Book of Secrets

Whispering Woods

This is my entry for danabm's One Shot contest, inspired by her Mate or Not series. Hope y'all enjoy :)

However, because this story was not chosen as a winner I think I might make a story out of it :) Change the characters of course, the names, but the scenerio and the main character (The P.O.V.) will remain untouched, just tweaked. So, if you would like this to be an entire story, leave a comment and vote :)

-Whispering Woods

I crawled sorely through the brush, glass shards tearing my skin in every pain-filled step. It’s been three months since I went rogue; I couldn’t take being the omega anymore. I was always being pushed around and mocked, just because I happened to be the runt of the litter with the one floppy ear and strange grey eyes. The shards of glass that abused my toes were just the latest of my problems. I knew better than to be hobbling along the road and what could have been better proof than a broken beer bottle slicing through my paw. Now, crimson droplets spotted the white snow as I dragged myself forward. I shivered; the cold, winter air teased my skin through a layer of matted ebony fur, fresh fallen snowflakes freckling my coat. An angry sound jostled my stomach and I whimpered, realizing for the first time how hollow my stomach was, how hollow it has been for four days. I was such an idiot for leaving the pack at the worst time of the year; the season when the game hid in hibernation or moved south in search of food. I should have waited until spring when prey emerged and the deer population spiked; another stupid mistake on my list of many.

            A twig snapped to my left and I instinctively dropped to my haunches, pressing my ear flat against the top of my head as I stole away into a patch of bare bushes. One of two things was about to happen; One, it could be my lucky day and a lost doe has wandered into the wrong part of the forest. Or two, some humans were taking a winter stroll and I would have to high tail it out of the area before they spot me.

            My stomach growled again. Maybe my luck was about to turn around and that breaking twig was in fact fresh meat. My empty belly overruled and I nimbly stalked forward, shifting all my weight to my right side so that my whimpers didn’t give away my position. I pressed myself so low to the ground that my underside dragged along the snow. My nose twitched as I tried to inhale the scent of what might be grazing ahead of me, but the frigid air obscured it. Daring myself to try and spot it, I prowled under a fallen tree that was supported by a neighboring birch. My lips twitched when I noticed the impressions in the snow, along with a cracked branch. From the distance I crouched at, it was impossible to tell what kind of animal had made them. Cautiously, I surveyed the area before quickly scuttling out from under the tree trunk and pressing my nose to the disturbances in the snow.

            Firewood. Pine. Nightshade. It was too late when the scent registered in my mind to run. Almost immediately, a large, burly black wolf sprung out from behind a tree and pinned me to the snow covered ground, pearly white fangs bared inches from my face. My body was shaking with fear under the massive wolf’s defensive build; he was nearly twice my size and probably a billion times my strength.

            Silver clouds escaped our muzzles and fanned each other’s face. The wolf above me stiffened as his eyes widened in realization. My body instantly stopped shaking when an electric shock traveled across my flesh.

            Mate, my wolf gasped. Time seemed to stop as I studied the wolf’s gentle face, his teeth no longer bared and his features soft. The black wolf’s enchanting golden eyes returned my gaze with a hint of awe.

            Awe? That couldn’t be right. People only threw looks of disgust or disappointment at me, that is, if they were actually looking at me and not through me. I looked up at the creature in front of me and knew this was all a mistake; there was no way an unwanted runt could be soul mates to someone so perfect and beautiful like him. Someone like me would hold him back, if not humiliate him.

            “Taylor!” two male voices rang through the air and the wolf’s head snapped up. I saw my chance and I scurried out from between the occupied wolf’s legs and dashed into the thick cluster of trees, tail tucked nervously between my legs and ankles weak with adrenaline.

            Heavy footfalls pounded behind me and I acted on instincts and jumped behind a cluster of rocks. I peered around one of the boulders and saw the beautiful wolf run by, his ears pricked and nose pointed up.

            “Taylor!” the same voices came again, making the wolf stop. He looked around, ears twisting and angling in attempt to catch any noise. I didn’t dare move, didn’t even breathe in fear that he would hear me. A puff of breath slithered out of his muzzle as he turned in my direction, his eyes narrowed.

            “Yo, Taylor!” it was another voice, masculine, but sounding near urgent. The wolf lingered a moment longer before spinning and sprinting in the direction in which the voices came from.

            A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I skirted around the boulders and stood in the spot where he, my mate, had been standing only seconds before. I pressed my tiny paw into one of his large paw prints, warmth tickling the bottom of my toes. It’s for the best; I told myself, covering the prints and slinking into the brush while electricity still teased my skin.

It’s for the best.