Spirit Wolves Book 1 -completed-

Out of Hiding

The forest was lightening as the dawn sun rose through the trees. Birds were chirpping delightfully and fluttering above her head. Crimson's wandering eye looked around curiously as her mother, Forestfire, nudged her along through the trees to their destination. She wondered what her life would be like now. A few years before, the young girl and her mother were kicked out of their old home because they were rogues. Now they were meeting their new pack, the Darknight Pack. They were a pack of rogues that had found them cold and shivering. Their leader, Alpha Redwood, had walked up to them and told them where they could find him if they so chose. Crimson's mother had been wary of his offer, and at first had wanted nothing to do with the unfamiliar rogue, but soon enough food became hard to find and Forestfire had realized she'd had no choice. Crimson remembered clearly the day she became a rogue. She had been playing with her friend, Aiden, when she'd transformed into her wolf form.

"Why'd you transform, Crimson?" Aiden had asked her at the time.

"I don't know. I didn't do it on purpose." She'd replied.

"Well, transform back fast. Marcus's coming."

Marcus was their friend Trace's older brother, and next in line to be Alpha. Since their pack got attacked by rogues every now and again, their Alpha was paranoid if he made a rule where if  someone saw a wolf form unless they were training, in battle, or playing, they had to transform back into their human form to prove they weren't rogues, and refusal was resulted in a trial and if they refused after that, banishment. The law was harsh but everyone understood that the Alpha was only trying to protect his pack. Even if Crimson was Marcus's little brother's friend, he would still turn her in if she couldn't turn back and she would get banished or exiled.

"I can't! It's like my human form is gone!" Crimson fearfully whisper shouted to Aiden.

"Don't panic," he'd said, "climb that tree."

She'd always been good at climbing and even in her wolf form the talent came naturally. She effortlessly and efficiently climbed higher Marcus's head and to avoid being seen she stayed perfectly still and silent. Practice hunting and countless games of hide and seek had made the job easier.

"Hey Aiden."

"Hey Marcus, what's up?"

"Do you know where Crimson is?"

"No, why?"

"Something happened with her mother and she needs to see father immediately. If you see her tell her to go to HQ as soon as she can no matter what she's doing."

"Will do."

As Marcus walked away, Crimson jumped down from the tree.

"Wow that was close." She'd said once he couldn't hear her, "Wonder what happened with mom."

"Yeah, but you should change back before you find out."

"I can't"

"Really?"

"Yeah" She'd said panic rising in her. "Aiden, I think I'm a rogue now!"

"Well let's not panic until we know for sure. Okay?"

"Okay."

Aiden was her best friend in the world, and the fact that he wasn't worried calmed Crimson down a bit even if she was scared of getting exiled or banished.

She still had to see Marcus and Trace's dad, and even though she transformed back before meeting him, he confirmed that she was going to be a rogue within forty eight hours due to a type of inherited disease, as well as her mother, who had begged for him not to banish them. He explained that the law was the law and they had until two sundowns to pack as much as they could carry and leave. Even now, three years later, the memory burned at the 13 year old's mind.

When they finally arrived to the location the new Alpha had given them and saw the rogues, Crimson's mother tensed as she greeted the adults and learned the ways of the pack while Crimson met the pups of the pack. She was the oldest of the pups, but not by much. She learned that in this pack, at the age of 14 all pups had to prove themself an adult by hunting a deer on her own. If she failed to catch something she would have to try again the next night. Everyone only had three chances to catch something before getting exiled for a month. After that they had three more chances, and the cycle repeated twice more before permanent banishment. She was 13, and turning 14 later in the year.

She met her age group that she'd be training and eating with. There were six other pups that were in her age group which was, the 7-13 year old's. Crimson was the oldest, but only by a few months. The one that was older than her was named Orion and when he saw her, he didn't do much of anything but roll his eyes at her. The rest were younger than her and seemed nice enough, but Orion's attitude kinda threw her off. Turns out he was the Alpha of their section meaning he was the strongest. Apparently that also meant he was the rudest of the group.

It had been so long since she'd had a full meal, that at supper that night, she nearly wanted to cry at the wonderful flavor and feeling of a full belly. She didn't want to look crazy or anything so she didn't and kept her emotions to herself. She did, however, mutter, "I forgot what it was like to have a full meal," and thought she saw a glance from Orion with pity and understanding in his eyes.

That night, after a day of getting to know their new packmates, when Forestfire and Crimson got settled into their new den, Forestfire asked what Crimson had learned about other pups "Well, I learned some of the names and ages." She said, deciding not to tell her mother about the trial until later.

"Well, what are they?" Forestfire asked.

"Orion is 13, has a sister named Hidasha that's 8, she hangs with him, and he seems to be the bully of the group. Stormflare is 12 and Orion's sidekick, Sunnydaze is seven and she looked nice, Askara is 10 and has a brother named Bloodclaws that's seven, and they looked like they're the type that's mean to people they don't know, but nice to their friends." She recalled her age group that she'd met that day. 

"Well, looks like we both learned a lot today." Forestfire pointed out.

"What'd you learn today, mom?"

"We'll talk more in the morning, Sweetheart. It's late,"

"Okay" Crimson said already feeling her eyelids closing as sleep stole her.