The Forgotten Shifter

Chapter 1

| Layla |

The grey squirrel looked up at me with fear in his eyes, his tail fluffed up. The fur on his back stood on end, and he didn't seem to breathe. Life was a game, and for squirrels, it was a very tough game to play.

'You're lucky I'm not hungry,' I thought to myself, growling and showing my canines.

The squirrel fluffed up its fur, and dashed up a tree. I laughed internally, and looked down at my grey paws. Squirrels were never my favorite anyway. The meat was always tough and chewy, and the taste was unpleasant. Besides, I didn't kill for sport; I did when I needed to, and when I was hungry.

I sniffed at the crisp spring air, trying to find water. The slight breeze suggested that there was water to my right side, and I let my nose and tongue guide me to it. The green leaves hid the watery spring from view, but there was definitely one around.

I heard the gurgling of water before I actually saw it. I padded over to the direction I heard it coming from, and bent my head down over the water to lap at it. My tongue caused ripples on the shallow blue water, and a leaf gently fell into the stream, swaying back and fourth as it fell, affected by the slight breeze.

Up in the trees, birds were chattering, and squirrels were coming out of their burrows. My gaze fluttered over to my reflection in the water. I hadn't looked at myself in a long time, as a wolf. My grey, black-flecked pelt seemed to glow with the morning sun, and my bright blue eyes closed to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.

I fell to the ground, bringing my paws closer to my body. I became deaf to the sound of the water, and my eyes felt heavy and tired. The dozing sensation hit me, and I let out air from my nose as I made myself comfortable in the forest leaves.

A loud noise came from a few feet away, and I stiffened.

My eyelids fluttered open, and I felt my bones shift. I looked down, and sighed when I saw that I had the tiny, furry paws of a squirrel.

'Of course! The animal that I taunt...'

Another noise made me jump.

I leapt for the nearest tree, and scampered up it. I scaled it in a matter of seconds, with my tiny squirrel paws. The bark was rough against the small pads on my feet, but splinters refused to pass through the tough skin.

From my perch, I looked down at the stream and the forest below me. Two men were walking loudly out of the undergrowth, right where I had been resting. They were quite loud, and if they were here to see wildlife, then they would have to be just a bit quieter. Any animals that had been here, were long gone from all the noise that they had created.

"Don't you see these prints? I swear, if David has the nerve to come this far...and look! They're new! Peter, come here," A man with dark hair was yelling, rubbing his temples. I clutched the tree harder. The man turned in a circle, following the tracks that I had made just minutes before.

"Look at the mud! Those are wolf prints. David is really close. One day, Peter, one day..."

The man was interrupted with a snap of twigs. A young deer, calling for its mother, wobbled around on the opposite side of the stream. It bleated softly, its eyes wide with panic.

"Calm down, Jordan, it's just a stupid deer," the man called Peter explained. "But, I really don't think David is that stupid - why would he stray so far away from his territory? It's probably just a rogue."

'Who's David?' I thought to myself. 'These men must be hunters...' I stared wide-eyed at their guns. They weren't here to admire the wildlife, they were here to kill it.