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“But… you said we were a pack,” Jolene pleaded.
The light of the moon lit up the clearing of the forest. The chill of the night brought goosebumps to the girl’s skin. Jolene’s eyes continued to well up with tears no matter how many times she wiped them away with the sleeve of her jacket. The salt burned against the small cuts on her cheeks, which caused a sob to wrack through her body. She looked up at her family through blurred vision, finally meeting the gaze of her sister — Margot. Her fur was ragged from the hectic chase, smoothed out by paws painted in dry mud. Tears rolled down Jolene’s bruised cheeks as Margot straightened her back as if to look undeterred.
“We’re wolves,” she said with narrowed her eyes. “You’re a… human!”
Margot got down on all fours as she barred her teeth in a growl. The moonlight kissed Margot’s blue fur, as well as the black fabric of her suit. She approached Jolene with tentative steps as the girl sobbed in response. Her pained expression morphed into anger as Margot’s brothers closed in on her. Jolene clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, wiping at the tears one last time. They didn’t return.
The siblings circled her in the same formation that Jolene had grown to expect. Except this time, she wasn’t a part of it. Rupert, the youngest son, took a leap from Jolene’s left, claws catching at her skin through her suit before she managed to pull away with a yell. The black fabric tore along her arm, leaving a bloody gash exposed. Rupert rolled along the ground before he gathered himself and got back on all fours, fur standing on end. His magenta eyes pierced through hers with the raw hunger of a predator. Jolene gulped, cradling her injured arm with the other. Her former brothers smirked at her, the promise of death reflecting on their fangs.
Sebastian, the oldest son, went right for her stomach. He pounced at her with a roar and pushed her to the ground. She gasped in pain as her arm stung from the impact, closing her eyes as they filled with tears anew. Her nails dug into the muddy ground as she squirmed on her back, while his paws kept her flailing limbs pinned down. He put pressure on the wound, a grin pulling at his lips when the fabric darkened with blood. The girl searched the ground for anything sharp — pieces of shattered glass, a stick, a rock — anything. When her fingers touched nothing, she instead fisted a handful of dry mud and slammed it into Sebastian’s left eye as he yelped in surprise. Jolene sucked in a ragged breath before she used all of her strength to push him off of her, just like she’d practiced during their daily play time. Sebastian blindly sliced his claws through the air, catching on a handful of black coils. He growled.
“Just give up, human!”
The threat in his tone was denied as Jolene shook her head and took a step back to await the next attack. It came from Augustus, the second eldest son. His maw opened to grab onto her legs. Jolene rolled out of the way as she caught sight of the sharp end of a rock to her right. The rock laid hidden by green leaves the size of herself, only a couple meters away. If only she could get close enough—
Augustus interrupted her thought process as he once again went for her legs. He wrapped his blue paws around her ankles as his fur stroked against her white cotton socks. Jolene crossed her legs, in turn able to throw him off of her. He grunted as he landed on the ground with a rough thump. Jolene mirrored his wince. Sure, they wanted her dead, but she never wanted to hurt them. They’d been her siblings. Charles and Gwendolyn had been her parents. She sobbed through a shaky breath. She refused to allow herself to become the same kind of monster that they were.
She eyed Theodor, the second youngest son, as he circled her small frame. She turned her head toward her former parents and her lip wobbled. The alphas stood in their usual stance — backs straight and with their arms held behind their backs. Their eyes glowered in disgust as she took their sons down one by one.
“Mama,” Jolene sobbed. “Papa, please— why are you doing this?”
Their expressions remained unfazed.
“I thought we were family?” she continued and took one step toward them. She kept her injured arm pushed close into her side, protected from the wolves in case they were to attack. Margot growled in warning, yet Jolene ignored her and looked between her parents with nothing but pure betrayal. “Why don’t you want me?”
Theodore striked. Unlike his siblings, instead of raw violence, he immobilized Jolene’s arms by wrapping his own around her. Jolene kicked the air as he lifted her from the ground, screaming her protests with a raw throat.
“No! No, put me down!”
Theodore turned to the cliffside where she’d fallen down after the chase. Without a second thought, he pushed her towards it. The brothers approached on all fours as Jolene recovered from being thrown. Her eyes widened at the sight of being surrounded. One glance at her former parents rewarded her with grins that reminded her of a devil’s. Jolene imagined the canines in their maw covered with blood — her blood.
Margot pushed past her brothers, only stopping when she stood nose to nose with the human girl. Jolene noted the hatred in her eyes, the type of hatred that had been forced upon her by people she was meant to trust. She swallowed back a sob. Jolene reached for the wolf’s hand but she pulled away with a growl.
“M—Margot, please! You don’t want this, I know you don’t. I’m your sister!” Jolene’s voice wavered when Margot took another step closer, forcing her to push her back into the rock until the sharp edges cut indents into her back. “Don’t do this. Please, d—don’t do th—”
Jolene’s sentence cut short as Margot’s fangs pierced through her neck. Blood spilled from the wounds and the girl latched on as her bite deepened. Jolene choked on her own blood, her hands clawing at her neck to somehow stop the bleeding. Margot loosened the strength of her bite and Jolene fell like a sack to the ground. A puddle formed beneath her and she glazed up at Margot through her spotty vision. Margot’s canines glistened with red. Jolene’s control of her limbs faltered as she attempted to rise from her position on the ground. Oxygen caught in her throat, replaced by blood. The surrounding wolves closened in on her, magenta eyes filled with hunger. Jolene did her best to blink away the tears in her eyes, to no avail.
“Go on, children,” Gwendolyn called from behind them, the hint of a grin in her tone. “Feast.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. Blood pooled from Jolene’s mouth, trailing down the sides of her chin as she choked on a scream. Canines dug into her arms, legs and stomach. Her skin stretched as they tore her apart along with her clothes. She stared at the moon above, mouth and eyes wide open in a permanent expression of terror. Her head lolled to the side and she met Margot’s eyes. Despite the black spots filling her vision, Jolene noted the signs of guilt that the predator’s face held. Jolene opened her mouth as if to say something, to tell Margot that she forgave her — yet nothing came out.
The five year old girl wheezed as her eyes rolled to the back of her head before they closed and her mouth fell open. She exhaled one final time as her body went completely limp. Her body became a lifeless form, enhanced by the moonlight as the wolves feasted on her body. Blood painted their blue fur as the wolves fell into a chorus of howls that echoed through the night. Jolene’s soul finally reunited with her parents once again.