As she woke up the next day she saw many rabbits scurrying around the forest floor. She knew that she would need to catch one soon to feed herself with. Her father had shown her, a long time ago, the way to bait a trap so that a rabbit would get caught. The thought of killing a furry bunny prevented her from acting on her hunger.
The young wolf cub had no idea how she was going to fend for herself. All she knew is that she was not going to be able to kill any creature for her food. She had been living on berries and water for the last two days but her stomach had been growling non- stop the same time.
Her inner wolf craved for more food than just a handful of berries which didn't suffice but the young girl still could not kill for the sake of eating. She knew that when she turned sixteen, she would probably be able to hunt and kill bunnies. At age sixteen, she would have her wolf to help her hunt, she turned to the bunny scurrying away and said " You better watch out then Mr Bunny. I will get you when I turn sixteen" she whispered softly hoping that the bunny would take the hint and stop tempting her.
For now though, as she didn't have her wolf yet, so she would have to fend for herself. She relied on the bits of knowledge that she remembered from the times her father took her hunting. Those hunting trips were also mostly with Alisha squirming and crying as her father tried to teach her how to skin a rabbit.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of her parents and the short time she spent with them. She wiped her eyes onto her left sleeve. She was not going to see them anytime soon but she knew that she could not give up. She had to live! To live till she was able to avenge her parents' brutal murder
Her mother's happy laugh, her father's hugs...not being able to see them ever again...It practically killed her knowing that as she walked away from the house by the river, she would never ever come back until Alpha Thomas paid for his sins
Alisha promised herself to train hard, to learn how to fight and learn how to kill. She would avenge the deaths of her parents as soon as she could and Alpha Thomas would pay for all he had done. He has ordered the killing of Lawrence, his previous beta, and his mate. Alpha Thomas did not know that Lawrence and his wife had a child named Alisha. He didn't know that by ordering their deaths, he had also condemned Alisha to a life without her loving parents. Alpha Thomas had wanted the deaths of her parents as he had thought their union was sinful. He had not known that Alisha was born as the result of that union.
If the Moon Goddess didn't allow her parents to be mates, why did she allow them to meet? Why would she allow them to marry and then conceive a child together? Alisha would never believe that her parents were not meant to be together. The happiness that radiated from her parents' eyes every time they looked at one another prevented Alisha to believe anything other than that truth. Her parents had told her that the Moon Goddess never assigned mates without a plan. So Lawrence's pairing with Jasmine proved that there was nothing wrong with wolves and humans mating together. Humans were not inferior to wolves, they were just different and sooner or later, if the wolves didn't adapt to these changes, they would surely become extinct like the dinosaurs before them. It was up to Alisha to be patient and wait for the future to unfurl before her.
Alisha knew that for now, she was no match for Alpha Thomas. A young wolf cub of fourteen would be swiped away like an annoying mosquito. She would wait. Yes! She would wait for a time when she could look Alpha Thomas in the eyes and tell him that he had failed. The "tainted" blood of a union between the mighty wolf and the weak and pathetic human still lived on in Alisha and then she would have her revenge. She knew that seeing his plan had failed would break Alpha Thomas and she relished the idea of being there to witness that. She knew that her time would come. she knew it like she knew her own name.
She would go back one day and make him pay for his sins. Until then she would wait and watch, biding her time for an opportunity to get her revenge. Alpha Thomas would not know what hit him but by all that was sacred, he would know her name when she finally killed him. She would wait for the moment when he least expected it and then when she did, all would know about the atrocities of Alpha Thomas. Alisha swore that the wolf council would regret excommunicating her father all those years ago. They would reap the evil that they had sowed fourteen years ago by condemning her parents.
Alisha walked for nearly 2 days until she could not walk any longer. Exhaustion and hunger drained her limbed of all their strength. She leaned on a tree stump and closed her eyes. Not ready to give up on life, but unable to go on...
In the distance, she heard the sounds of children laughing. It grew louder as the children came closer. As curiosity drove them closer to Alisha, she slowly lifted her hand reaching out towards the kids
"Help me! Please help me" Alisha whispered through lips that were cracked and dry. She didn't even have tears to shed as she was so very dehydrated. Even that slight movement had sapped all of Alisha energy and she dropped her hand to her lap and closed her eyes again
Suddenly she heard a little voice calling out to her."Hi there...Hei you!! Are you alright? Wake up!"
