Running in my wolf form was the only thing that reminded me of my former self.

Just like when I was still in our pack, running had been my source of release. If there was one thing that I think would never pass on me, that would be my love of sprinting. I feel connected with my wolf every time I allow her to run freely in the woods. This was my way of bonding with her. This was my way of connecting to the wolf spirit within me named Bella.

But now, running was more than just a hobby. It would become my constant companion from now on.

We were in the middle of scampering through the forest when suddenly, I felt weird. My wolf recognized the feeling and decided to stop for a while.

Moments later an earthy aroma filled the air. The spicy, aromatic wood-like smell has a warm, exotic profile to it. It was Sandalwood, the most intoxicating I had ever smelled!

The scent created a warm feeling inside. It increased the awareness of my well-being bursting with inner desires. It was until my wolf Bella emerged from my thoughts jumping up and down that I finally understood what was going on.

"Mate!" she shouted at the back of my head.

"You must be mistaken, Bella. You know very well that what you're saying is highly unlikely because we haven't come off our age yet. This isn't our mate! I'm only sixteen," I uttered, trying to make a logical explanation about the mysterious scent that had overtaken us.

“We can't be wrong, Aria. You smelled him too. He was heavenly! I can't wait to meet him and let him mark us in bed.”

“You and your filthy mouth!” I shouted inside my head. “This wasn't the time to be joking like this. We just got away from that promiscuous alpha and almost got violated by him. How could you even say this?”

Bella disagreed with me. She was hellbent on making us feel fine. “No, let's find him, or I'll take over this body and find him myself.”

“This must be a trap, Bella! We're out of the pack. This could be witchcraft or have something to do with rouges? Let's not….”

Bella was not kidding when she said she would take over my body without my consent. And so, we shifted back to my wolf form. Only this time, she was the one n charge. Using her black and delicate paws, she ran after a shadow that she quickly noticed from one of the large old trees. Her shining grey fur danced with the wind and the possible danger awaiting before our eyes.

She doubled our speed and followed the intoxicating scent.

“This moron… why does he have to make his mate chase after him? Isn't he excited to meet and pound the hell out of us?!” Bella exclaimed.

Bella let out loud growls, calling our alleged mate. However, the shadow didn't stop. He fastened his movement, and I felt more exhausted than Bella as she tripled her speed to follow him.

I didn't know how far we had run away from our pack with our speed. There was no turning back now. Remembering it again, I felt the pain kick in. However, I couldn't fully feel sad when Bella was excited to know who that shadow was. We shared the same emotions and felt what others exactly felt like we were twins.

Bella was restless. She kept running when I heard her loud howl of joy.

“Aria! Our mate has stopped! That's him! That's him, right, Aria?” She excitedly chirped. I was silent, but deep inside, I was excited to know if the shadow was really our mate.

The shadow stopped just in front of a big old tree.

Bella sprinted forward and jumped up in the air to excitedly lunge at the shadow. However, the shadow moved from the side without us seeing his face. He lunged an attack again and knocked us out close to a deep hole in the mountain ground.

“What the hell! That's rude! We are mates! Why did you do that?!” Bella growled. The shadow had become a wolf and took a step forward to us before he quickly changed into his human form.

The figure sported a proud and serious face, but that wasn't why we were surprised.

He was not a male. He wasn't our mate because she was a woman. What was more surprising was it was Maggie! Maggie Whittaker! She was my long-lost cousin who disappeared from our pack one year ago. Rumors said she abandoned our pack because she yearned for more life adventure since Maggie was one of the strongest, she-wolf warriors in our pack. Others said she turned crazy chasing after her mate and abandoned her own family.

Regardless, me and Uncle Stan believed that she would still come back. But now, I finally knew where she was. She was my closest cousin and friend, my partner in crime. I was so lost when she went missing.

I shifted back to my human form in hope of getting sense out of her. “Wait, Maggie! It's me, Aria! Your cousin! Can you still remember me?” A look of shock and recognition flashed on Maggie's face. It was more like an affirmation.

