My Master Is Not a Wolf (BL)

1 - On This Fateful Day

Run! Run! I ran without looking back. An hour went by. Two hours went by. How long precisely I had been running for, I didn't know. What I knew, however, was that I could not stop. If I did, it would be the end.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I sprinted into the woods. Father, Mother, First Brother, Second Brother - everyone was dead. I could barely believe it. Everything had been fine this morning.

Perched on the tree branches, birds happily chirped away, welcoming the new day. The sun had already taken its position on its throne high in the sky, shining brightly and illuminating the forest, giving it a soft morning glow.

Everyone from my pack went hunting as usual. Normally, wolf packs would hunt together but because I was particularly bad at it, I was never brought along with them. Instead, I was forced to obediently wait in the cave.

I shortened the time spent waiting by rolling on the hard ground. I kept rolling left until my body hit the wall of the cave. Then I rolled back to the right. Awoo~ So satisfying. After a few hundreds of repetitions, I got bored and leisurely lay stomach down, resting my chin on my small hands. They were taking their sweet time this morning. When my stomach growled in hunger, I decided I would go look for them. Just when I left the cave, I heard a guttural howl coming from the direction where my pack had gone to a few hours ago.

Something had happened.

A surge of anxiety burst forward. Immediately picking up the speed, I raced to where the howl had come from. Dread and worry weighed heavily on my mind, forcing my feet to quicken the pace. Sweat dripped down my face. Nearing the place, I could see my brothers not far ahead standing in the open. Glad to see them, I allowed myself to slow down. I was about to call out to them as I headed their way when I noticed an arrow fly straight at my First Brother and pierce right through him.

"Awooo!" I hurriedly closed the distance but before I could get to my First brother, Second Brother jumped between us and with a growl, he ordered me to run away. I quickly scanned the surroundings, squinting the eyes in the sunlight, and seeing a group of humans standing atop the mountain with bows and arrows in their hands, I swiftly turned around and ran away. My rugged clothes flapped in the wind. Sweat dripped down my neck, sticking the already messy hair to my neck. Right behind me, I could hear my Second Brother following.

Together, we ran, dodging the rain of arrows pouring down toward us. A wave of sharp unbearable pain shot through my shoulder and out of the corner of my eye, I saw an arrow point sticking out of it. Stumbling, I put my hands in front of me to soften the fall. I took a quick glance over my shoulder and saw the man standing in the middle nocking his arrow and pointing it at me.

So this is it, I thought inwardly.

As he carefully drew the bowstring, I slowly closed my eyes, acquiescing in my fate. I calmed my breathing and lying still, I waited. When I felt something touch me, I believed it was the arrow but it immediately dawned on me that that was not it. It was too soft. Thus, reluctantly, I slightly opened one eye. The moment I did so, my eyes widened considerably and my breath caught in my throat. All blood left my face while I lay stupefied.

Second Brother!

A drop of tear escaped the corner of my eye, unleashing the outbreak of tears flooding down my cheeks.

"Awoo!" My Second Brother was standing over me on all fours, one arrow had pierced through his stomach, another one had gone through his hind leg. Yet, he kept standing rock still as he shielded me. Blood oozed out of his wounds, splattering on my body and coloring my clothes in red.

A low growl escaped his lips, telling me to run. And run I did.

I wiped my tears away with my sleeves and crawled from under Second Brother; immense pain cursed through my body as the arrow point scraped against the ground. Nevertheless, I paid it no heed and once back on my feet, I resumed running.

I still didn't understand who those bad people were nor why they wanted to kill my pack. Not that it mattered anymore. I would kill them all and avenge my pack. First, I needed to get away, though. Not sure whether they were still chasing after me, I dared not stop and continued running for another hour.

Exhaustion finally caught up to me. My knees buckled under my weight and I slumped to the muddy ground. I turned my head to look around. Not too far to the left was a small cave. Panting heavily from exertion, I gathered all my remaining strength and dug my nails into the ground, dragging my body into that cave.

I arduously pulled myself inside. Deep into the cave, it was so dark I could barely see a thing. After all the running and crawling I had done, not even an ounce of strength was left. My entire body was covered in scratches and bruises. Not to mention, the arrow had yet to be removed.

Eyelids weighed down with tiredness, I knew I couldn't fight the sleep anymore. Before I completely slipped into unconsciousness, I heard light footsteps gradually nearing.

No, no...