Before Death

Chapter 4 : Forest at night

Chapter 4: The Alpha

At first I walked on as normal, trying to catch a glimpse of my pursuer, but there was no way to see what was following me without there being a confrontation. But eventually, I could not stand the nervous feeling that bubbled up inside of me and I jumped around.

Expecting some kind of feral beast, I was shocked to discover a child. He was older than I was at that time, but now I think back of him as a small boy. I had never seen him before, but then again, I had always been wrapped up in my own private fantasies than interested in the other children.

We stared at each other, a silent standoff, until my instincts kicked in. I imagined myself as a lithe and powerful wolf, leaping to tear out the throats of my prey. I turned my imaginations into action and charged at him with the intention to kill, though I didn't realise that as my intention then.

Being much larger and older, the boy was easily able to fend me off. However, my momentum pushed us down and we ploughed a furrow in the freezing snow.

I scrambled up while the boy was still lying in the snow, stunned. My breath coming in gasps, I sprinted uphill and took refuge behind a thorn bush. I saw the boy stumbling to his feet and scanning around for me. He looked around but then, seeing nothing, he slowly turned around and walked back home.

It was only later, as I continued my journey, that I realised he must have seen my footprints in the snow. Why had he let me leave?

I had not even realised that the night was over until I saw the red of dawn creep up on the horison. Pausing to catch my breath, I watched the sunrise. Instead of feeling lonely and lost because, for the first time in my life, my home was out of sight, I felt more at peace than I had ever felt before in my life. A part of me was completed by the sun reaching out it's fingers over the white mountain caps.

I stumbled through the knee-deep snow, refreshed by the rays warming my face. I came to the peak of a mountain and looked back over the endless pine trees of winter. I sat down to rest, completely at ease.

Sleep must have taken me because I was awoken by a howl that pierced my soul. It felt so farmiliar. The sun was already starting it's descent behind the mountains and a reddish glow gave the snow an omnious tint.

A more sensible child might have reasoned that it was best to avoid the origin of the call, but the wolfsong appealed to my overactive imagination. I had imagined... no - envisioned my meeting with the wolves many times, but no amount of thought would ever compare to seeing them again in person. That is why I foolishly seeked out my doom.

*    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Author's note:

Laravr7 here. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Please like and comment if you see any spelling mistakes or there is something I could improve on.