‘The brightest light I'd ever seen spread across the trees that surrounded us, eating everything in its path as if it were alive and starving; as if it were seeking revenge and willing to destroy everything in its path, setting everything it touched aflame as well.’
The screams of many was the only sound that filled my ears- the cries of those who hurt, and the growls of our attackers.
I could hear my wolf begging me to move, to do something- anything, but I was frozen in my place. My legs wouldn't move, my body only shaking in it's place as tears streamed down my face.
Instead, I sink down to my knees, a loud scream escaping my lips only adding to the the others. I gripped her hand tightly. I shake her a little but she doesn't move. I keep shaking her, only causing me to sob harder.
"MAMA!" I scream desperately, crying for her to look at me instead of straight up at the sky. Was she ignoring me, like she did when i did something bad? She wasn't moving and her blood was now wetting my knees as it spread beneath her body. "M-Mama!" I cry even louder. I let go of her hand. Maybe I could push the blood back into her- Papa told me it wasn't good to lose too much. But my hands were too small and it just poured past me.
"Ma …" I whimper as I look at my red hands, shaking as the blood dripped down onto her favourite shirt.
The sound of something cracking and breaking fills the air, causing me to look up. A bad wolf was biting on someone's arm, and they were screaming, and fighting back but another bad wolf got them. They bite and pull at the lady until they split her in two, her blood jumping in the air before falling down like rain.
My eyes wouldn't move from them. They were still biting on her but she wasn't screaming anymore. They began chewing and a small cry escaped my lips making their red eyes look to me.
They let the lady go and start walking towards me. What should I do?
I look at mama for help but she still wasn't paying attention to me. I press my head to her chest, squeezing her hand tightly as I pray to the Moon Goddess that she would squeeze back, like she always did when I was scared.
"Feli!" I hear papa shout. I look up tearily, rubbing my eyes to see him better. He was running to me, the bad wolves now on the ground and not moving anymore.
He crashes down beside me, his body freezing once he looks at mama. He doesn't move or talk anymore, and like me he becomes still, only tears and soft cries escaping him.
"Caroline." He whispers shakily as his trembling fingers rub her cheek. "N-No … no …" He cries taking her face in his hands. Her eyes don't move but she's staring at him now. "NO!" Papa screams as I hold onto her hand tightly, crying next to him.
Papa leans down and presses his lips to her's like they did every morning, but she didn't press back. He releases another cry before pulling her face to his chest. After a while, he puts her down carefully and releases a breath. Papa passes his hand over her eyes and they close.
"Mama …" I cry, feeling a heavy pain form in my chest. It made it hard to breathe- to move.
"We need to go, Feli." Papa says as he pulls himself to his feet before taking my hand away from mama's. I cry as I try to reach for her but he doesn't let me as he turns me away from her.
I grab his leg, my body hiding there and only then, do I see a boy standing close by. The boy was staring at me. His dark eyes scared me, so I hid behind papa's leg even more.
"Can you shift?" Papa asks.
"Yes, Alpha." He says, his eyes never leaving me.
"Feli, hold on to me tightly." Papa says as he moves forth before becoming his big wolf. I climb onto his back and the boy becomes a wolf too. His wolf wasn't big like Papa's, but it was black too.
Papa turns to mama and we look at her one more time. Papa leans down and licks mama's cheek, howling loudly before taking off.
I hold onto papa's fur extra tight, as I always did whenever he took me on his runs. I press my head close to his as he runs faster than he ever did before. My eyes could barely catch glimpses of the bad wolves running through our destroyed home. The angry flames on their side as it forced its way into our houses and through trees.
Papa keeps running as fast as he can and doesn't stop. The small wolf keeps up to him as they run through the many trees. Everything became darker and darker the farther and farther we went away from the pack … and from mama.
I scream as a bad wolf jumps out at papa. He tackles him, sending me in the air. I land on the floor with a thump and my body cries in pain.
I try to push myself up but everything hurt. I look across to see papa fighting the bad wolf. He bites into its neck and pulls out roughly. The bad wolf howls before falling and staying still.
Papa crawls from under it and runs to me quickly. He shifts as he picks my body up carefully, cradling me in his big arms.
"Feli, are you okay?!" He asks as his hands search around me for any achy parts. I release a small cry when he touches my leg- it hurt a lot. "I'm sorry bun. I'll get you cleaned up once we get somewhere safe!" He promises and I whimper in his arms as he holds me closer.
"Papa." I call as I start crying and tears come down again. "I- I'm scared."
"I know bun. I'm scared too." He says as the small wolf comes closer to us, but he wasn't looking at us. He was looking around us, watching for any more bad wolves that might come. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you better- our home, our pack, your mother." I cry harder into his chest as he grinds his teeth down.
"But what are we?" He asks shakily as he pulls me to look at him.
"A- Alphas." I whimper, and he smiles even though his eyes get shiny.
"That's right. And alphas are strong and brave. You have to be strong, Feli. That's how we get through this." He says and I nod a little. "If anything happens to me, if we get separated, I want you to keep going, okay? N-no matter what. Can you promise me that?" He says making me hold him tighter.
"No! N- No Papa! I stay with you! Always. Please- " I cry against him. I didn't want to lose papa too. I just lost mama.
"I know bun. I want to stay with you too." He says before putting his palm up. I lift mine and put it on his chest as he puts his to mine. "But I'll always be with you- right here."
"Forever." I say and he nods before looking around.
"If something happens you have to stay with Jayson." He says and I look to the small wolf. "He will protect you with his life. Trust him and he won't ever let you down."
"Jayson?"
"He's your …" He starts before releasing a sigh. "He will always protect you, Feli. He'll find you when I can't and he won't ever stop keeping you safe." He says looking at the wolf who nodded back at him.
"Now, we need to keep going. Can you hold onto me again?" He asks and I give a small nod as he shifts. I climb onto him again with Jayson's help and they begin running again.
They ran and ran through the night, but the bad wolves kept coming. Papa kept fighting them and he kept getting up and I kept climbing back on him. Each time, Papa ran slower and slower.
Until papa didn't get up again.
Then I climbed on Jayson, leaving papa behind. And Jayson kept running. I cried on Jayson because I didn't have mama or papa or anybody I knew … I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with mama and papa. I wanted mama to hug me one more time. I wanted papa to come hug us both like he did every day. Papa promised that he was with me- why did it hurt so much then?
I cry harder on Jayson as he runs away from my home, and we never looked back.
