I narrowed my eyes while frowning. A strange feeling invaded me more and more as time passed. My senses were agitated, my heart was beating at a frantic pace. My eyes opened painfully, my eyelids were still heavy with sleep. I started to briefly observe the room in which I was. I was feeling completely disoriented. The walls were immaculate with whites and, in the four corners, there were orange stripes. The furniture was made of wood in an old style and the floor was covered with a wooden flooring.
The brightness was very small because of the closed shutters and all that didn't allow me to perceive perfectly the room in which I was at this very moment. Nevertheless, I recognized the colors and shapes of my room for having spent so many days and nights in it. Slowly, I turned my face to my bedside table where an alarm clock was placed. And what was my surprise when I saw the time displayed: Thirty forty five. I let out a sigh, it was obvious that now, it wasn't a 'late for class ticket' that I was going to have but a 'missing classes' one, once again. If I kept doing this, I was going to spend all of my Wednesdays afternoons in high school.
I tried to get up but was quickly convinced to stay comfortably installed in my bed. I was already late anyway, so why hurry? I had been away yesterday so one more day wouldn't change much. And also, I had to admit that I really didn't want to go back to school to find myself face to face with Andy and his pack. Especially since I would have to explain to my two best friends, Yvie and Mathilde, why I didn't come the day before. I let out a small grunt, I really wanted to drop everything and my current situation didn't improve things, on the contrary. I wondered what had been able to get me out of my wonderful dream and I started to pay more attention to what was around me.
I straightened up and once in this position, I froze. My heart started to pound and cold sweat ran down my back. It was at that moment that I felt it, this strong and persistent smell and a feeling of disgust invaded me. This smell did not inspire me any good and I had, moreover, a very bad feeling. I jumped out of my bed, looking through every room on the upstairs floor. This nauseating smell did not come from here so I started to go down the stairs, cautiously as I didn't know what to expect.
On the ground floor, I had stopped suddenly, trembling on my now two frail legs. This vision that was offered to me was worthy of a horror movie but, deep inside me, I thought that the worst was yet to come. Indeed, on the floor between the kitchen and the living room, was a puddle of blood which was leading to the outside. On the walls, splashes of the same color had formed, giving the impression of a chainsaw massacre. There was no dead body in my house and, on one hand I was happy that I did not have to deal with that body because it must have been mutilated. On the other hand, I did not know what happened and why it happened here.
The scent that had just awakened me was the scent of this infamous red liquid, then? My gaze went to the ground, no footprints were visible on the colored floor. I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking that what I had just seen couldn't be real but when my eyelids rose once again, I could see footprints almost as big as a human foot. My wolf, who was on alert since I woke up, did not calm down. I felt more and more nervous. That didn't reassure me as my eyes were still stuck on the wolf prints on the ground, in the middle of the pool of blood.
My eyes followed the direction the blood took and a grimace appeared on my pale face. The forest, that was where the creature was gone. Another smell came to tickle my nostrils, less strong and partly hidden by the strong and disgusting scent of blood. I concentrated a lot to try to know the identity of the individual but I stopped, suddenly thinking of something important. Who was the victim of this carnage? I felt the fear come back gradually to crush my bowels, stronger than before. My mother hadn't woken me up that morning and I hadn't heard her come into my room or leave the house.
Tears were threatening to run down my white cheeks and panic was starting to catch my throat. I had to move. I had to go and see who was the person who had been savagely assaulted even if it would traumatize me for life. With a trembling and unsteady step, I moved away from the carnage that had become my home. I went through the doors that leaded to the outside. The snow was starting to fall from the gray sky and some blood was embedded in this beautiful white coat that was on the ground. I didn't have time to lose. I had to know who it was even if I wasn't sure how I would recover from the answer I was going to have.
