Saving my abused mate

1. The attack

Cara - 6 years ago.

Running through the forest in my wolf form was my favorite thing in the world!  There was nothing like letting your instincts take over and just enjoy life.  My mom had warned me a few times that I had to stay present, it was not a good idea to let your instincts rule over you, but I always believed that she was exaggerating, the whole you could go feral was just a tale to scare little kids, and I wasn't one.  I heard that only the people who had no reason to keep going would succumb to his animal side and forget about the human side.  And I kind of got it, everything was easier when you were an animal.  No worries, no problems, just joy.  

Besides, it was always useful to trust your instincts, like at that moment, when I felt the silence fall over the forest, I knew something was wrong.  I stopped to listen, trying to feel where the threat was coming from, because I was sure there was one, and soon my fear was confirmed, a huge wolf, with battle scars all over his body, came out of the bushes, growling at me.  I knew he was going to hurt me, so I turned and ran, howling at my parents that were near by.

The wolf was chasing me, I could feel his breath at my back, but I had been trained to avoid attacks, I zigzagged through the forest, but it wasn't enough, soon, I was thrown against a tree.  The hit left me dizzy and knocked the air out of my lungs, and I suspected I also had some broken ribs.  I tried to get up, but the pain was too much.  The wolf was in front of me, it was almost as if he was laughing at me, then he showed his teeth and launched himself at me, but before he could connect, another wolf, my dad, jumped on him and they started fighting.

Another wolf, my mom, came and helped me stand up, she shifted and started checking my wounds.  My mom was a beta, a strong one, and I always believed that nothing could scare her, but she was scared, I could tell, and that frightened me more than anything else that had happened.  

"You have to shift my baby," she said, "I know you are in pain, but that will help with the broken bones.  Come on, my dear, you can do it," I knew she was right, a shift would fix most of the damage, but I was tired and in pain, so it was a slow, difficult shift, made worse by stress of having my dad fighting another wolf so close to me.  "That's it, how do you feel?" she asked me.

"I'm tired," I said.  "We need to help dad."

"No, my girl, I need to help him, you need to shift again and run back to the pack.  We will try to stop him, but we will need help."

"But, I could stay and help," I knew it would take too long to go back to the pack, we had been running for a long time.  By the time I went back, the fight could be over. 

"No, it's you he wants, and I will die before I let him take you," she said, and I didn't understand what she was trying to say.

"Mom?  What's going on?"

"No time for that, go!" she said, and I started to shift again.  It was difficult, and while I was mid shift, I saw my dad being thrown against a tree, just like I had been a moment before, but the wolf didn't wait this time, he ran and tore my dad's neck.  Mom was already there, doing her best to stop the wolf, but she was too late, by the time she arrived dad was gone.  I was trapped mid shift, unable to flee, unable to help as I saw dad's body.  I howled in pain once the shift was done, and for a moment wasn't sure what to do, but then the wolf turned and set his eyes on me.  He started running after me, my mom's efforts to stop him weren't affecting him, he just shrugged her attacks as if they were nothing to him. 

I finally turned to run, but I wasn't as fast as before, and I knew he was going to get to me sooner rather than later.  I kept changing direction, but it was useless, soon he closed the distance between us, he jumped on me, all his weight falling on my already aching body, and re-breaking my ribs.  Mom was just a step behind, doing her best to stop him, she went for his throat, but he was fast and instead of finishing his attack on me, he turned to mom and pushed her to the ground, using his claws to cut a deep gash on her side.  The move freed me, and I couldn't just stay there and do nothing, so I clawed his face, managing to get one of his eyes, then I bit down on his foreleg with all of my might.  He roared and then broke my mom's neck, before I could react, I felt his teeth on my own throat, he shook me, making me let go of him, as I felt my flesh being torn.  He let me fall, I could feel the blood falling out, and it was hard to breathe.  Still, I crawled closer to my mom, only to confirm by the glaze in her eyes that she was gone.  I wanted to howl my pain, but all I managed was to choke on my own blood.

The wolf was watching me, and then he transformed, touching the mangled mess on his face, where his eye used to be.  His shift didn't help fix the missing eye, and some scars still covered the area.  He was either too weak or the damage my parents had caused was worst than I first thought for that wound not to be healed by the shift.  Not that it mattered, he had taken my parents and I was on my way to join them, and all he was missing was an eye.

"Your resistance was useless, soon I will have my vengeance.  They tried to hide you, and it cost them their lives.  You will bleed to death.  But don't worry, you will join them soon, and in a couple of days, your sister will be with you too," his eye looked crazy, it was like he wasn't even looking at me, but at someone else.  

I tried to tell him that he had gotten the wrong family, I had no sisters, it was just me and my parents.  I tried to tell him, but I couldn't speak, and the effort only made me choke even more, I couldn't even breathe there was so much blood.  I moved even closer to mom, and rested my head against her.  I could feel the blood seeping into the ground and I knew my time was running out.  I could hear the man laughing for a while, then the sound of broken bones as he shifted back to his wolf and went away.  

It was getting cold, and I felt weak.  I heard howling, and I knew help was coming, but it was already too late.  All I wanted was to rest.  I nuzzled my mom one more time and then closed my eyes.