Chapter 2

Live or die, those were the choices presented to us. Alpha was gone and we didn't know what to do, but we all knew we wanted to live.

"They are monsters!" A villager with a torch yelled out. "The paper was right, these wolves are bigger than normal."

The group agreed with the man. Cheering as an arrow was fired and hit the ground right in front of me.

I backed away from the still thrilling stick, growling louder.

"That anonymous tip was just wat we needed to kill them." A new voice joined the fray. A young man dressed to nice to be a villager moved through the crowd to the front and observed us. His hazel eyes stared at the wolves, his well-trimmed light brown hair bounced slightly with his movements.

"My lord," a woman with a rolling pin in her hand said, "please be careful around these beasts. We don't know what their capable of."

"Do not worry, Ma'am. My late father showed me how to hunt a wolf, even if they are a bit bigger than normal."

We need to retreat to the forest! The middle eldest girl cried out and turned on her heels and ran towards the forest. She didn't get far as an arrow pierced through her neck and she fell down with a whimper. The life left her eyes a moment later, her body morphing back to a human girl.

The villagers didn't seem too surprised about the outcome. They didn't care that she used to be a huntress in training. All they saw was a monster.

These arrows were lined with silver, I realized as she was taken down with ease. These arrows are laced with silver! I warned the group, trying my hardest to keep them together.

The youngest was in a full panic and laid on the ground, whimpering as she used her paws to cover her eyes. The eldest did her best to stand beside me the same ferocity, but she too was afraid. I could tell by the shake in her legs.

"Looks like we only have one true brave one." The lord mocked our little group. His arms spread wide as he turned to address the group of villagers. A malicious smile was thrown over his shoulder towards us.

I scoffed at his theatrics. He may be a lord, but he never had to lift a single finger to get food on his table. How much harm could he do. Hunt a wolf? Ha, never in a hundred years could he accomplish that!

How it hurts to be wrong. He grabbed a bow offered to him and lined up his shot. A perfect bullseye.

The eldest fell down with just the feathers sticking out of her eye. She didn't draw breath anymore. Another human now laid dead on the farmland. She used to be the daughter of the baker. Her father did have a look of sorrow in his eyes, but wiped it away with the thought that his daughter had become a monster.

Run! I bit at the youngest. Run now. I'll follow.

The youngest was frozen in fear. I understood, we had always been left alone. Why did they hunt us now. We had been on the field before. They did talk about an anonymous tip for someone. But who? The only one who wasn't here was Alpha. It couldn't be him, but why.

"That alpha of them didn't even fight back. Just laid down and accepted his fate." The lord said to the crowd. They cheered for their lord's victory in return.

My eyes widened in horror. Alpha was dead? I stumbled over my own paws in shock. Alpha was dead, so was half of our pack.

We need to run! I grabbed the youngest by her scruff of her neck and pulled her to her feet.

I don't know if I can! She protested as her legs shook heavily.

Don't think, just run! I yelled back, nipping at her hindlegs to get her moving.

Both of us sprinted towards the forest, zigzagging to avoid the arrows aimed at us. The trees got closer and closer with every jump. Salvation just laid in front of us.

An arrow whizzed past my ear, hitting the young girl in the hip. It slowed her movements, but the adrenaline that rushed through us kept her standing and running.

My ears flicked behind me, the villagers close on our heels. We had the luck we were a bit faster on the tilled land. It kept the hunters behind us and not closing the distance.

The clearing! The youngest sighed in relieve as the opening in the trees came closer. Her step slowed and her body swayed as blood seeped out of the arrow wound.

Keep standing. I commanded the youngest. We need to pass the clearing. Only if we leave the island can we truly be save.

I... I can't. The young girl sighed tiredly. Her steps slowed even more and her swaying got worse. I need to sleep, than everything will be fine. She fell down in the middle of the clearing. The last of her breath left her mouth as her body morphed back. The girl, who always enthusiastically told stories to the children by the central fountain, now laid dead before me. Grief overwhelmed my senses and I pressed my nose to her cheek. She was still warm, like she was in a deep sleep.

I sat on my hindlegs, taking a deep breath in and howled all my pain towards the sky. It was so loud and the pitch too high that the closest guards covered their ears from the sound. It halted them in their tracks to kill me too.

