The Alpha Beast's Rebel Wolf

Ch. 05

NARRATIVE POV

Get up! The voice nudged in her head, but the darkness and chill enveloping her were too welcoming.

A pack of domestic wolves surrounded the body of the deceased teen. Their fur was stained with her sticky, spilled body that coated the cement floor she lay cold and unmoving on. Each wolf took turns nipping at her bloated, clammy flesh, some breaking skin.

The blood on their snouts added a touch of feral to their already intimidating appearance.

The smallest of the three wolves walked forward and licked the wounds on her lifeless face. Her head was cracked open; there was no healing to be seen taking place on the body they stumbled upon.

It was in their nature to devour the flesh of prey found. Dead or alive, they were hungry but were called to this area for a purpose.

The larger male wolf that flanked the body's left side took another bite into the arm of the deceased teen. The cold blood slowly drips out. There was no life in the body left. A simple reminder that the soul was gone. This body was free to be devoured by hungry predators. Hungry wolves.

The wolf at her head continued to lap up the sticky blood from the open head wound. Her hair was matted in knotted chunks of dirt, debris and dried blood.

Get up! The voice shouted louder.

Again, it was ignored. How can one respond when there is no life left to push?

The shards of glass and metal from the shattered cell phone stuffed in her bra coated inside the bullet wound through her heart—the finale of her attack.

The assault from the baseball bat that crushed her skull, broken ribs that punctured her organs and broken limbs weren't enough to ensure her demise. They finished the job with a bullet to her heart.

They wanted to ensure there was no chance of survival, and now, a small pack of three domestic wild wolves would devour her castaway body.

Only Seventeen. She had such a promising future. Academically, she was an honour roll student. Advanced in her studies. She was offered early acceptance into the university program before final exams last year but was turned down. She wanted one more year to develop before heading out into the world alone, but now—a life snuffed too soon.

GET UP! The voice screamed. The wrath within the voice rattled the hollow walls of limbo.

That was where her soul was. Limbo. Neither living nor dead. Trapped and surrounded by a chilling darkness. She felt no pain, however. She wasn't in paradise with the great Wolf Mother—the Goddess. No, but no pain was all she could ask for now. She didn't need anything else.

Get up! Do you not seek vengeance? The voice hissed bitterly. The disappointment was evident. This wasn't her wolf. No. She felt no wolf within her.

I am no wolf spirit. I am vengeance! Get up! The voice snarled. Anger rattled the hollow space surrounding her.

Where was the Goddess? When a wolf dies, they go to the Goddess. Who was Vengeance?

Duality is within everything! The Goddess has an unseen dark side, and I am she! Now, take my hand and claim what you seek! The voice hissed.

The voice expressed a heaviness of emotions, a darkness, darker than the darkness that surrounded her.

The wolves surrounding her body continued to bite into her cold, bloating flesh. Her stale blood is too lazy to drain now with no life. Rigimortis is beginning to set in. She could feel it taking effect. The window of vengeance was closing.

GET UP! The voice roared with authority.

CC's body lunged up as she gasped back to life. She was cold. So cold. Her body shivered uncontrollably as she looked around, panicking. She was afraid that the danger was still present. She couldn't remember what she was scared of, however.

Her eyes. There was something wrong with her eyes. Everything she saw was in different lighting. It was dull and had low lighting.

There was no movement within the warehouse except the three wild wolves sitting next to her body. They made no other movement; they watched her curiously as she took in everything around her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words were found. The hole in her chest expelled the air, and she gasped. She wanted to inspect it but couldn't.

Her arms were stuck in unmovable positions, forcing her to roll her shoulders circularly back. They snapped into their sockets with hollowed pops. Swinging her bent arm out, her elbow jerked into alignment.

With a shaky hand, she removed the shattered cell phone from her blood-soaked bra. She looked at the phone with heightened curiosity. Her memory was scattered. Flashes came— a swing baseball bat, closed fists. Nothing more. Faceless attackers. The echoes of her screams and cries for help haunted her mind.

