Cross My Heart

Chapter 1

I stared down at the blank page. The curser was just sitting in the same spot it had been for the last hour. It was openly mocking me for not getting this assignment done sooner. I mean, it's not like I didn't have a whole months notice or anything.

I groaned and rest my head in my hands. This had not been my year. Everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong. My car had broken down and was going to need a new engine, my job had let me go due to "overstaffing" issues, and the cherry on top of this hell hole of a life had been my father having to be away from the family for a few months now. Alpha Kane had sent him on some sort of mission that was supposedly top secret so that meant my mother and I couldn't join him on his efforts.

She tried her best to keep up a happy façade but she and I both knew that it was all just for show. You see, when a wolf finds their mate it's very hard for them to be apart for long periods of time. It's almost a physical pain we feel. They say that the longer two wolves have been together, the easier it gets. But even in my parents case, being gone for months at a time is taking a toll on them. My mothers unrest assures me my father should be home soon, or at least I hope.

The mission that he was sent away on apparently had something to do with all the rogue attacks we have been having lately. A rogue wolf is someone who no longer has a pack. Some of them are decent people and never attack, while most of them are the scum of the earth. A wolf becomes a rogue for many reasons. For instance, when a pack is destroyed or disbanded, the survivors have an option to become rogues or try to become part of another pack. That's the good instances.

Most of the rogues are pure evil. They've been exiled from their pack because of attempting to over throw the Alpha and failing, rape, murder, attempted murder, stuff of that nature. Those are the ones who give all the rogues a bad name. Granted we hardly ever see an innocent rogue just freely roaming around, 

I sighed and rubbed my temples. If I was going to get this done, now would be the best time. 

I stared down at the clock on my desk. It was only 9pm. I guess this was going to be another long night of working on something I should have had done weeks ago. I cracked my fingers and sighed. Might as well get this done so I can at least get a few minutes of sleep.

***

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the screen before hitting the save button. The clock on my desk now read 3:45am. Well that only took me almost 7 hours. I sighed and closed my laptop. 

Why do you do this to yourself? Mia, my wolf, piped up. That was one perk of being a werewolf. We were never alone. I always had someone to talk to. We were two souls that shared one body. Well kind of. You see, she is my wolf counterpart. I'm her human form. When we shift, she takes control and transforms into her true wolf self while I stay in the back of her mind. 

Because I love the exhaustion. I reply back to her in a sarcastic tone. I feel her huff before circling around and laying down. She has been asleep for most of my dramatic night but woke up once she realized I was finished.

I walked over to my huge bed and flopped down, making the blankets fly up around me. I had no time for my nightly routine so I just fell asleep where I lay.

As I drifted off into my sleep world, something felt off. The normal darkness that would engulf me turned into the most beautiful meadow I have ever laid my eyes upon This looked like something you would see in a fairytale, it was very serene. A waterfall sat in the center of the meadow. A log seat was placed in front of the waterfall. 

I noticed a woman sitting there just watching the water as it cascaded down into the pool below. A white and gold aura surrounded her. Her white hair fell straight down her back and almost touched the forest floor. As I stepped closer to her, I noticed she was completely naked. That wasn't completely outlandish. Wolves were very natural creatures and most of the time we never had a spare set of clothes with us after a shift and were left to walk home naked. 

"Come child." Her voice was angelic. It was soft yet stern at the same time. I found myself walking towards her without even thinking about it. Something about this place just felt so......normal. Like I've been here before.

"Who are you?" I was now standing beside her. She continued to look straight ahead. I noticed a smile creep across her face as she patted the seat beside her. I took this as an invitation and sat beside her. She remained silent for a few moments before turning to me. 

I gasped as I looked at her more closely. Her eyes were a bright blue. Not just any blue, the closest thing I could use to describe them would be an electric blue. Yeah, that's it, electric blue. They were so mesmerizing. I've seen these eyes before, or at least I think I have. I had blue eyes, but not nearly as eccentric as hers.

"My name is Selene." She gave me a warm smile as she reached out to move a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"Moon Goddess." My voice was barely a whisper. I couldn't believe this. I was in the presence of the actual Goddess herself. 

