Did she seriously have to keep passing out? It was getting annoying. Everything seemed to trigger her, and it made things more difficult.
Regina let out a groan as she opened her eyes. She stretched her arms as she fully woke up. Looking around, Regina didn't know what to think. Instead of back home at the packhouse, she was in the middle of a field?
Trees surrounded her with long grass blowing in the wind. There was a breeze; it smelt like summer and was warm. Where was she?
'Regina?'
She turned to see the familiar gray wolf behind her in the grass.
'Speranza, do you know where we are? What's going on?'
'I have no idea; I have no memory of this place or how we got here.'
A gust flew through the meadow, and a strange feeling overcame Regina. Like, she had been here before.
That's when she saw the wolves. Emerging from the trees was a small pack of wolves. There was the Alpha in front, leading the pack with his family behind him. Following along, there were several other families with pups in tow.
Once they reached the clearing, the pups all took off. Running in different directions and tripping over each other. They started play fighting while the adults relaxed and laid in the grass.
'Who are these wolves? Why do I feel some connection to them?'
Speranza shook her head; she didn't have any answers either.
The pack continued resting as pups happily played. There four in total, one much older than the rest. Regina's heart stopped seeing one with gray fur and dark eyes. It was Speranza's wolf form. Could this be her past?
Time sped past, suns rising and falling. Hunting parties went out, they slept together, and the children played. The summer made the days long, and it seemed like it was all perfect.
One night was different, the families were all cuddled together, and the sky was clear. Her past self was with a white pup, a gray wolf, and a sizeable greenish wolf. Everyone was asleep without a single worry.
Then there were the howls, terrifying howls that echoed throughout the clearing. The pack was up quickly, wolves standing protectively while the smaller wolves started to run with the pups. Giant wolves came from one side of the clearing, howls announcing their position. After declaring who they were, the enemy wolves charged.
The pack didn't stand a chance. The other wolves were almost all black, and all were Warrior wolves. They tore through the Alpha and other wolves, causing their mates to let out a short roar in pain. The Luna turned and charged, only to be killed like her mate.
The greenfield turned red, and soon only three wolves were running. While the wolves played with their prey, a few kept on chasing.
The scene changed, and suddenly Regina was in the woods, Speranza at her side. She could see the three wolves running through the trees. The gray wolf then stopped, nuzzled the two little pups before turning around. The two pups continued running, not even seeing the gray wolf get torn into pieces.
Eventually, the little gray wolf stopped with her sister, white wolf. The two bumped heads, probably talking through their mental link. Then the white one continued running while the gray one stood her ground.
His eyes were red, blood red. He stalked the gray wolf, a smile on his lips. He was toying with the pup and was enjoying it.
The wolf shifted, a man with red eyes smiling down on the pup.
"Let's take her; she's perfect."
A wolf came from behind, and the whole area went dark.
Her family was dead. She had just seen her whole pack murdered by vicious wolves. There wasn't any point in finding who her family was; they were all gone.
She was alone. There wasn't anyone out there, no family waiting, no happy reunion—just darkness, alone and afraid of wolves that would kill her.
"Oh, honing, you had another nightmare, didn't you?"
Who was that? They had a kind voice, loving and soft. It made her feel, warm inside.
"You silly meid, I told you not to climb that tree. Wait till your Vader comes home, he will be so proud of you."
It was a woman; her voice echoing through the darkness. What was going on?
"Did you or did you not hit Stefan? I need an answer, jong dame."
Voices started to come from all around them, a woman telling her to come to dinner, a man saying that she was getting so big, a little boy, calling out and laughing. They were all talking, and it seemed to be to her.
'You are not alone.'
'You have so many people waiting for you, just stay strong.'
The whole clearing was silent after that, and light surrounding the young woman and her wolf.
'Did you understand any of that, Speranza?'
'Not at all. I knew the pack; I recognized young me and some of the wolves. But those voices, I didn't know any of them. I barely even heard them.'
How strange. Those voices were loud and echoed; how could Speranza not hear them?
Regina let out a yawn, suddenly feeling drained. She laid down in the grass, Speranza, at her side.
