• Chapter One •

|E T H A N ' S P O V|

- Twelve Years Ago -

Ethan's small paws were tired and in pain, as he tried to stay close to his mother who was running at full speed towards a neighboring pack not caring at all about her six-year-old son who was struggling to keep up with her.

The two were running because their pack was currently being under attack by a pack of rogues, who were releasing a strange chemical into the air that made anyone who inhaled it go insane before they started attacking people next to them. It didn't matter if you were friends, family, or even mates, people were just attacking people or being attacked themselves.

The Alpha of their pack had ordered everyone who was still sane to run to the neighboring pack so that they could hide while he called for help and fix the chaos that was happening around them. Unfortunately for Ethan, the neighboring pack was a long way from his pack and his mother wasn't a very calm or patient woman.

Most people would assume that mothers would always think about their children first before themselves but not this particular woman.

This woman was cruel and heartless.

She didn't care that her son was starting to fall behind, she didn't care that her son could get himself hurt somehow, she didn't even care that her son could be attacked by a rogue at any given second.

All she cared about was her own pitiful and selfish life.

"C-Can you slow down please?" Ethan whined through their mind link which only made his mother let out an irritated grunt.

'No.' She barked as she fastened her pace.

'P-Please my paws h-hurt.' Ethan begged.

'I. Said. No. Ethan' She growled in annoyance. 'Look. If you want to go slower you can but I'm not waiting up for up.' She stated motionlessly.

'W-Why not?' Ethan asked in a barely audible voice.

'Because I said so. I'm not risking my life for a mistake like you!' She spat.

It fell dead silent for a few seconds. The only sound that was heard was the sound of their paws running through the dirt before Ethan asked in a small voice:

'W-Why are you so mean to me?'

'Stop pestering me with your d_mn questions, Ethan.' She hissed.

'B-But-' Before Ethan could finish his sentence he was cut off by his mother who suddenly stopped in her tracks which made Ethan bump into her legs.

'You know what Ethan? I've decided that I'm going to leave you here.' She stated as she pushed her son down to the ground with her muzzle.

'What? W-Why Mom?' Ethan whimpered as he make's an attempt to stand up only for his mother to push him down again.

'Because you're slowing me down!" She exclaimed angrily. 'I would have already been there by now if it weren't for you!' She roared lividly which made Ethan tremble in fear.

'P-Please don't leave me.' Ethan pleaded.

'Shut up you baby.' Ethan's mother sneered. 'If I see you following me I'll finish you off myself.' She promised as she glared at her son before taking off running in the direction of where the neighboring pack was located leaving her son alone and defenseless.

Ethan ears and tail to drooped downwards as he let out a small whimper of sadness once he noticed that his mother was no longer in sight. He started hoping and praying that his mother would suddenly come back saying this was some type of sick prank she was pulling before going to the other pack together.

But she never came back......

It was now night time and Ethan hadn't moved a single inch from his spot since he was too scared of getting eaten or lost if he were to take off somewhere.

So he stayed put.

As he sat in his spot, waiting for his mother to return, he could feel himself slowly drifting off into 'dreamland' as his eyelids begun to flutter shut while his head started to droop downwards.

'Let me just rest my eyelids for a little bit.' And just like that Ethan was asleep, dreaming about what six-year-old usually dreamt about.

An hour had passed since Ethan's had fallen asleep but he was suddenly awoken by the sound of the bush leaves rustling

"Mommy?" Ethan asked as he looked around hoping to find his mother.

Ethan let out a little yip to see if his mother would reply only to hear the sounds of four wolves growling at him as they appear from out the shadow so that they could surround him.

Ethan let out a string of whimpers and whines as he hoped that the rogues would leave him alone since he was just a harmless and defenseless pup.

But they didn't care.

The one who was obviously the leader of the other three jumped at Ethan and roughly picked him up from off the ground by the scruff of his neck. Then he started shaking his head violently. Ethan let out a cry as he felt the back of his neck stretch painfully before the fur and skin separated, causing the blood to eventually seep through the freshly made wound.

The wolf who had a hold of Ethan let go of his scruff which caused him to fly straight into a tree with a thud before falling limply to the ground. He let out a shaky whine as he stood up onto his paws wobbly but his legs gave out which caused him to fall back onto the ground.

Ethan looked up when he heard the dominant wolf snort in amusement as he started to make his way towards Ethan. Ethan had enough time to inspect the scar on him that was running across one side of his neck to the other before the wolf clamped his teeth around Ethan's throat which instantly blocked his airways.

Ethan let out a whimper as he weakly pushed and scratched at the wolf only for him to tighten his hold which caused blood to spill out. Ethan vision had begun to blur and he started seeing black dots surrounding his vision. But just before he about to submit to the darkness, the dominant wolf was suddenly tackled to the ground.

Ethan fell out of the wolf's mouth and onto the ground which forced out a yelp from his lips. He blinked a few times so he could clear his vision, and once he was able to he see, he saw the Alpha's son running towards him. He let out a high pitched whimper when the Alphas son suddenly picked him up by his injured scruff before running away from the four rogues.

"I'm so sorry pup." The Alpha's son panted. "I know it hurts now but down worry once were somewhere safe I'll fix you up." He assured as he tried to run away from the four wolves chasing him. It was useless since the rogues were probably in their late twenties while the Alphas son was only in his mid-teens.

Ethan heard a commanding bark from behind him and the next thing he knew, two of the rogues from behind them bit into the Alphas son's hind leg, causing him to topple over.

Ethan fell out of the Alphas sons mouth and slid across the dirt. Once he wasn't moving he looked at his savior to see him being circled by the two wolves who had bit his legs.

