She never thought New Orleans would be the final stop on her hopes of finding a place to settle down. Wandering for a thousand years will eventually make you tired. She knew making a home here would not be easy for someone who had never really had one, but she wanted to try. She didn't really know what drew her to New Orleans, or why, all she knew was for years it had been calling her. Maybe she figured it was time to answer that call even if the fear of what she had once heard was true. New Orleans needed a hero, one that would save them from the tyrants that would invade the city. From everything she had heard the packs along the Mississippi River, she had hoped the great city would eventually find the great hero they needed while not allowing herself to become the said hero. For a time she would avoid the lands that New Orleans claimed, but the heart wants what it wants.
She knew it was a long shot coming here and she was sure this city would be just like the others, hostile and uninviting. She was sure it would reject her and she would continue to wander aimlessly. That wasn't the case. The moment she stepped foot into the small cabin on the lands she had just bought, it instantly felt like home. The little two-bedroom red oak home nestled between two large oak trees on a mass forest property. To the back of the cabin was a small lake the Mississippi River fueled that that ran about ten miles from her property edge. The woods surrounded the cabin for the hundred acres or so of land she had obtained and it was complete solitude. She was alone, but she wasn't lonely. It was truly perfect and utterly peaceful. The pull to New Orleans had won, but she didn't know why. Not yet.
The first few months after obtaining the cabin and lands, she rather enjoyed her life. It was by her choice to avoid the city, but it was more to keep her state of mind. Being in the city for a long time meant listening to the supernatural community speak of the two men who were trying to claim the lands and crown. It was a turf war between two men who seemed to want it for the same selfish reasons the other tyrants had failed. Part of her desire to save them and be the leader she was meant to be. After a thousand years, she was still what she had tried to run away from, a princess. Part of her felt she had to save the people because in a way they were her people, but she had been running from becoming a queen. The last thing she wanted was to be crowned queen of the city when she was running from being the queen of a whole other world. New Orleans needed a hero but she would not allow herself to become the said hero.
Instead, she would do what she had to in the city and return to the small cabin in the woods avoiding the calls. The war seemed to get worse with each passing day and it was leaking into her lands. She didn't mind, at first, when her land had become invaded by werewolves on the run. This war of New Orleans wouldn't end in a battle as it had before. It seemed it would end in some sort of a battle of the fittest and most of the wolves would not go so low. They were refusing to decide which man would be the lesser of two evils. She had bought a rather large amount of property with enough to spare, so it was no bother letting those who wished to avoid the war live on her land. That was so long as they intended to leave her in peace and not bother her, and it didn't at first. Not until the war seemed to get worse.
The small number of wolves grew with each new full moon phase and her peace was being disturbed. The forests were no longer playing the melody of the wild creatures who lived in it, but the sorrows in the hearts of these wolves. Wanders was no longer coming into the forest for her to hunt to afraid of the rumored creatures that lived there. The lack of food coming to her was forcing her into the city more often where the risk of exposure to what she was more likely. Her beast, which was what she now called the wolf she once was, had grown restless with each passing day. If she could not run out the tension and without that ability, she risked shifting and destroying the city. That wasn't all that had done her harm. The wolves had scared away the wild deer she used to stalk her fridge and hunted down those that were already in the forest. Still, she didn't want to send them back to the terror in the city streets. Mainly it was because of her own history. The last thing she wanted was to dishonor her grandmother's pack and her own blood by sending her own kind to their deaths. So she let them continue to invade her lands, but something clicked in her head and left her suspicious.
All her new guests were in fact only werewolves. Just because she went into the city rarely didn't mean she was unaware of other creatures living there. Not a single vampire, fairy, hybrid or anything in between, had come to find salvation. She could recall there was once a wolf talking to a companion of his about his pack. It had been a few weeks ago, but he told the man that their alpha was closing in ranks and forcing the pack to fight for one man. Their alpha had made a deal with the man that was a shoo-in to win, and with the wolves support he would likely end up winning. It disgusted her to see that wolves, a proud and fair creature, was selling out his pack for riches. From what she could gather these City Wolves, as they came to be called, were being used, and those who opposed were either killed or beaten into submission. She knew he was taking orders from someone, but that didn't make him any less of a tyrant.
She had sat for hours on her porch, wondering why nothing had been done to save the pack. She wondered why the old ones didn't try to find this hero, but mostly she wondered why she even cared. The wolves seemed quite content with their living accommodations. They had kept to themselves mostly, avoided communication with her or coming close to the cabin. They did well for themselves and yet she felt as if she needed to protect them even if it was just by allowing them access to her lands. Everything would remain well so long as they kept their distance, but she could only assume they were getting desperate when one man was singled out to approach her in hopes of getting her on their side.