Heart of a Wolf

I ran until I couldn’t run anymore, until my muscles burned with fatigue and my paws bled from the sharp rocks along the side of the mountains.

I ran away from my past, from Fallen’s judgment, and the rest of the pack.

I ran until I collapsed.

The sound of moving water woke me first, soon followed by the feel of the hard ground beneath me and what must’ve been a large root digging into my side. Fallen lay beside me in wolf form, leaving a few feet between us. I wasn’t so lucky, waking in my human skin instead.

“You’re still here,” I said, my voice heavy with sleep as I tried to move with little success.

Fallen’s ear swiveled in my direction but she didn’t move.

“Trust me, I would’ve left you here to freeze if I could.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked, sitting up. My muscles screamed in pain, protesting whenever I tried to take a deep breath. “Ugh, remind me never to

run like that ever again.”

She made a sound of approval, then continued. “Like it or not, you’re my charge. This means until the Alpha says otherwise, you’re my responsibility.”

“Great,” I said, slowly pulling my knees close to my chest.

“Another babysitter.”

“Then we’re in agreement.” She kept her back to me, either out of disgust or respect for my privacy I wasn’t sure.

“Can you shift?”

I searched my subconscious for the tingling I’d experienced the night before, but no, my wolf or my drive to turn into a wolf wasn’t there. “I don’t think so.”

“Then you’ll have to walk.”

“Like this?” I asked, covering myself the best I could.

“Well, it isn’t like I’m going to carry you on my back like some kind of horse. Besides, if you’d listened to me last night and headed back for the manor, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

But you just had to keep running, didn’t you? Your wolf isn’t something you can use until the edge of exhaustion. You need to respect its limits as well as your own or else this happens.”

“So I’m stuck in human form?” I shouldn’t have been as disappointed as I felt. Being stuck in human form meant I could leave the territory. It meant I could go home. “For how long?” Did I have enough time to see Val before coming back?

“Only you can answer that,” Fallen said, stepping away from me.

“Wait, you can’t just leave me here. How am I supposed to find my way back?” Without my wolf’s heightened senses, the woods were a labyrinth of raised tree roots and gnarled branches.

“You made it this far,” Fallen said, not looking at me.

“Consider it a test. If you aren’t back by lunch, I’ll come and get you. For the time being, enjoy the walk.”

With that, Fallen was gone, though she didn’t go far. If what she said was true, she’d stay close by to watch after me.

That is until she got bored or hungry. After that, it was anyone’s guess.

She could’ve left me something to eat, I thought with a huff, hugging my arms around myself as I carefully navigated

the mountainside. I was starved, my stomach growling at the thought of eating something warm. The cool tingle at the back of my mind returned, but only for a moment. I suppose you’re hungry as well, I thought, wondering if there was any way to talk to my wolf.

I’d seen it in books and studies where wolves, those of the werewolf variety, could somehow communicate with their subconscious. If it was true, it wasn’t something a new wolf like me could do. When I tried to reach out to my other form again, she didn’t respond. There was no tingling. No buzz in my ears. Nothing.

I’d have to strengthen my link with her. Not that I know how, I thought with a frustrated sigh. There was also the issue of me hunting on my own and making a kill. I didn’t mind the idea as much as I’d originally thought, but it still worried me.