'I don't know what's going on, as long as I have you, though, I think I'll be okay.'
'I'll never leave you, Regina, I promise.'
Regina relaxed into the grass, soon falling asleep peacefully.
****
Mavis changed from happy that Regina was exploring to upset that Regina even left the house. She even stayed home to make sure Regina didn't move too much.
Mavis told her that she was asleep for two days. Regina felt great; she didn't see the huge problem. She was a little freaked out about the rogue attack. Still, she had Aisha, and that made her feel better about going out.
That is when Mavis lets her. Aisha comes to the apartment, gets the whole rundown from Mavis, and then they can spend an hour right by the porch. No going to the mall, out to the forest, or anything like that. Regina hated it.
Mavis was always checking in, every hour sometimes. When Regina doesn't report in, Mavis ends up tracking her down and scolding her for not saying where she was. Because going into the main living room puts her in so much danger.
Something had changed, though. Two things, actually.
First, someone was watching her. When she looked out windows, gold glinted in the sunlight. She could see shadows following her and moving around corners at night.
Yet, she wasn't scared. Regina felt protected. Rogues wouldn't be able to attack her with this mysterious wolf watching over her. It was strange; the idea of someone watching over her made her feel even better.
Mavis didn't think that way. Thus, the protectiveness and being home before the sun even set. It was getting horribly annoying.
Secondly, there was another voice in her head.
By now, she had gotten used to the pack link and her family link. Speranza was consistently near the surface so she could talk for Regina. But this voice was different.
It was intense and powerful. The voice didn't give any advice, everyone once in a while they would say something almost encouraging. Most of what they said was about someone still waiting for her.
Speranza didn't hear the voice, at all. That's what concerned Regina the most. The one spirit that she should only be able to hear can't hear the other voice in her head. That scared her more than the wolf following her.
She didn't tell anyone; if Mavis knew she heard voices, Regina would never leave the apartment until she turned thirty.
So, Regina spent most of her time alone in the apartment. By day three, Regina had enough.
'Mavis won't even know, just come out for a second.'
'I left yesterday, and Mavis freaked out after the hour. If I left without telling Mavis, she would kill me.'
'Come on, Regina! Just to go out and see the stars."
Aisha wouldn't let this drop. She would continue to beg until Regina finally agreed. There was no use fighting; Aisha always won.
'Fine, but only for a little. Some star gazing, and that's it.'
Regina could practically hear Aisha cheering. How she could have so much energy at midnight, Regina had no idea.
So, Regina got dressed as quietly as she could. Thankfully, the room was on the bottom floor so she could easily go out through the window. Mavis and Atta would never know.
The screen popped out, and Regina snuck out of the packhouse. Out in the open air, she could feel the wolf near. She couldn't see anyone in the area, but that protected feeling overcame her. Regina knew he wasn't dangerous, so she sent a smile up into the trees.
Why hadn't the wolf tried to meet her yet? She knew he was up there; Mavis and Atta felt him too. But he never came out of the shadows, always running when she tried to get too close.
From what Aisha said, there was a black wolf that was extremely protective of her when the rogues attacked. Regina only remembered the gold eyes; maybe it was the same wolf. And if it is, she would only needed to be in danger for him to come out. Regina smiled and continued into the trees.
Most would be scared of dark woods in the middle of the night. Regina actually liked it, the forest was quiet, and you had the moon to guide you. Some of her earliest memories are of walking through the woods, stargazing.
Maybe it was because of how she was raised. From that dream she had, the pack lived in wolf form in nature. She was part of a nomadic pack, wolves that spend their lives in wolf form, away from humans. If that were how she grew up, it would make sense that she felt better in the woods than in a house.
Regina had no idea how long it took, but soon she was near the pack border. Her legs were tired; there were more slopes and climbs than she thought there would be. Sitting on a rock, she let her legs rest and waited for the wolf to come to her.
"What do you think you're doing, kid?"
It worked! She stood and turned with an innocent smile.
