prologue the final wolf

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CRACKLES OF BRANCHES, whispers from the wind and rustles of the trees are the dominant sounds that reach Gianna Hart's ears as she strides through the forest with a face glossed with sweat and heavy breaths escaping her lips.

Of course, when her mother had told her they'd be moving away from Kissimmee, Florida (where she'd been born, and raised) the girl wasn't at all happy. She'd asked many questions as to why this sudden change was happening, almost as though to make sure the reason why was acceptable enough. Gianna had been told it was to get away from her neglecting father and for both her and her mother to get a fresh, new start, away from him and his side of the family.

That was all she'd been given, and had assumed it was the only vindication - after all, many families made moves for reasons similar to theirs, so it wasn't like they were odd, in anyway.

Although, her mother, Heather's, choice of location was questionable. And, truth be told, Gianna had never understood why she wanted to move to a small, gloomy village on the edge of Washington.

Until now.

A single clatter of thunder sounds, as though announcing the great fall of rain which follows seconds after its cry, and the red-headed girl becomes soaked with the familiar La Push shower, the grungy scent that always clings to downpour replenishing what was a few seconds ago the fresh early Spring air. It pierces Gianna's nostrils, as it enters and departs between deep, shaky breaths that derive from the girl.

Gianna stops in her tracks and sighs, closing her eyes and tilting her head back towards the starry sky, allowing the droplets of rain to plummet onto her rosy cheeks, washing away the hot, sticky glow and the worry that had induced it - but only for a second, since the storm can't prevent it crawling back and haunting the red-head's mind. Stress can't be washed away with water, as much as she wishes it could. But, still, she holds onto the moment of relaxation and peace for as long as she can - even if it is only for a split second, at the most.

The young Hart brings her palms to her face and wipes away the build up of the sky's tears mixed within her own - which is entirely useless, because the rain still falls, replacing them in an instant. Gianna brings herself to carry on walking, her eyes trailing around the nighttime woodland as her brain contemplates the life-changing events that have occurred over the previous days.

Shadows of nothing dance between the silhouettes of the trees, patters of rain echo off leaves and resonance from unknown noises sound from all different directions - of which the average person would usually ignore, or brush off as a tiny woodland creature. But now, anything will cause questions to stem from Gianna Hart. And she wonders whether the black smudges or the abnormal dissonance has, in fact, anything to do with the world one would call 'supernatural'.

Because, Gianna now knows that some stories of folklore might not just be mythical fiction for entertainment - but rather, tales that had escaped from inside the hidden world of the mythical beings.

And she is one of them.

Heather Hart wanted to move her daughter to La Push because there holds the only tribe of wolves in America she is aware of, thanks to her own great-grandad's tales of shapeshifter history.

Because their own tribe had been dying out - the gene now skipping several generations, until it eventually vanished. The tribal tradition which had always signified whether or not a newborn would grow to be a therianthrope was their fiery red hair, which was beginning to become more, and more rare in the family as the generations continued - the latest red-head being Heather's great grandad, Lyall. Until, of course, Gianna - unknowingly, the last werewolf of her family tribe - was born.

But, the problem was - when she finally came into the world, there was no longer a tribe left for her to join. Because the clan her family had originated from died out, many years ago - leaving Gianna, who has unfortunately inherited the gene that had long since skipped several generations, a lone wolf.

Heather wouldn't stand to let her daughter lead a frightened, solitary life cursed with an idiosyncratic ability. She wouldn't allow for Gianna to spend her whole existence hiding away from what she truly was - especially since she was the final wolf. She should, if anything, embrace what once was a family tribe. And so, with moving away from her divorced husband already on her mind, and the constant reminder that Gianna was growing up and would soon be going through her transformation (their tribe's transformations usually took place from the ages fourteen to fifteen) Heather took action, and, despite her daughter's complaints about it all, whisked herself and Gianna off to La Push - where the Quileute Tribe, the only tribe her great grandfather had ever told her about, resided.

But Heather didn't want to crash a pack of wolves which were comfortable enough in their own blood. She wasn't sure if they'd appreciate her interfering - especially if they had teenagers much like Gianna who didn't have a clue about all this therianthropy, yet,

However - if the tribe were to come across a lone wolf on their own accord... that might be a different story.

And so, Gianna still has no idea that if she carries on walking through this particular forest, it won't be long before she comes across the Quileute tribe by herself, and she finally discovers she is living amongst other wolves.

But, she doesn't. She leans up against a tree for a rest that she doesn't really need - physically, anyway. Gianna needs the time to get her head together - because shapeshifting is only one of her two major problems.

Fucking imprinting is the other.

Even when she found out things like werewolves and vampires existed, Gianna still had no idea about the involuntary mechanism by which shapeshifters found their 'soulmates' - and, to be completely honest, after discovering what it all means, the very thought of it frightens her.

Perhaps it's because she didn't get much time to grasp it all, before it happened to her. Because imprinting could happen at any point in a shapeshifter's life - so perhaps they were more prepared. Gianna, however, hadn't been so lucky - and imprinted just days after learning about all this therianthrope business. Talk about overwhelming.

And the so called lucky boy goes by the name Seth Clearwater.

Seth Clearwater. A boy Gianna has already known well from school and the time she spent at the local beach. A boy with one of those contagious smiles that could probably cause the saddest man on Earth to grin. A boy she'd undoubtedly liked a lot before all this stupid wolf stuff .

And she can't help but feel sad - not because she didn't like Seth, or anything, oh no, she adores the boy - she always had, even before her transformation. But Gianna thinks all this imprinting business will ruin the relationship she already has with him. They're not exactly best friends, or anything, but they get along well. Not to mention, Gianna hadn't been the best at making friends when she first moved to La Push, but Seth had never let that put him off.

But, maybe her being a wolf will. Nobody wants the wolf.

So, for now, Gianna is just trying her best to keep this shapeshifting business to herself. Perhaps if she ignores it enough, it'll go away. And Seth won't have to deal with the strange wolf-claim she'd accidentally put on him.

Surely it can't be too hard, right?

So, with her red hair sticking to her face and the rough rainfall still pounding down onto her, Gianna forces a reassuring smile on her face, and continues to walk.

And the walking turns to running. And the running turns to sprinting. And finally she dives, and human Gianna is no more. In her place, an elegant red wolf, still with her sparkling blue eyes reflecting the moonlight as droplets of rain sink into the thick, soft fur.

She pauses, for a minute, as though having a moment of recollection that this is in fact real. That her ancestors had previously been a long line of shapeshifters that died out through generations...

...and that she is the final wolf of their tribe.

Gianna stretches out, and pounces, sprinting off into the shadows of the forest, where the trees still rustle and rain still pours, but without any knowledge of the tribe of wolves only metres away from her, of whom have no idea that a shapeshifter that doesn't belong to the Quileute Tribe is currently running through their woods.

All are incredibly clueless.

A/N: Aaah! So there's the prologue! I just thought I'd give a little bit of a backstory before we jump straight in, but I promise the story will get more exciting and follow the actual series more! I just wanted to give a little explanation for Gianna and her situation and I thought a prologue would be the best way.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think, so far!

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