To go faster and to not slow down, I transformed myself, always feeling the same pain and disgust of myself during this moment. Once in my wolf form and after having regained my breath, I started to walk to find the victim and his attacker. What kind of wolf could be behind all this? Andy? No, I didn't see him able to do such a thing. Raven? It was already more plausible even though I didn't really know him. His dark personality made him the ideal culprit.
The falling snow clung to my white fur. I wasn't cold thanks to my hair that protected my skin by keeping it warm. My claws were sinking into the dusty surface of the ground and my nose was trying to discern the smell of this wolf. My paws tried, somehow, to keep me balanced on the ice patches that were on the frozen earth. In my mind, I really hoped that it wasn't my mother's body at the end of this bloody path. My footsteps were fast and steady. I was struggling slightly because of the snowflakes that continued to fall on the floor where I was running.
I was running between the trees of this dense forest, not really knowing where this trail would led me. My eyes were watching the horizon looking for a body lying on the ground while my nose was showing me the way to follow. The slightest rustle was making me nervous and on alert. I was terrified and I was wondering how I would manage to hold on. Surely thanks to the instinct of the wolf that inhabited me. The further I went, the more the smell became strong and suffocating. It was only after long minutes of running that my legs stopped on a small clearing where a body was arranged in its center.
I turned my head on both sides to see if there was any danger. Luckily for me, there was no wolf on the horizon. Once I was sure there was no danger, I approached, closing my eyes. I was so afraid to find my mother's corpse. I had to tap into the courage of my wolf to finally open my eyes. I was feeling sick and took a few steps back, without breaking the eyes contact with the unknown person. Around him, no mass of blood was visible. He had surely lost everything on the way that had led him here, leaving a good part at home. What made me sick was the mutilated body of this person.
You couldn't even recognize who it was by looking at its face. It was totally shredded, traces of deep fangs marked his flesh. His body was full of deep cuts and also had jaw marks on his arms. His pupils were covered with a think white veil, one could read the horror on the features of his face. A part of his belly was exposed in the open air, I couldn't take it anymore. My stomach emptied on the ground near the corpse. What a frightening and bloody sight.
I turned my gaze away from the body to fix the ground. I was relieved that it wasn't my mother but I couldn't imagine what this man had to go through. It must have been horrible. I didn't even want to imagine what this stranger had to live before emptying himself, little by little. I was still shaking on my feet, my claws searched the ground for no reason and my tail was as low as my head. I knew I would be scarred for life by this scene. No one should be forced to see such a thing. I had come on my own free will but now I was thinking that I shouldn't have done that.
If I had been in my human form, the tears would have already fallen on the snow that was covering the mud under this white coat. The animal that I was was content to keep his face down as a sign of respect for this surely innocent deceased. I let out a sigh, I couldn't close my eyes to what had happened. I had to know who had done something so atrocious. The images of this man kept coming back to my mind even if I turned my head away. I was, however, out of my thoughts by a sudden presence. I had just been thrown on the powder and I was completely sounded. I really didn't expect that.
I did not understand what had happened until a grunt made me look up at the origin of this sound. He was there, facing me. The lips rolled up showing his fangs stained with red which was unveiled in broad daylight. The intense darkness he gave off did not inspire me with confidence, I could feel his anger and his dominance escaping from his body which was far more powerful than mine. An imposing mass of muscles and fur against a small wolf that only had its beautiful color to hide from its opponents during the winter. His red eyes pierced through my blue ones.
I got up and got on all fours, displaying a position of attack and threat. I knew that my fear could alert all the animals that lived in this forest but it was out of the question for this dark animal to put me to the ground like he had just done. My gesture was the trigger and, in a burst of rage, the Alpha threw himself brutally on me. He was so much faster and stronger than me, I had a great disadvantage. He was trying to reach my throat while I was trying to find a grip that I was looking for at his shoulder. Without waiting any longer, my fangs stuck into his black fur and then in his flesh.
