Forced to alpha

"Selena, don't come back late.... yes I know you're of age and all that stuff. But I still don't like you walking alone in the woods in the wee hours of the morning. "says my grandmother from her rocking chair.

She is so funny, the truth is that she is old but not so old that she looks like a granny like Little Red Riding Hood, and well, the wolf thing is not entirely uncertain since we are both female wolves here.

"Grandma, you are not so old, it is true that you are almost 300 years old, but you still have a long way to live, I don't know why I am talking about the rocking chair, and by the way, I didn't say anything" I answer smiling to my grandma.

My grandmother doesn't answer, she just gives me a smile and continues knitting. I don't know what must have bitten her if she has never liked to do this kind of thing.

I head for the doctor's office, today is my last day of practice, and today I will finally be a real nurse.

I go into the office and greet Mrs. Jones, she is a regular, and every day she comes with a mission. I think she is lonely and here she spends the morning. She's so sweet, since I've been here she hasn't stopped bringing coffee and muffins for a day.

I finish my day, today the day has been very quiet, with just a few cuts and some plaster. I grab my things and get ready to leave.

"Selena waits a moment," says the doctor behind me, I turn and wait for him to speak.

"I'm sorry I can't offer you a job right now, you know there isn't much work right now and I couldn't pay your fee, but as soon as summer comes I'm sure I'll be able to hire you," says Dr. Smith apologetically.

"Don't worry, I am very grateful for the opportunity you have given me, I will manage, thank you very much, don't worry" I answer a little sad, I knew for sure that this would happen, even so, I was not prepared.

I leave the clinic and take a last look, this is not a goodbye but a see you later. I walk to the cafeteria, in ten minutes my shift starts and I'm in a bit of a hurry.

I arrive and quickly greet Catherine, she is the boss, I go to my locker and put on my uniform, eight hours of serving coffee and mixed dishes await me.

It's not the best of jobs, but it feeds us. With the small allowance the widowed grandmother gets from the Pack, we barely make ends meet. I suppose if she lived alone she would have plenty, but with the two of us, it's not possible.

It's ten o'clock, finally closing time. I finish clearing the tables and cleaning the place. It's half past ten when I finally finish. If I hurry I'll be home before twelve. Before I leave I approach Catherine and ask her if I can take more shifts, as my mornings are now unoccupied. She is sorry and explains to me that in the morning hardly any people come and that she and the other girl manage fine.

Well, it's not what I expected to hear, but at least I have a job.

I walk back home, the night is cold and the sky is clear, the firmament is bathed in stars and a full moon adorns it.

My she-wolf is screaming for me to let her out, but this is not a good time. I would have to leave my clothes and bag here and that's not what I want to do right now. When I get home I'll let her out to run for a while. I just hope she doesn't feast on some rabbit.

She loves to hunt it's in her nature.

"Grandma, I'm home..... I know you're awake" I tell her from the doorway. As much as I insist that she not wait up for me she refuses. So I bring a few leftovers to serve us both for dinner.

"Honey, I have some bad news, or maybe it's not bad, but I don't like it very much," says my grandmother handing me an envelope.

I look at it and see that it comes from the Pack, ours, the Black Moon Pack. I take the letter from inside and start to read it:

Your presence is required in the pack on the morning of the day after you receive the letter. Both Miss Selena Moore and Mrs. Astrid Moore must be present for the census. This will take place in the town hall square.

Very well, I fold the letter and put it in the envelope. It's been ten f*ck*ng years since I've been to the Pack since that fateful day, and now we are not invited but rather forced to attend this stupid census.

We could not attend, but it would mean we would be out of the Pack becoming rogues, my grandmother would lose her little allowance and we would be exposed to greater dangers.

"Well early in the morning I will call Catherine, I know for a fact that we will be there all day and now come and have some supper with my grandmother.

"I know you don't want to go and that place is bad for you, but think that we will only be there for a while and then we will return home...

He is right, I have no one there, I have no friends if I ever had them and I have no family either, only bad memories and recurring nightmares.

We go to bed after one o'clock, and we have to get up early because we have an hour's walk and we have no means of transportation.

I get into bed, tuck myself in and close my eyes, it doesn't take long for me to fall asleep as the truth is that I am very tired.

"I hear screams and explosions all around, I get out of bed and look out the window. There are many wolves fighting in the street, I don't understand what's happening...

I go downstairs in search of mom and dad they are transformed into wolves and are fighting with a group that has entered the house.

Mom looks at me and indicates with her eyes that I should hide, that's something we've talked about many times before. I run up the stairs and get into my bedroom closet, pull a lever and a compartment opens. I get in and close it again...

I don't know how long I've been in here, I'm hungry and I pee, suddenly I start to hear footsteps, they stop at the closet door, I curl up and hope it's mom and dad.

But it's not them it's grandma on the other side, she grabs me in her arms and pulls me out of the house..."

Although I have slept, my floor has been plagued by nightmares, it is always the same ones that torment me.

Today we had a light breakfast, as I overslept and we had no more time to waste. We have been walking for almost an hour and I still don't see the entrance to the herd.

Grandma pats me on the back and points me to the entrance, at the entrance, there are two guards standing. When we get to their position they ask us to identify ourselves.

We give them our names and they give us a little sniff, a few seconds later they let us pass. And I thought they were going to send us back home, what an illusion.

I can see that today people are in an uproar, there are a lot of people running from one place to another. The truth is that I don't like this too much, I'm not used to it. My life is a very simple life, I would even say boring.

In my almost twenty-one years of life, I have never gone to a crowded place. Nor did I have anyone to go with.