Queen of Wolves

Chapter Two

ATHENA'S P.O.V -

I woke up naked in the woods. The dirt was soft against my skin, a strange comfort. I had tried really hard to hold back and push my wolf down like mother told me to but, it had been so long since my last shift that she was restless. Her need to run and arch her back under the moons light was too much for me, she swayed my thoughts just enough with the idea of such things in order to pounce just as my guard slipped down ever so slightly. She knew me too well sometimes.

Oh, and I just new my mom would be pissed.

She always tells me how dangerous it is to shed your human skin and to take on the coat of fur. I never understand because we live far away from the rest of civilization, high up in the mountains with trees surrounding the lower base. But she continues to tell me there are things I don't know, dangers that lurk in the shadows that I can't see. And even though I don't totally comprehend why she warns me of doing it, I try my hardest to do as she says. But some days are harder than others, especially when there's a full moon out.

One day I had asked my mother if she could shift like me, if she had another self as well. There was a long pause before she answered, a tortured expression etched on her face with eyes full of regret for some unknown reason. It seemed almost strained when she said no and then began to walk away in a hurried fashion, confiding herself in her room. The next day I had questioned if my father, the mystery figure in my life, was like me. She never responded. I could tell both those replies made my wolf distrust her even more then before, never have had a big liking towards her. But her small information on the topic just made me confused.

I pushed myself up from the ground and brushed myself off, shaking out the leaves and small twigs from my hair. As I slowly walked back to the house, I cracked my bones and stretched my spine in a curved c shape. I always felt pretty tired after a run, but also really great from the release. It was a good way to let all the pent up emotions pass, find a sort of neutral grounding in my head with both myself and my wolf. Changing was an outlet that I wished and longed to have access to, but, my mom continues to convince me with her sketchy warnings that its not a good idea.

I checked on my wolf by sensing for her and found she had drift into a slumber at the back of my mind, content with last nights events. I only tried to fight her for a good five or ten minutes before I just let her take full control. It was nice to sit back and enjoy the wild ride, though, I usually had some holes in my memory. Getting lost in the sensations and such clarity was hard not to do, especially when I had little to no opportunity or chance to enjoy either of those things as a human.

Yes, even in my normal form I'm highly open to my surroundings and the things around me. But, once I shift its almost like everything has a song to sing and is more than willing to sing it for me. The rush still shocks me to the core every time I'm relinquished to four legs. Sometimes I wonder whats its like to be a regular human being, though I've never met one. I've only ever been around mom, something I used to hate when I was younger but have grown used to. My moms as stubborn as a bull and after a while I just gave up on the asking, pleading, and begging.

Once, and only once, I ran away. It wasn't good. It tot me that I should trust my mother and so I did.

As I spotted the back door to the cabin like house we live in, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I froze. I had my left leg and inch away from touching the dirt covered floor when the feeling invaded me. My wolf perked up slightly and I could tell she was working with me to sense what was watching from the distant trees that stood around us. A couple of rabbits, a fox, a few hungry squirrels, and.. a.. its gone. I was seconds away from figuring out what it was when it just disappeared. The feeling of being watched evaported.

I sighed, it was probably nothing I told myself. My wolf shook her snout in disagreement but settled back down and returned to sleep. I continued to try and convince myself of this the whole rest of the way home, pushing it to the back of my mind as I turned the doors handle. I got the door open a good two inches before I heard the rustling of the leaves. I knew it wasn't an animal that lived in theses woods, no. It was something else that was an outsider, a new creature that didn't belong here.

My wolf sprang up in alarm, her fur standing on ends the same way the hair on my exposed body was. My heart beat a little faster. I could tell it was a predator, and it seemed I was its targeted prey for the evening. Usually I wouldn't worry of such thing as this, but, now I could tell from the power of its gaze that I had a right to be afraid as I stood here and didn't move a muscle. Fearing if I did it'd pounce without warning, surely to devour me whole.

Just as I was about to walk inside, again I heard a sound. This time it was a branch snapping, another sign that it had to have come from an animal bigger than a rabbit or some squirrel. I bit the the inside of my bottom lip, in thought. I cast a glance inside the house and one back over my shoulder and into the woods. Quietly I took the long rain coat from its hook that hung just inside and then eased the back door shut. Tying the string into a tight not, I stepped back into the woods and closed my eyes, listening. I wasn't going to back down from a fight.

My wolf was shaking, but it was no longer from fear. No.. it felt as though the complete opposite of that. She sensed something I didn't, reaching farther than I. A senstation washed over me an I could feel my knees were about to give out. Tingles coursed up and down my body, making it feel as though my heart would beat its way out of my chest. Soon blood rushed to my head and it was like I was slowly dfrifting away.. as the earth came to meet me I was saved, by arms that felt like home.