I don't know how long I have been running but by sunset I was far from my pack. I had been running for so long that when I finally rested I was exhausted. I was alone out here deep in the woods so I shifted back into my human form, it took some deep and intense concentration. When I was standing on my two legs again, I panted heavily, tired from the run I fell to my knees. My hands found themselves grasping the grass, digging my fingers into the dirt, I let out a horrible sob.
I wasn't able to control it but as my tears flooded my face the past 17 years of being treated like total shit for no reason by everyone and my family seemed to really do an emotional number on me. My mate had been Trent Grant for some horrible reason and him rejecting me was the kind of pain that I didn't deserve to be feeling. All I could do while I scream and sob my heart out, wondering why? Why did this have to happen to me? What did I do that warranted this life? It felt like a stake of bricks was hitting me repeatedly in the chest. I couldn't stop the tears or the twisting pain in my heart. I heard being rejected by your mate hurt but this felt ten times worst, more than I thought it ever would.
I actually never thought i'd experience this at all. I had held on to the hope that if anyone would accept me it would be my mate. I cried harder, unable to stop the inhumanly noise that erupted from my throat. My wailing sounded similar to the inhumane wailing in my head. I was naked on the forrest floor crying like I was being killed. And I was, the more I accepted this horrible feeling the more it hurt. The more it felt like my heart was ripping out of my bare chest. The scars on my back, the dirt covering my legs, the random bruises littering my brown skin, the tears and snot stains on my face.
This was me, the vulnerable Faith Bell and possibly the end of her as well.
It took me a while to gain some sort of composure but eventually my horrible sounds had tired me out to the point of feeling ready to pass out. I hadn't eaten all day and the weakness I felt was something I wanted to wash off. In the distance I could hear the faint sound of water running.
There had to be a stream or waterfall near by so I sniffled, picked myself off the forrest floor and began making my way towards the sound. It felt like I was dragging my feet, I felt mentally and physically exhausted but the comfort of cool water would help me calm down. My tears had finally stopped and when I made it to the source of the sound. I was greeted by the glistening of a lake about 5 acres into the woods, there was a wide wall of rock where the stream fed into the lake, creating a waterfall.
The moonlight glistened against the lakes surface and slowly inched toward the water until my feet met its cool embrace followed by my legs, then my waist, to my stomach and eventually my hot, sweaty and naked body was engulfed in the cold lake water. I treaded the waters and I turned my troubled gaze towards the night sky. The stars littered the infinite black sky and the moon was shaped like a bright white finger nail.
Suddenly the gravity of my current situation weighed on me. I had run away from my home without any clothes or any earthly idea of where I was heading or what I'd do next. I was a rogue wolf now, without a pack and completely independent. Part of me felt free, the abuse I've gone through was a trap and it was clear that wasn't going to change. It was exciting having actually run away.
But it was also impulsive, naive and stupid dangerous. I was defenseless and alone, literally naked. What was I gonna do, I hadn't even turned 18 yet. Not like that would magically make things better.
I closed my eyes before dipping my head under the water letting my head cool off. It tickled my nerves from the contrast in my literal body. The shift had felt burning hot and my head was still pounding and throbbing.
'Hello Faith...' A soft and calm females voice spoke to me, it was clear as hearing it aloud but I was under water and it was in my head.
It took everything in me not to panic but I managed to resurface. I gasped for air, before foolishly calling out,
"Hello?" My voice was rough and trembling, I almost sounded like a child when I heard own echo.
'Faith...it's nice to meet you. My name is Paris and I'm the wolf spirit tethered to your soul.' The voice came back.
"Are you in my head?" I asked.
'Yes, my child. I've been asleep for a long time... I'm so sorry that you have been fated to an undeserving human. The wolf spirit connected to that child was cruel to me as well when I linked with them.'
I thought to myself, "Can you hear when I think to you?"
'Yes...' She responded.
I felt the sudden urge to cry again, who cares if she was late, it felt like I had a friend. And as cruel as it felt to feel grateful that she shared my pain, there was comfort in the fact that I didn't feel so alone anymore.
'You are blessed my child, do not fret. Your spirit is so strong it takes years to properly infuse with a energy equal to your own. I take form with you when you shift into a physical wolf and it's the closest to physical form that I have despite not being a hundred percent in control. I am a separate identity from yours but reborn with you. Faith Bell you have never been alone, and now that i've been awakened I will be with you always until our end. Together we can get through anything. Let us mourn together and become stronger after the grief has passed.' Paris sounded confident yet sad. She felt wise and her emotions flooded through me like a warm river, despite the cold lake engulfing most my body.
I couldn't seem to express how thankful I was for her and her words but I was able to send my feelings to her and felt reassured that she received them. Part of that hope and strength I kept through the years had always been her supporting me from deep within. Encouraging me to push through and survive with my head held up high. A mixture of emotions flooded over me. Relief and happiness. This was insane.
"Hehaha~" I giggled, so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn't hear the sounds of people approaching. Their footsteps padding through the forest, stepping on abandoned branches, cracking them under their weight hadn't registered to me until I heard the laughters and distant sound of voices that came along with it.
