Hit

Chapter 21

I raised my nose to the sky and took in the different scents. One particularly strong and sweet smelling one caught my attention, Derek. I knew he wasn't dead. I ran through the woods until I came to a river. The water was flowing swiftly and I wasn't sure how good of a swimmer I was in this form. I paced along the side of the river bank searching for another way across. I spotted a log that was lying in the river and was being stopped by some rocks. If I got up on the log I could hop on the rocks the rest of the way across. I put my front paws on the log and it swayed a little. The current was stronger here and if I fell here I don't think I would be able to get back to land, I would be carried off downstream. Still I didn't see any other way to cross. I wobbled myself out on to the log and it swayed and buckled the whole time. I kept my eyes on each end hoping it wouldn't wiggle free of its hold. I was almost to the end of the log when I heard a loud creek as the log wiggled free and began to twist in the water. I made a jump for the rock and clawed on to the edge.

The rock rolled off down river as I clung to my only life support. My nails were digging into the rock but my grip was slipping leaving scrapes on the rock. I tried to pull myself up but the water was pulling me back down. My paws were on the very edge of the rock now and I was pleading to just hold on. My nails slipped and my head was dunked under the water. I swam to get my head back up and it busted through the surface. I took in a deep breath and tried to focus on something as the water splashed into my eyes. The water was trying to pour itself into my mouth as I tried to raise my head higher. Come on Lauren you got to think of something or you're going to drown.

My eyes finally focused on something, but it was far from helpful. At the end of the river was a drop of, I was about to go over a waterfall. I frantically tried to swim to the edge but the current was to strong. The harder I fought the more tired I became and nothing I did was helping. My body was getting too tired and now just keeping my head above the water was getting hard. I felt my body giving up the fight as I went over the waterfall.

I was tossed into the deep water and was pushed even further down as the water continued to come down on top of me. With the little energy I had left I was able to kick off the rocky bottom knocking me out of the path of the continuous falling water. My body drifted to the top and the ripples from the waterfall pushed me to the bank of the pool. My body was too tired to move and I sat in the frigid water, my eyes heavy from the exhaustion of fighting Nick, trying to swim to the shore, and the lack of sleep. My eyes began to close and I let them.

Sleep came quickly, but my peaceful darkness was suddenly shattered by an abundance of blue moonlight. I walked closer to the source and standing in the center of the blinding light was a woman I had never seen before. She looked kind and comforting and she had a large smile gracing her beautiful face. I felt compelled to go to her my wolf fur longing for her gentle hand to run through it. She reminded me of my mom and it brought tears to my canine eyes. I walked to her and she kneeled down placing her soft hand atop my head. She placed her other hand under my head and I let her hold it up. I closed my eyes trying to stop the tears that trickled down my muzzle.

"Do not worry my child you are safe. I am the Moon Goddess and am here to help you. Once every hundred years I choose one of my children to guide, Lauren you are that child. I know you don't understand the ways of my wolf children for you are not one of them. I blessed you with a bit of my power because I saw what a future without you would do to my children. Without you Derek would have created a very different kind of pack, a pack that would tear families apart and in the process would destroy his sole, ripping my son from his place in moonlight where he belongs. You, my human daughter, were the only way to save him. Upon your birth I blessed you, trusting Fate to bring you two together. Everything that has happened to you was leading you two together, all the pain, the sorrow, and loss. All though I cannot guaranty the future I have done all I could to protect your bond."