Alright guys, this short story is very old by now but I'm going to leave it here because it still holds some personal value. I'm working on a novel right now and don't ask for spoilers because I'm having trouble just keeping it on the down low from my parents and close friends. I can tell you it holds truth from my personal life and includes wolfy bits, much to everyone's delight. I've always been hesitant about writing werewolf stories, but I'm hoping to put a better spin on the genre in my most recent endeavor into literature.

          Recap: Old story based on dreams being left up for now. New novel in the works. Don't judge me XD

               It was dark... The air was cold, bitter, and nipped at our open mouths as me raced through the snow, the energy and adrenaline rushed through our muscles as the thrill of the hunt grew stronger within us. The pack came up over the ridge and stopped. It was a full moon, so not only could our keen eyes cut throught the darkness more effectively than usuall, but the warm sensation in our hearts was pushed harder than ever. I saw a large moving object to the left and started to dart for it but the lead wolf jumped into my path and pushed me back. He barred his fangs at me and crouched ready to lunge but he turned and headed toward what I had spotted. The pack moved away from me, being only one of the black furred members I meant nothing compared to the dignity of the pack. My lightning blue eyes, filled with hatred, lead me back into formation. I felt I had to redeem myself, but had to contain my hatred toward my superior.

                By the time I had caught up the entire pack had been crouched in the snow, ready to punce for quite some time. I stared at the moving structure of meat before me, eating the frozen grass in the snow, without a clue of us withing striking distance. I wondered of I could get an extra piece of meat for the she-wolf, deer meat had always impressed her, but I would get hell from the lead wolf. Everyday I seemed to become more of a lone wolf, straying from the dignity of the pack.

                Suddenly its back went rigid and neck arched slightly to look toward us. My fur bristled with excitement all the way up my spine and down my legs. Hunting with a pack had always been my specialty, ever since I was a pup, hunting moles just outside the den. But this wasnt for fun, this was for survival and pride. I lowered my body even closer to the snow, ready to punce as soon as the lead wolf gave the signal. The lead wolf glanced at me and the others as he had on so many other occasions, the signal...

                We all broke into a run together, surprising it before it could lift its head. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. My four legs pounding against the white powder, heart racing, eyes wide taking in everything around me. On almost all hunts for the pack, our prey had turned and run, making the chase more or less easy enough for us to take it down. Tonight was different however, the buck stood its ground and bucked the first of us away easily. Finally after many attempts it was my shot, so I broke into a sprint directly toward the large menacing creature before me. Predictably it lowered its head to buck me away, but when I tried to dodge the blow my hind legs slipped in the powder and caused me to slide underneath it. I was directly underneath it with a clear shot at the throught, however I knew that the only one who was allowed to take down prey directly was the lead wolf. Realizing this, I went for the foreleg with open jaws and sunk my fangs deep into the muscle, cutting the tendon clean off the bone. The agonizing blow sent the buck straight forward onto its side and gave the lead wolf the opportunity I had had earlier. The lead wolf looked into its eyes and in the blink of an eye ripped its neck open in one blow.

                With the overwhelming essence of blood moving around my mouth, I ripped off the piece of meat I had so recently clamped my jaws down on. I gratefully swallowed the meat and went for more, knowing that I probably wouldnt get this kind of opportunity again for quite awhile. The rest of the pack jumped in and ate their fill, the smell of our preys blood made us feel very much alive and filled our hearts with pride.

                 Without warning the entire group of the pack began to howl. This was the sign that the rest of the pack could come for the food. Many of the female wolves bounded over the hill at the sound of our signal. Many of the maturing pups did the same, following their mothers in search of food. It was a very pleasing sight to see the rest of the pack devouring the rest of the fresh carcass, many of them coming over to the hunters, like me, and licking the blood off our muzzles as a sign of thanks. Without any warning at all the females and pups bounded off and the pack became dead silent.

