The Traitor Panther

Chapter One

"If you don't hurry, they'll catch you." I nodded seriously and grabbed Charlie's hand, letting him tug me through our family's house. We winded through the hallways and down the stairs, stretching our ears out for any noise and peeking around corners at every turn. Our parents would kill us both if they caught us right now.

"Okay. Mom is in the kitchen. That means we're going to have to run past her and out the front door as fast and as quietly as possible. Got it?" Charlie whispered to me about halfway down the stairs.

I can feel my heart thumping in my chest so hard it feels like I'm going to choke. I can tell he's about to make a run for it. He's leaning back on his left foot, and forward with his right. He's crouched down low, watching our mother in the kitchen for the perfect chance to sneak past her.

And then I felt him squeeze my hand tightly, signifying we were about to move. I bit my lip, and we darted past the kitchen, through the front entrance, and finally slipped out the door, Charlie shutting it softly behind us.

"Come on!" He exclaims, tugging me into the sunny afternoon. The sky was bright, and the wind was warm and playful. I could feel a smile growing on my face as we raced through the front yard. We went straight and crossed the road, Charlie still tightly holding my hand. We cut through the house's yard across the way from us and kept running. The tree line to the woods surrounding our pack was mere feet away.

Charlie would do this for me sometimes.

He'd wait for Dad to leave for work, because we both know we could never sneak past him. Then he'd come get me and tug me off somewhere where we'd play and talk, and he'd buy me snacks. He'd tell me stories about his days as a normal wolf child and his training to become a pack warrior and make me laugh. Those days didn't come very often, because the times when Dad worked, and the days Charlie didn't have training didn't usually align.

But when those days did come, oh they made me so happy. For a while, those moments were the only thing keeping me alive. Just knowing I would get another day in the sun with my brother made me hopeful enough about life to keep going.

We were still running, ducking under tree branches and leaping over fallen trees. I'm sure Charlie was just trying to put some distance between us and home so we could relax for a while.

"What are you two doing?" Suddenly we're skidding to a stop. I crashed into Charlie's back, only staying upright because of his continued hold on my hand. I could practically feel all the happiness and hope draining out of me as I realized we'd been caught.

I peek around my brother, feeling my heart skip a beat when I realize who is in front of us.

It's Jack, the pack's Beta, the Alpha's right hand man. He was tall and wide and scary looking to me. He had scars all over the top of his head, like someone had been hacking at his skull with a knife. He was missing his left pinky and right pointer finger, and his nose looked like it had been broken so many times I wasn't sure how it even stayed on his face. But my dad said he was an amazing warrior, strong and loyal and dedicated to his pack. I guess that made him a good guy.

But when he grabbed Charlie and I by the tops of our hair and started dragging us back to our home, both of us kicking and screaming the whole time, I could only see him as a villain.

That was actually the last time I saw Charlie. I was told he was going to live in the warrior house, to get a jump on his training. I was told he wouldn't be coming back to see me. Ever. And he didn't.

A couple months later my dad tried to kill me, and I ended up taking the lives of both our parents. When I went to stay with my foster family, I half expected him to come for me. Whether to kill or comfort me, I didn't know. I didn't really care. I was so sad all the time I really just wanted to see him, even if our meeting would be followed by my funeral. I just wanted to see my brother again.

But he never came.

And I rotted alone.