Prologue
***
The woods were never quite for no reason. I grew up to learn that the hard way. And now, as I desperately ran for my life, I was made aware of that once again.
Branches slashed across my face as I ran, and with every few steps I would run into the trunk of a massive tree, and I would collapse only to rise to my feet and continue running.
Blood trickled over my face, leaking into my eyes and blinding me. I could taste it on my lips as well, and it was all I could do to keep running and make sure he wouldn't get to me.
Behind me, I could hear the heavy footsteps. The wolf thundered towards me, and sooner or later he would catch up to me. And then my fate would be decided. But I couldn't give up. I wouldn't give it. I had to fight until the end, even if it meant I would be at a disadvantage. But if this was how I would die, then so be it.
I broke into a small clearing, where the trees were not so clustered together and I could just make out an opening in the thickets up ahead. The sound of gushing water was not too far away, and I could could guess that it was the river. Perhaps if I could get safely across, then I could be safe from him.
With all my might, I sprinted across the clearing, just as he burst through the trees behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw the great black wolf charging towards me with murder in his eyes.
My own wolf withered, and I could feel her withdraw into a deep, dark space inside me. She refused to fight, and I was doomed without her. The problem was that she recognized him as a kindred spirit, and she refused to fight against her own.
But clearly, he wasn't feeling the same way. He wanted to kill me. He had tried already. And now, he wouldn't stop until I was buried six feet under.
As I ran through the opening, the river was just visible ahead of me. I could see the water now, thrashing against the rocks and creating great white foams.
I had to get across. It was my only hope. But he was much closer now, so close that I could smell his foul breath in the air.
Right at the bank of the river, he leapt at me, knocking me to the ground. I tumbled against the sand and grazed my arm against a jagged rock.
I cried out, but it was swallowed by the howl which came from him as he stood above me.
'Give it up, Alyssa,' he whispered in my mind. 'You can't defeat me.'
He enjoyed it, with a sadistic grin as he watched me in pain. The sight of my blood only made him laugh, and I couldn't even get away from him.
'This ends here, Alyssa,' he said. 'You can't possibly win against me. I've known you for an eternity now. I know all your tricks, and none of them will work against me'.
He was right. I couldn't beat him, not because he was stronger than me, but because of my wolf's stubbornness to fight against him. No matter how desperately I tried to get her to cooperate, she remained adamant. And her stubbornness would be the end of me.
'I would say my last prayers if I were you,' he said, baring his canines. I couldn't think of anything else to say or do. But as he moved to bite me, something clicked in my head. I saw the way he moved, and I was able to quickly bring my legs up underneath him and knock him up and over me.
He yelped, but before he realized what was happening, he had crashed into the water. The river swept him away, and he continued to yelp as he was driven away from me by the current.
I collapsed to the ground once again, relieved but immensely exhausted. I was still bleeding, and I felt faint. My vision swam, and as I lay there facing the prospect of dying all alone in the heart of the woods, I thought back to the day it all began. Where had my life taken this horrible turn? How did I end up here when just a few years ago, everything was going so well?
I supposed it started that day after summer; the day when my life had been thrown upside down by none other than my own father.
***
