A Wolf Scorned by Taylor Spratt
Amira
I was born in the hole but with Goddess Selene as my witness, I would not die down here.
A thumping noise reverberated from overhead. The ceiling of my bedroom quaked, sending dirt and loose stones raining down over my head and powdering everything in my bedroom.
“You inconsiderate A-holes better knock it off before you cause a cave in,” I yelled. The jerks on the next level up didn’t say a word, but at least they stopped their dancing, fucking, or whatever it was they were doing to shake my ceiling.
That’s the downside of living underground. Well actually, it’s all one big downside. No pun intended. This was the life of a hole shifter, that’s what we called all the wolf shifters unfortunate enough to call this rat’s nest their home. Too bad for me I was one of them.
Lucky’s squawking broke my thoughts, and my eyes whipped over to where his cage sat on the nightstand.
“Did those jerks get dirt on you, baby?” I opened his cage, put my hand in, and my sweet little bluebird hopped onto my fingers. I pulled him out of the cage and gently brushed the ceiling debris off his bright feathers.
He was the most adorable pint sized bird, his entire body easily fitting in the palm of my hand. He chirped in delight, flapping his wings vigorously and singing.
“Yes, I know you wanna fly, and don’t worry. Fly day is almost here. The day we both fly out of this hell hole is just around the corner.”
I gently slid him back into his cage for what I hoped would be the last time.
Soon there would be no more cages for Lucky, or for me.
I side-stepped my bed, grabbed my brown backpack from its perch on the bedside table, and fastened it on my back. After a quick check in the mirror, I was at my door.
Before I could touch the dust covered wooden door, a heavy hand banged at it from the other side.
“What’s taking so long? Everyone else on this block has already left for class. Get your ass moving now!” an overbearing and raspy voice barked from outside. Without even waiting for my reply, he knocked again.
Great, now there was a grouchy Beta at my door. Just what I needed to start the day.
“Coming! I’m coming already,” I said before swinging open the door to meet his gaze. He was a middle-aged wolf who was a full foot and a half taller than I was. He was ridiculously cut, with a scowl so icy it could sink a ship. “Beta Bradley, how nice to see you again.”
Sarcasm peppered my words, which didn’t go unnoticed by Bradley.
“Oh, Amira. I should have known you would be the tardy one. Looks like you half-breeds do more than stink up the place. You hold everyone back, too.”
I gritted my teeth and dug my feet in the ground, trying to hold back the expletive working its way out of my mouth. The last thing I needed today was to be thrown ass first into the dungeon for telling a Beta to go fuck himself.
If there was one thing I hated, it was being called a half-breed. It was the most derogatory thing you could call a wolf. It signified that one was not a pure wolf, and I absolutely was!
I relaxed my shoulders and, in the calmest voice I could muster, replied, “That’s just a rumor bored shifter brats have been spreading about me. I’m not a half-breed. I’m a wolf. Just a wolf like everyone else down here.”
“Just a wolf, huh? Think I’m stupid? Any shifter past puberty could smell the ‘other’ on you from a mile away.” He grabbed the door frame with both hands, leaned in and took a deep inhale, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Mongrel or not, it’s time to get to college. Now get marching before I throw your stinking half-breed ass through the school doors myself.”
I knew I should hold my tongue, but every wolf had her breaking point and I was nearing mine.
“Seriously, pal? Beta or not, you've got to be sick of all of this by now. We're all slaves down here, forced to live our lives for the benefit of people we will never even meet.” I took a step closer, holding eye contact for longer than any lesser ranked shifter should with a Beta.
“Why you insolent little mongrel,” his voice cracked like a leather whip. He bared his sharp teeth, and his eyes widened in disbelief. “The life of a hole shifter is an honorable one. We sacrifice our power for the good of the surface world and in exchange we will be rewarded a thousand times over by Goddess Selene in the afterlife.”
I’d heard this a thousand times before. If I heard it just once more, I was going to scream. Do you really want to know what I hate about living underground with this so-called pack of mine? It’s that I couldn’t leave if I wanted to. Nobody is allowed to leave the hole, not ever. There’s a whole world up above that I’ve never even seen!
