It was another dawn.
"The sun isn't up yet but I am!" Aurora yawned loudly as she got out of her bed with a little hesitation.
"To be the best among the best, you have to wake up before the sun would do. It's no longer make hay while the sun shines, it's make hay before the sun wakes up!" She said to her reflection in the mirror in her bathroom as she looked at it. Her dull, tired face stared back at her.
"And no matter what anybody says, you're just great the way you are." She motivated herself.
"Wake up, girl, let's go show the world what we're capable of doing." She added, patted herself on the shoulder, and started brushing her teeth.
She chuckled at her display as she brushed on. She already had plans for her day.
"Let's go get it done, girl!" She whispered. Her brain and mind were ready for the rigorous training, but her body didn't seem ready. She had exerted herself at the training center the previous day.
So instead of going straight to the training center to start working out, she decided to go for a jog first in the woods, in order to wake up her seemingly asleep body.
Normally, every werewolf would turn into their wolves as they jogged but Aurora couldn't as she was yet to get her wolf, her inner animal.
She was supposed to get it at the age of sixteen as it was in the werewolf community but strangely she didn't. Everyone was surprised.
"Don't worry, my dear. You're going to have a special and unique wolf that's why it's taking time. Be calm." Her mother, Selene had said to her and she believed it.
Everybody expected her to get it when she turned seventeen but it never happened. That was shocking!
"You're going to have a very powerful and unique wolf. A seer told us you're a special child. You're different from an ordinary werewolf. Don't worry." Her father, the beta of the pack had cajoled her at her seventeen birthday party.
She was hopeful. Everybody was hopeful. But when she turned eighteen and there was still no sign of her getting her wolf, she started feeling hopeless, gradually.
Her siblings, the twins, who celebrated their sixteenth birthday after her eighteenth birthday got their wolves and even her parents ran of excuse to give her.
Everybody was disappointed.
"What have I done wrong to the moon goddess to deserve this?" Aurora would lament.
"Bestie, keep your head high! You haven't committed any crime. This is not your fault at all. It's nature doing its thing, just be patient. The patient dog eats the fattest bone." Her best friend, Katie would always encourage her.
"Yes, it's rare and abnormal but it isn't a taboo. This isn't the first time a werewolf would be getting her inner animal late. It just means the werewolf in question is a great and unique one. My grandmother had told us a story of one like that when we were younger. My child, you're going to get your wolf whenever the moon goddess says it's time." An elder from the pack had maintained.
The encouragement from her parents, and others made her decided to channel her energy into becoming a great warrior like her mother, Selene.
"Since the moon goddess has decided to be unfair to me, I'm going to show the whole werewolf community that I can be great without a wolf." She vowed as she jogged on.
Without realizing it, the jog became a sprint and she was deep into the woods.
She stopped to catch her breath and rested her back against a big tree.
All of a sudden, she heard a growl.
The loud sound wasn't strange. She knew other werewolves used to run around the woods in their wolves' forms so it was one of them growling.
She had expected the owner of the growl to go on its way after sighting her but she became surprised when the wolf growled more loudly as it saw her.
The big black wolf with red eyes narrowed its eyes on her, bared its teeth at her angrily and started circling her.
That act in werewolf community meant the wolf was going to attack her mercilessly.
She was shocked as the wolf trying to attack her was one of her pack wolves and not a stranger.
"Hey big wolf. I'm not a rogue, I'm a pack member!" She yelled, believing it could understand her.
Instead of the wolf to retreat, it charged at her furiously, ramming at her and she stumbled over a rock.
She recovered quickly but winced at her injury.
"What are you doing? I'm one of you! Why are you attacking me?" She yelled at it.
"Run, now!" Her brain told her as it knew she couldn't defend herself against the wolf without a wolf of her own. She picked her weak body and took to her heels.
She ran but the wolf ran faster after her.
The wolf was determined to achieve its deadly mission!
"Let me just keep running, I may not be faster but I won't be defeated easily!" She stated bravely.
"Hello! Is anyone out there? Please..."
She wanted to scream for help but she stopped midway.
"No, Aurora! You should be ashamed of yourself if you can't even do anything to defend yourself before asking for help. Having no wolf doesn't mean you're a weakling!" She yelled at herself inwardly.
"I should at least try to defend myself before asking for help even if it meant i'd get hurt first." She muttered and slowed down.
"I'm a warrior! I won't go down without a fight." She added.
As if it knew what was on her mind, the wolf stopped running behind her, wanting to show her how weak she was, and prove how powerful it was, leapt high in the air, ready to l
unge at her.
She was completely unaware!