Alisha couldn't answer as her throat was dry and she was exhausted. She opened her eyes and looked upon a little face with light blue eyes and a small pointed nose.
"Help me! Please!!" She managed to say before she lost consciousness.
The little girl who found was called Alia. She told her twin brother, Alex, to keep watch while she ran as fast as her chubby baby legs could run so that she could to the packhouse to summon her father, the Gamma of the pack.
Strong arms picked Alisha up and carried her to the packhouse. Alia and Alex followed their father as he carried Alisha into the den of the house. The Gamma gingerly placed Alisha down on the sofa so as not to hurt her more than necessary. He then summoned for the pack doctor to come immediately.
Alisha didn't even wake up when the doctor came to see her. He examined her throughly, taking in her torn clothes and matted hair. The pack doctor stood up from his crouched position beside the sofa and wrote out a prescription for medicine.
"Don't worry.... she is a strong girl. She is just very dehydrated and has not eaten for a couple of days. The IV drip that I have given her should do the trick to perk her up a little" said the doctor to Gamma Nicholas who had stayed on to keep guard.
"The girl Alia found, looks harmless enough but you just didn't know with rogues," Nicholas thought to himself." They could be all calm and collect one second and the next second they would rip your throat right out from under you." he shrugged to himself
"Is she going to wake up soon, doc??" he asked the retreating figure of the pack doctor
The doctor turned back to Nicholas with troubled eyes."She will! Don't worry about that. All she needs is some rest and some food and water. She will be physically fine in no time. I am just worried for her mental state Nicholas. You had better keep the cubs away until we know who we are dealing with"
Alpha Wayland made Nicholas sit with Alisha until she regained consciousness. Nicholas was angry at first as he thought that he should not be the one who got left with babysitting duty but Marissa, his wife convinced him that a few days of guarding the girl wouldn't affect his status as the Gamma of Moongazer pack. At least by him being posted here, Marissa and Nicholas could spend more time together...
It took Alisha two days of complete rest to finally sit up on the bed and eat the food that Nicholas had brought for her. By that time, Nicholas had already had enough of his little kids trying to come into the room, to find out about this girl
Alisha was called to the Alpha's office and was told that she was found at the border of Moongazer territory. She thanked Alpha Wayland and Gamma Nicholas for extending their hospitality as she assured them the wasn't dangerous.
The Alpha of Moongazer felt pity for Alisha as she told them that she was an orphan who had run away from her adopted family as they had been abusive towards her. Alisha didn't think that they would help her if she had told them the truth. Alpha Wayland consulted his wolf council and after a lengthy discussion with them decided to allow Alisha to stay with his pack till she was better
After awhile no one asked about her past as they realised that she was very disturbed and saddened by it. Alisha got stronger day by day. She started helping the women with their chores at first and became closer with Gamma Nicholas, his wife Marissa and their twins, Alia and Alex.After a few months. Alia and Alex helped by introducing Alisha to the whole pack and helping her remember their names. Alisha was given duties just like the rest of the wolves in the pack which she did very responsibly.
The Alpha of Moongazer saw that she loved kids and put Alisha in charge of the cubs who were too young to start school but too old to be in the nursery for prolonged periods of time. Her days were filled with taking care of cubs and then training in the evening with Gamma Nicholas. He knew that Alisha wasn't training for fun. He mentioned it to his mate but was told not to bother much about it and to help Alisha as much as he could. Gamma Nicholas could see Alisha slowly morphing into a beautiful,strong wolf who was able to take care of herself in any situation
Alisha got close to the little cubs as she began to see herself in their eyes. She wanted to teach them everything her parents had taught her. The kids loved Alisha as she taught them how to fish, how to start a fire and even how to swim.
Of all the cubs under her care, Alisha was partial to Alex and Alia. They were now almost seven years of age and were very mischievous and Alex will soon be leaving her class and would be joining the big kids' school soon. Alisha loved them to bits and knew she was going to miss them when they graduated her class in a months' time.
