Cursed Wolf

Prologue

" The world is round,

but that doesn't mean that everyone else is too.

People will have their flaws and rounds,

They will have ther share of edges too."

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PROLOGUE

Snowflakes soared down from the darkened sky, lightly landing themselves onto the ground. Joining their siblings that had long landed before them.

The wind howled against the night, sending the trees into a flurry of groans. All trying to fight against the cold and snow. All waiting for the spring to arrive and relieve them of there troubles and cast the warm glow of sunlight to once again grow with brightly spurred leaves, flowers and buds.
........................

Aruna leaned onto the thick bark of a coniferous tree, tired and panting from running. She held her arm against her chest. Her forearm all bloody and wet from where a stray bullet she had failed to avoid had lodged itself.

The cold, harsh wind bite down on her wound, sending shivers of pain down her back. Groaning she quit leaning against the wall and headed towards the small cave almost invisible to the eye. However she wasn't a human, but she wasn't a werewolf either. She was neither. She was something else, something that even she didn't what was but at the moment she could care
less.

All that was on Aruna's mind was to get to the cave and let the veil of sleep cover her and take her away from her misery. She couldn't stand the cold and the icy bites of the wind any longer than she had to.

Her legs were numbed and the ragged trousers she wore didn't help keep the cold out. The snow crunched under her bare feet, biting the bare skin at contact. Her torso and upper body was covered bu nothing except a beige shirt that was half ripped and dis no good in covering her stomach or arms.

She staggered into the cave, still hugging her injured to her chest. Cradling it and making a makeshift sling with her other arm. Slumping to the freezing stone floor of the small cave, and nestled herself into one of the farthest cornors. Seeking protection from the harshness of winter.

Aruna used to love the winter weather, always anxious and eager for winter to come. When the signs of the first snowflakes used to aome she would run outiside with wolf ears perked and her tail wagging eagerly; but right now she wanted nothing better than to curl up in front of a fireplace and sleep.

The she wolf's tail curled around her sleeping position, much like a dogs. As much as she wanted her tail couldn't provide any comfort. The cold stone floor of the cave stabbed against her skin, making her shiver. However for her anything right now was better than sleeping in the snow. So she went to sleep, still craddling her wounded arm, dreaming of those moments before they decided to rise from the shadows. The worst decision that the council could ever make.

Slowly but peacefully Aruna fell into sleep dreaming of the last four words her parents had said to her before going into the battlefield; "Blood is the key." The sentence echoed through her mind like a warning bell that you didn't know what it warned you about. Yet she found a frightening comfort in thinking of those words.

... .... .... .... ....

He stumbled through the forest, a great big axe in his hand that rested gainst his shoulder. The brown wool hat knitted by his deceased grandmother rested on his head, protecting his ears and eyes from the wrath of winter. A scarf the same as the hat, covered his nose and mouth but didn't help his already rosy cheeks from numbing.

It had been about half an hour and there was no sign of dinner for Leon. Only bundles of firewood was what he had collected so far and he had no intentions of heading home without any food. He dragged his sleigh full with wood, down the small slope into another herd of trees. All standing proud and tall with snow decorating their branches.

His netted snow shoes wadded on the snow, creating patterns of the carefully weaved string. Shivering in his wolf skin coat he wondered if he would be able to survive this winter when there was no food to be found. The young boy sighed, thinking of those days when he could walk into town and declare his name, Mason Swood Yale and have a crowd of people fall upon his feet. But now after his father's name degraded and frowned upon he had nowhere to go.

Mason continued his hike. Travelling down the slowly and steadly, the wicked wind urging him forward into a run. He fought against it, trekking down but stopped at the sight of a trail of blood.

Sprightly red blotches if blood tainted the pure white snow, making a bloody trail. Mason closed in the blood expecting the footprints near the trail to be of a injured animal. However to his suprise they were if a human but there was a irregulat trail barely seen to a normal person; but mason was trained the art of tracking when his days were much easier and sweeter.l

The blood followed into a small cave, the entrance was very small that it almost mixed with the ground yet big enough for a human. Crouching in the entrance he entered the cave, suprised to see that from the inside it was much bigger than it let on the outside.

Madon reached for his pouch on his waist, taking out a match and a small peice of clothe bathed in gas that was attaches to a wooden stick. He set aflame to the clothe, letting the warmth of rhe fire spread through the cave and light it up. With the fire pointed to the floor he found the blood drops decorating the stone cold floor.

His hands flicked the latches of his snowshoes off and let his feet clad in rundown leather boots hit the floor. The trail of blood ended when a furry object came into view. For Mason the furry thing whatever it was seemed to be fox's tail or the back of a bunny. However, it seemed peculiar for Mason that the colour of the fur was a startling black, none of the colours to be found on a fox or a rabbit.

Aruna on the other hand sensed the presence of someone and had woken up right away. on instinct she stayed down, waiting to attack like the wolf she was. Even though she wasn't like the other wolves, she still had the sensitive hearing, acute eyesight and nimble figure that made up a wolf.

She let her nail grow longer than a humans to the point where they were sharp as a knife. Her eyes were focused on the leather boot of the stranger that cowered over her. Trying to move to a better attacking position she hissed in pain from the movement of her injured arm. Unfortunately her hiss hadn't gone unnoticed.

Mason had heard her hissing and thought of Aruna of a wolf though he was partially right. He took out his hunting knife ready to attack at the slightest of movement but there were none. Aruna had gone still and silent when she noticed a chande in the stangers movements snd stance. The fiot that was once bear her tail had moved and was in a stance ready to fight.

The young boy moved closer to the werewolf, contemplating on attacking and asking questions later or to let the situation play out. At the stranger coming closer the she wolf went rigid. Her sight swam in dizzy ways, and her arm throbbed in a more lainful manner. Aruna had lost toomuch blood due to the bullet hitting a main artery, causing the a flood of blood to spurt out at when she moved her arm too much.

When the light shone on the wounded wolf, Mason gasped at the sight of blood but mostly at the sight if the raven black ears poking from her head muh like a wolfs. A tail coated in a black hide which was spotted with crusts of dried blood. What more was tge fire and determination that shone in tge girls eyes. Even there she lay, all feeble and weak there was a intense fire that kept her awake.

Aruna's vision swam more till the point where she let the black dots in her eyes consume her whole. She slumped to the floor, her body burning with an intense fever and her heart racing trying provide as much blood wasnleft in her body to her organs and mucsles.

Mason not having the heart his father would have wanted, carried the girl bridal style in his arms to the direction if the abandoned cottage he lived in. Leaving his sleigh of precious wood for the fire. Promising himself that he'll come back for it.