The Beginning

The beginning

I wake cold and hungry; we have been running for months. The government wants us dead, and that’s what humans are willing to do. Why? You may ask about 6 months ago when a virus ripped across the United States. Everyone got sick, and many discovered they had a dormant gene, including my family and me. I found that I was a werewolf and a rare wolf at that. But I am getting ahead of myself. Every supernatural being had to go into hiding. A neighbor had told my family and me to head for the Rocky Mountains. They had a safe place and land for all supernatural. The werewolf king, who had been in hiding, was opening his land.

My name is Zoe, a fierce and determined young woman, and my fiancé is Jared. We set off for the Rocky Mountains with my brother Tyler, a skilled tracker, Ryker, a cunning strategist, and my sister Katelynn, a nurturing and protective figure, along with her family. We have started gaining more people in our group. We have several werewolves, each with their unique strengths, and a few witches, each with their own powerful spells. Everyone helped each other, and we were the best at catching fish and trapping animals. I was hoping we had caught something in our traps. My stomach was growling. I kicked the sleeping bag off me and grabbed my shoes. I was going to check the traps and get some water. I was hoping for someone to start the fire before I returned.

I made my way down to the river, the sound of rushing water soothing my nerves. We had set up several fish traps, and having a couple of trappers in our group made catching food easier. The dense forest around us provided ample cover, and the clear sky above promised a good day for our journey. Danny had shown us all how to make a fish trap. We tried to stay close to the water so that we could throw in a trap and go about our business. As I reached the bank, I saw several of our traps had fish. There was enough fish to feed everyone. I grabbed the basket me and my sister Katelynn had made. Our friend Aliza, a witch in our group, had shown us how to make it. I grabbed all the fish from the traps and filled our water container.

As I return to camp, I see Jared, Danny, and Eric sitting by the fire. They look up to see me coming from the trees with the fish. Eric chuckles and says, “Was someone hungry this morning?” I smile back and say, “Yes!”. We got a lot of fish last night, smiling and holding up the fish. Eric takes the basket and says he will prep them for the fire. Eric is an older man in his 60s; he reminds me a lot of my grandpa. Danny is his son; they are both warm and comforting. At night, Eric tells us stories of when he was younger. Eric grew up in the mountains of Virginia before he came west. He settled in Oregon with his wife, Beth. They had raised three boys in the mountains of Oregon. He said you can imagine our surprise when we discovered I was a werewolf and Beth was a witch. Danny had inherited both genes from his parent, so he was a hybrid. He had two older brothers, who were both only werewolves; they did not get their mother’s genes. They were meeting Eric and Beth in the rocky mountains. We met Eric, Beth, and Danny several days into our trip. They quickly became family to us and taught us a lot. We would not have made it this far without them.

We met Aliza right after finding Danny, and it turned out that Danny and Aliza were mates. Aliza explains all this to us. She had a book with her that explained the history of witches and werewolves; she read it to us often. None of us had even thought this was possible, yet here we were, sitting around a fire eating fish. Aliza thinks her grandma knew they were witches. She had given her the book when she was young. Aliza said she always believed it was a fictional book about the supernatural. We learned that you have an instant connection when you meet your mate. Aliza said it was like she couldn’t stay away from Danny. Danny said his wolf constantly went wild about protecting Aliza and caring for her. They felt like they were only whole if they were together. I thought this was beautiful and amazing, but Aliza’s book also said it was rare for mates to find each other. I had Jared, but it never felt like that. My brothers did not like him and said he was not right for me. I never saw that, and I loved him, maybe not how Aliza loved Danny, but I loved him. The constant fear of being hunted and the uncertainty of our future weighed heavily on us, but our love and determination kept us going.

I was brought out of my daydream by my brother Tyler and Chris, another werewolf we had met along the way. Tyler, Chris, and Ryker had been out scouting; we always had to be alert and ready for anything. The humans got a lot of money for us; the government paid more if we were brought in alive. They told us we needed to pack up camp and move along. We had been here a few days; it was a great place to get fish, water, and wash our clothes. I was happy when we got here; I could get washed up and clean my clothes. But I knew we could not stay for too long. I was grateful that we had a few days here. I cherished the times we could have a few days to recover and rest. Chris also pointed out that we must reach the mountains before winter hits. It had taken us longer than it should have, but we could not go into towns and had stick to the woods and mountains.

Katelynn sighed and looked up from the wagon her husband Johnny was fixing. They had two children: a 4-year-old girl named Piper and a 6-year-old son we called Junior. The wagon made transporting them more manageable. They quickly got tired, and we took turns carrying them until we found this wagon. Eric and Johnny had been able to fix it, and it had been helpful till the wheel broke a couple of days ago. Eric had an idea to fix it, and Johnny had been working on it since we stopped. Katelynn looked at me and said, “I don’t know how long it will last, but it should get us through a little longer.” I could see that she was tired of traveling. It’s hard for us adults to always be moving, but it’s more challenging for the kids. We keep telling them that they will have fun again once we are there. I know my sister is ready to be settled in and have her kid’s life back to normal.

I never did understand why the government wanted us dead, why we could not get along with the humans. Eric says it’s because the government doesn’t understand us and that they are scared. I think they are just stupid, and I wanna go home. But I get up, start packing my backpack, and roll up my sleeping bag. We had to get moving to find another place to camp by nighttime. I help Katelynn load up the kids and wagon up. Samantha, Craig, and another werewolf couple swept the camp to ensure we did not forget anything. Eric, Tyler, and Chris will go first if we have any issues. They are ready to transform into their wolves and defend us if needed. Ryker and Danny are in the back. They build a perimeter around us, prepared to protect us all. They have pants and no shirts, and we run rather hot as werewolves. It also makes it easier to shift, reducing the number of destroyed clothes. They try to strip before shifting, but it’s not always an option. The first time I shifted was excruciating. All my bones were breaking and realigned. The first shift is always painful, but the more you shifted, the easier it was. My shift was unique; my wolf was white, and I could quickly shift. I was able to shift mid-air. We discovered this when a bear almost attacked Piper. I shifted mid-air and attacked the bear as Katelynn got Piper to safety. I also still had clothes when I shifted back. Yeah, that was a shock to all of us. I don’t shift often because Eric and my brothers think it’s more dangerous for me to shift. The hunters can see me more quickly, and I would be considered a rare supernatural being worth a lot of money. We continue into the unknown, looking to cover enough ground and find a place to camp when nightfall comes