"I surrender, I mean no harm. Please don't hurt me." Ana, my wolf, growled in wolf's language. The black and brown wolf in front of me showed no sign of understanding or mercy. It kept approaching me with its gritted teeth, like a wild beast that had been starved for weeks and is ready to devour any kind of food that comes it way.
Suddenly, to my greatest surprise, it began to shift back to human. He was an elderly man, should be in his late 50s. I didn't recognize him, maybe due to the darkness of the night. When he's fully shifted, he asked me to shift as well but I told him I was too weak and hungry to do so. I didn't have the strength required.
"You are stronger than you think, Katerina."
Now, that was strange. Did he know me from anywhere? Is he from my pack?
"How did you know my name sir?"
"We don't have time, I will explain later. For now, let me take you to my place. Please don't panic. All you have to do is to trust me. My reaction when I saw you just now was feigned. I already knew it was you when I got closer."
I could feel a familiar connection, a connection I didn't feel earlier till he got closer. He was certainly from my pack but how did he know my name? Elders hardly interract with teenagers like me.
"But how did you find me? Did the Alpha..."
"Shhh... Be quiet. Save your strength for the long journey ahead of us. I snuck out of the pack to find you. After my wife told me of how you saved our granddaughter during the unexpected attack, some of us that you had saved our kids during the time of danger, decided to go in search of you, despite the Alpha's order that no one was allowed to find you. If the Alpha finds out about this, we will all be punished severely but we didn't care, because you had saved our children. The others might have returned home after searching for you, or they may still be searching for you. I've come this far alone because I really appreciated your help back then."
I was glad to hear his words. It was nice to know that some people appreciated my efforts back then, albeit only few.
"Now, you have to appear like you found your way back to the pack yourself. No one should ever know that I brought you back, okay?"
"Back to that pack? No I would rather die here than go back to that pack sir."
"Listen to me Katerina, you can't stay out here alone. You need to come with me. You will die here alone. It's not safe. Follow me home, I will sneak in with you and no one will spot us. You have to be in your unfamiliar wolf form as you already are. There are a lot of things I have to tell you and there is a chance you may get to know the truth about the death of your parents, that everyone believes you were responsible for."
Now, that was interesting.
"You have any idea about how my parents died?" I looked at him earnestly, hoping to get a straight answer.
"Not really, Katerina. But I'm among the 1% of people in that pack that believe you are innocent. I didn't say I know anything about it, but there's something I think is related to your parents' death that can help us make further investigation about it to get the truth. There's something I have to show you at home. That's why you need to come with me Katerina. If not for anything else, but at least this is something you've always wanted to find out the truth about. I understand how it feels to be blamed by everyone for something you actually know nothing about. Come on, let's find somewhere to pass the night and then we can begin our long journey from tomorrow. You must be dying of hunger, I see."
The truth about the death of my parents? For this reason alone, I had to agree. But once I've gotten such an information, I will definitely leave the pack for good. I don't want to be a part of that pack anymore.
"Okay sir. Yes I'm barely alive. I've been feeding on wild plants and if I had been in my human form, I might have been dead by now from severe hunger."
"Fortunately, I still have some food left with me that I took along when I decided to embark on this journey. Food for the wolf form as I knew I will mostly be in my wolf form for this long journey. I also knew you would be severely hungry if I manage to see you alive, so I had taken enough food along with me. Back there in the pack, the Alpha would definitely find out if anyone brought you food but out here, as you are no longer a member of the pack, it's impossible. Now, let's find a place that can contain the both of us to pass the night, then we eat and get ready first thing tomorrow morning for the long journey ahead of us."
I nodded and we started walking carefully in the darkness, making sure not to make much noise. Our wolf's vision was brighter in the darkness than if we were in our human form.
In a little time, we spotted a place of shelter that was empty and can contain the both of us. We approached the place and just as we were about entering, there was a movement in the bushes beside us. We kept our eyes fixed on the tall grasses as the movement occured every five seconds. The elder asked me not to panic, though he was still in his human form. There was certainly something or someone in the bushes beside us that was planning a surprise attack on us.