It’s the vampire ruling class that truly calls the shots. And why do our not-so-friendly vampire overlords hold us captive you might ask? It's all so they can drain our shifter power and use it for their own selfish purposes.
“Afterlife? What if I don’t want to wait for the afterlife to live? What the hell about now? I’ve never even so much as felt my wolf, despite being two years overdue for her awakening. If I didn’t have to fork over so much of my shifter power all the time, maybe I could have shifted by now.”
He rolled his eyes at me, shooting me a look that said he couldn’t care less about me and my petty problem. Not that he could relate to the extent of my pain. As a Beta, he was allowed to offer up less of his power to the vampires on sacrifice days than the rest of us.
The least he could do was care a little more about us little guys.
He grabbed me by the arm and yanked me closer. I could feel the warmth of his breath washing over my face.
“Be grateful. If it was up to me, half-breeds like you wouldn’t even be allowed to call yourself a hole shifter. Be happy that Alpha Logan is more progressive than I am. Now get your scrawny butt to class.”
He shoved me to the floor and I rolled over twice before crashing into the table at the other end of my room. My mother’s picture frame flew from the table and shattered on the floor, sending glass fragments flying everywhere.
My heart stood still in my chest as I watched the only photo I had of my mother lay on the dirt floor. I brushed away the glass not caring if I got cut and picked up my mother's picture, resting it safely on the table.
“What the hell is your problem anyway? How dare you barge into my room and attack me.”
“This dirt hole you call a room belongs to Alpha Logan, just like you do, mongrel.” He entered my room and charged over to me before fisting his filthy hands in my hair and dragging me towards the door.
I struggled in his grip and he halted the moment his eyes landed on my mother’s picture on the table.
“Ah, yes, I remember that one. Her half-breed stink was so foul an ocean couldn’t wash it away. The day she came to the hole, pregnant to bursting, who would have known she’d give birth to such an annoying brat like you. Well, I guess if the bitch is fucked up, the pup would have to be too.”
“Don’t you talk about my mother that way, you- you asshole. She was twice the wolf you will ever be!” I yanked his hand out of my hair and balled my fist, readying to strike him.
“Asshole? You dare refer to your Beta in such a manner? I’m glad your half-breed mother was denied medical treatment by the healer. She would have been a waste of resources anyway. She was a pathetic weakling just like her pup.”
Deciding to show him just how weak I was, I kicked the heel of my boot right into his greaseball face. He went flying through the door and crash landed into the outside tunnel wall.
His back laid against the outside wall and he shook his head, struggling to come to terms with what had just happened.
Crap, maybe I should not have done that.
He hopped to his feet with a speed most shifters couldn’t come close to possessing, and rose to his full height, somehow managing to look even taller and more menacing than he did a minute ago.
He darkened my doorway, the promise of death shining in his eyes. Without a word, he took a step closer, honing in on my position like a bullseye.
His jaw tightened and veins rose on his neck as the transformation began to set in. I could almost hear the inner cry of his wolf and it’s demand for my blood to wash the floor for my insubordination.
“Hey, Bradley, what’s poppin'?” a cheerful voice bubbled from outside my door. I only knew one girl with the rank to call a Beta by his first name. At least, only one who would be caught dead down in south mines, fourth level.
“Riley, is that you?” I backed away from the Beta.
Riley came into view, merrily skipping into my room. “Sure is, Chica. Now what did I tell you about picking fights with Betas?”
“Something about you not wanting to attend your best friend’s funeral?” I replied.
“This half-breed your pet, Riley?” Beta Bradley cracked his knuckles and took a step back, turning to face Riley.
The vein on his forehead was throbbing but he managed to control himself, at least for now. Riley was the daughter of another Beta who was Bradley’s best friend. Unlike me, he actually had respect for her.
“She’s my bestie, if that’s what you mean, sure,” Riley said, seasoning her words with a giggle.
“And I suppose you think it’s funny that your friend kicked me in the face just now?”
“Kicked you in the face?” She touched her chin with the pad of her straightened index finger. “No, I explicitly told her to stop doing that. You know how these half-breeds are, they take longer to learn than the rest of us. Leave her disciplining to me, okay?”
