He is Ghost

Part 1 - Thunder

Rain hit her spine as she ran, thunder cracking over her head. She ducked her nose along the ground, hoping to find the scents of other wolves soon. The storm made for the perfect camouflage for her, not so much for finding others, however. Not that she was all that eager for another disappointment. It had been a couple of days since she left the last pack, a larger one of about eleven wolves. She hoped that for once the size of a pack would resonate with the size of the alpha who ran it.

No dice.

He had been a strong male, smelling of moss and cinnamon. She had turned her nose up at it, not caring for cinnamon. She also hadn't cared for the rest of him on further inspection. He was strong yes, but not strong enough. The male would surely be another unfortunate accident for her once the heat hit. A dominant female was no match for most wolves, let alone a wolf like him, alpha male or not.

She had been an anomaly from the start. As soon as her mother brought her into the world, Lumi knew exactly the type of menace she would be. A gift and a curse. A gift simply because she was female. They were a rarity to the wolves. Only one female was born for every eight males, roughly. She had been a jewel to her father's pack, a gift blessed upon his nine wolves.

But she was also a dominant female. Rarer still, but a god damned joke.

With it beginning to head into the colder months, the heat would start reaching its fingers across the continent. It swallowed the minds of their kind, their instincts, turning each one of them into mindless crazed lunatics hellbent on procreation. Well, that was the intention. Some were not so lucky. Some, like most of the male population, were left with heightened hormones and nothing but their right hand to keep them company.

And then there was her. The heat had it out for females. When the heat hit, females lost their human minds. Animal instinct drove them to find a match, a mate, in a very violent way. They lost themselves to the heat, becoming monstrous murderous creatures and the only way to stop them was to find a male strong enough to stop them - to prove they were worthy of a mate. It was how nature ensured strong offspring. It guaranteed females only kept the bloodlines of strong wolves. The problem for her? Well, she had yet to find a male who came even close to matching her for dominance.

She wondered how many would die at her hands this time. How many would she unwittingly fight off? Five? Six? There was a stigma around dominant females. The male who could wrangle one was about as good as a god. He might as well be, she supposed. She had seen almost every wolf on this continent and no bloody male came even close. Even the most talked about wolves were no match.

It was a shame that when the heat hit, males were also affected. They almost went into autopilot, those without a mate that is. Lead around by only their nose and cock, males wandered, disorientated, looking for a female to call their own.

One more pack, she told herself. One more and then high tail her ass into the middle of nowhere and chain her ass to a tree. And then hope she was far enough away. She was far enough in the middle of nowhere now that it shouldn't be too difficult. The Canadian border had to be near. If she had to guess, she was probably wandering somewhere in the skinny neck of upper Idaho.

After this heat, she would have to leave the continent anyway. There was no point in wasting another year hunting in territories she had already searched. Russia was known for dominant wolves. Perhaps she would have better luck there.

Thunder cracked over her head again as her nose finally picked up a scent. Wolves.

She grimaced, wondering for the hundredth time why she was even bothering. There were nearly a hundred packs on this continent and she had been to every single one with even the tiniest reputation. This was just going to be another fight, another challenge, that she would have to make only for more disappointment. Wolves were pack creatures and she had spent the better part of nearly 3 years as a lone wolf.