Their Rogue Queen

One

Olive POV

My whole life I've lived in the woods. Just me. Before the incident, I lived in a beautiful pack. We were a small pack. Only about a hundred wolves or so. I lived in a small house next to my best friend Ella. My parents were the Alpha and Luna of the pack, and Ella's parents were the Beta and Female Beta.

My mom was pregnant with my little brother. I couldn't wait to play with him and teach him everything that I know. I was tiny for an almost seven-year-old. The smallest girl in my class. There were only 5 kids in my first grade class. The school held all the kids in this pack.

I share a birthday with my babysitter Danny. She'll be seventeen tomorrow, and I'll be turning seven. I hope I'm just as pretty as she is when I turn seventeen. She has long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and is tall and slender. My, however, I'm small with baby fat and muddy brown hair and green eyes.

It was the day before my birthday. I was about to turn seven when the incident happened. I loved playing hide and seek. I had a great hiding spot in the attic. I could see out but no one could see in. In the distance, I saw almost a thousand wolves walking through the woods. I saw vans in the distance driving towards our pack. The men and women who had been trained in combat shifted. My dad, and Ella's dad, stood in the front. I heard a growling from the front wolf. My father and the man both shifted into human form. I heard shouting about how we are on their property and how we either need to leave or they will kill us. My father turned to Ella's dad to tell him to go get the treaty from his office. The other wolf attacked and killed my father while his back was turned.

So, when I was six, I witnessed my family being slaughtered. I saw my friends' families getting rounded up and slaughtered. My friends and all the other pups under seventeen were all rounded up and placed in the backs of large vans and taken away. The wolves searched every property but apparently not well enough because I remained hidden. They never found me.

It's been ten years since they came.

It took me awhile, but I was able to bury all the pack members. Using a cart I found over at the bakery, I slowly rolled each pack member upon it and, with some luck or the moon goddess's blessing, I moved each pack member. I dug around thirty shallow graves. It took me weeks. The smells that were coming off of the people made me sick to my stomach. I made my own cemetery at the opposite end of the pack in hopes the smell would go away.

I marked their graves as best as I could. I put together the people I knew were marked together, like my mom and dad. I even named the baby Oliver, since I knew once my mom died he wouldn't have lived either. Most of the graves were marked saying Ella's mom and dad, Nate's dad, Mrs. Jones, Mr. Smith. Those whose names I couldn't remember were marked butcher, baker, whatever I could remember they did. After they were all buried, I took seeds from the flower cart. The live flowers were already dead, but there were tons of packets of seeds and, I littered the ground with them, so the grave sites would always be beautiful.

Starting at my home, I found a wagon that we used to take to the lake when we would walk down there. Dad would place a cooler filled with sandwiches and drinks that mom had made. Starting with Ella's house, I went through the cabinets and pantry looking for food and supplies. I loaded up my cart with bandages, food, blankets and whatever I could carry in the wagon back to my house. I unloaded everything and started filling up what I could reach. I had everything organized. My mom always said I had something like

I put all the extra blankets in my parent's room. I started to use it for extra items. I knew winter would be coming, and I would have to try and get everything set, so I could stay warm. After I went to all the homes to get food and supplies, I started gathering sticks and firewood, placing them in Oliver's room. I have seen my dad light fires all the time, so it can't be too hard.

I practiced outside first. I didn't want to burn my own home down. After a few weeks, I finally figured out how to light and keep the smoke to a minimum, so I don't alert others to me being here. I decided to practice in one of the houses on the out skirts far enough away from another building but still in the pack boundary. The house is still standing, and the smoke was hardly noticeable coming out of the chimney.

I taught myself how to cook through trial and error. I used a pot that hung over the fireplace. I mostly made soup since that was the easiest thing to eat. I started teaching myself how to read, write and do simple math thanks to the books from school. I learned how to fix the house and patch the roof. Mostly from taking pieces from other homes to repair mine. The books in the woodworking class came in handy.

I taught myself how to make snares and I caught some raccoons, rabbits, and a few squirrels. I also learned how to fish too. I learned to make different stews and, thanks to a book in the bakery. I learned how to dry the meat, so I could have meat all through the winter, so I wouldn't starve.

I would go to the lake once a week to wash the clothes and I put water in the milk jugs, so I could have something to drink. I've repaired the wagon several times over the years. I don't know how much longer it will last, but I will continue to keep it in the best shape I can.

I would visit my parents and Ella's once a week to make sure the flowers were growing nicely and not being overtaken by weeds. I would sit and talk with them for hours. Just telling them what I taught myself how to do that day or what I caught.

