The Black Wolf of Thorne Town

Prologue

     My name is Jamie. Well, at least I think it is. My life has never been easy, but who's has? I'm not special in any way. I am no different from the people that walked down the street beneath me. I am them and they are me. But if I'm so normal, why am I feared? Why do people run at the sight of me? Why do people cower in the darkest corner they can find just to hide from me? I huffed in annoyance. 'Annoyance', I told myself, not 'sadness'. I have to admit, I'm jealous. I'm jealous of those people just walking down the street. I can't do that. 

     "Yes hello, is this animal control? Okay, great. I'm on floor 7 of the parking lot in Thorne Town and there appears to be a wolf of some kind here. It isn't causing any problems or anything, maybe it got separated from its pack? Ten minutes? Okay, lovely. I'll watch it from my car. Okay, okay, bye!" A feminine voice calmly spoke into her phone. When she was done, I turned my head to connect our eyes. "Oh my goodness," She gasped. Oh here we go, the running and screaming part. Or so I thought. "Your eyes, they're beautiful, pup." She smiled gently at me. My tongue lolled out of my mouth in some sort of wolf like grin and I twisted my head to the side. This lady wasn't scared of me? "I've never seen a wolf with purple eyes before, maybe just a trick of the moonlight." The brunette laughed quietly to herself, it was a sweet laugh and made me warm to my core. "I know you don't understand me because, well, because you're a wolf, but I called animal control to relocate you so if you want to leave now they won't have to take you against your own will. Okay, pup?" My black fur bounced gently as I slowly nodded my head to her words. She watched me in awe. "You're so beautiful," She whispered out, completely transfixed by me. "You're a special wolf, you know that?" 

     I slowly turned to face her directly and carefully watched her reaction as I inched my way closer. Her forehead wrinkled in concern but she breathed out to relax herself as she accepted my approach. When I reached her, my tongue swiped her hand quickly before I laid down and showed her my belly, a submissive move to show her I trusted her and wasn't here to harm her. Her sweet laugh echoed around the empty parking lot along with the sounds of her nails scratching against my white coated underbelly. Satisfied pants left my mouth, not only because she was scratching my absolute favourite spot between my front legs but also because I had never felt the touch of a human before. Our interaction was cute abruptly short when the sound of an engine bounced off the concrete walls.

     "Shit," She muttered to herself with a frown. "Animal control. They're not bad pup, I promise. They just want to help you. I don't think you need help though, huh?" Her green eyes twinkled with mischief. My eyes followed her fingers as she unhooked a braided leather bracelet with a purple jewel in the middle from her wrist. "Look, it matches your eyes. Just a little something to remember me by." She held the bracelet out to me but instead of taking it in my mouth, I gave her my paw. "You want it on?" My eyes locked with hers expectantly. The exhaust of the animal control van popped and cracked as it turned up another ramp, slowly closing in on us. The strange woman's fingers worked quickly to fasten the bracelet around my front leg. "Not too tight? I didn't want it to slip down." I swiftly shook my head no as I pushed myself up onto my paws. The van was nearing and I had to leave. My big black forehead gently pushed against hers and I closed my eyes, savouring the affection so I could remember it. Then, I ran.

     My claws scratched against the concrete as I made my way down the parking lot levels and out onto the street. My black body weaved in and out of traffic as I tried to avoid getting hit by a car. Soon enough, I was jumping over the barbed wire fence to the wildlife reserve a short distance out of town. The barbs looped around the six foot chainlink fence trailed along my belly but never punctured my skin. Close call. My pace slowed to a walk in the forest. I didn't need to hide here, I could wander freely in the boundaries of the reserve and I knew I would be safe. No humans ever strayed from the set hiking trails and I never ever initiated any sort of interaction with them unless absolutely necessary. This had been my home for a month now. I fucked up in my previous home and I'll be damned if I do that again, I almost didn't make it out of there alive.

     Smells of nearby deer infused themselves into my nostrils and I took a deep breath. The intoxicating scent danced throughout my senses and I shook off my fur quietly, preparing to track them. It wasn't hard to find the young buck drinking from a stream. The blood on its newly formed antlers suggested it had just won some sort of dominance battle with another deer, perfect. Its pride was surely forcing it into a state of vulnerability for me to take it down. It didn't hear me until I had pushed myself off a fallen log in order to grip my jaws around its neck. Terrified groans poured out of its mouth, a sign that I was winning my game. Except I never relished in the kill, I hated it. My jaws clenched harder and with a sharp movement of my head, its neck had snapped. As usual, I tried to make its death as quick and as painless as I possibly could.

     Once down, I decided to feast at that location to make it easier to clean the blood off afterwards in the stream. After tearing open my kill with my claws, I began digging in. It wasn't long before my ears perked up at the sound of twigs snapping nearby. Cautiously and completely silently, I slowly lowered my head down and dropped the piece of meat I had ripped from the deer, all the while my eyes scanned furiously in the foliage. It wasn't long before two golden eyes poked through the leaves of a bush.

     Followed by the snarling white jaws of another wolf.

UPDATED: 13/06/2020

WORD COUNT: 1125