“Damn! Is that really you, Aria?! I was right! Oh, my dear cousin!” She extended her hands and offered me a hug. A tearful reunion indeed!

“I’m sorry, Aria. I didn’t mean to knock you. I am just saving you from the trap I made for some rogues by disguising my smell. Good thing that I recognized your wolf form before I lured you further to my trap.”

My eyes widened. So that was why we smelled a divine scent and thought it was our mate. It was just a trap. I ignored most of Maggie's queries and closed our distance to tightly hug her. I really missed her.

“I'm really sorry, Aria. Let's get back to business. Answer me, please. What are you doing here? It's too dangerous in the wild,” Maggie asked again.

It took me seconds to reply, so she spoke again. “Come on, I'll help you go back to the pack. You shouldn't be here.”

“Thank you for the offer, Maggie. But I can’t go back to the pack. The alpha attempted to rape me and in order to escape, I blinded him using the sap of the Nightcrawler plant. At this very moment, his men might have started to hunt me already.”

We both fell silent, thinking of the reasons why we were pushed to abandon our pack. As if on cue, my eyes began to water again, and Maggie quickly noticed it.

She swiftly went to one of the large trees and put on clothes before she handed me another piece of clothing. But I struggled to put it on. She helped me wear it and silently guided me to a hidden cave.

When we entered the cave, I saw a small hut looking like her home; she said she had lived here for a year. The things inside seemed to be all made of materials from the mountain. At the side

of the hut were spears and bows that perhaps she used for hunting. However, I could not fathom why she would use it if we had our claws and sharp canines to hunt our prey.

Despite crying for what seemed like an eternity, I managed to swallow my cries and asked her, “What's this for, Maggie?”

“I used those for hunting and training, Aria. Not at all times, you can rely on Bella to fight for you. You must learn to protect yourself even with your human form,” Maggie explained.

She handed me some water placed on a leaf-made cup before she walked to one of the spears and threw me one.

“I don't know how to use this, Maggie,” I complained.

“If you want to learn how to use it and some of my other ways here in the mountain, I will let you live with me. And remember, if you are going to choose to stay with me… from now on, you have to train until your body is sore and cry in pain. Besides, you don't know how dangerous it is to live without the protection of our pack. There were lots of cunning creatures you hadn't met yet. In case we have to go through the worst, you have to protect yourself.”

“Thank you, Maggie!”

“Don't thank me yet. Didn't you hear what I said? My favorite cousin isn't exempted from receiving a good beating. I meant, ammm... as my good training partner. It's been a long time since I had somebody to spar with. I remember how most of our pack she-wolves fear training with me.”

My smile turned to a grimace when Maggie said it. It looked like I was wrong to sign up with this. Maggie noticed it and said, “You need to be stronger Aria. In case you see that mutt again, let's make sure he'll regret doing that to you.”

A newfound determination and strength surged in my veins with Maggie's words. I wanted to be stronger, psychologically and physically.

From then, I trained with Maggie. Every day, I felt my body was going to tear because of the hellish training I had been doing with her. Maggie became stronger than the last time she was in the pack. She could be a female beta with her strength. Moreover, I could immediately use our training because sometimes we were left with no choice but to fight some rouges who wandered onto the mountain. Not a week passed that our life wasn't put in danger. Some creatures always came for our heads.

A year had passed.

With the help of Maggie, I was now adapted to our life as a rogue. And as part of our daily routine, we went out to hunt for food.

We were marching toward the traps we made when we noticed something odd. Some of the bushes were bowed down as if someone had run over them.

We move stealthily, holding our spears and bows. We followed the trail until we reach a large sycamore tree. We are almost positive that the mysterious creature was hiding behind the tree’s massive trunk.

And we weren’t mistaken.

Today was supposed to be a regular day hunting for food. But as the saying goes, “Let life surprise you.”

We were still holding our makeshift weapons when I and Maggie went to see what was hiding in the back of the old sycamore tree. To be honest, I kind of hoped it was some animal that could fill our stomachs in the following days. But alas! It was far from the awesome game we were expecting to be our trophy for today’s hunt. Instead, we were welcomed by an unknown man.

