• "What's wrong...? You won." she asked concerned.

    "I know I did. But I'm the Alpha now. And I'm going to move the pack." he said coldly, looking away.

    "What? But..."

    "Dont," he wipes the tears away."I'm sorry. I can't stay."

    "But you said you loved me. How can you do this? How can you forget about everything between us? Everything you said you felt..." she put her hand over his on her soft, tear soaked cheek, clutching to it and never wanting to let go.

    "I'm doing this BECAUSE I love you."

    tab With that, she had made up her mind. She loved this wolfman more than life itself. She refused to give him up. But she knew there was no reasoning with her lover. She would have to think of another way to work through it... or die trying.

    "I have to go now..." He started to turn and glanced at her once more. "I love you."

    "I love you too." Her nose was running and the tears continued to flow as she watched him gather the rest of the pack members and leave her sight.

    tab Juliet fell to her knees. Her Romeo was gone. But not forever. She wouldn't allow it. Her pale blue eyes lifted towards the midnight sky, promising silently to herself and her Romeo that they would meet again. No matter what it took.

    ~

    tab The first orange rays of light were caressing the horizon by the time Juliet was back in the same spot her lover and she had parted. Only this time, a nap sack clutched in her pale fist and wore a fur trimmed crimsion coat to shield her from the bone chilling nights. A bit of food, water, a blanket, a pencil and paper. She filled her lungs with the tart morning air. Her face turned from peaceful to disgusted as she caught the stench of the dead flesh resignating off the cold body of the once Alpha wolf. The now human body had turned pale blue from the frozen night air. Creatures large and small had crawled their way from the depths woods during the night to feed on the fresh flesh. Juliet took note of it. That would be her fate if she never found Romeo again.

    tab Determinded, yet fearful, she started to walk into the same woods that Romeo and his pack disappeared into.

    ~

    tab Juliet spent her day walking. Her parents hunted these creatures for a living, it couldn't be that hard. And it wasn't. Maybe it was just in her blood. The wolf pack often left bits of hair or paw or foot prints in the soft dirt. Nearly at dusk, all trails of the pack stopped. No fur. No prints. It was if they had just... disappeared. Confused and worried that she'd never find them, she kept walking. Her feet started to ache but she ignored the sharp pain.

    tab Hours after dusk, she finally stopped. She prepared a fire and made due with the little food she had. The moon shown brightly onto the forest floor. She heard a howl that made her jump and almost dump her meal on the ground. She wasn't worried. The sound was far enough away. She knew she couldn't be found at such a long distance. Reaching for her napsack, she pulled out a flask that held hard liquor she stole from her fathers cabinet. Tilting it, she tooking a swig, just like her father had done. She almost choked as it slithered down her throat. Vile! The taste was disgusting; indescribable. And it burned like fire. But in the chilly weather, it helped warm her from the inside out. Getting the pen and paper she had, she started to write. Keeping it as a sort of journal to mark her travels.

    ~

    tab Juliet was fast asleep when she heard a twig snap near her campsite. The air was unusually quiet and the uneasiness made her skin crawl like a thousand tiny ants on her soft skin. A rustling of leaves brought Juliet to her feet. Her eyes were big, full of fear, and her breath caught in her throat. All she had to defend herself was a small pocket knife. A quivering hand reached for the knife but before she could get to it, a large firey red werewolf stepped from behind a tree. Crouched on all fours and growling ferociously, hungry silver grey eyes piercing into Juliet's skull.

    "Don't bother trying to defend yourself, human. It's not worth the effort," the firey wolf spoke.

    Juliet momentarily reclaimed contol of her paralyzed lips."Who are you?"

    "Who am I? Who am I?" she chuckled. "I, my dear girl, am a werewolf. And who are you?"

    Juliet opened her mouth to respond but was cut off before she got a word out.

