The Wolf and the Hunter

A Stranger to My Lands

Edited 12-18-2022

This is what Skye looks like.

Ever sense Skye found me that night, I've lived here with the Aspen Pack. Kodiak wasn't very happy at first with me coming into the pack, but Nikita persuaded him to let me stay, although I still got disapproving looks from him every now and again.

I was now the biggest and the fastest wolf in our territory and several others surrounding us. I guess being half human and half wolf will have its perks, like I am about two times the size of the average wolf, and my senses are very sensitive. Even in my human form, my senses are the same as my wolf. I can't say how my human form compares to others because I never trusted people after that one night. But when I started to think of what my life would have been or how life would be as a human, I always remember this. My family is here. My passion is here. My life is here.

But, like I've heard several times before...

All good things come to an end.

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Walking through the trees with my pack, I zoned out all that was around me. The autumn breeze through the trees played a calming melody as it brushed past the leaves. The orange and red leaves rustled in the wind before losing strength, braking off their branches, and falling to the ground. My giant grey paws landed on the earth slowly and softly, carrying me gently along the dirt road.

The wind whistled slightly, causing my ears to perk up. Something felt was off. I didn't know what, but I had this feeling in my gut that something bad was about to happen. Stopping, I looked farther down the road, trying to see, hear, or smell whatever made me have this tight feeling in my stomach.

"What is it, Kenneally?" I heard Skye ask from behind me. Not replying, I kept my eyes on the road, listening for any sound out of the ordinary. Concentrating to any noise in front of me, I heard it.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Do you hear that, Skye?" I asked, still looking towards the sound. I knew that I knew what the sound was, but I couldn't quite place what it was. Skye just looked at the curve in the road and squinted her eyes, trying to hear what I was hearing. Her ears perked up as her eyes widened. Just around the bend, men with rifles and red coats turned the corner.

Kodiak lowered his head and let out a deep growl, staying where he was. The rest of the pack followed Kodiak, crouching slightly while lifting up their lips and showing off their sharp white fangs. The men dressed in red seemed to panic slightly at the sight of a wolf pack in front of them, but they quickly gathered themselves together and then pointed their muskets at us.

My breath caught in my throat. Images of the night my own father tried to kill me flashed through my head. I stood frozen in my spot, not noticing Kodiak lunging towards the men in the red coats. Snapping out of my daze, I started to panic. My pack was charging the men with the muskets.

"No! Get out of their sights!" I screamed out, jumping slightly off the road, staying out of their muskets line of sight. Several wolves turned their heads to look at me before running off the road and into the brush. A loud sound exploded, and smoke filled the air around the men. Stopping in my tracks, I heard a high-pitched cry. Kodiak jumped at the sound before bolting off into the trees, the rest of the pack following him. The pit in my stomach dropped further as I saw, in the middle of the road was a white heap of fur, and a red pool slowly surrounding it. My heart dropped into my stomach as I realized who was lying on the road, unmoving. I ran to the fallen wolf, pressing my black nose to her cheek, whimpering.

"S-Skye..." I whimpered out, nudging her limp head with my nose. Hearing a man scream out in surprise, I wrapped my paw around Skye's dead body, standing protectively over Skye. Looking towards the men in red, I showed my long white fangs and let out a deep, loud growl. Seeing the men, turning their backs on me, and the only wolf I called family, who they murdered, infuriated me.

Their musket shots and screams of pain filled the once silent forest. I watched as one of the men dropped his musket and slowly fell on his knees. His place was now taken by a man, dressed in white and blue, a hood shadowing his face. He glanced at me quickly before dodging a bayonet and thrusting his bloody tomahawk into the poor soldiers chest with a brutality I have never seen before. I watched as this man killed all the remaining men. I was at the loss of words. How could this man take down that many men at once?

The man in white wiped his bloody tomahawk on one of the dead red coated men before standing up straight, turning around and looking at me. I snapped out of my daze and crouched closer to Skye's body before letting out a growl. He studied my figure for a while, glancing back from me and Skye's body. After a few seconds, he quickly spun on his heels and took off into the forest.

I stayed in my position for a while longer before looking back down to Skye. Her eyes looked like glass, and her tongue was slightly hanging out of her mouth. Blood surrounded her, staining her once white fur, a red pool dominated the area, and my paws were covered in the sticky crimson substance.

Stepping away from Skye, I looked around me and smelled the air. Knowing I was fully alone, I closed my eyes and hunched my back, feeling the familiar crack and pop of my bones.
After the pain subsided, I ran my fleshy hands through my long auburn hair.

Looking back at my lost mother figure, I felt my eyes start to water up. Slowly standing up, getting used to my human legs, I wobbly walked over to Skye. Bending down, I slipped my arms around her limp body before lifting her up. Tears stained my cheeks as her warm blood soaked my arms, but I kept walking deeper into the forest.

The trees swayed backward, almost like they were making a pathway for me to follow. No birds sang their usual happy song. No animal made a sound, not even the crickets. The only sounds were the gentle breeze, making my brown hair fly away from my face, and my silent cries and whimpers.

Making my way to a clearing in the trees, I gently placed Skye down on the soft green grass.

"I-I'm sorry, Skye..." I chocked out as tears started to fall faster. "I wish I could have been able to warn you faster." My knees felt weak as they slowly gave out, causing me to fall down. I buried my face into her coarse yet soft fur and let out muffled sobs. Looking up slightly, I slowly and gently skimmed my fingers over Skye once dark brown eyes, closing her eyelids. I gently placed my hand under her jaw before connecting it again to the top. Slowly running my hand down her side, I stood up and took a few steps backward. Taking a deep breath, I shifted back to my wolf. I glanced at Skye but then started to dig into the Earth. Green grass and dirt were torn up as my powerful paws ripped through the ground.

As I was working, I felt something soft yet cold land on my nose. Stopping from my digging, I glanced up to notice the sky turned grey as it let down a gentle snow. Growling in annoyance, I went back to digging, but only faster.

Why must all the bad happen to me.

A/N: Okay, I don't know why, but that chapter was hard for me to write... ugh... Anyway, I try to update more often, but I'm going between this and another book. It's called "The Lost Apple" if you wanna check it out. It's another Assassin's Creed book, but with Ezio instead. Yay! Ezio! Like and comment! Sharing this book to would be awesome!

Peace ✌