When the mysterious man felt our presence, he immediately stood on his fighting form. One of his feet was stepped backward while his fists were at cheek level. He was panting real hard, a clear indication of fatigue and exhaustion. But when he finally realized who we were, a sigh of relief escaped from his throat.

“Phew! It was just a bunch of girls,” he uttered to himself. He also let his guard down before leaning back to the tree trunk.

“What did you say, punk?” Maggie had queried. Her eyes were a bit narrowed, a sign that she was upset. “What do you mean by “just a bunch of girls?”

I tried to calm her down by grabbing one of her arms. Clearly, she took offense to the word “just a bunch of girls”. Maggie hated toxic masculinity. And this unknown man clearly gets on her nerves.

But instead of answering, the man coughed. It wasn’t a big deal except that he coughed blood! That was the only time we noticed his bloody side.

“You’re injured!”

The man twitched and I saw his wounds. It was a pretty ugly claw mark, which I think came from a wolf attack. “Who did this to you?” I asked again.

“A group of rogues,” he answered while still catching his breath, “I am doing some patrolling to the western border of this territory when I was attacked by a group of rogues. I was lucky I was able to beat them but not without getting wounded.

“Western border?” Now, it was Maggie’s turn to ask questions. She also scooted down and help me apply pressure to the man’s side. “Did you come from Grey Moon Pack?”

“Well, yes and no,” he answered while chuckling. Maggie’s eyebrows raised in yet another confusion. But before she could have reacted further, the man spoke once again. “I am not from the Grey Moon Pack originally. I came from a pack called Silver Arrow. It just so happen that our alpha was able to defeat the Grey Moon alpha so we decided to move to their lands.”

“Wait, what?” I interjected. “The Grey Moon alpha was defeated? Does that mean he’s…”

“Dead,” he responded back. “Our alpha beheaded him in a battle a month or so ago.”

I swallowed hard. The news that this man brought was clearly a surprise in my life. Never that I imagined that our fierce and ruthless alpha would come to his end this early. I mean, he was still in his prime and definitely not a weak leader. But to hear that he was beheaded in a battle of life and death really says a lot about this new alpha that was taking over our old pack.

He must be really strong to be able to do that.

“Here, much this herb. This would help your body speed up your healing ability. It would also help with the bleeding.” When I turned to my side, Maggie was putting some Krimson leaf into the man’s mouth. Good thing that Maggie always brings this very useful medicine whenever we go hunting. To her word, we might find it useful especially for some unexpected injuries. Well, she clearly proved her point now.

The man followed what he was asked. I also help him dress his wound using his torn clothes. A few more minutes and the man’s breathing seemed to become stable. By the looks of it, the Krimson plant might already have taken its effect.

“Thank you for helping me,” the man uttered a while later. “It’s Oliver by the way.”

“My name is Aria and this is my cousin Maggie,” I responded. The man nodded while exchanging his glances between me and Maggie. “Anything wrong?”

“Well, I just find it weird.”

“Weird?” Maggie asked.

“Yes, weird. You looked like a rogue but both of you seemed to be educated. Tell me the truth, are you both banished from the Grey Moon Pack? This location was very near to the pack’s border so I am pretty sure you came from that pack.”

“It’s none of your business,” Maggie dismissed him. She began fixing her things and was ready to go when Oliver spoke again.

“If you were a part of the Grey Moon Pack, then it is better for you to return to your pack. The new alpha had decreed that all of the banished or runaway wolves from Grey Moon should go back and pay respect to his leadership. Everyone was encouraged to attend his inauguration.”

“And what if we don’t?” Maggie asked in a challenging tone. She really hates controlling men!

“Then the new alpha would consider that as treason. He would hunt you down until you were both dead.”

************************

It has been an hour since we left Oliver under that sycamore tree. We decided to go back to our camp after ensuring that he was okay to be left alone. Besides, his wounds are way better than we first so them. The Krimson plant really helped him recover.

Maggie was surprisingly quiet and wearing a straight face. I didn’t know whether that was because we will go back empty-handed from our camping trip or because of the warning that Oliver had told us.

