52 - ARIAN STORM: CLAIMING HER

"Run Amy!" my former best friend Josie whispered to me. I looked around in panic. My pack hugged me and growled at me. I made myself small and wanted to run, but I couldn't. The Alpha came at me and I got scared.

I didn't want to leave. At least not like that.

***

~Amy~

"If we find you, we'll kill you" he shouted and everyone around changed. He growled dominantly and I flinched. I kept moving backwards. He scared me and I didn't want to be scared. I always knew he wasn't a good alpha. But they didn't want to believe me. The wolf kept coming at me and I kept backing away until I met something else. I turned around in a panic. There stood my 'mother'. She growled at me and bit my back. I cried out and felt the blood on my clothes. It soaked into the thin fabric of my shirt. She jerked her head to the side so abruptly that she peeled off my skin and threw me away. She spat out the large rags of skin and looked at me. My open wound burned as I hit the ground hard. It would never close again, there was too much dirt in it now. I swallowed hard before running. My back was burning, but all I could think of was running. Because of the adrenaline rush, I didn't notice the pain as much. Yet he was there. I heard the pack howl and ran faster. I was only 15 and I hadn't turned into a wolf yet. In my pack, you don't change until you're 16.

I ran until my legs gave out, but I still heard my old pack. They ran in my direction. I couldn't stop now. Not only would I be lost, I would be doomed to die. But before my legs could give out, I saw a river. I jumped in and covered my smell. Before they could get to me, I jumped out and kept running. My wound burned even more than ever from the salty river water. I sucked in air, hissing. I haven't had a chance to check the extent of the wound, but I'm sure it must be huge. The pain now went up into my legs, making it difficult to walk. Just in time there was a large chestnut tree that I was able to climb easily. This one reached further through the trees and I jumped

After a while, exhausted, I lay on my stomach on a branch. I could smell the border but wasn't sure if it was in front or behind me. I just hoped and climbed as far up as my legs would allow. There I lay down on a thick branch and made myself a little comfortable. Even if it didn't work out as expected.

***

~Amy~

"Ow" I groaned in pain. My legs, arms and back hurt. However, the pain in my back was the worst. I heaved myself up and scrambled lower until I hit the ground. I slowly walked further south. There our old alpha always talked about a good pack. I hoped to get there soon because my wound was burning like hell and I could barely walk. My t-shirt was soaked in blood and I wasn't entirely sure, but my wound still didn't seem to heal completely.

I kept walking on trembling legs and was sure that I had crossed the border a long time ago. However, I didn't know if the other packs in the adjacent areas were still allies of my old pack. If so, that's it and my old pack would show up any minute.

There is a rule among werewolves that says that children under the age of 16 must not be attacked. I was happy about that again.

Completely engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't realize that I was already crossing the third border. My legs and my subconscious led me through the woods. I didn't care that I couldn't take it anymore, that my legs gave out, my wound started bleeding profusely again when I jumped on a rock. I was now a packless wolf. An outcast, a rogue. At least half an outcast. I hadn't transformed yet, so I wasn't allowed to be treated like one yet.

My old pack lived in Canada. Now I was definitely already on the edge of the US border. I wasn't able to transform yet, but unlike other wolves, I could hear, see, smell better and run faster as a human. I found that out with Josie, my best friend. Well former best friend. She is already 16 and has found her mate in our new alpha.

What did I do to be cast out of our pack? I wanted our old Alpha back and didn't want to obey our new one. My 'parents' who are not my parents stood by him and the whole pack wanted me dead. Josie could talk her mate out of just that, but now they're probably going to hunt me down until I'm dead.

I walked through the forest and saw the border river. The river that divided Canada and the United States at this stretch. I looked back again. I once let my old life run through my inner eye. Until I stopped at a memory. Me, with my chest-length blond hair and my terrible nose. I didn't like my nose one bit. It was a snub nose and everyone thought it was 'cute' but it made me look childish and I didn't want to be a puppy for a long time. My narrow mouth, always smiling at everyone. Now it was dry and not as red as before. I haven't had a drink in a long time. My piercing brown eyes were framed by my thick, dark lashes. Blonde hair and brown eyes were not uncommon for werewolves. Although not many had this mixture, but it showed that you were a werewolf. Each werewolf had a different identifying feature. I just had brown eyes and blonde hair. And a fondness for forest smells. Even my old room was upgraded with air fresheners, all of which gave off the forest smell to my room. I wasn't necessarily skinny, but I wasn't fat either. Just normal for a werewolf. The best thing about being a werewolf is that we don't get fat. We can eat as much as we want. The best thing about being a werewolf is that we don't get fat. We can eat as much as we want. The best thing about being a werewolf is that we don't get fat. We can eat as much as we want.

I looked down at myself. A dirty skinny jeans, which was torn everywhere. My favorite t-shirt, which I wore because Josie and I wanted to go partying. With her mate, of course, because he didn't want to leave her alone anymore. Some of my blond hair fell over my face because my braid had come loose in the river.

I sat on a log that crossed the little creek and dropped my sore feet in the water. I was very exhausted, sad and angry. Sad that Josie always did what her mate asked of her and definitely angry at our new alpha. And also on Josie. I was just mad at everything. Luckily for me, it started pouring rain at that moment. I got up annoyed and kept walking to look for a shelter. If there was one weather I hated, it was rain and hail. Thunderstorms I found then again quite okay. There was something fascinating about the heavens putting on such a spectacle. Some people jumped at the thunder, but I listened with even more fascination. Then, when the lightning broke through the cloud cover, I always thought how exactly they do this. There was a physical explanation for this, but it was too complicated for me.

I kept walking through the rain until I came to a small village. I hesitated. They were definitely werewolves, but should I go to them? My wound could be cleaned and maybe I could sleep dry. But then I would have to explain everything to them and maybe they would just let me in because of the rules and then kick me out again when I was 16.

In the end I chose the latter and avoided the village. It was almost a small town. The houses were modern and not as tattered as ours. I went back deeper and into the forest and tried to hide from any werewolves. Although that would be pretty much impossible.

Feeling safer after a while, I decided to stay in this area and found a cave near a creek. I drank briefly from the stream to soothe my dry throat and then ran back to the cave. There I made myself a little comfortable, as far as the wound went, and tried to sleep.

However, I couldn't sleep anymore. My senses were on high alert the whole time, screaming "Foreign territory! Run!" but at the same time someone told me that I'm in the right place. I've always been more of the skittish person and quite shy.

I heard the wolves very close, which was because the village was less than 500 meters away. I stood up again and looked around the cave. There was another corridor next to me, which I walked along. It ended after a short time and I lay down very close to the wall. It was a little warmer than up in the tree, but the stone floor was really uncomfortable.

At some point, however, my eyes closed.

a/n: new story guys. enjoy! please read the epilogue of ARIAN STORM: CLAIMING HER at chapte 74. Thanks for your patience.