A lit cigarette pressed between my lips, a bow swung over my shoulder, along with a quiver filled with arrows. The city that was once so vibrate and full of life now no more then a waist land. Busted up cars, scattered around. Glass covering almost every inch of the concrete. Most of the skyscrapers had crumbled or toppled into other buildings. Over grow landscapes started making their way into some smaller business. To be honest I preferred the city like this.

    Its bring my inner wild out, the hardest thing for me now a days is finding a new stash of smokes, or fighting off others like myself…humans. Yea I said humans. The cause for all this destruction, from my knowledge is wolves…well Werewolves. When my father had still been alive, we hunted and fought together. He died trying to keep me safe, a large pack had come looking for females. Most werewolves are males, and in order to keep the population growling they need females. Lucky me.
    I guess it wasn’t all their faults, I mean our president did call for air force 1 to just start blowing shit up randomly. Not to mention the on slaughter or of bombs. Hell I’m surprised I’m even alive. Its funny now, taking a drag of my smoke. Letting the white smoke pour out like lava. The nicotine filling my body in a toxic bliss. it’s a shitty habit, but one I can’t kick…well until I can’t find anymore.

    The city was were I did most of my searching, looking for things like smokes, and can goods. Craving something in a can, will drive you nuts. Today I was in search for pineapple, needing to fill my sweet tooth. Most candy was melted or stale. I did get luck and find a bag of Doritos once, that was killer. Not many packs checked the cities, anymore. Most humans who had survived, had moved into the woods. Which is stupid since wolves prefer the woods. The few who resided in the city, were far from sweet. Being mostly thieves and killers, father never liked going into the city. He said it was asking for trouble, probably right.
    Eyeing a vending machine, that held sodas and water.

Walking over, money was pointless to carry since you could buy shit anymore. Now a days you jut took what you wanted. Spinning around so my foot hit the computer it spit out a sprite. Picking the can up off the concrete, smiling. Jackpot. Tapping the top, making the bubbles setting. Popping the cap, and hearing the sweet sound of fizzing bubbles. Sucking it down greedily, tossing the empty can to the curb. Walking on I had made a mental note of where I have been, as to not check the same place more then once.

    Not that I didn’t have all the time in the world, but no sense in waiting valuable time. Kicking the door to a small seven eleven in, I waited for the roof to hold or cave. It held and I headed inside. Walking to the back, most things like milk, bread, water were already cleared from the shelves. Not many people grab smokes. I’ve passed up plenty of chew, I just never could take the stuff. A few bottles of wine lay in disarray on the floor. Picking one up, blowing the dust off.
    “Umm, 05 model.” tucking it under my arm. Moving back up front, placing my bottle on the counter and sliding over it. The smokes were all over the place.

    “Hello my lovelies” Picking up my brand. A total of seven packs. Not bad. Scratch tickets hanging down like party streamers. Chuckling to myself, bet I’d win millions now. Sliding back over the counter, taking my bottle. It was getting late and needing a safer place to hold up for the night. Wild animal roamed the streets as their personal playground. A few sounds trailed around the city, most were men who lived here. They would raid gas stations and ride on motorcycles, or punked out trucks. Being at a 7/11 wasn’t a safe place.

    I wasn’t the only one who smoked. Taking it as my green light to go, I walked away. Running brings unneeded attention. As the sun trailed over the ruble, I stopped at the outskirts of the city. I moved a lot, keeping my smell covered with something called witch hazel. Father said he found out from someone else it masked your scent from the wolves. To my surprise it worked wonderfully. How I found out was something less desirable. I had been held up in a small dinner, in the back no less. When a pack started in, their growls and continual talking had me shaking like a damn leaf. Dapping a little of the witch hazel on my skin, stuffing myself into a cabinet, I held my breath.

    See wolves come out whenever they feel like it, they can change to look like humans or bigger wolves then what were use to seeing. They had missed me completely thanks to some moron with a shot gun. Instead I got to hear his cries of terror, as they tore him limb from limb. Not something a 15years girl wants to hear, special the day after her birthday. Father had died a few days before my birthday, and the realization that he was never going to come back sank in real fast.

    Ever since then I have been caring for myself. Making sure to keep moving, and only taking what I really needed. Getting drunk wasn’t a good idea, but a few swings with dinner wouldn’t be to bad. Speaking of which, I’m feeling beef tonight. Heading to a small town, a few cows were grazing quietly. Not being one to kill an animal, that is until I needed to eat. Supermarkets don’t exist anymore. And salad can only give you so much, special when you need a crap load of energy.