"Run!" The Alphas son commanded as he jumped at one of the wolves.

Ethan was quick to obey and took off running while the dominant wolf and one other chased after him. He ran as fast as he could but begun to panic when they easily caught up to him since he was only a small pup. He started thinking about submitting and giving up to the rogues in hopes of being killed quickly and painlessly but before he could come up with a decision he skidded to a halt. In front of him dropped a cliff.

He gulped when he saw how long the drop was before the water could be seen and decided to back away slowly. He stopped moving when he heard vicious growling coming from behind him which made him look back to see his two chasers.

At that moment Ethan had two choices. He could either be eaten alive or drown in water.

After he had chosen one of his given choices he heard the two rogues running straight towards him. He blocked them out and gulped nervously as a flash of hesitation hit him before he shook it off and bolted straight for the cliff's edge where he took one large leap straight into the air.

The dominate rogues tried to grab Ethan's scruff again but the small pup was just far enough from him so the only thing the rogue caught between his teeth was fresh air as Ethan fell straight for the water.

When Ethan's body made contact with the cold water he felt completely weightless as his body drifted away with the current leading him to the unknown.

- Present Time -

Grrr~!

Ethan grumbled in irritation as his stomach grumbled for the tenth time today. Ethan was very weak and very hungry which wasn't a very good combination seeing as he needed the strength to hunt to be able to fill his empty stomach.

It's been an entire week since Ethan's last meal which was only a very small and unfulfilling mouse. Usually, Ethan would scavenge off of dead animal carcasses left by other hunters or hunt catchable animals like rabbits but there hasn't been a lot of kills happening around the area and he hasn't seen any catchable animals for the past few days.

'I'm so hungry~!' The voice inside Ethan's head complained. 'When are you going to hunt or something?'

'When I feel like it.' Ethan sassed.

'Get up and hunt Ethan!' The voice snapped. 'I'm so hungry'

'Okay. Okay. Okay.' Ethan rolled his eyes at the voice before he stood up and begun sniffing around in the air for something to eat.

Ethan had no idea the voice inside his head was his wolf. Ethan had just assumed he had gone crazy over the past few years of loneliness and he made up a voice in his head so he had someone to talk to.

It's been exactly twelve years since his mother had abandoned Ethan, and he had drifted away from his pack. Over the years Ethan had completely forgotten about being part human since he has been in his wolf form since the day he was abandoned. He even forgot about his mother when he turned ten since the only thing he was thinking about was survival and food.

'Hey. I can smell a stream that's up ahead.' Ethan stated. 'Maybe we could catch some fish.'

'Fish sounds great!' The voice exclaimed. 'Onwards! Peasant!'

'Who said I was your peasant?' Ethan asked as he trotted towards his destination.

'I did, obviously.' The voice said in a 'duh' tone before continuing. 'Now hush you small minded peasant for I must focus on an important task!'

'What is this 'important task' of yours?' Ethan asked with amusement.

'Annoying you until we die of course!' The voice exclaimed proudly before ending it with a maniacal chuckle.

'.......Right.'

Ethan continued to chat with the voice as they journeyed to the stream. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination and when they did they instantly saw a bunch of fish swimming by.

'Yes! There's fish!' The voice cheered happily. 'I know they're not big but at least it an easy dinner.'

'Yeah.' Ethan agreed.

Ethan wasn't the best hunter around so when it came to hunting bigger animals, like deer, Ethan would usually end up eating dirt rather than meat. So he usually just stuck with hunting animals smaller than him like raccoons and rabbits.

He had watched a lot of animals hunt before and he would usually try to hunt like but for some reason, he would either leave with an emptier stomach or with a few injured body parts thanks to all of the deer that decides to trample all over him.

That day was a very painful day.

Ethan shook away the thought before he started swiping at the waters in hopes of catching a fish or two. He occasionally dunks his head in to see if he were able to catch a fish with his mouth only to taste the water. He huffed in irritation before he decided to give it one more try.

His eyes zoomed in on a fish swimming along minding his own business. Ethan made sure to keep still as a rock so he didn't scare the fish away. Just as the fish swam by him, Ethan quickly dunks his head under the water where he then opened the mouth before clasping his mouth around the fish.

'I did it!' Ethan cheered happily but his happiness soon ended when a loud sound was heard, frightening Ethan which made him accidentally drop his fish back into the water.

Grrr~!

'........Was that your stomach?' The voice asked.

'No.' Ethan stated in confusion. He didn't feel his stomach move at all when the sound was heard.

He was going to brush it off and try to catch him another fish when he suddenly saw two large bears beginning to jump into the water where they started catching fish.

'Hey! They're scaring away the food!' The voice complained as the fish begun to swim away from the area as fast as they could. 'Do something, Ethan!'

'You want me to stand up against two VERY BIG bears who also have VERY BIG teeth?' Ethan asked in exaggeration.

'Well, duh.' The voice stated.

'I'm not dying today sorry.' Ethan stated as he turned around to walk away only to bump into something he was trying to avoid.

A bear.

'Too late.' The voice snickered.

The bears growled at Ethan who wanted to roll onto his back and show off his belly submissively but the voice inside his head was commanding him to growl at the larger bears so they could show them who's really boss. So Ethan did what he always did when the voice told him to do something.

He obeyed.

Ethan gulped shakingly before he let out a very wimpy growl which made the voice in his head facepalm while the bears gave him a weird look before they let out their own ground shaking growl.

'What do we do now!?' Ethan asked as he panics.

'Ummm...maybe we should consider running!' Without a second thought in his mind Ethan took off running back into the forest with the bears following right behind him.

'This is all your fault you know?' Ethan asked in irritation to the voice inside his head.

'Yup.'