His reaction was quick to come. He sent me, as the first time, to the white ground. A bitter but strangely tasty taste had just flowed into my mouth. His increasingly aggressive grunt woke me up from my fascination with this new taste sensation. My fur wasn't really clear anymore. It was spotted with brown red. During our fight, we passed over the dead body of the corpse and the mud puddles that the snow hadn't covered yet. He started to turn around me and I was watching him out of the corner of my eyes, watching and waiting for his next reaction.
He was looking for my weaknesses and he was judging me with his eyes. I felt uncomfortable and had the impression of being naked when he was looking at me with his red eyes. He took this moment to jump on me, trying again to reach my neck or throat. Yet, it was my paw that he found and put between his fangs. A creak was heard which had the effect of making me grow a heartbreaking moan. I was in a hell of trouble. I already had a huge disadvantage with my four valid members but, with one broken member, I dared not imagine the disaster that it was going to be.
I couldn't put my paw on the ground so I kept it in the air and tried to move just in case Raven tried to jump on me once again. The expression he displayed made me shudder. He was satisfied with what he had done. I could read the madness in his eyes but also a lingering glow of dominance. He was slightly limping but he was barely showing it. I growled, threatening to dissuade him from coming toward me. Any wolf would have ran away or would have submitted in such a situation but I wanted to remain true to myself by not doing any of these things.
My body had lowered once to make this gesture of submission but I wouldn't do it a second time. It was out of the question. The black wolf jumped on me, using his full weight on my slim figure, causing me to collapse on the ground and cutting my breath off. Fortunately, he got up, allowing me to breath again. I tried to sit up but he held me down with one of his sharp claws. He was leaning a good part of his corpulence on my shoulder where my wound was. My wolf's face winced under that persistent, non erasable pain.
I turned my blue eyes filled with pain toward him. He stared at me with his superior air, the one I hated the most. Arrogance was a defect that I hated much more than anything else.
"You will keep a nice gift from me for a few days, little wolf." Whispered a voice in my head. "You should be honored."
"Raven! Why did you do such a thing?" I groaned at him.
"Are you talking about this little show? I find it rather amusing, not you?" Laughed the black Alpha.
"I don't find that funny! There's nothing funny about killing innocent people! In addition, you just broke one of my paws, stupid wolf!" I said with anger.
"Maybe you want me to break another one?" He asked, threatening me after my last reply. "Let's say it's your punishment for disobeying me by following Andy who took you to his pack. Don't complain, it could have been a lot worse."
"Son of a bitch! Why are you following me everywhere?" I said, annoyed by the pain and the tone of his voice. "Do you really think that I had a choice?"
"Of course." He began, leaning over my ear. "If you had reacted as you had done with me, he would have left you alone and wouldn't have come to see you. Since you didn't do it, I presume something happened in the meantime. Let me think about some hypotheses...Is there a connection between the two of you...?"
I froze, feeling confused. What did he mean by 'connection'? And then, it wasn't really the time to think about such things. I struggled, ignoring as best as I could the pain that went through my paw. He let out a groan before pressing himself a little more which made me scream in pain. Raven was horrible. He used my pain to stop me and get the answers he wanted. I was no longer thinking. I was in a situation so critical that the panic and terror had taken over my reason and my thinking.
"I won't wait for you to give me your answer. I can find what I'm looking for myself, little wolf." He whispered in my ear and I could hear a few understatements that my mind couldn't understand at that moment. "I know that the pain works particularly well to get these kinds of answer but I want to leave you one last chance to answer that last question. Did you two have a connection?"
His tone had become drier and brittle. I felt that his patience was put to test but I still didn't answer him. His eyes were once again changing, a hint of anger had formed in his eyes. I couldn't answer his question as I did not know the answer myself. Maybe my wolf knew it? In any case, my wolf did not tell me anything. His lips slightly raised, revealing me his white fangs. I stared at it while I was still trying to struggle even if the pain in my paw was becoming less and less bearable.
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