before I started heading upstairs to get dress I yelled back to them. "I'll be back in 15 minutes!!!"      After that I heard a unison of oks. I reached into my closet and grabbed my low cut short sleeved button down shirt that came above my hips that also had a really cute black braided belt around it. I quickly put on my black skinny jeans and put on my short boots. I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs only to see Vivian crying. "Oh my god, what's wrong?", I said concerned. "No more squirt-able cheese?! Are you kidding me?!", she screamed.      Of course it's because of the squirt-able cheese. She must've read the note. "Vivian calm the heck down. I'll buy you some squirt-able cheese after school. How about that?", I suggested. "Yay I love you so much", she squealed.      She gave me a huge hug. I knew I was not supposed to give it to her but it's like a hyper kid that wanted candy. You give them what they want, so they'll shut up. "Yeah now go fix your makeup so we can leave please", I sighed pulling her off me. "Kay", she said excited running upstairs.      I swear the girl couldn’t live without her squirtable cheese. She ate it day and night. Where does it all go? It's like one those mysteries that are meant to be unsolved. While spacing out I noticed Bri and Layla staring at me. "What?", I asked nervously. "Nothing it's just that you look beautiful and you should stay this way. Don't be like last year when you wore those old baggy boy clothes so you wouldn't stand out," Briana stated. "Ok I'll try to dress differently", I said unsure.      It was true though. Last year I didn’t want anybody to notice me. I didn't want them to find possibly find out our secret. Technically we're rouges since we don't belong to a pack. All four of our packs were completely slaughtered by a huge army of rouges two years ago. Even my mother was killed right in front of me. We only have each other and my Aunt Clara who is human. She was my mom's stepsister. My mom's mom before having her was married and had Aunt Clara with a human man. If werewolves’ mate with a human they’ll either come out as only half human or fully human. She got a divorce and met a werewolf who happened to be her mate. So that's how my mom was born. Aunt Clara is the only one that knows about our secret. After the attack Aunt Clara took us in when we had no place to go. She works at home typing up documents for judges and lawyers and a lot of times leaves for business trips. But I sure wish she would've chosen a better location to live in.      Believe it or not we are living on the territory of the strongest most powerful pack in the U.S. The "White Full Moon Pack". From what I found out they are formed of four different packs brought together. So imagine the numbers. This whole entire place is filled with them. There are humans but of course they don't know of the supernatural world. We are rouges but we have that all planned and figured out. We were taught at a very young age to be able to hide our scent as humans. We are the only ones to be able to do this because we are the fated four.  According to the ancient prophecy well known in werewolf history we will find our mates and create the true bond blah blah special powers blah stuff I can't remember blah. It's all so confusing and so hard to explain. All I know is our strength and abilities are stronger even equal to an alpha's strength and power. You could say it's cool if we didn't have to hide it. We have friends that we can't even tell and they’re werewolves too. But they are also a part of the "White Full Moon Pack" so we couldn’t take any chances. Drifting into space again I was jolted back into reality after hearing a certain person yelling into my ear. "Hey, how’s Wonderland?", Layla teased. "Pretty awesome actually", I teased back.      We chuckled and headed to the car where Vivian was already sitting in the back. But from the corner of my eye I could see Layla and Briana standing in the driveway glaring at each other. "SHOTGUN!!", they both said in unison running for the passenger seat.      I huffed as I climbed into the driver's seat. Something tells me Briana won since I see her in the seat next to me doing the victory dance and Layla pouting with her arms crossed in the back. "I win", Briana flaunted. "Frick you", Layla said annoyed. "Sore loser", I teased. "Am not", Layla whined. "OK lets go", Vivian laughed.     She enjoyed watching the chaos. As I was on the road driving, I turned on the radio to hear "Ignorance", by Paramore playing. As soon as we heard it, we began singing at the top of our lungs bopping our heads to the rhythm. We loved to sing. We'd been singing since we were five. After the song was over, Briana gasped as if having a sudden revelation. “You should enter in the talent show this year,” Briana said. "Why?", I said confused. "Because you’re amazing", Layla said in her "duh" tone. "Hey why don't we all enter together,” Vivian cut in. "Hmm I don't know. I'll", I paused. "Think about it.”      All their eyes and smiles grew in excitement. Awww now I really can't disappoint them and say no, darnit. As I pulled into the school's parking lot I parked in a spot under a tree. I don't want my seats all hot when I come back in the car. Common sense, right? We stepped out of the car and started walking towards the entrance when I realized something that made my stomach drop. "Dangit!” I exclaimed. "What?", Briana asked. "I forgot my contacts. You know I can't go anywhere without them".      She laughed. This is so not the time for laughter. "I know, that's why I always bring a back up.” "You know I love you right?" "You better,” she teased.      She handed me the colored contacts and I ran to the bathroom. Our eyes change color according to an intense emotion. Weird I know. Cool? More like amazing, but we have to wear contacts, so nobody gets suspicious. Layla turns yellow when she is very excited or happy, Briana's turns a cool blue when she feels an intense pain, and Vivian's turns a dark red when she is angry. And trust me it doesn’t take much to tick her off. Mine turns a golden amber if I feel scared. I slipped in the last contact and rushed out of the bathroom only to bump into someone.      I was about to say sorry before I saw who it was. Brittany, Amy, and Angie. The rudest, stupidest, most obnoxious, brain damage talking girls I had ever seen. They pretty much ruined my life last year. What sucks more is that all three of them are werewolves and belong to the "White Full Moon Pack". I could tell because of their smell. I may be able to mask my scent, but my senses, strength, and abilities are all still there. I still have to act human though. Disregarding them I "tried" to walk around them. I say "tried" because Brittany pushed me back in the bathroom before I could get out leaving Amy and Angie to guard the bathroom door. "Nice seeing you again dumpster", she sneered.      That was her nickname for me last year. It was basically her way of calling me a piece of trash. So stupid. "Really? Because I really can't say the same for you", I snarled. "Hmph ugly as ever I see", she growled. "Hmph stupid last year and stupid this year I see", I copied the same tone.      She was getting annoyed and so was I in fact. "Whatever just get out of my sight", she said in an annoyed tone. "Oh my god gladly", I said in the most cheery voice possible to annoy her even more.      As I left the bathroom, I didn't look at Amy or Angie but did out of the corner of my eye see them rush into the bathroom. I looked at the time, ok 20 minutes till the first bell. I smiled wide walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria where I knew Layla, Briana, and Vivian would be waiting for me. But I couldn't help, but let out a small chuckle at what just happened in the bathroom. This year I could finally feel would be different.