The White Wolf

    My mother bends down in front of me. Her eyes sapphire blue which tells me her wolf is about to come out.      "Run, Valda. You run. You don't stop. You don't turn around.You just run no matter what."     "Mom, I'm scared. Please, come with me." I cry.     "Your father is dead, sweetheart, and I have to help the pack.I can't go with you. You need to go now." my mother tells me while shoving me toward the forest.     I start running toward the forest as fast as my little legs can carry me. Suddenly, I hear Mary screaming for me. "Valda, help me. Please help me."      I turn to look for her. I see her several feet away from my mother. A hunter has her and is running in the opposite direction. I see my mother shift. Her beautiful white wolf lunges toward the hunter. She is so focused on him that she doesn't see the other hunter running towards her with a silver sword in his hands. She lunges toward the hunter who has Mary but the one with the silver sword is faster. I watch as sword slices through her neck. Her head rolls several feet. Blood soaking her white fur. I scream.     I wake up in the pitch darkness with sweat pouring off of me. I dream of it at least once a month. Which is good considering it was every night for many years. I can still hear the echo of the screams in my head. I roll out of bed and stumble toward the kitchen. I grab a glass from the counter and get some water from the sink. I can still hear Mary's screams.     Wait a second. Those screams are not in my head. They are coming from outside. I walk to my front door and sniff the air. Rogues! 'Damn it.' I thought to myself. 'You would think they would learn there lesson after I killed the last three that came into my forest.'      I start running toward the smell of the burnt wood. The smell of the rogues always smell like that. I ran about half a mile before I finally spotted them. Four rogues, all of them on the small side. Then I saw that they were chasing something. There was a tiny grey wolf running in front of them. I jump toward the nearest rogue shifting in mid-air. My white fur catches the moonlight making it look like I'm glowing.      I go for the neck and rip its take out its throat with one bite. The one right behind it stumbles over the body. I jump on it's back as it lays on the ground. I rip open it's neck as well. The others stop and look at me. The blood of their fallen friends drips off my snout. I walk towards them and shift back into my human form. My clothes are long gone now but that never bothers me. Nudity is natural in my opinion.      "You have two choices. You can either run and spread the word that any who enter my forest will not walk out or you can die and I will put your heads on a stake at the edge of my forest so that others can be warned. What is your decision?" I asked.     They looked at each other for a second and ran in the other direction. I watch as they disappeared into the forest. I couldn't see the small wolf, but I could smell that she was nearby. "Come on out. I won't hurt you." I said not in the mood to play hide and seek at this time of night.      To my left, a little girl approaches me. She couldn't have been more than six years old. She had long brown hair to her shoulders. She appeared small for her age almost fairy like. She limped towards me and  I noticed there was blood dripping from her upper right thigh. She didn't smell like a rogue which means she had to belong to a pack somewhere. I know I am going to have no choice but to bring her back myself. I can't let a six year old wander around by herself.      "Let me carry you back to my place. I will bandage you up and then I will get you back to your pack." I told her.     She just nodded her head at me. I walked up to her and lifted her in my arms. The gash wasn't deep but it would require a couple stitches. Wolves this young didn't heal very fast. I walked back to my house.      House might be an over exaggeration. It was a one room cabin. I had running water but no electricity. I didn't even have a toilet. I did that outside. It wasn't like I was hooked up to public works and a septic tank requires someone to come pump it out every once in a while and frankly, I didn't want people to know I was here.      I walked in and set her down on my brown faded couch. It had seen better days. I grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen along with a wet rag. I sat down next to her and proceeded to take care of her wound. It wasn't as deep as I thought it was in the woods. I was able to put a gauze bandage on it and some tape. Next I grabbed a shirt from my drawer and handed it to her to put on while I got dressed.     "What is your name, kid?" I ask     "Sarah Brown, ma'am." she responds     "How did you end up being chased by a bunch of rogues?"     "Dad told me not to go in the woods but I wanted to chase the rabbit. I didn't realize I was that far until the rogues found me. I tried to run for home, but I couldn't tell which way was home." she told me with tears running down her cheeks.      I went to her and sat next to her. I pulled her onto my lap and hugged her. "Its okay sweetie. You're safe now." I told her while stroking her hair.     "I'm going to be in a lot of trouble, aren't I?" she asks     "Yes, you will but your parents are just going to be a happy you are safe. They won't be upset at you for long." I reassured her. "Which pack are you from?"     "The Red Rose Pack. My dad is the Alpha." she responds     Red Rose Pack was 30 miles away. I look at the clock and sigh. It was 12:30 a.m. There was no road out of my forest so I would have to use the quad. With as tense as the forest was, I couldn't go fast safely. I would wait until morning but with her being the Alpha's daughter I would have warriors at my door before morning.      I grabbed a small blanket off the bed and wrapped Sarah in it then carried her outside. "Let's get you home, kiddo." I told her.      I put her on the quad then climbed up behind her to hold her in place. It was pitch black out with no moonlight due to the heavy clouds. I could see well enough in the dark. One of the perks of being a wolf. I start up the motor and take off toward her pack. Within minutes, she was asleep. I spent the last twelve years hiding from the world but this one child was going to be responsible for outing me to everyone. What the heck was I going to do now?