Moonlit Cascade

Prologue ~ Cas

The thump-thump-thump-thump of her paws hitting the soft forest floor sounded her ears as Cas ran for her life. Her claws dug into the earth to find purchase as she put on a burst of speed, trying to out run the wolves chasing her. Meeting other rogue werewolves was always hit or miss. Sometimes they were friendly and she could share a meal with them, trade information about friendly packs or the ones to avoid, and find camaraderie in the shared suffering of not having a pack. Other times it was confrontational, the wolves she met wanted to take what wasn't theirs, most of the time they'd try to take it by force and were surprised when Cas fought back and fought back well.

While she was never a warrior, Cas did have some fighting skill, developed is secret against the express will of her former Alpha. She had also picked up some new skills in her four years living as a rogue. Her brother, the Alpha, had always tried to curtail what he called her deviant spirit. When he finally took it too far, she ran; deciding it was better to live as a rogue than to live in a place that couldn't accept who she was.

Life as a rogue meant she had to move around a lot. Packs didn't like it when you hang out near their lands for too long. She had tried living in a city with the rogues there but it was too much for her and she took to living as a lone wolf, a nomad, always on the move, always looking for the next spot to stay for a while before it was time to move on.

As a werewolf, Cas could hunt for food and shift for warmth, and she had no problem living in the wilderness. When she got tired of roughing it in the wild she would find a small town and someone willing to pay her for a few odd jobs or a warm meal and a shower; staying for a few weeks or just a few days. She had made friends all over the eastern United States and she would stay with them from time to time. With her wolf, Vita, she hiked the Appalachian Trail twice, once in human form and once in wolf form.

On this particular evening, Cas had hunkered down in one of her favorite spots for the night. It was a place close to a hot spring where she could bathe herself before heading into town tomorrow. She learned the hard way to avoid drawing attention when ever she ventured into civilization. After catching and cooking her dinner, she put up her hammock and settled in for the night, preferring not to be covered in fur in the humid summer weather.

She was fast asleep when Vita alerted her to someone nearby. Because they had travelled in their human form that day Vita could stay a little more alert, allowing Cas to get a good night's sleep. "Someone's trying to sneak up on us."

"How close?"

"Close, if they don't see us yet they will soon." Cas took a deep breath to steady herself and not alert the intruders to the fact that she was awake.

"How many?"

"As least three, we're upwind though so I haven't gotten their scent yet."

"Do you think they're humans?" Humans didn't scare Cas; she could handle a couple of humans, especially when they assumed she was just a weak human girl.

"Hard to say," Vita answered her. "They're moving pretty stealthily to be humans unless they're specially trained. They're making too much noise to be vampires and witches would spell themselves." Cas had to make a decision and quickly. The fact that they were trying to sneak up on her meant that their intentions weren't great. If they were humans she'd be fine; if they were any other type of supernatural she could be in trouble. She was mulling it over when a twig snapped and Vita shouted, "ROGUES" in her head. That sealed it, rogues trying to sneak up on her could only mean trouble. She slipped from her hammock and made a run for it. The rogues heard her and quickly gave chase. They were all male and had most likely been exiled from their packs for the most heinous of crimes, if the threats they made as they chased her were anything to go by. When she was faster than they expected they shifted to keep up with her.