Talking with Oliver gave us some invaluable information about Grey Moon. Living in the woods meant that we were completely isolating ourselves from the outside world. So those news and important events we learned for him were highly valuable to us.

We had learned from him that instead of fighting the new leadership, the people of Grey Moon accepted the new alpha with open arms. Well, I couldn’t blame them. Alpha Casimir was ruthless, unjust, and a power-tripper. I personally witnessed how he abused his power. Isn’t that my reason for leaving Grey Moon in the first place?

But now that he was gone and the new alpha was demanding our presence, then I think it was time to go back. While I was thankful for the knowledge and useful life experiences that I obtained here in the wild, I couldn’t deny how difficult our life here was. There were times that we didn’t have some food to eat or perhaps our camp was destroyed by a storm. There were some moments when I missed the comforts and protection that our pack was able to provide. I also missed Uncle Stan.

“Maggie?” I called my cousin’s attention. “I think it was time to—”

“I will not set foot on that pack again. Ever,” she said. She sat down on a boulder while fixing our firewoods.

“But you heard what the tracker said. We need to go back or else, we are going to die here.”

“Then so be it. I am ready to die anyway.”

“But Maggie—”

“I said no!” she yelled. She threw away the firewoods she was holding while looking at me without flinching. “Please don’t push it, Aria. I said I will not go back to our pack and that is final.”

“Then give me an acceptable reason why you didn’t want to,” I challenged. “Unless you tell me the reason, we will be having this conversation until you agreed.”

Maggie stood up while putting his hands on his head. He was pacing back and forth, contemplating whether she would tell me her reasons or not. Maggie knew me very well. She knew that I would keep on opening this conversation with her until I urged her to side with me.

Again, Maggie sat down. This time, tears are flooding her face. “I just…I just didn’t have the face to see dad. I’d rather be dead instead of seeing his disappointed face.”

“What do you mean?” I inched closer and sat next to her. “I don’t understand. Why would Uncle Stan be disappointed if you will come home?”

She took a deep breath before opening her mouth again. “Two years ago, I met a vampire one night while strolling into the woods. And that vampire was my mate.”

My jaw dropped to the ground upon hearing her story. However, my mouth remained shut. Maggie was mated to a vampire? What the hell!

“Knowing that our pack would not accept our union, we decided to run away. He convinced me to come with him to their vampire coven, stating that our love would have a bigger chance to be accepted there.”

“So…that’s the reason why you run away without telling us, right?”

“Yes,” she responded. “I ran away to be with him. But when we arrived at the coven, his parents, who are the head of the coven, opposed our union. They urged him to marry another vampire who happened to be a daughter of a high-ranking noble in their place. At first, he refused. But when his parents threatened to disown and disinherit him, he…he…he abandoned me.”

Maggie’s voice cracked upon uttering the last word. I put her head on my chest and wrapped my arms around her. So this was the reason why she decided to live as a rogue.

“I couldn’t face you and my father after what had happened. How will I tell both of you that I left to be with my mate who abandoned me in the end? I was so stupid to believe his words. I didn’t deserve you or my father. I am worthless! I am dumb and useless!”

“Stop it, Maggie! Don’t you ever say that!” This time, I moved her body away from mine and faced her. “He didn’t deserve you. You are wonderful, kind, and beautiful. And besides, I know that Uncle Stan would be happy to see you back in his arms.”

“Really, Aria? What if he wouldn’t accept me? I hurt him big time!”

“Everybody makes mistakes. Uncle Stan loves you and that would never change.”

“I…I don’t know, Aria. What if you are wrong? What if he drives me away?” Her face was full of doubts and uncertainties. I heaved a sigh.

“There’s only one way to find out whether I am right or wrong,” I stated. “Let us go back to Grey Moon and see for ourselves.”

“Who are you?”

Maggie and I glanced at each other as the one-eyed man stared daggers at us. We were currently at Grey Moon’s western border and planning to cross it when this tracker confronted us.