“And you? Why aren’t you at college?” he demanded.
“Well, I came for her, of course. Alpha Logan demands all shifters from ages 19 to 24 attend college for the glory of the hole and the molding of young wolf shifter minds.” Riley’s words sounded so scripted it was as if she was reading from the hole shifter manifesto right now. But this lughead of a Beta seemed to be buying the act.
He nodded his head at her, shot me one last nasty glare and trailed off down the tunnel.
I gave a sigh of relief as Riley marched toward me, looking quite cheesed off at having to save my ass from certain death for what had to be the third time this month.
As usual, Riley looked the picture of poised perfection. Her mahogany skin was smooth and flawless, and her eyes shone with the purest hazel of any shifter I’d ever seen.
Her features were delicate and feminine, the type that artists dreamt of painting. Her dreadlocks were thick and black, flowing carelessly all the way to the back of her knees. Even her pretty pink dress didn’t have a speck of dirt on it. No one in all the world should be able to look this good while living in underground mines, but somehow Riley did.
“You looking to get killed again? I could smell his wolf’s murderous intent from all the way down the tunnel.” Riley clenched both her hands around my arms, her eyes staring into mine. But I remained silent. The moisture in my eyes speaking on my behalf.
“He say something mean about your mom?” she asked and all I could do was nod, before she pulled me into her arms for the warmest wolf hug she could muster.
“Don’t listen to him, Chica. He’s a jerk. Most of the he-wolves in here are. Fuck them all! Fuck them all in the ass, for messing with my best friend.”
Thank Goddess Selene for Riley.
“How did I get so lucky to have a friend like you, Riley? Every day I think you’re going to come to your senses and ditch me.” I pulled my face off of her chest and wiped my eyes.
“Ditch you? Then how would I get high off that sweet half-breed smell of yours?” she joked, rubbing her fist over my hair.
“Stop it,” I laughed, shoving her in the side. “I already told you I’m a full wolf. All this half-breed stuff was just a mean rumor some wicked, gossip-loving she-wolf started because she didn’t like my mother.”
“I know and I’m only kidding.” Riley maneuvered around me to walk over to my table and pick up my mother’s old picture. She eyed the image with a note of concern wrinkling her eyes. “How long’s it been since she died, again?”
I paused for a moment to do the math. “Well, I was thirteen at the time, so about eight years ago?”
“That means you’re eight years tougher. So don’t give up. One day everyone in the hole will come to see the amazing wolf you are and all the good you have to offer. Just like I do.” She held onto my hand and guided me towards the door.
“Or, if I escape, they’ll be the last of my problems,” I muttered under my breath softly. I half hoped Riley didn’t hear me. We stepped out of the room and Riley shut the door behind us and quickly glanced around to make sure we were alone.
“Shhh! Are you crazy?” she whispered and her entire body shook as if she were shivering. “We’ve spoken about this before and…”
“And we agreed never to talk about escaping again because it’s forbidden to leave the hole without permission,” I continued in a monotone, robotic voice.
“I know you’ve got a shit life, Chica, but they’ll murder you if you try to leave. Please don’t ask me to watch that.” She made a sniffling noise and pouted, her expression adorable.
“I was only joking. Of course I would never try to run away. Please, don’t be sad, Riley.” I tried to sound as convincing as I could and Riley, who never could see past my smile, nodded, visibly satisfied that I would heed her request.
We took off down the dirt tunnel with only the buzzing of the overhead lights to be heard. Old wooden beams held the mine tunnel in place and framed the path, keeping the surrounding dirt from falling in.
Riley picked up her pace, now jogging through the quiet tunnel. I started running to keep up with her.
The air was stale with a mustiness to it that only seemed to amplify with every passing year. The darkness of the hole ran deeper than the cruelty of its residents. There was something fundamentally wrong about keeping a wolf shifter underground.
We were born to roam free under the sun, moon, and stars. This was the Goddess’s-given right of all wolves, and as much as I know it would hurt Riley to see me go, I had already decided.
I’d been planning in secret for months and the time for me to put the wheels of destiny in motion had come. By this time three days from now, I would be a free wolf, living life on the surface world, just like I’d always dreamed.