Mateo Santiago

JUNIPER

The sun was gone.

In its place, lightning streaked through the sky and struck in the distance. Dark clouds consumed everything in its path. Somehow this seemed more fitting. Sunshine and gentle winds were never the proper weather for my birthday. Lightning and thunder, howling gales and fierce storms. This was the proper accompaniment.

Only bad things happened on this day.

Darkness and death.

How could I choose? How could he make me choose? Both options led to an inevitable and painful death. I was sure my father would torture me in the cells, maybe even leave me to starve. He’d let my body break down on itself until there was nothing left.

It would be so like him.

Rogues were notorious for the ruthless lives they lived. Lost to baser instinct or greed, they were selfish creatures that preyed on anyone weaker. Their strength, speed, and wolf forms basically ensured me as their prey.

But out there we’d have a chance, Star urged.

“June.” Grandmother called my attention, her eyes imploring me to make an impossible decision. Or maybe trying to tell me of another way, but I didn’t know what she would do. What she would want me to do.

Father dug the gun into the side of her head even harder.

“Enough. This is June’s choice.”

How could he be so heartless? What kind of person was able to threaten and kill their own parents, to force their own daughter into death or exile? What horrors had he experienced to twist him like this?

“Don’t think I don’t know how you’ve been helping her,” he continued. “Hiding her away right under my nose. There will be consequences.” He growled, eyes flashing to his wolf’s.

I took another involuntary step forward.

“No!”

He turned to me expectantly.

“I’ll go, but please, don’t hurt her.”

This drew Mother’s attention.

“You choose exile then?”

“Yes,” I whimpered.

A gleeful look crossed Father’s face, and my mother’s eyebrows rose.

It was sudden and loud, like before. The bang echoed in the sudden stillness of the room. I saw the blood spray across the floor, heard the thump as my grandmother’s body fell.

My father shrugged it off with a smile, excusing the murder of his own mother with accusations of treason, traitorous intent.

The smell of gunpowder stung my nose. My eyes latched onto Grandmother’s face, tears blurring my vision. I watched blood pool underneath her, her expression forever frozen in pain and surprise.

The only person that had cared for me all these years. The only person I loved with all my heart. The small point of light I had in this prison within a dark world.

Gone.

Dead at my parents’ feet.

My father crouched down so his face was next to Grandmother’s, a cruel smile vying for my attention.

“Run.”

Chaos entered the room with his words. Werewolves stormed in, knocking doors open and breaking windows. Glass and wood chips sprayed across the floor.

At least two wolves crowded around me. Furs of gray and brown. Sharp teeth snapped in my direction as they zeroed in. With every step I took back, they covered twice as much distance.

I reached the backdoor in no time, the handle digging into my back.

Then I was flinging the door open and running.

There was another wolf outside, and they let me run by, nipping at my ankles and feet. My heart pounded in time with my footsteps. I was panting within seconds as I raced away from my home.

From the only life I knew.

Wind whipped my face, and rain stung as it hit my skin. Lightning was still roaring across the sky, but I couldn’t stop. The crack of thunder drowned out my cries, my sobs.

The wolves had followed me. I knew they could easily catch up and outrun me.

But they weren’t there to hunt. They were there to see me off pack lands.

I didn’t know how long I ran. I knew there were miles between the borders and Grandmother’s house, and it could easily take all day to walk there. It didn’t help that whenever my pace slowed, one of the wolves was there to make sure I didn’t slow down.

Suffice to say that I’d be healing from more than scrapes and bruises.

By nightfall we had reached our destination and the storm had quieted. I didn’t feel the bond break, and I spared a thought that perhaps I’d never had one to begin with. It didn’t matter now though.

I was out of Litmus.

On the surface, the rogue territory wasn’t much different from the pack’s. The trees were the same and the bird calls were similar. There wasn’t a sense of safety surrounding this land.

It reeked of fear. Musty, cloying, and rotten.

The wolves waited until I crossed the line separating Litmus’s land from rogue territory before they began the hunt. They began to act frantic, clawing over each other to get to me.

Grandfather used to tell me stories of when rogues dared to enter pack lands. Enforcers, warriors, were set upon them like, well, wolves to fresh, raw meat.

At the time, I had justified it. Rogues were horrible creatures, only after pain and misery. They deserved what they got.

I was not as convinced now.

I pumped my arms and my legs as fast as they could carry me. I could practically feel their hot breaths trickling down my neck. I was so sure they would get me at any moment.

You have to protect us, June! They aren’t going to stop. Not until we’re dead, Star cried. It was the most desperate I’d ever heard her sound. I could feel her worry but also her trust.

She believed in me, in us, to get out of this alive.

A wolf snarled right behind me, and a glance back showed he was preparing to jump. At the last moment, I veered right, ducking and rolling on the ground as the wolf sailed above me, yelping as it slammed into the trunk of a tree.

The sudden turn didn’t do much for the rest of my pursuers, though, and soon enough another was launching toward me. I cried out, hands thrown up to defend myself.

When I didn’t feel a furry body pulling me to the ground, I chanced a glance to see what had happened. All of my pursuers had turned tail and run.

What happened?

The low rumble of a growl sounded off behind me, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.

“What do we have here?”

I turned around, ready to face the new threat. My eyes widened; I was dumbstruck.

Twenty wolves, larger than the ones who had chased me out, loomed before me. A mix of colors and sizes, they had the intimidating factor down to perfection.

In front of the wolves, a man stood, and I flushed. He was naked and not embarrassed about it. Bulging muscles and sharp eyes were all I allowed myself to take note of before looking away.

“You dare to trespass on Vistas Moon Pack land, rogue?” There was a sneering quality to the way he said it, like he couldn’t believe I’d be dumb enough to try.

Then his words registered.

Vistas Moon Pack was notorious for being home to ruthless and bloody ideals, their Alpha even more so. Despite his young age, he’d managed to strike fear into the hearts of packs across the country. Grandmother had even heard of wolves talking of the Vistas Moon Alpha across the world.

There were stories of how he’d made a man bleed for looking at him the wrong way. I shuddered at the thought of what he would do to someone who crossed him.

Before I could do anything, though, the man whistled and the wolves moved. They converged on me, and one pounced as it got closer.

I stumbled backward and tripped. My arms flailed, and I tumbled down hard. My head whacked against the hard ground with a loud thump.

The sound of howling was the last thing I remembered before darkness swallowed me.