    Taking the kill shot to the head, the animal dropped scaring the others away. Walking over, pulling out my knife cutting into the hide. Taking a huge piece of meat, leaving the rest. It wouldn’t go to waist. Getting far away, I could already hear the howls from wolves happy to take the easy meal. I think I’ve been feeding those bastard for over six years now. I’m either 21 or 22 I’m not sure lost count, and days don’t matter just like names. Starting a fire, cooking the meat. Popping the top off the wine, and finishing off the last cigarette out of the already open pack.

    Lighters were another thing I liked to keep on my person, once the meat looked done I used two sticks to pull it off. Nothing like home cooking, but better then bark. Finishing up, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. I found that the more smells I had on me, the less I was noticed. It was almost like I blended into the surrounding area. Kicking dirt into the fire, tossing the bottle away from my campsite. Climbing a large oak, resting on a large branch at the top. Giving myself a good view of my home, I made myself as comfortable as possible. The sounds of things stirring under and around me, lulling me to sleep.

    Suppose I had it easier then human men, most of them if found by a wolf would get killed. Where if I were found, would be taken by the pack and all the males would sniff me seeing if I belonged to them. My mother had never been taken, she had off’d herself before they got the chance. I guess it’s a little romantic, maybe. Seeing first hand how a wolf finds his mate, my father wanted to prove to me I wouldn’t have a chance of not getting a wolf.
    It turns into this big deal, they take a female around one pack, and if for some reason her mate isn’t their they try another pack. And so on, till they find your mate. They don’t just stop and go ‘oh well you don’t have one so your free to go now’ .

No you get a wolf for a partner, no matter what. Most are oversized men who look like they belong on the cover of an Army Magazine.  They were the epiphany of over flooding testosterone, and egos flooding more then the Nile river. I bet my wolf mate was having a field day looking for me.

    Chuckling a little bit, I shifted in my tree. Waking to the bright morning sun. Stretching outward cracking my back. Sighing I sat still just letting myself wake on my own. Coffee was a thing of the past, and the memories of my parents drinking the hot beverage every single morning to wake up, before heading off to work. Never again would work or bills be a problem for them. Me on the other hand, found this new wilder life; to be thrilling. During the winter months I will hold up in a Library. Catch up on my reading, and writing.

    Never planning on being anything, cause well I didn’t get the chance to graduate. Friends I did have were either taken or killed, so being alone all the time has its down falls. However I did end up finding a test to take the GED and to my surprise I passed it. It was a nice find, and helped past the time during all the snow. Climbing down, my feet firmly planted on the earth. My next stop was to head to a river or lake, a well needed bath was in order. Smelling bad is only good, until you can smell yourself. Strapping my quiver to my back, laying my bow over my shoulder.

    I’m a hell of a shot with this thing, father had used a gun; but the damn thing would run out of bullets at the wrong moment. Having a bow meant, you could always make more ammo. Or at least see how many more shots you could get off, before running was your only option.

    Finding out a few other things as my life went on without him. Like how humans could be changed into wolves, however there was some law where it had to be a good reason. So most humans stayed as they were. Another tasty bit was knowing you could never run away from your new wolf mate, he’d mark you somehow. I had never seen one, nor wanted to. Cause if you saw a marked female who was trying to escape, the pack would be hot on her heels. Also staying away from male humans was a good idea as well.

The reason being, human males thought that if they had a female human, they could trade her for food and such. Giving them the upper hand. Wolves had been searching the whole world for females. Getting your hands on one, was like winning the damn lottery around here. So I guess in some cases I wasn’t as luck as the male humans. The last female I saw was when I was 19 or so. She was young and two human males had her. Trading her for food and warmer clothes. Sadly she was handled much nicer by the wolves then she was her own kind.

    Stopping at the winding river bank, pulling off all my clothes. Which was no more then a pair of blue jeans, and a tee with boots and socks. Sand works great for scrubbing dead skin off your body, and rose petals make for smelling better. Plus you can eat rose hips Add a little mint and you have breakfast. The amount of cleanliness you get from washing in cold river water with no more then rose petals, is nothing to a hot shower and Dove body wash. Trust me, I’ll take the hot shower. Rising the remaining petals out of my hair, I dripped dry. Putting my clothes back on.

    With the wind picking up, I made myself move out of the clearing. My scent would travel down stream and let any wolves out on patrol know a female was around. Something I did not need. The sour smell of something dieing, made me hold my nose. Two men stepped out of the trees.
    “Looky what we have here, brother.” His voice dripping in excitement.

Aww just freaking great.

Taking a step away from them, I noticed one was a little bigger then the other. Also they looked to be needing food and new clothes, or wouldn’t make it another month. Let alone the winter.
    “If your thinking of trading me, your gunna have a hell of a time.” Slipping my hand into my pocket, while the other took hold of my bow.