Ayla

It had been how long?

Three days. I had been wandering out here in the woods for three days but it somehow felt so much longer. I hadn’t even had a proper meal in days, just a few fruits I found on various trees. I was hungry and so, so thirsty, my feet was swollen from trekking this long distance. I wasn’t sure how I was able to survive this long. It was only a matter of time before I encounter wild animals or even rogues that were bound to tear e to pieces. I was so thankful to have Valkyrie, always encouraging me every step of the way.

I heard a sound “what was that?” I jerked but it was only a little rabbit. I licked my lips, maybe it was the hunger but this rabbit was looking so delicious in this very moment. What was this? Never in my life had I craved a living animal this much in my life.

There were many dead carcasses scattered around but none of them were salvageable all dead and mutilated in the most gruesome way or rotten. Besides it was wrong to eat animals that were not killed yourself except you were offered personally by the owner of the dead animal. But looking at the dead animals did nothing to ease my hunger.

“I think you are ready for your first shift little one. I can hunt” Valkyrie said “what?” I asked surprised. I had spent my entire life believing that I didn’t have a wolf, that I was useless. And now, I would be having my first shift. I could turn “yes little one”.

A wave of sadness washed over me. I would be having my first shift and no one would be here to see it. There was no one to tell me they were proud of me, my mate wasn’t even here to hold my hand through it all. Tears leaked from my eyes. “All will be well little one. The moon goddess has a plan for everyone’s destiny.” Valkyrie said.

I took in a deep breath “ok how I do this?” I asked. It was a bit unconventional that your wolf be the one to put you through a shift and not a family member, but this was the situation that life had presented me with. And I was grateful for Valkyrie. Although she was basically inside me, she was the best companion I could have ever asked for.

“Close your eyes” she said and I did exactly what she had said. “Take a deep breath and feel. Feel the wind, the soft grass within your feet, smell the earth. You are one with nature and nature is one with you”.

I had only heard it, the tales of what happens during one’s first shift. That’s when the windows open up for you. Your senses become sharper. Sense of sight, smell, and feeling. Everything was in a whole other level. We were superior creatures I understood that now because in this moment, I felt invincible.

My joy was short-lived when I felt the first crack. “Ahhhhhhh!” I screamed out. The wind carrying echoes of my voice throughout the woods. A burst of pain exploded through me. It only got worse as the rest of my bones cracked, rearranging itself to form new limbs. After hour of what felt like forever, the shift had finally come to an end.

I jumped on my four feet just to ensure that this was not some sort of short-lived fantasy, I was really a wolf. “Let me take over so we can eat little one” Valkyrie said and I readily agreed. Swiftly she took my space at the front seat of my mind. It felt so relaxing. Like I was only a spectator in a movie titled, my life.

Valkyrie crouched behind the shrubs eyes wide open and senses alert. She spotted the rabbit. She watched it her eyes following it’s every move ad then she pounced, clipping its throat tightly with her teeth. The cries were loud but she only bit down harder until there was a crack, it was dead.

I got to work devouring the dead carcass. I was so hungry I didn’t even mind the fact that I was eating so messily. Blood must have probably destroyed my fur. When I had devoured the dead rabbit I became pretty thirsty. I could use a bath also. I began trekking to the little stream in my wolf form. I had a long drink of the refreshing cool water and took a bath in the stream. This meal would be able to keep me going for another few days. I had decided that I couldn’t live in the wild forever, with time I would slowly lose my sanity as a result of being alone. Maybe I could find a pack that was willing to take me in, or even yet live amongst the humans, make my very own pack amongst them.

Evening was fast approaching, I needed to find some shelter. I was walking for some time before I got this eerie feeling. Like someone was following me, watching me. I smelt something horrible, but I couldn’t quite place what it was, it smelt rotten. I couldn’t shake off the feeling. All my senses were alert and I began to move a lot faster.

“Something is not right little one” Valkyrie said in my head making all my feelings valid. I got scared. I had never fought a day in my life. I had always just been good for manual labor. In the event of any real-life situation that required you to actually fight your way out of situations, I was a goner. “Don’t worry little one I’ll protect us” Valkyrie said with conviction.

I heard growls around us. And one by one they began to come out circling all around us. Wolves, huge wolves with blood red eyes, patched fur and a very disgusting stench coming out of them, the same horrible stench I was perceiving. These were the kind of rogues that had been cast out for long enough that they had lost their sanity and humanity. All they knew was to kill and devour any living thing in their pack wolf otherwise. They were probably the ones that left the dead trail of animals and now as I looked around surrounded by three monstrous looking rogues, it was quite obvious that was the next kill.

“Give me control” Valkyrie said and I dissolved into the back of my consciousness letting her take the lead.

The first of them pounced on me, getting a bit into my heel. Valkyrie groaned in pain before she shook the wolf off sending him flying into the bark of a tree. The other two pounced at the same time. I wasn’t really aware of what was happening. Everything moved so fast. Soon I heard a crack and Valkyrie flung one of the dead rogues awaits had managed to kill one of those things. “Ouch!” Valkyrie let out a growling agony when one of the rogues clawed at her stomach with its claws. This was not good. The claws of a rogue was poisonous. Rogues that had completely lost their minds possessed a kind of poison in their claws that was able to weaken their prey by paralyzing them. Valkyrie refused to give up. Forcing us to the limit until she had finally killed the other two rogues. The last of them she had torn out his throat.

She gave me back control of my body. Now that the adrenaline had gone down the effect of the poison had begun to kick in. my limbs were getting weaker and my system was shut down. I just lay there in my wolf form.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be stronger for us” I said to Val “don’t say that little one. You are strong enough” she said. It didn’t feel like it. If I was then my mate would not have rejected me, none of this would have happened. That was the last thought on my mind before everything went dark.