    "Ah, ah, ah. I already know who you are. You're my dinner." Her toothy smile automatically reminded her of the cynical smile of the old Alpha.

    tab With that, the rust colored werewolf flattened her ears to her head and she started to approach. The female beast's muscles tensed just seconds before she launched her huge mass at the much smaller Juliet, jowls snapping.

    tab Juliet threw up her frail arms and closed her eyes tightly in a futile attempt to spare her own life.

    tab And then... nothing. She felt nothing. Not even the slight breeze in the midnight air. Eyes closed tightly, she dared to take a peek out of her left eye and lowered her arms. The fire wolf was still in front of her, but was no longer had her hungry gaze on Juliet. She was looking past Juliet. Trembling, she turned her head to look over her small shoulder. Another werewolf! The new beast was a beautiful light silver grey, the color of the sky just before the first rays of light at dawn's earliest light.

    "Victoria! What do you think you're doing?!" The silver wolf barked at her.

    "What does it look like? I'm eating," The cocky wolf raised an eyebrow.

    "How dare you? Eating Romeo's beloved? You know he marked her off limits to us all. Betraying the word of the Alpha is treason." Her eyes narrowed into slits, instensifying, as if forcing this "Victoria" to back down.

    "His beloved?! Make no mistake, old one. I was quite unaware that this was the infamous Juliet." Her muscles relaxed and she took a step back from Juilet, turning her pale silver eyes to look at Juliet. "My apologies, dearest."

    tab Juliet caught a glimmer of malice in her voice. As if she had ment her actions and known who she was all along. But her face held a simple smile. Juliet let it go. No need to challenge one about their sincerity when the opponent could snap her neck at any given moment. Snapped out of thought by the elderly wolf at her side, Juliet jumped.

    tab The old one chuckled. "No need to be afraid. No one's going to hurt you while we're around." The wolf's face held a kind smile. This was the first time Juliet was close enough to look into the old were's eyes. Beautiful, they were. A purple amethyst color; unlike any she had ever seen before. Kind eyes, hidden by fur and wrinkles. "What are you doing out so far in these godforsaken woods?"

    "I... I'm looking for my Romeo. I refuse to live without him..." Juliet answered desperately.

    Victoria rolled her eyes, though no one took notice. The steel colored wolf smiled again. "How sweet. Romeo hasn't been the same without you either."

    "Really?" Juliet asked, unable to hide a smile as her heart fluttered.

    "Oh yes," She nodded. "Come now. The night will only get colder the longer we stay. And we can't leave you in these woods by yourself, now can we? You'll never survive. You'll be accompanying us to reunite with our pack. Your Romeo will be there."

    Juliet couldn't hold her excitement. "Oh, thank you!" She flung her arms around the old wolf's thick, strong neck as the silver wolf laughed again before their parting.

    The silver wolf looked around in confusion. "Now were is that boy?"

    "Haven't seen him since we went our seperate ways to hunt," Victoria said, examining her claws and picking dirt from underneath them.

    tab Old one shook her head in frustration and sat back on her haunches, tilting her head upwards towards the full, pale moon. With a deep breath, she let out a deafening howl. However loud, the old wolf's howl seemed to hold a sort of elegance; like a beautiful, sweet lullaby.

    tab After, there was silence. And then a howl nearby. The Old One and the auburn wolf's ears perked. Not nearly as attractive or enchanting as the steel wolf's. It was... unsure, choppy; but a werewolf's howl nonetheless. A few more moments of silence and a rustling near by made them all turn.

    "I'm here, Claudia," a wolf on two legs stepped out of the shadows; light tan fur and eyes that were so dark brown, they could easily be mistaken as black. Through the tan fur, there were black bits in tribal designs on his shoulders and lower back. It walked forward and circled Juliet.

    "And whom is this divine creature?" His gaze made her uncomfortable as his eyes traveled unnaturally up and down her virgin body. She cringed at the unwanted attention but answered his question. "I'm Juliet."

    "What a beautiful name," he smiled and stopped in front of her, still in wolf form. "My name is Alexander."