She dropped the phone and clenched her head, filling with the screams. The pain was returning. No. Phantom pains.

She felt no pain.

It was a memory. Memories of an event she couldn't recall.

The cold stickiness of the blood from her head drew in her focus now. She ran her slender finger along the crack in her skull. There should have been pain, but there wasn't.

The smaller wolf stepped forward and licked the stickiness from her fingertip, startling her. The wolf leaned in and continued to lick the residue on her temple, cleaning her wounds.

She sat still. Unsure if she should enjoy the sensation it was stirring or be frightened.

Her eyes drifted to her twisted leg.

A memory flashed again—a man. A large man pointed down at a crying and pleading teenage girl; he was stomping on the now twisted leg.

Her leg.

She was the pleading teenage girl. She remembered now.

She leaned forward, feeling a pinch in her side. She ignored the annoyance and captured the twisted leg between both hands. Snapping it straight and setting it properly.

The wolf to her right whimpered at the gesture. Her eyes snapped to the whimpering wolf. It inched closer, offering comfort.

When she ran her fingers through its thick, coarse coat, the feel of the fur sparked something in her. What, she wasn't sure.

Another wolf nudged forward, asking for attention like the others. Her trembling, clammy fingers stretched out, reaching for the third wolf before her.

Where are they hers? She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Again, she took in the surroundings. There was nothing else. No one else was around. Just her and these three wolves.

Get up! The voice hissed again, pushing her to her feet.

As she struggled to her feet, everything dislocated or separated snapped back into its proper place within her body. A sharp electricity coursed through her, like a battery charging her.

The hole in her chest that she wanted to explore had healed. The skin had closed the hole. The crimson stain and stiffness of the material were the only reminders of what once was there.

The wolves stood with her. They flanked her side protectively.

She stiffly stepped towards the doorway of the abandoned warehouse, the wolves matching her staggered pace. She stared down at the door handle in confusion for a while before reaching to pull it open, releasing them into the wilderness.

The brightness of the daylight stung her eyes, causing her to take a retreating step back with a vicious hiss. Her hand went up to shield her sensitive eyes.

A wolf's growl drew her attention.

The growl wasn't for her. No. The wolf charged forward with a growl to find what had assaulted her, causing her to hiss in pain and discomfort. The wolf did not realize it was the sun itself.

Ignoring her dry, sensitive eyes, she reached out, snapping her fingers, commanding the wolf to fall back into line. The growling stopped, and the tips of her fingers were met with the warm sensation of the wolf's lapping tongue.

She sighed and pushed herself to step outside the dark shelter into the bright, unforgiving light of the high overhead sunshine.

The dirt gravel below was scattered with rushed footsteps, both male and female. Deep, turned-up tire treads indicated a quick departure, perhaps.

Where did those observations come from? She wasn't sure. Her head buzzed.

A black SUV flashed in her mind.

She was inside it with two people—an older woman and a young man driving. They were chatting in hushed whispers in the front while she saw herself sitting in the back, lost in the details of the passing scenery.

Her body swayed with the jerked stop of the SUV in her memory.

"We're here," a man's voice echoed in her head.

She looked around the empty space, looking for the voice, forgetting it was a flash of memory. She was alone. Her wolves sat patiently beside her as she worked through her memories and reality.

Her head tilted, she watched the SUV from her memory park along the side of the dirt space. Her legs stiffly carried her to where she remembered exiting the SUV. Old tire tracks remained.

She stood there frozen. I waited for more memories, but none came.

A growl came behind her, and she found one of her wolves had come out of the long grass with a bag in its mouth.

She crouched down, claiming the bag from the wolf. She couldn't figure out its importance or the mechanics of opening it with her staggering motor skills, but the wolf gave her a sense of necessity. She put her slender arms through the holes of the straps and wore it on her back.

Another wolf yipped in front of her—a sign to follow.

Her body jerked with a phantom tremor. Her feet dug into the loose gravel, and she stepped forward to follow the wolf's lead away from the abandoned building that was once her resting place.