I'll be turning seventeen tomorrow. I knew my family were wolves and I remember my babysitter the night before they came being all excited that she was to turn seventeen, would be getting her wolf. There was to be a big celebration. I had heard my mom planning the party for her. They were going to start with a big fancy dinner and a cake, then the pack was to surround her and cheer her on while she transforms into her wolf.

My mom and a bunch of other females were in the celebration area getting the party ready when those wolves attacked. I made myself some rabbit stew for my celebration dinner. I found the prettiest sweater in my mom's closet. It was blue with gold sequins all over it. I put on a pair of black pants I found in Mrs. Stevens closet was the closest to my height when she was still alive. I'm hardly 5 foot 3. I grabbed what I could for clothing and shoes from as many of the homes as I could that were in my size as I grew older.

I ate my rabbit stew and watched as the sun was setting. I decided I wanted to transform at my parents' gravesite. I'm not sure how this actually works, so when I got to their grave site I took off my clothing. I'm lucky my birthday is in the summer, so it wasn't cold lying here naked. I greeted my parents the same as I always do.

"Hi Mom, Dad, Oliver, What's new with you guys? Nothing, huh?"

I had taken up romance fiction history, so I told them all about the books I had read. I read Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, and the Scarlet Letter. I was talking about the characters of these books as though they were real life friends. How bad I felt for Scarlett O'Hara when she lost Bonnie, or how Hester Prynne fell for the minister. I even cheered when Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy finally admitted their feelings for each other. I told them how lonely I felt. I miss playing with Ella, and listening to Danny talk about the hot guy at school. I wonder what Nate would look like now. He had short black hair and piercing blue eyes.

I imagined we would be more than friends, maybe like my parents. They were always hugging and kissing and just knew what the other needed without them saying it. I wonder what Oliver would look like now. He'd be almost 10 now. I bet he would look like Dad. He'd have a round face with green eyes and dark brown hair and would be tan. He'd be learning how to run the pack with dad and I would have taken on some of mom's Luna duties. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. This is such an overwhelming feeling of loneliness.

I curled up in a ball next to my parents' grave, running my hands through the wildflowers. I noticed the dirt had sunk in a little. I'll have to find out what's going on with that. The tears were slowly streaming down my face now. I wish I had died with them or had been taken. I've been alone for so long now. I don't know if I could ever be in society again, but one person. Just one would be nice to have someone to talk to, to share something with.

I must have fallen asleep because I awoke with a startling pain that radiated through my body. I don't know if this is it or if I'm dying. The pain caused tears to run down my face. I screamed out in pain. My back arched and fell back, I heard the bones cracking and popping, causing a white burning pain. I don't know if it was ten minutes or three hours, but when the pain finally stopped, I was on all fours and my paws were pretty calico pattern. I stood up a bit wobbly and sat back down instantly. My head was spinning, and I was very dizzy. I closed my eyes and when the world stopped spinning,

I started looking around, and the world was absolutely beautiful even at night. I could see the bats flying overhead catching mosquitoes, owls sitting in the trees looking for their next kill. The trees shifted softly in the wind and the moon looked so beautiful just hanging in the sky surrounded by stars. I tried standing up again and I felt pretty good. I took a small run around the village as a way to celebrate getting my wolf. Now to see what I look like. There's a lake about 2 miles from here. I wonder how fast I can run there? Running at full speed, I made it to the lake really fast.

Looking into the water, I could see my wolf's face. I have brown, black, white, orange and even tan splotches all over. My ears have little white tips and are mostly brown in pattern. My right eye has a black heart going around it. I look so good. I don't know size wise if I'm small or average size, but I feel really cute. I keep staring at my reflection in the water and I don't hear the growling that is coming around me from all sides until it's too late.

Ten large black and brown wolves are slowly coming around me. Their teeth are showing, and they are looking at me like I'm their next meal. I didn't know what to do, so I crouched low, bowing my head on my paws, and I shook.

After a minute, I peeked up and the wolves had all shifted into men. And they all have shorts on. One of the men steps forward towards me, he is huge with muscles upon muscles and looks like he could break me with one hand. He has shoulder-length black hair with brown eyes and looks so angry. In a forced voice, yelling

"SHIFT!"

I could feel a wave of power running over me, but I didn't know how to change back. I'm shaking harder as he yells again with even more force.

"SHIFT NOW!"

I started to whimper. The pain is radiating through my body, but I'm not shifting back, it's like I physically can't. He yelled one more time with enough power. His men all bare their necks to him.

"SHIFT!!!! NOW!!!!"