Present Day
Nearly one hundred wolves slunk into the woods of Crescent Cliffs. The largest of them all, a massive predator with knife-like teeth and charcoal gray fur, began to howl at the empty night sky. Soon, howls began filling the air from all around. It was a call of war, one to bring all of Lorenzo Blackburn's wolves out from the city, and into the forests. If they didn't come, it would mean raging war amidst the humans, and no one wanted that.
The Blackburn wolves had been taken by utter surprise. They hadn't expected a battle on the night of the Blood Moon, and they certainly hadn't expected the battle to be brought to them, on their own territory. Despite this, every grown wolf of Crescent Cliffs answered the enemy's call.
Roughly a hundred wolves from the Briare pack. Over twelve dozen from the Blackburn pack. At the low growl of the charcoal gray wolf, the battle began.
Fangs, tearing into flesh. Claws, being raked across fur. The vicious beasts fought their opponents until one or the other was on the ground, foaming at the mouth. As the moon began its slow ascent into the sky, the beasts grew more rabid. Their eyes glowed gold, their pupils dilated, and just like that, the only thoughts in their minds were, Kill, kill, kill.
The white wolf in a sea of gray and silver rampaged across everything in her path. She wasn't the only wolf present with a snowy coat, yet she still stood out above the rest. As the night fell deeper, her fur was dyed the shade of crimson red.
The Blackburn wolves were the reigning pack of North Carolina. They were taught to fight from a young age, and were raised as unstoppable, loyal soldiers. Yet their opponents had an alpha fighting with them, and with their own alpha gone, the Blackburn pack slowly began to fall.
Then the moon completely rose into the sky. The wolves' visions turned blurry, and all they could see was red. Red, filling the edges of their eyes until they were completely fueled with limitless energy. Meanwhile, the alpha of the Briare pack collapsed onto the ground, his pupils void of any color at all.
The Blackburn wolves pounced at Grayson Briare, each and every one of them hungry for the taste of an alpha's blood. The Briare wolves fought to protect their leader with their great jaws snapping.
The white wolf bounded up to the gray one, and nudged his shoulders with her head. The gray wolf seemed to stir to life. Somehow, she managed to lead him out of the battlefield without getting either of them killed. About halfway out of the forest, the gray wolf fell again, and this time, he didn't get up.
She could hear the enemies' howling in the distance. Her soft whimpers turned to furious growls. She circled the gray wolf's body, daring any to come closer.
Her dark eyes spotted the mouth of a cave- Her cave- Up ahead. When she turned her attention back to the body of the gray wolf, she found a human boy in its place.
Before, it would've been foolish of her to think she could get Grayson Briare to safety. Lugging a two hundred pound wolf to one's destination wasn't exactly an easy feat, after all. But carrying the weight of a human was a different matter entirely.
The white wolf set Grayson down on the floor of the cave. She then turned back to the entrance, and used all the strength she had left to block it with a massive boulder. Not a second later, she, too, collapsed. Tufts of her white fur became locks of her chestnut brown hair. Her claws retracted, as did her fangs... But the crimson slashes along her waist remained.
Unaware of this fact, the girl stumbled towards the duffel bag that was hidden in a crack by the walls. She pulled out the set of clothes she'd stored here last summer: She'd always loved roaming the woods in her wolf form on midsummer nights.
She had just finished dressing herself, and was in the middle of draping a blanket over Grayson's writhing body, when she happened to look down at her torso. Her eyes took in the sight of blood seeping out through the fabric of her shirt. A rush of pain struck her from all over.
"Oh."
Side by side, the two wolves laid there- One suffering through agonizing pain that made him imagine what it must be like to be set on fire, and one whose every second was spent taking a single step closer to death- A killer and a warrior. The feared and the unafraid. A hunter and a huntress.
A broken boy. And an abandoned girl.