Wolf Girl (Book 1)

Chapter 1: Carys

Carys' POV

Sat on my bed, surrounded by boxes, I flip through my scrapbook. I made it with my mum a few years ago. It's filled with so many happy memories; baby pictures of me, photos of me and my parents on camping trips, and ticket stubs from every cinema trip we ever went on. The last thing in there is a picture of me and mum on my 15th birthday, over a year ago now. We haven't made any good memories since then.

Every smile in every picture feels fake now, I can't remember what it felt like to not have a care in the world.

I tuck it safely away in a moving box and move on to pack my clothes.

Standing in front of my open wardrobe, for the first time I notice that there's a very particular colour scheme. Lots of neutral colours, mostly browns, but also bright pops of orange and a lot of green, my favourite. I suppose it's a reflection of who I am.

I've always been drawn to nature, which isn't surprising. It's where I belong. Among the trees, roaming the woods, paddling in rivers and creeks.

As I pack, I throw things away too, clothes I've grown out of and books I'll never read, but mostly I get rid of things Anwen gave to me. Dad said I should leave all of my bad memories here.

A photograph of Anwen and I that usually sits on top of my dresser is now buried at the bottom of my sock drawer, it's hard to throw away, but I have to cut all ties to this place. I shake it off, hastily throw what's left of my things into cardboard boxes and grab my coat.

I walk slowly through the park, absorbing my surroundings one last time. The smell of the leaves and grass wafts through the air, it's beautiful. But it just reminds me of mum, that last day with her.

I live in Cardiff, so usually getting away from all the hustle and bustle makes me feel at home, but without her, it just feels wrong and somehow unfamiliar.

It's hard being a Wolfblood and living in the city. Since losing mum, our pack has dwindled to just me and my dad. Neither of us has been the same since, it's been so lonely.

I've spent every day of the last six months just waiting for the next full moon to come alone so we can get a little bit of normalcy back. We spend the full moons up in a cave in the mountains; a place never visited by humans. We hide there until the sun comes up and we transform back into humans. But even that feels tainted now.

A few full moons ago, dad nearly lost it, we couldn't go to the mountains anymore, it was too painful. We spent the last few locked in the cellar.

That's why we're leaving; moving to a tiny village at the other end of the country. Stoneybridge, in Northumbria.

My dad says he knows a pack that spends autumn near there. He grew up in the wild with them. He always said it was a Wolfblood's nature to roam. I think that's why he wants to go back there now; he needs to get back in touch with his inner wolf, he needs to heal. We both do.

When he was a cub, he always was so fascinated by humans and how they live, so when he met my mum on a forbidden excursion to the human world, he left his pack behind for her. He's hoping they'll welcome us back, so we can be part of a proper pack again.

I've always been okay with our little pack, it was hard not having anyone my age to share the secret with, but it was so sacred to us that it didn't matter. Things are different now, mum was the glue that held our little pack together and without her, I feel like a lone wolf.

I'm not sure how I feel about living in the wild. It depends if the pack even takes us in, but at least we'll be away from here and all the bad memories.

Part of me has always wanted to live wild but at the same time, I'm terrified. Until my dad finds the old pack, we're moving into an old farmhouse in the village and I'll be going to a new school. Dad didn't want me to bother with school, but if things don't work out with the pack, mum wouldn't want me to throw away my future.