    "Alexander." Claudia said harshly, taking notice of the way he continued to look her over. "Juliet will be coming with us to our pack. To find her lover, Romeo."

    "Oh! You're THAT Juliet. Hmm, such a shame..." he trailed off again and his eyes traveled across her chest.

    "Come now. We'll never get there if we continue on with this useless talk." Claudia picked up Juliet's nap sack in her wide jaws gently and started walking. Juliet ran to catch up to walk beside her, not trusting the other two enough to walk beside them. Victoria and Alexander trailed behind them.

    ~

    tab It was pitch black when they arrived. It had taken them 3 days of walking to get there, but they eventually made it. Her heart skipped a beat upon the thought of finally being with Romeo again. The only light came from one large bonfire in the middle of a circular arrangement of huts; well made, simple, but sturdy huts. The pack wasn't huge. 10 or 12 wolves, tops. Some were in wolf form, others looked human. Two almost identical white wolves were play fighting on the edge of the huts, and were the first to greet them, running over with their tails between their legs and licking the face of the Old One before running to sniff Juliet without a word. Their noses and whiskers tickled whatever bare flesh was exposed and she giggled. They started talking between themselves in a hushed tone.

    "This is the girl!" They both said unanimously.

    "I can't believe she's here!" Marie mummbled, with a smile.

    "She's prettier than-" Madeline started.

    Marie cut her off and finished the sentence for her sister, "-I expected her to be."

    tab "Marie! Madeline! Leave her be. She's tired from our long journey," Cluadia scolded.

    tab "Yes, ma'am," the white wolves spoke again in unison. "But Romeo isn't here. He said something about leaving for the night. Needing to be alone or something."

    Juliet's heart sank. Not again...

    tab "I figured. He shall be back in the morning." The silver wolf turned her attention to Victoria and Alexander. "Take her to an available hut and make sure she's comfortable."

    Victoria rolled her eyes and walked off towards the large bonfire, stepping lightly and casually as she stood at the edge of the flames as Alexander and Juliet both followed.

    tab With her back towards them, the auburn wolf started to change. Her spine cracked first, jolting her back straighter as the rest of her bones adjusted. The sick sound made Juliet's stomach churn again. The long wolf muzzle shortened to a human nose as her acute teeth dulled into a human mouth. The firey hair on her body fell to the ground and desingrated within seconds. What was left, was lightly tanned skin; supple and beautiful. She ran her slim fingers through the long red hair that was left on her head before turning to face them. Her body that had once been covered by animalistic fur was now revealed. Victoria was thin with large breasts, wide hips and a small waist. Her curves were undeiably amazing in the illuminating light by the fire. Her minimal clothes consisted of a leather bra-like top and a short patchy leather skirt. The beauty of her body could only be dwarfed by the features of herface. A small nose, pink lips, and cat like eyes with abnormally long eyelashes. It was difficult for Juliet to pull her envious eyes away.

    tab "Show off," Alexander whispered. As Juliet turned to look at him, she saw another human. But how hadn't she...? Nevermind. Too tired now. She took a quick second to glance over the human Alexander. Olive skin and a bare chest. A mere loin cloth covered his lower half. The tattoos and tribal designs on his shoulders and back were clearly visible. He had a slightly muscular build and hair down to the base of his neck, small pieces of it falling in his face. He brushed them out of the way and raised an eyebrow to her with a sneaky smile, mistaking her observations as "checking him out". "Like what you see?" Running a hand over his abs and she blushed and quickly looked away and turned her attention to Victoria again. She followed her to an empty hut.

    "This one's yours for the night. Sweetest dreams... human." Victoria snarled and closed the door.

    tab Juliet took a quick look around. Nothing but a large bed filled with feathers and a lit candle. Juliet sat on the bed that was surprisingly comfortable. Leaning towards the candle, an exhale of air put it out and she crawled under the covers. Her last thoughts that night were happy ones. Tomorrow... she would meet her Romeo again.