The wind raced against the slick sheet of fur covering my body and the rain pelted down to meet the winds beating. The absent thought of running away coursing through my mind and my callused paws slapped the bare dirt and eroded rocks. “Get away,” said a deep voice in the back of my mind. “Leave what you have ruined.”

I shook my head trying to erase the fresh memories. Someday, they’ll just be scars. My body continued moving as fast as it possibly could in the ever darkening night. Soon I would have to find shelter for the forest was nearly impossible to navigate in the pitch blackness it would become. But where is a mutt like me to go and find shelter?

My limbs began growing more and more tired and I felt myself slowly dwindling down to a walk with a pant so loud even a deaf badger could hear it. You need to find shelter, the thought jumped through my brain like lightning.

I looked around, my eyes squinting in the night. I zeroed in on one spot where a bushes underside had been hollowed out and built for shelter. Oh dear lord, let no one already be there.

I pushed every last bit of strength in me down to my limbs and I lumbered over to the bush. My body collapsed only half in the small hole and I felt myself lumber off into a better place. Or at least, what had been a better place before all this begun.

I woke up to a stinging in the cheek. No not the cheek. My entire face was stinging. As I looked around me to see what could have caused it my eyes focused in on an object tower far beyond my comprehension. A Minotaur with eyes raging red was staring down at me with both its hands extended towards me. I felt another slap come down across my face before it realized I was awake.

“Good. Wolfy meat alive. Now me can kill and have fresh meat instead of dead meat. Yum.” The Minotaur’s breath hit me with a sting for it stank so heavily I suppressed choked coughs. The Minotaur’s hand reached out and grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and I wiggled fiercely as I dangled.

Before I knew it I was ten feet in the air, next to the Minotaur’s face. “Yummy Wolf-wolf. Will you fill Cirus’s tummy full? You so tiny I might need ten of you to feed Cirus!”

I stared at him with wide eyes. The Minotaur was the strangest thing I had ever seen in my short existence. He was a dark brown and his horns raised straight into heaven its self. I gulped down a breath of air and tried to think of a way out of my situation. This wasn’t even the first time I had been in danger. There was that one time when Aaron and the bear.

My heart clenched at his name and I focused on my situation again. The Minotaur was definitely not one of the smartest of its kind. Its head was probably thinker than a mountain and his brain the size of a peanut. I could out smart him. But how?

I scratched my sharp claws at his hand and hit a lucky blow that cut his fore finger open. I never knew such a baby Minotaur could ever live for he dropped me down and tears came to his eyes. “Ow! Wolfy meat hurt me! Wolfy meat is a cruel to Cirus!”He put his finger in his mouth and glared at me. He began reaching for me with his other hand but I dashed out of the way. My tired limbs drew up strength I never knew I contained and I rushed forward, through Cirus’s legs and began an escape while the Minotaur stood there in his anger.

The adrenaline racing through me pulsed faster as he turned around and made another grab for me. With the leafs and limbs from trees smacking me in the face, I crashed through the forest as fast as possible with Cirus right on my tail.

Suddenly, the trees, bushes, and other plants gave out into a wide open area that was filled with dying flowers and polluting weeds. Straight ahead I could hear rushing water and my instincts kicked in. I dashed to the sound, Cirus still nipping at me with his hands and cursing loudly as he missed.

As I neared my target I felt my legs collapse and my eyes blacked out for a second. When my vision came back Cirus stood over me, a small boulder in hand. “Wolfy, did dat hurt? Maybe I should kill nows and have good eats here. What you think wolfy?”

I growled in frustration. I began trying to get up on my paws again to begin my movement for the water. The Minotaur had other plans though. His foot came down on my tail and my body let out a surprised yelp.

“Wolfy, my food no need to run away. I don’t like wolf on the go, it to nasty.”

Why did I have to be the only lone wolf? Why did this have to happen to me? To my pack? Why? Why did a Minotaur have to find me and name me his food?

I felt my muscles give way as my will to live slowly dwindled. It wasn’t like anyone would miss me. None are alive anymore. I am the one that has had to miss, I was the one left alone. I was the lone survivor and soon there would be no one that survived. My pack was to go extinct because a young pup couldn’t out whit a Minotaur. Because she couldn’t survive alone.

That’s when I heard a shout come from across the clearing and the Minotaur twisted around to see what the noise was. I looked up and what I saw shocked me. Five fully grown wolves stood opposite to where we were.

“OOH more wolf-wolf meat! Yum! Bity wolf stay here while I get more eats? Me don’t want to have to chase u down.” With that he placed the small boulder down on my tail. I whined and cried out in more frustration but then I realized. The boulder wasn’t as heavy as most.

While the Minotaur flung his self at the wolves in attempt to catch one I scratched and clawed at the boulder trying my hardest to push it off me.

Then came a yelp and I saw one of the smaller wolfs fall to the ground and the others attack back faster to replace what had been lost. The Minotaur was bleeding from multiple spots where he had been bitten and scratched.

Finally I felt the boulder slip off my tail and that’s when I heard Cirus cry, “Leave me be! I sorry! I no eat wolfy meat anymore! I like bun-bun meat much more!”

The wolves looked at each other and nodded. A large black and white wolf stepped forward and spoke. “Leave now, or face death.” The she-wolfs voice coiled through the clearing and echoed on the water.

The Minotaur took off at his fastest, tripped on a root, then scampered back up on his hoofs and left. All of the wolves looked at me then at the body of their fallen comrade. “What shall we do, Luna?” asked a small male wolf, he was probably not full grown yet.

“You and Rosta can take his body back to the meeting grounds where the others are waiting. The rest of you head back. I’ll get the pup.” Luna started walking towards me. “Little one, tis ok now, come to me.”

I slipped back. No matter how exhausted I was I wasn’t about to fall into an enemy’s clutches, I would of rather been eaten by Cirus.

“Now, now, no need to worry. Please just come to me. You will be fine, you see.”

“Never,” I said, it was the first time I had spoken in days. My small voice sounded hoarse and ill-used.

“Oh Honey, it’ll be ok. I know you’re frightened.”

I backed up to the edge of the water. “I refuse to be taken prisoner.”

“You won’t be. We’ve been watching you. We know you’re alone. We want to help you.”

“I don’t take help from others.”

“Don’t you want to have a pack? A small one like you needs one.”

I wanted to scream at her that I had one, that I wasn’t alone but I knew the truth. I needed what they could give me. I needed a pack. I felt me inch my way towards her little by little. “Fine, but on a small condition.”

“That would be?”

“There’s somewhere that I can sleep, safely.”

Luna laughed, “With me kid, you’ll always be safe.” With that, both I and she headedto the pack.

TO BE CONTINUED