Princess of Rouges

Rouge Life Isn't That Bad

   "Isabella! Isabella! You get your ass over here now!" Coriana yelled from down below my tree, looking around to see where I may have ran off too in my hurry to be alone.

  I silently got down the tree and then walked right behind her, lightly tapping her shoulder and dodging the attacked she tried to use.

   "God Dammit Isabella, you're gonna get killed by me one of these days and what will I do without my Princess?" Coriana said as she wrapped an arm over my shoulder and ruffled my messy hair.

   Coriana claimed me as her own whenever she took me from my horrible tormentors 10 years ago and made me the Princess of Rogues, her daughter. I remember the day as clear as yesterday. My savior in disguise, stopping them from killing me. Some scars are just too deeply embedded it seems. It was also the last day I ever spoke.

   The mysterious woman hurriedly carried me through the forest, careful to not damage me in any other way and not leave a trail of crimson blood behind us. Her interest in keeping me alive had intrigued me, seeing as ever since I could remember I was just entertainment.

   I was weak, very weak. I knew that I could die at any moment, but this woman saw something in me that not even myself saw. She saw life in a lifeless object.

   She finally stopped at what seemed to be a camp. Medics came rushing to my side and went to work and fixing what they could. They tried to take me from her but that I could not allow, I might die in that time frame and I had yet to thank her. To thank her for saving my life.

   "What is it my child? What is wrong? They want to help heal you," she said with concern dripping from her voice, the complete opposite from the venom she spoke earlier to the Alpha.

   "Thank you."

   That was the only two words I had spoken in the nine years I was at that pack and the ten years I have been here. My parents crossed their land with me when I was barely born and since they were of a rival pack, killed them on sight and kept me to use at their beck n' call. Or at least what I was told that is.

   I shrugged my shoulders at her, for I had no idea what she'd do without me now that I am here. I have been her eyes and ears on hunts due to my ability to be undetected. Along side her training, I was almost unstoppable.

   "Either way, come on, the trackers have caught scent of a pack nearby," she said, perking my interest. Packs no longer came near this area, due to the harsh environment. There was plenty of trees and game to hunt but the humidity was high here and took training to shift without getting heat exhaustion in the first hour. Plus droughts were common around this part, the only river that never dries here was hidden from prying eyes and only our rogues could find where it was.

   "I know what you're thinking, weird. So we're making out the location through what we can trace as their border then tomorrow night we'll go out and check it out," Coriana shifted into her dull black wolf before running towards our assigned meeting area. She knew I could catch up easily due to my wolf being about half the size of her bulky one.

I quickly shifted into my dusty, red wolf and followed in pursuit to our meeting grounds. Seven wolves, our main trackers, were present, shaking the dirt out of their coat so they didn't have any in their hair when they shift back.

   The coat on our wolves match our hair color, like Coriana has black hair, her wolf is black. Now my wolf isn't a firetruck red like my hair, but I feel the dusty red is better anyway. Like our hair, our eyes match our wolves typically. My human eyes are a bright silver, but somehow I have permanent red eyes as a wolf, blood red eyes. Coriana thinks it's due to the trauma of my childhood.

  All the wolves bowed when they saw us arrive, it showed respect to those of higher rank even though neither one of us required them to do so. One by one they shifted, all wearing traditional rogue clothing.

  None of us have the type of funds for human clothes, especially since they tear apart so easy. Instead we use the hides of our kill to patch clothes together. The first clothing a child receives is of their first kill, though infants to young during winter are wrapped in blankets made from scrap hides or even clothes from their parent's kill till the time came.

Cariana wore bear pelt, one of her most prized kills, as a shirt and skirt with the feet as shoes. Her wrists to her elbow had the thick hide of an alligator she had gotten from our travels. She was our leader, she killed anything that tried to attack us and wore it with pride.

   My top was made of the softest rabbit hides but was only long enough to cover my breasts, allowing my stomach to show, though I had stitched a hood on top for the rainy weather. Moose hide covered most of my legs and I had fox for my arms. My feet were yet bare, a habit Coriana wished would have died when she got me, yet never did.

"You all know why we're here. Group A, you're with me. Group B, Skylar will lead you. Bella will go ahead and scout for danger. Now let's go," Coriana was quick and to the point, not wasting any time.

I shifted back into my wolf along side everyone else before breathing in the forest around me. I could smell the rabbits and the deer trying to blend in with the musky earth. I could smell our camp grounds, the same one we had captured a couple years ago to stay out of sight.

If I breathed hardier, I could smell an unfamiliar scent, one of a wolf. It was not like one of my own, there was no musky scent to it. All pack wolves have a different scent to mark the pack, like us rouges smelled like the Earth. This scent smelled of salt, like the pack was from Oceanside. Makes sense, little water won't effect them as much seeing as most of their water would be salt water anyway.

I growled lowly, signaling that I had a scent, before jotting towards it. About 20 miles out from our border, the scent was strong. By now, every group had split off to find the border markings left and left me to my thing.

As I approached what I believed was their border, I heard voices. Male voices. I hid up in a tree and waited for them to come to me.

"Dude I don't even see why we moved out here. I don't care that the Alpha wanted to live on this land, it's a wasteland. That and rumor has it, the Queen of Rouges and the Princess guards these woods," the voice was strong and sounded of power. My guess was Pack Warrior.

"Shut up. If we can live here, we can live anywhere. And if they actually did live here, they would have already made their presence known. Rouges are wild creatures, they will either move or attack in the next few days. We'll know within a week. Just help me place this marking here so we can help set up everyone's rooms. It's going to be a busy night," the other voice was calmer and soothing. Definitely Delta, no other voice could handle HR like that.

I peered slightly from my hiding spot to the two males on the ground. Little did they know that the Princess of Rouges had tricks up her sleeve. I never fully belonged to a pack, making me belong to the Earth instead. I barely had any sort of scent that didn't smell as if it was meant to be. The only tell was that I had a hint of apples but even then, we had apple trees placed everywhere so it seemed normal and wouldn't suspect anything.

"This here tree looks good. It's a strong little apple tree, I fill that apples would be a nice touch," the Delta grabbed a riped apple from one of the lowest branches before they shifted and rubbed against the tree.

  Soon they left, the tree coated and my way of life changed.

1454 words. Know any places that are humid and have high drought in the US?