                  I looked toward what the cause of this silence was. It was a creature like none I had ever seen: it walked on two legs, wore a variety of furs, and carried a large stick over its shoulder. The males were curious but deep down were furious with the creature that had interrupted their moment of glory. The pack ran toward it silently in an attempt to end the life of this unknown being.

                  For some reason the lone wolf inside me told me this wasnt right at all. I ran faster than the rest of them and stood in front of the creature in an attempt to protect it. I fought off the pack and they did back away from the creature and I. I felt I had done the correct thing going against my own pack until I turned around and saw the creatures stick to my head, and everything went black and I fell into a bottomless abyss of pain... Then silence, stillness, and darkness envoloping everything...........

                   I kept falling... Falling into an abyss of seemingly no end... The walls of the hole were dark with white ripples in various patterns with a slight shade of blue. It was beautiful and horrifying at the same time, swallowing my thoughts in a shroud of shadows, bringing all of the best memories of my previous life out of me in a wall of fire. The pain had stopped and I was gratefull, but I still felt lifeless, like I had left my body behind somwhere... The subject was too great to bear and somhow pulled me back into some state of consiousness..........    ..........   ..........

                   I felt very drowsy and didnt know what to do at first. Still all around me were the endless walls of blue-black shadows wofting in various patterns. I had always wondered what happened to my prey when they were killed.... I had found it. This was where I would spend eternity, this dark pit with no way out and no feeling or company. If I were living I would have faintied at this thought of isolation, but since I had no body or feeling this was impossible. I raised my head and howled louder than I ever had before. I kept howling as long as I could and kept going, no motive, no reason, just instinct toward a feeling of hopelessness. My pride was all I had left and I had to keep it in the only way I knew how, howl my heart out...

                   This feeling stayed inside of me for a long, long time, until I saw what I thought would be the end to this misery. It was a light, an orb of light far off in  the distance, an orb that was the only hope of getting out of this hellish place. My paws ran like I had never experienced, like running on air with no feeling. All my movements slowed and the light became larger and brighter, like the full moon feeling but... More sorrowful. In moments the light enveloped and blinded me, moreso than any daylight there had ever been or even the flash of the creatures stick before I had been sent here, to my death. The light moved around me and spun around in front of me into a figure. This figure was not so unfamiliar when it came together, it was a wolf, a wolf made entirely of light with blood red eyes.

                    "You must be wondering why you are here," it said in a low bellowing voice. Said? What? (You must understand that at this time I am only a mere wolf with no knowlege of communication other than the body contact of my packmates. But I guess this was not exactly speaking, but communication of some sort. I will try to translate as best I can.)

"Yes I want to know the reason I am here but most of all, where am I?" I asked confused.

It answered with its unsettling voice, "You are in the shadow realm, this is where all spirits pass on to their next form".

I was confused at first when I heard this also for I had never thought deeply about this subject "you mean I will not be trapped here forever?"

"Of course not, I choose what you will be in your next life".

"What is this next life?"

"Everytime you have hunted your prey they have been killed. Yet they are not simply gone because their body is destroyed. Their spirit comes here and sees another like me in their own realm. Anything you have killed could very possibly become any other living thing of this world".

"What will become of me? Will I ever see my packmates again?"

"Every spirit forgets what they were in their past life. Many experience what they were in dreams or have supernatural feelings of this".

"I have never felt this," I told the light form rebelliously "is this a fault on my part?"

"No," it said with a sort of sadness in its voice, "this was my fault, I sent you back to another life of being a wolf which is why you were pure in spirit and were willing to stand up against your own family for it".

"Pack," I corrected ,"and what does this mean for me now?"

"This mistake on my part cost you your life, to make up for my fault I will bless you with the ability to remember that you were a wolf and fully understand this process".

"You mean I will not forget my pride?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and I will give you the new form of the wisest being to walk this world; a human".

The face faded and whisped away from me. "Wait! what is a human!" I yelled after him, but to no avail. I fell again, not into darkness, but into light. My feeling began to come back and I was very warm. My eyes closed, I lost my senses as a wolf, and I was born.....