Call to the Wild

The Battle

When we finally reached the pack I noticed the same decay there, only the pack house still seemed livable. All the once lively buildings seemed sad, all I could look at were the broken windows and the grass covered paths. I looked up once into the eyes of an oddly familiar face, he looked angry, there was fire in his eyes, maybe they hoped I’d never return.

Was all of this my fault?

“I hope you all understand you are ALL to welcome back our Luna.” He said with authority as he pulled me near.

There was at least one growl, probably from him, the almost familiar middle aged man that had a large scar over one eye. He was tall and thin, too thin for a warrior werewolf. Was food scares now? He seemed so familiar, I must have met him before… I couldn’t stand to look back up and see the hate in his eyes again.

“We are so glad you’ve found your way back to our Alpha.” Said a smiling teenage boy. He was wearing tattered jeans and a flannel that was too big for his skinny frame. His eyes were kind, he meant what he’d said.

“I don’t understand…” I barely muttered the words as I looked back into his eyes.

“It’s okay Ayla, we’ll go inside where we can talk more.”

I didn’t like the way he spoke to me, like I was about to break. Almost like I was some small child, he didn’t want to scare. I mean I guess he had his reasons, but it made me uncomfortable.

Inside there was little furniture from before, the walls were painted, it was almost a different place all together. There was a girl sitting on a loveseat near the fireplace. She stared up at me blankly, her long look was emotionally void. Her black eyes seemed angry though, she too looked familiar. She was too younger to be anyone I’d met at the party though. She looked to be about twenty, another skinny reminder that something was horribly wrong with this future I’ve woken up within.

Dylan pulled me along up the staircase. I watched as we walked up, her gaze never wavered and neither did mine. What had happened to this pack? Why was this future so bleak? We sat in the same old dark office, a flash of the past shot into my head. Dylan and Veronica sitting at the desk, to me it happened just a short time ago.

“Is Veronica still here?”

“That fur trader hasn’t been around in a very long time...” He said gritting his teeth. For just an instant his wolf almost shone through, his veins had bulged and his face was bright red.

“That’s hard to believe, what’s— the” I didn’t get to finish my question, before I could finish bed turned around and kissed me. It was a strange kiss, dry and empty. It didn’t seem like he meant it, was he angry with me too.

He backed away after a moment, a strange look on his face. There was confusion, anger, fear, and something else— maybe some sort of realization…

“I figured..” He dragged himself behind his desk and plopped himself into his seat. His face clutched his face like he wanted to crush his own skull.

“Are you going to explain that to me or?” Before he could answer I suddenly realized he smelled different, the mossy forest smell was there, but no mint. He’d lost that wonderful aroma my wolf had so craved.

“You rejected me. Our wolves bond is severed.” He voice was strained and almost foreign.

“I didn’t reject you.”

“You disappeared for thirteen years!” He roared like a beast. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“I didn’t mean to..” I whispered, my body was against the door. I didn’t want to be here, I didn’t want to deal with all this…

“It doesn’t matter, there’s no pack to recover anyways and you can still choose to be my Luna. You want that right?” He said taking my hands.

I could barely handle his puppy dog look, I didn’t want to look away and instantly break his heart, but honestly I just didn’t have an answer.

“I don’t know. This is all so strange, I can remember it all like it was yesterday I still feel what I felt then. I’m— I just don’t know what to think.”

“You can take you’re time. Just like I promised before, I’m not here to force you into anything.”

“But you did trick me…” My mind was a bit foggier than I wanted to admit. At first I could remember why I had run away, but now I did. Lisa, my only friend, was a werewolf spy or whatever.. for him!

“It wasn’t meant to trick you, I was really young when it happened. My father sent you to that group home to keep you away from me. It took us years to find you, your name was changed, you didn’t exactly look the same since the last time I’d seen you.”

“Wait so— what actually happened? I need the truth, the complete truth no matter how bad you think it’ll be..”

“I was like four almost five, you’re mother was a part of our pack— sorta, ugh gosh she was half witch and my father banished her after she refused to mate with him. Then she lived with the witches and married your father a wolf with no pack— a rogue.”

“So he killed them because he was jealous.” I said interrupting his story.

“Kinda it was more than that. After your mother left he hated the witches and banned anyone from dealing with their village. The witch you met had a vision of you, who wasn’t even born yet, being my mate. A spy told my Dad and he vowed it wouldn’t happen.” You could tell he was trying to choose his words wisely as he leaned on the edge of his desk. His much darker blonde hair was longer than before and disheveled like he rarely brushed it with an actual brush.

“So you knew before we met that I’d be your mate?” I was getting a headache.

“I mean there was always a chance the vision could change, personal decisions can change the outcome..” His puppy eyes were coming out again, he was afraid I’d be angry, but honestly this was better than what I’d made up in my own head literally a thousand times.

“So why were you spying on me?” I questioned him watching his expression carefully.

“It was mostly to keep an eye on you, make sure no other wolf tried to hurt you or recruit you for another pack.”

“Okay but why didn’t you just tell me who I was after I changed? I spent a lot of time alone and scared thinking I was some kind of FREAK!”

“Honestly after my pack over-threw my father I was unsure, I was only seventeen and you were thirteen, it was an impossible situation to me. I knew I needed to find you and make sure you were safe but telling you that you were and werewolf and that I was your mate seemed like a little too much at the time..”

“So instead just sent someone my age to pretend to be my friend, that was better.” I said crossing my arms. Honestly I understood it but I still wanted to be angry with him. I felt like I deserved to be angry.

“What happened to the witches?” I asked hoping they were still living somewhere—

“The wolf that attacked you that one I called a rogue, he was actually my father.

“That big wolf thing that attacked us was your father?”

“I guess even a silver jail cell in Turkey couldn’t slow down his hatred. He’s dead now, I couldn’t take the chance he’d return to hurt— anyone again.” His face was red and his eyes glossy.

Was he sad about his father, he must be, even an evil father is a father.. I couldn’t be angry about that…