Run- Paul Lahote

To Hell With Tradition, It's Dead Now

-Flashback-

I yipped while I dodged trees and ran through the woods. I was nine, we all phased for the first time when we were eight so although it had been a year, I was still kind of new to the whole wolf thing. 'Slow down!' I almost fell when I heard Regans voice in my head. I was still getting used to that too.

'No! The whole point is to get away from you, it's tag!' I laughed, which came out more as a bark, while I ran through a clearing and into another part of the forest and farther from our reservation.

'Sky! Be careful your getting close to the human town!' Jayden, who was still near the clearing, called out when he saw where I was. 

'What are you talking about? I'm still miles away!' I howled loudly and continued running until I skidded to a stop. Turns out I wasn't miles away, infact, I was only a few feet away from two large men sitting in the bed of a pickup truck. I felt a whimper escape my throat but I didn't move back. Luckily, I was much smaller back then, only about four feet tall, and didn't look completely terrifying yet so when the two men saw me they thought I was a normal wolf. 

"Isaac grab the gun! There's a wolf!" One of them yelled when they noticed me and that snapped me out of it while I turned and tried to run away only to stumble and fall. "Hurry! Shoot it!" At the time I didn't even think about shifting back as I squeezed my eyes shut and awaited death. That is, until I felt myself be lifted off the ground by my scruff and start to be carried away. 

I small yelp escaped me but I was quickly reassured. 'I've got you Sky, just hold still.' Taylor had come for me. Taylor knew I was in trouble and came to save me. She carried me until we were at the outskirts of our reservation before gently setting me down and we both phased back before she lifted me into her arms and hugged me. 

"You can't do that Loca, you could've been killed." I nodded and pulled myself closer to her. Taylor was twenty-three. The youngest Alpha we had ever had, but she was one of the bravest and wisest and strongest. "You understand why we have our traditions now? Why we have to do what we do?" I nodded again, I had seen what happened to the people who knew about us and now I understood why, the humans didn't care about us, they wanted to kill us.

"From now till the day you die if anyone ever sees you, you have to end them. You understand me? Or else they could end you and all of us." 

"Okay Taylor." That was our traditions, if anyone ever saw us, we had to kill them or else they could expose us all. And I understood that.

———

"I can't do it." I whispered, but he heard me.

"Do what?" Paul asked, reaching towards me when he noticed tear coming into my eyes again. I couldn't hurt him, something about him made it impossible for me to even imagine it. He made me calm, he made me feel safe and I wouldn't hurt one of the only people who could. 

"Listen to me," I took a step back so he couldn't reach me. "I'm going to hug you really tight now, ok?" Tears trickled down my cheeks again but I didn't acknowledge them "Then I need you to go back to school and I'm going to leave. You can never tell anyone about this, ever." He seemed confused but nodded. I walked forward and wrapped my arms around him and he immediately pulled me into him, not seeming to notice my body temperature. I didn't want to move but I did. 

"You'll be back tomorrow, right?" He grabbed my arm while I started to walk away. 

"I don't know." I pulled away from him and phased, giving him one last look with my now dark brown and red tinted eyes before bolting towards the tree line and to safety.