I silenced my giggles and twisted my bodies toward the direction of growing voices. My heart was racing. What was I going to do? Could I shift on command so quickly after my first time? I was still exhausted from the day, I didn't feel like someone who cracked all of their bones but I ran all day. Plus emotions are exhausting as well.
Four heads suddenly popped from the west side of the lake. That was to the right of where I had come from. I stayed where I was, waiting for them to notice me while I thought of a plan and to my unfortunate luck it didn't take long for them to spot me. The moonlight was shining directly on the lake that I was unwinding in and since I was in the water shoulders deep I was exposed more then them. I could barely make out their faces.
They were carrying what could be backpacks and what were obviously lanterns. The closer to the lake they got the more I could make out. 3 guys and 1 girl.
"Uh, hey! What are you doing out here this late?" One of the guys called out to me when they reached the bank of the lake. The rest slowly put their things down their eyes on me from the way their continued facing my direction. "Are there more of you?" The guy questioned me further holding his lantern up at an angle that brightened his face. Enough for me to make out his short blonde hair, the sharp cut of his jaw, his blonde brows glistening in the small lantern fire light and his expression calm yet alert expression.
He didn't quite seem threatened or afraid but rather curious and cautious.
"...No, um," I cleared my throat in attempt to force way some of the raw rasp. "Its just me." I cringed at the sound of my own voice cracking. I heard one of them whisper,
"Jeez what happened to her voice..."
"Where did you come from? Can you tell us who you are and why you're on Sun Pack's territory? You smell like a genderless rogue." A different males voice spoke up. It felt weird being interrogated while I was naked in a lake but I rather stay here than get to get closer to that hostile sounding voice.
Before I could answer the girl spoke up. "Jesus Jay, the poor girls alone and sounds terrible obviously something is wrong here and you're going to scare here away, Take it down a couple of notches." She scolded.
"Haven't I told you to stop bossing me around? It's our duty to make sure any rogue in our territory isn't a threat! I'm just trying to get answers!" The voice I assumed belong to Jay yelled.
"Seriously? Dude, are your social cues non existent? Do you think the way to approach and get answers is to be all tough and aggressive to a defenseless girl?" The girl spat back at him.
"Are you actually trying to tell me how to do my job? " Jay scoffed.
"Seriously you guys stop bickering! This isn't the time or the place!" The blonde boy chimed back in, eventhough he had taken a break on looking in my direction to glance around the bank of the lake, looking for something.
The last guy present spoke up, "Why don't you get out of the lake and chat with us? If you tell us what your doing out here in our territory so late, we can figure out what to do with you. If you're a rogue just passing through, we'll let you be own your way after making sure that you are not a threat to our pack." He sounded trust worthy but there were a number of reasons of why I couldn't get out of this lake.
"I can't." I responded.
"Look lady we're not playing around! If you don't get out of the lake and explain yourself we'll kill you when you eventually get out! Our people don't trust outsiders with secrets!" Jay's voice came to, and his growls made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I didn't take his threat lightly, I knew the dangers of my current situation. I'd seen members of my pack nearly kill rogues before they ask questions, harmless or not. At least they were trying to talk with me before resulting in violence. I didn't know if that was because I was in the lake or not but either way I was grateful.
"No I'm not trying to keep secrets I'm just...I'm naked." I tried not to let it come off like a whine but I was embarrassed. I hadn't known I was in another packs territory. Part of me naively figured I was just miles from my own and this was making me realize I wasn't actually sure how far I was from my where I had started. However, running for hours none stop at high speed as a wolf who shifted for the first time could take you far father than I thought. I hadn't quite grasped that concept yet.
"Well we didn't quite expect you to be clothed while in a lake." The blonde pointed out which caused the girl to snicker but she quickly apologized.
"I mean since when have we met a rogue wolf shy about being naked?" Jay's voice came back. I was really starting to hate the sound of his voice and the fact that his name was the only voice I could identify so far.
"You're such an insensitive prick." The girl mumbled under her breath.
"Maddy I swear to god, your attitude today-" Jay started to snap again but the same calm voice that didn't belong to the blonde guy cut him off with a much firmer tone.
"Jay, shut up, Maddy please stop probing him, you know what you're doing."
"But-" The two of them chimed in sync cut off by the blonde boy's sharp and annoyed voice.
"Stop guys. Focus!" He snapped his fingers pointing in my direction "What's your name?" He asked.
"...Faith...." I answered.
"Okay well, Faith, I'm Dylan. Look we won't force you to get out of the lake if your uncomfortable but can you please tell us what you're doing out here. It's dangerous and I get the strange feeling that things might not be alright with you. You sound a little rough and young." He spoke in a very gentle and concerned manner. I didn't know them enough to trust them with my life story but my survival instincts told me to trust where this could lead me.
"I'm 17...I ran away from home today. I was just trying to take a break, and clean up. I don't really know where I'm going but I didn't know I was in your packs territory and I'm not any danger to you or your people. I'll leave soon Um...if you guys could spare me some thing to wear maybe? I could leave right now." I found my confidence the more I talk despite feeling ridiculous in my story.