A part of me wanted to run away or fight this one-eyed tracker but I knew for a fact that this would not give us any good. We knew that revealing ourselves in the open like this was like inviting others to prey on us and yet, we still decided to continue. Our goal was to enter the Grey Moon territory and by that, we meant that we have to face the pack’s trackers and warriors.

“I said, who are you and what are you doing here out in the wild?!”

The tracker’s voice raised a little compared to his last query. His face was now flushing while giving us an intimidating stare. He also moved his head from side to side while his fingers slightly moving. Uh oh! The one-eyed tracker seemed to be ready to arrest or fight with us.

Beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. My heart was also banging inside my chest. We have to do something to pacify him or else we will be dead before we could see Uncle Stan. Not that we couldn’t fight this werewolf in front of us, we just didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention from others. Fighting one wolf is one thing and yet, fighting a group of skilled warriors was another level.

“We…We…”

“What’s going on here?”

The sound from another man took our attention. It was Oliver, inching himself towards us. The one-eyed tracker turned around and bowed his head. The gesture made me wonder. Could it be that Oliver was one of the high-ranking wolves in this new pack leadership?

“Sir, I found these two rogues walking around the area. I believe that they were spies who were—”

“They were not.”

“Sir?” His forehead creased after hearing his leader.

“You heard me, boy. They were not rogues and definitely not spies. In fact, these two she-wolves are my friends.” And then, he turned his gaze to us while wearing a friendly smile. “Hello, Aria and Maggie. It’s been a while since we last see each other.”

“H-Hi, Oliver,” I greeted back. Maggie didn’t say anything but waved his hand while smiling back. The one-eyed tracker was even more confused seeing our exchanges of greeting.

“I’ll take these two lovely ladies with me as I go back to the pack. Also, I will tell your team leader what you did and make sure that you will receive some reward. Keep on doing a great job! We need trackers as vigilant as you to keep our borders safe.”

The face of the tracker lit up after hearing it. “Thank you, Sir! I appreciate your kindness!” He even bowed his head, lower than the first one he did earlier, before gesturing his hand to go with Oliver. I took Maggie’s hand before stepping back to the land I avoided for a year.

We walked with Oliver as we continue to inch closer to the place I once called home. Eyes darted on us whenever we encounter a tracker post. But seeing we were walking nonchalantly with one of their own, they didn’t dare to confront us. This gave me peace of mind.

The trees became sparse indicating that we have reached the pack village. Oliver stopped his movements and spoke. “This is the farthest I could take you.”

I heaved a sigh before looking at him. Maggie did the same and said, “Thank you, Oliver.”

He caressed the back of his head. “I am just returning the favor you did for me back in the woods. If not for the both of you, I wouldn’t be here. So I guess we are even, hmm?”

Maggie and I chuckled. Oliver waved his goodbye before going back to his post. A few moments later, we are back on our own. We continued on our journey.

It wasn’t long before we saw the entrance of Uncle Stan’s house. Whatever led us to this situation was way out of the plan. We were supposed to live as rogues for the rest of our lives yet here we are. Fear took over my being as the reality of the whole situation struck me. I shuddered, worrying about how Uncle Stan would react to us coming home. But I can’t show that to Maggie. If she would see even a tiny bit of hesitation, she might end up running back to the woods.

I turned to Maggie. “Are you ready to enter the house now?”.

As if she had a choice, Maggie nodded in agreement. Only this time, I grabbed her hand. She looked at me for a moment indirectly asking what was going on. I smiled at her in return.

“We are in this together, Maggie.” I winked at her. “Do the honors, please.”

Maggie smiled before I saw her put her hand on her right temple. She narrowed her eyes a bit. I could sense that she was mind-linking Uncle Stan. My instinct was proven correct as I saw her father spring out from the entrance door.

Tears started to stream down our faces when we both see him. He looked thinner from what I remembered last time. He also had bags under his eyes, a clear indication of sleepless nights. Poor Uncle Stan! He must have been too worried about us.

“Maggie? Aria?”

“Dad!” Maggie ran toward him, stretching her arms in the process. She wrapped her arms around her old man as tightly as she could. Both father and daughter were bawling as they fell slowly to the ground.