He was a giant! He was like the other wolves at Lotta Lunare, tall, large, and had hands the size of her face. Regina didn't think he would be like that; she pictured someone more like Atta. A guy who was normal-sized with hidden strength.
"Well, what are you doing out here at night? The border is a dangerous place to be near."
Going through the pack link, she searched for the man. Usually, it was like a string; she could tell who was close and which to use to talk to a specific person. But when Regina pictured the man in her mind, no link was opened. Was, he not a member of the pack?
At that thought, Regina took a step back. The protector suddenly was an attacker. If he wasn't a part of the pack, how was he on pack land? She should have stayed home.
The man let out a chuckle as she sat on the ground. "You just found out that I don't have a pack link, you scared pup?"
She should have been. She really should have run all the way back. Even without a pack link, the guy didn't truly terrify her. Even his smile wasn't evil. She knew what evil looked like, and it wasn't in him.
Regina knew she was going to regret this. Still, she drew closer to the man and sat down across him.
He raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh. "You sure are brave tiny." His eyes had a strange sparkle as he smirked. "No one has ever approached me like this; they are all too afraid."
Regina held her head up, staring him right in the eye. She wasn't afraid, not that much.
"So, you don't talk, and I don't have a link. How do you think this is gonna work?"
She shrugged her shoulders, and he rested his head on his hands.
"Well, I guess you're Regina. I'm Sergio, and I'm technically not a pack member anymore."
Instead of continuing why he wasn't a member, Sergio leaned back, hands supporting him. His eyes went fuzzy, and Regina recognized that he was talking to his wolf.
Gold started to show in his eyes, brown becoming lighter. Sergio even started to growl, and Regina stood.
'What's wrong with him, Speranza?'
Sergio was holding his head, growling constantly. It seemed like he was in pain, was his wolf hurting him?
'His wolf is trying to take control. Usually, there is an understanding that humans control their human body while the wolf is in control of their wolf body. It seems like his wolf isn't listening and trying to take control of the body.'
'Can his wolf do that?' Could Speranza do that?
'Ideally, no. The wolf is supposed to be limited to its own body, the same as the human. But black wolves are different; they are stronger and more powerful than normal wolves. Be careful, Regina, we don't know how aggressive his wolf might be.'
Regina took a step back as Sergio let out a shout that turned into a howl. When it stopped, Sergio looked at her with bright gold eyes.
"Hello there, your majesty."
His voice was rough and gravelly, his wolf speaking through Sergio's body.
"Regina!"
The two turned to see Mavis and Atta running. Mavis was in the front, and her worried face changed to anger.
"Step away from her, Scudo! You agreed to leave the pack alone if you stayed on pack land. I'll tell the Alpha."
Mavis's eyes were bright yellow, Cura Ann talking through Mavis's body.
"Cura, you can't tell me what to do. I am here just for Viribus, not Speranza."
"Step away, Scudo." Cura Ann ended with a growl, both wolves ready to attack.
'Regina, step away from him and come here.'
Even Atta's voice was solemn. Unsure of what was happening, Regina stood still. Sergio was calling her strange names, there was a pain in her head, and apparently, Sergio wasn't even supposed to be talking to her. Why wasn't anyone talking to her!
'Please, Atta, explain what's going on?'
'When we get home.' He held out his hand as the two wolves stood, watching the other. 'Come here, Regina.'
Regina started to walk, and Sergio stared at her with sad eyes. He thought she was leaving, probably forever. But she wanted to talk to him, to understand what was happening.
'Tell him I'll come back.'
Cura Ann and Atta looked down on her, both frowning.
"You won't see him again, now let's go."
Cura took her hand and started to tug Regina away from Sergio. Regina could only look back with a hopeful face as she was dragged away.
She would go back to see him. Sergio had answers to her questions; his wolf knew something that Mavis and Atta didn't. Regina promised him mentally; she would see him soon.
****
'When using these marks' = Mind linking
"Quotations" = Normal speech
'Using these marks and italicized' = Wolf talking in their minds.
"Talking but italicized" = Wolf talking through the humans.
'Using these marks, italicized and weird indent thingy' = New voice in Regina's head.
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