It was the truth but it felt pathetic and I tried my best not to throw myself a pity party or to show these feelings in my voice. I needed to appear like even though my decisions were impulsive and unplanned that I had some kind of real confidence in my ability to survive.
They were quiet for a moment and then the girl, Maddy spoke up.
"I have an extra shirt you can try on to see if it fits. Wanna to come on out of that water? I'm sure it's freezing." She said.
I contemplated that suggestion, I had no options and I needed that shirt. I began swimming towards them. When I reached the lake bank and slowly ascended from the water, Dylan was quick to hand me a towel. I quickly thanked him for it and wrapped it around my body to both cover myself, and begin drying off. Maddy handed me her T-shirt, which was too large for her but I'm sure that was on purpose.
The four of them looked away while I slipped in to the shirt and draped the towel over my head to dry my hair. They didn't speak while I dressed but I took the time to scan the features I could make out much more clearly now that I was closer to them all. We were standing in a circle around their little circle placement of their lanterns on the ground. The light from all the lanterns together in the middle of us allowed me to see that Dylan was tall white guy, maybe 6 feet feet, with broad shoulders, muscular arms and a slim waist. Maddy was little shorter than me maybe by an inch and she had short wavy blond hair that stopped at her chin, shaped like a bob. I could tell she had a little strength behind those healthy looking arms but she was slim in the hips and naturally toned in a way that said she ate moderately healthy. She also looked like she could be Dylan's sister. I couldn't tell which of the other two guys was Jay but one had dark curly hair that rounded out his face and head. He was a little taller than Dylan but was much skinnier and lacked muscle. Yet he was a still toned proving he probably exercised. Then there was the last guy, he was a brown skinned dred- head with 3 brown and gold beads on the ends of each dred. He was very muscular and though he was taller than me and Maddy he was shorter than both Dylan and the other white boy. I couldn't make out the rest of their features yet since they weren't looking at me while I dressed but the boys all had on sleeveless shirts and shorts that reached their knees. Maddy was wearing a dark blue and flow-y looking dress that seemed to float around her ankles.
When I finished I cleared my throat and spoke up. "Thank you again. You guys can ask me anything that'll prove to you that I'm not a threat."
They all finally turned to me and Dylan spoke first. "Firstly let me introduce us. I'm Dylan Cooper, this is my sister older Madison. These two are my best friend," He pointed to the curly haired boy, "Jake Thomason but he goes by Jay." Then he motioned to the last guy. " and Carter Brown."
I shivered, my body finally feeling the real cold of being damp from the freezing lake water.
"Hello, I'm Faith Bell." I introduced myself again.
"Faith can you tell us where you came from and why you ran away?" Carter asked. He had these bright amber colored eyes that reminded me of Trent. I didn't know how to feel about that so I looked away.
"I came from a pack called the Black Moon. I didn't...fit in or get along with my family or pack members..." I trailed off. I didn't feel up to going into details. I was hungry, tired and now really cold. My eyes were sore from crying and I'm sure this is the worst I've ever looked. And I took a whipping to the bare back and have the large welp scars on my back to prove it.
"I'm a late blooming shifter. Today was the first time I shifted and my inner wolf connected with my mate... I was rejected and realized I no longer wanted to stay in a community I was unloved and unaccepted. The reason why I smell genderless is because I turn 18 soon and I haven't yet manifested my secondary gender. I'm sure that I will now that I've shifted, I almost thought I was just a regular human some how." I continued to explain. I looked around at their faces. Maddy had blue eyes like her brother and she looked at me with sad puppy eyes. Jay's green eyes looked guilty. I couldn't bring myself to look into Carters eyes yet and Dylan looked as sad as his sister.
"Do you...have any idea of where you want to go? Do you need help or resources? Honestly it seems like you have nothing on your persons since you needed a shirt." Maddy broke the silence.
"Yeah and when was the last time you ate something?" Jay asked opening his backpack and began rummaging through it for a moment.
"I mean I'd be lying if I said I did and no." I bit my lips. "I'm sorry I know you guys don't know me and your pack probably won't feel comfortable with a rogue but I have no place to go and I haven't eaten anything today. Now that I think about it I don't think I ate anything yesterday either. My head hurts, i'm exhausted, hungry and cold."
Dylan, Carter and Maddy exchanged looks with one another for a minute and Jay finally stopped rummaging through his back pack once he found two granola bars, a bottle water and a small loaf of bread about the size of my hand. He then pushed them all towards me with an expecting look on his face. His switch in attitude was reassuring.
The rest of them finally turned their gazes towards me.
"I think we might be able to help you out." Dylan said with a light smile, the others nodding in agreement.
There was solace to be found in the change of fate running into these four gave me. I had hope that trusting them was a good decision. They looked my age and after hearing just a little bit of my story they seemed to sympathize with me. Their offer to help me out felt genuine and it was like a burden released from my shoulders.
I was finally free.
[Rewritten: 11/01/2022]