“I’m sorry, Dad! I was a fool for leaving you. What I did was unforgivable. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Uncle Stan continued to pacify his long-lost daughter. He constantly stroked her back while giving her tiny kisses on the head.

“Hush now, child. Daddy is here. Daddy is here.”

It took them a little while to stay in that position. The sight melted my heart. The two of them had suffered long enough so they deserve every ounce of this tearful reunion. After a while, Uncle Stan stretched one of his hands and turned to me.

“What are you doing there, Aria? Come over here and give your Uncle Stan a hug!”

And I did. Aria scooted over and together with Uncle Stan, they wrapped me in their arms. The long wait was over.

Finally, Maggie and I were home.

*****

The sound of my heels echoed along the footsteps of my family. We were going to the pack house where the inauguration of the new alpha would commence. This was so different from when I went to the pack gathering ages ago. I heard Uncle Stan and Maggie’s chatters as we kept walking to the venue. Meanwhile, I silently observed all the changes that took place in the pack.

There were still cabins made of woods, tall trees, and gardens for every house, and I could see some pups clad in their adorable proper attire. I also caught some stares directed at us with curiosity. I could see that they couldn't recognize me at first glance, but every time they saw Dad and Maggie behind me, recognition flashed to their faces.

It’s been three days since Maggie and I went home. We told Uncle Stan our reasons on how we saw each other in the woods and why we ended up running away. Maggie was still emotional thinking about how her mate deserted her. But to his Uncle Stan’s words, it was never her fault. He also added that maybe, the moon goddess would still shower her grace upon her and would give her another chance at love.

As for me, he often wondered why I didn’t mindlink him when the alpha tried to assault me. I told him that he took me to the pack borders, a place where our mindlinking abilities would not work.

Also, I was too scared to even think straight. Before I remembered to link into his mind, I already crossed the other side and was too far to make a connection.

“Aria, what is my gorgeous cousin thinking? Are you enjoying their attention?” Maggie interpreted my thoughts and casually glanced at the other side, pointing her stares to a group of men curiously staring at us. All of them were good-looking but weren’t enough to keep my attention.

“No, Maggie. I live as a rogue for a year. As if I was interested in any of their attention.”I scoffed. Maggie shook her head and continued walking. Uncle Stan told us today was the Ritual Day, on which the new Alpha would be officially announced and acknowledged in the ball. Everyone in the pack should attend, if not, they would be regarded as disrespectful and not acknowledging him.

“Aria, we are almost there. I can see the ball from here. Are you okay? Are you decided that we'll stay in this pack?” Maggie asked. Then she whispered, “We could still run away from all of this and we could bring dad with us. What do you think?”

I shook my head and breathed a deep sigh. “No, Maggie. We will stay here in the pack. We will acknowledge this new alpha and will give him a chance. Don't worry about me. I will be fine.” Maggie nodded in agreement as we stepped closer to the venue. A few minutes later, we reached the ball.

Attending social gatherings was never my thing. I’d rather stay inside my room and read my books. Unlike Maggie, I didn’t have friends. So when we stepped into the crowd and saw some familiar faces, it was easy for her to blend with them and catch up. Uncle stand did the same to his friends.

Feeling bored, I leaned on Uncle Stan’s ears. “Uncle Stan, when will this ball officially start? I thought we were in a hurry?”

“We are still waiting for the Alpha. He'll be around at exactly nine in the evening.”

“I see,” I answered. Can I stroll around first? I'll be back by then.”

“Alright, just make sure you’ll be back on time.” He gestured for me to go away before Maggie could see me. I shook my head and smiled. Uncle Stan really knows when to give me my privacy whenever I need it.

I found peace in the backyard of the pack house, which was now occupied by the new alpha. I silently walked towards a log that caught my attention and quietly appreciated my solace. However, my newfound peace didn't last when I saw a half-naked man casually walking toward the house. He wore rugged pants. His hair was messy and his toned chest was sparkling with sweat. I retracted my gaze when his deep set of eyes landed on me. I gasped.

Oh, shit! He is drop-dead gorgeous!