Even without my direct knowledge I had created enough space to get in action. Grief of the loss of my pack ran through me. Tears brimmed at edge of my eyes, the feeling overwhelmed me.

As the last of my breath left me, I got to my paws and looked at the groaning guards on the ground. I was confused as to why they hadn't acted yet.

I didn't ponder it a moment longer and ran to the stack of bags. I rummaged through the pile and grabbed a handle of my own. With a firm pull it was loose.

There only was one problem remaining. I was not save on this island. The only way to survive was to get off it. A hundred options ran through my mind, but I didn't have much time to think any longer. The rest of the village walked into the clearing. The Lord was in front with a smirk on his lips.

"And now only one remains." He taunted. His eyes condescending and full of malice. A sad tone underlined his next words. "That poor excuse of an alpha just pleaded with me to spare his pack. I will be honest I wanted to promise it to him, but the safety of my people come first."

The villagers cheered and agreed that they couldn't keep monsters alive on their land. They never thought for themselves. Always they followed the word of their good and fair lord.

I wanted to yell at them, to make them see reality that we never had harmed any of them. Always stayed on the other side of the island when the full moon came around. But they wouldn't listen to reason or logic, especially if it came from a 'monster'.

The hunters aimed their bows, as the guards brandished their spears. All of them ready to act the moment their master commanded it of them.

I knew I couldn't stay around for much longer and turned on my heels and sprinted out of the clearing and into the forest, using the underbrush to hide myself from my chasers.

One plan sprung to mind and I followed it without question. It could surely get me off the island if I didn't die, but on the other side I would be left to the mercy of the sea.

The forest woke up and animals stared at me. Before they got startled by the crowd that followed, stamping on everything in their path. Their voices loud and demanding.

I picked up little bits and pieces of curses and yells, but didn't pay much attention to it. Just kept my focus on reaching the dock.

It was a slight detour to reach it through the forest, but the slight safety it allowed was well worth it. Especially with the approach of the rising sun.

The dock was now close and visible through the underbrush. The sound of the chasers close well behind me. I took a deep breath and crept closer to the edge of the forest. I surveyed the area. The boats drifted on the waves, but most were too big to sail on my own.

I spotted a lone small fishers boat at the edge of the dock. That would be my method of escape. Nobody was there, all the villagers were too busy to chase after a pack of werewolves.

With the coast clear and the rise of voices behind me, I sprang into action and ran for the little sailboat. To my surprise and the little luck that had remained, I got there without trouble.

With the last bit of my strength I jumped aboard. The sun had climbed higher in the sky and illuminated the dock, as well as the little sailboat I was on.

My body started to morph back to its human form. It never did hurt more than the transformation to wolf. The fire and ice still ran through my veins, but less strong. The stretching of bones like an un-scratchable itch.

The villagers had arrived onto the docks and looked in wonder at my morphing body. They hadn't seen an alive werewolf do so, only the dead ones. Among the crowd stood my parents, they stared with both confusion and hatred at me.

The hunters were one of the first to snap out of their trance and aimed their bows at me.

With hasty fingers I released the rope of the sailboat and gave the dock a firm shove. It pushed the sailboat out towards the open ocean.

I stared as the lord halted the movement of the hunters with an out stretched arm. His eyes stared at me with some kind of twisted pride. One I didn't seem to understand. What would he be proud of? It should be hatred or anger that I got away. The emotion was confusing to say the least.

I opened the sail as I drifted away from the island I had called home for so long.

"Get back here monster!" Father yelled as his final goodbye in anger.

Mother opened her mouth and closed it a few times, before a sentence was heard. "I wish I never gave birth to you, monster."

I couldn't hold the dam of pain that crashed over me. The grief replaced the adrenaline. "I'm sorry," I whispered to the air as tears ran down my cheeks. Dirt and leaves stuck to my body and clothes and now the salt water of the ocean and tears decorated the dress as well. The beautiful blue jacket, now dulled and dirty. The only surviving gift from my mother.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered again. It kept spilling from my lips. I felt ashamed and angered about how they reacted to something I had no control over. I had lost everything, my home, my pack and my family.

The island was now a speck on the horizon. It was just me and the endless ocean for who knew how long. I could only hope I would find land before death claimed me.