"My dear, we only have a short time here. There are some things that you may not understand yet. You will soon face some very challenging times and just know that I can not guide you in which direction you should take." She gave me a weary smile before looking over to the edge of the woods. I glanced in the direction she was looking and spotted a solid white wolf coming towards us.

"Mia." I said as she got closer. Mia stood beside the Goddess and nodded her head. Mia was large for a she-wolf. My mother had always said I had been graced with some special abilities. I had always assumed she meant that in a motherly type way.

"Mia will help you through these trying times as best she can, but in the end it will be up to you." She lay her hand on Mia's snout before placing her forehead against Mia's. 

"Moon Goddess, how will I know which way I should go?" She looked over to me.

"Only you will know which path to choose," she paused before sniffing around then looked back down to me, "Our time here is up my dear. I need you to wake up and alert the others now." She waved her hand and just like that, everything was gone. I was sitting in my bed now. My hair had matted to my face. I sniffed around and caught a faint scent of decaying flesh.

Rogues. Mia had growled in my head. Without thinking I leapt into action. I ran down the hallway to my parents room and started beating on their door. 

"What...." he swung the door open angrily before looking at me and calming his tone. "Babygirl, what's going on?"

"Rogues. They're attacking." I was panicking although I'm not sure why. I had run these drills multiple times before and knew exactly what to do. I watched as my father quickly turned and woke my mother up. I heard shuffling in the room before they were both sprinting outside. My mother ran towards the Alpha's room to inform him and the Luna. I darted down the stairs with my father. I had been training ever since I was a pup and refused to let anyone tell me I couldn't fight with the others. 

Before I could think we were out the door and running towards the scent. My nose crumpled in disgust as we got nearer to the boarder. The smell of rotten flesh mixed with fresh blood. I knew that meant that some of our guards were either wounded or dead just by the smell.

'They're over there' My father mindlinked me. He had shifted into wolf form before his feet even hit the ground after leaving the Packhouse. I was still in my human form since I had trained in human form before I ever gained Mia. 

I took off running in the direction he had pointed to. The smell of blood and decaying flesh grew stronger with every step I took. I stopped right at the edge of the forest and tried to sense where they were hiding. A twig snapped to my left and before I knew it I had pinned one of the rogues down to the ground. I looked him over and felt Mia tug in the back of my mind.

This rogue was not much older than me. His eyes searched around trying to look every where but at me. His black hair was matted up and drenched in sweat. Blood was splattered all over him. His green eyes were fixated on me. He looked tired, scared, and angry all at once. 

He's of no harm to us. 

Are you sure? I had never doubted Mia's judgment until now. We were face to face with a rogue wolf and here she was telling me he was no harm to us?

Would I lie to you? I shook my head and looked back down at the boy that I had pinned down.

"Go hide. There's a cave near by that is hidden by foliage." I pointed in the general direction of the cave. It shouldn't be too hard to find if you're actually looking for it. " Move it away and hide in there. I will come and find you when all of this is over." I let him go and he scurried to his feet. He gave me a confused look before taking off in the direction I had pointed. 

I really hope you know what you're doing Mia.  I was met with silence. I could feel her just trying to focus on the fight. 

Just as I had started to look around, I heard a blood curdling howl. I quickly headed in the direction it came from, careful to avoid any fallen branches. The howls continued but before I could reach them I was tackled to the ground.

I stared up at my attacker trying to look scared. His wolf snarled at me for a moment. Before I knew it, he was shifting into his human form. 

Mia, I'm going to need you to lend me a hand here.  I felt her nod and all of a sudden a burst of energy flowed through me. Before the rogue even had time to think I had punched him in the left side of his ribs. He rolled over onto the ground and wallowed in pain. I didn't waste any time straddling over top of him. I let my pent up anger flow through me as I landed blow after blow to his face until he was knocked unconscious.

Panting, I stood above him and smirked. I was proud of my work. For as small as I am in human form, I sure do land a mean hit.

My glory was short lived though. Before I knew it two of his buddies had begun to circle me. Both of them were in wolf form and not backing down. I stood in the center of both of them and watched as they contemplated their next move.

You ready for this Mia?  She nodded in agreement. There was no need to explain what I was thinking since she could hear my every thought.