One day, Alisha took Alex and his sister Alia for a walk. It was a sunny day and the twins had been bugging Alisha to take them swimming. After completing their lessons, the twins pulled Alisha out of the room."Come on Alisha ...Let's go! I want to go swimming now. Its been so hot that I wouldn't want to be surprised if I found Alia had melted into a puddle. Please! Please let's go! Let's go for a swim " Alex begged as he jumped up and down with excitement
Alisha laughed, nodded her head and ran back to her room. She rummaged through the bundle of clothes that were on the floor hoping that there was a swimsuit somewhere in that bundle of hand-me-down clothes. Most of Alisha's clothes were donated by the pack. Alisha didn't mind wearing the pack's old clothes. She was grateful that the Moongazer pack had accepted her into their lives so lives years ago. She was thankful as she knew that she would have died of starvation and dehydration if they hadn't helped her all those years ago
Since she started working with the cubs, Alpha Wayland allowed her to stay at their packhouse. Gamma Nicholas and his wife Marissa had planned to bring Alisha over to their house after she got initiated into the pack but that day still hadn't come up yet as Gamma Nicholas became busy with the security details of the pack. They still treated her like one of their own but Alisha always felt like an outsider. It wasn't that they were bad to her, it was just that she missed her parents very much. That is why she worked hard every day, helping the pack take care of their cubs as a thank you gesture to the pack
Alish found a swimsuit at last. It was a black one-piece suit with white lace over the chest area. It was a sombre little number with not many details to make it stand out. In fact, it looks downright dull. The problem was when Alisha turned around.
The suit which was so innocent from the front plunged at the back to just above her buttock. Alisha didn't have many choices as this was the only swimsuit in the bundle of clothes that had been given to her.
Alisha was horrified to see that the plunging margin skim the top of her butt cheeks. She thanked her lucky stars that only Alex and Alia would see her in her swimsuit. Alisha couldn't even imagine if someone else were to actually see it...her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
She put on a shirt and shorts over the suit and ran downstairs to an awaiting Alia and Alex." Are you ready??" Alisha raised her voice in a singsong manner
"Yes..yes..yes!!Lets goooooo!" shouted the twins in unison."Oh yes!We're off to see the lake. A very beautiful lake. We gonna jump in and splash to kingdom come" sang the twins in their high pitched baby voices.
The lake was not a usual rendevous for them. In fact, Alisha had only found out about this lake a week ago. It was a beautiful lake with crystal clear water and low hanging branches that served as shade on a sunny day. The picturesque lake reminded her of the stream in front of her house when she was little. The crystal clear water was deliciously cool and had the most cutest frogs that lazed on the large lily pad in the centre of the lake. There was even a sandy area beside the lake where they could put out a mat and have a picnic at.
She did sometimes wonder why no one else seemed to come and picnic by the lake. Alisha was not prepared to look at her very own gift horse in the mouth so she didn't ask anybody about it. She had taken Alex and Alisha swimming in it last week and they had been so enamoured with the lake that they made her promise that she would bring them back to the lake again.
This time she decided that she would go to the lake only much more prepared. She had gone to the kitchen and gotten Mrs Hanson to makes the kids some finger foods that they could eat by the lake. Mrs Hanson was nice enough to pack 2 dozen sandwich as she knew that the kids would be starving after their swim. She even put in another surprise and a few lollypops for the cubs to suck on as they walked back home. Alisha grinned as Mrs Hanson grabbed a few apples and a few bunches of grapes from the table and stuffed them into the picnic basket for Alisha who she knew, loved fruits very much.
Alisha took hold of the basket of food while Alia carried the bag which held their change of clothes. Alex, being the 'big' boy that he claimed himself to be, got to carry the mat that they would spread on the ground beside the lake.
The three of them skipped all the way to the lake. On reaching their destination, the kids scrambled out of their clothes flinging it to the ground. Underneath the clothes, both Alia and Alex were wearing their swimming gear. With a mischievous shout, both the children ran into the lake.
Alisha laughed and gathered all the clothes that were on the ground. She folded the clothes and kept it safely in the bag so that it would not get wet. She then quickly undressed to reveal her ill-fitting black swimsuit
She took a great big gulp of air, closed her eyes and ran towards the lake. With a loud battle cry, she whooped and jumped in. Alisha was immediately attacked by the little cubs. The three of them splashed each other till Alisha had to stop and surrender as she was looking like a drowned cat