Barely Breathing

The morning light dawned bright and clear seeping through the cracks in my half-open window. With bleary eyes, I stretched my
arms and got up. For the past two years, my life has been routine. I get up, fixed the bed, eat breakfast, go to training, take
lunch, training again, eat dinner, and sleep. Occasionally, I go to the forest and take some much-needed break.
Two years had passed since that fateful day. I do not know how I survived death, but I did. And here I am, living in a packhouse
and having food to eat. Luck must have been poured on me.
That day, Xyrus and Gabbiel were patrolling the borders of the Blood Moon Pack. Out of all the packs in the world, I had to pass
the only pack that doesn’t abide by the council and living with its own rules. The council is an association of different alphas
around the world to maintain peace for all werewolves.
Werewolves used to be ruled by a king and queen from royal bloodlines. The royal bloodlines came from the most powerful
ancient wolves. The king is the alpha of all alphas. But a revolution happened, overthrowing the king’s power. Some alphas
joined the revolution, some protected the royal family, but others chose to not choose a side.
It was chaos. That very war was the reason I had been living in solitude. I shook my head, not yet ready to visit that part of my
memories I so deeply buried in my mind. Just thinking about it was painful. Only when I sleep was my guard low and nightmares
of my past haunting me mercilessly.
I can shift in my wolf now. The first shift happened two years ago, the next day right after I almost die. It was still a mystery to me
because I should have shifted two more months but something must have triggered my wolf. I stayed in my wolf form for almost
a whole week, my wolf helped me to recover from my wounds and broken bones.
If it wasn’t for Xyrus and Gabbiel patrolling the border, I might have died right there and then. Gabbiel later told me Xyrus killed
the rogue and brought me to the packhouse. Alpha Caden, Xyrus’ father accepted me into their pack and now I am living in the
packhouse.
I named my wolf, Violet. She was a purple wolf, the average size but when it comes to speed, she can compete with male
wolves. She’s a happy wolf, always emits positivity. As for werewolves, we can turn into our wolves starting at the age of sixteen.
Our wolf can’t talk to us like humans do, but we can feel their emotions, sometimes, purring or growling in our minds. That is the
way we communicate with them.
“Good morning Heather.” I smiled at Heather. She is our cook every morning and one of the nicest girls I met.
She smiled back and handed me a plate of bacon, eggs, and chicken rolls. “You must be hungry. I didn’t saw you at dinner.”

“I had to do extra training.” I was on my second bite already, eager to finish my food in no time. Warriors will be at the training
ground any moment now. Warriors are the pack members with a duty to protect and defend our pack. I worked so hard to be one
of them. And now, I am training younger ones. That’s the way I pay my keep.
“You’ve been training so hard lately.” She said, worry on her face. She handed me orange juice. “The girls and I are worried you
might be tiring yourself out.”
“I have to,” I replied honestly. She gave me that worried look again, well, if you think of it, Heather tends to worry all the time,
even for little things.
“Just don’t miss dinner later, okay?” She asked instead. She reached for my now empty plate and glass and put them on the sink
but not before giving me a warm smile.
Give it to Heather to be so motherly when in reality, I am a year older than her. I swear she thinks like an adult most of the time.
“Thanks, Heather, bye!” I called out as I exited the kitchen door and went my way to the training field.
The training field was located a little farther from the back of the packhouse. Some warriors had already started when I get there.
Two wolves were circling each other while growling and wagging their tails. Some were in hand-to-hand combat, including Tash,
my best friend, whose training partner was none other than Gabbiel. I’m pretty sure something is going on between the two, or
maybe Gabbiel only because Tash can be dense sometimes.
Gabbiel is the beta. His father, Landon, was our former beta. Just last year when both alpha and beta stepped down and handed
their position to their sons. Since then, the two old men along with their wives rarely be seen in the pack because they travel a
lot.
Suddenly, something caught my vision flying towards me. Thanks to my quick reflexes, I caught it and raised it in the air. It was a
long wooden stick.
“Good catch.” Julian hollered. He was standing along with two other warriors. On their feet laid the different weapons we use for
training like bows, swords, sticks, etc.
I smirked, the wooden stick circling in my fingers. Julian kicked one stick upwards and caught it in the air. We started to circle
each other, holding the stick like a sword.
He charged forward, his makeup sword clashing with mine. I put force on mine and pushed him. His smirk widened as he
staggered a few steps.

“You got the strength of a man; do you know that?” He spoke, admiration reflects on his face.
“So, you say I am.” I retorted this time I was the one attacking. In no time, all that could be heard were the sounds of wooden
sticks clashing in an ancient dance of swords as we continued to charge at each other. Others even stop what they are doing
and watch.
Julian is also one of the warriors and the same age as me. He is a charming kind of guy who makes everyone laugh. To add to
that, he is a good fighter too.
But when it comes to speed, I always win. I quickly ended the fight with his stick falling to the ground and mine sitting just below
his chin. He raised both of his hands as a sign of surrender.
I grinned and threw my weapon on the ground.
"I pity the one who will try to catch you tomorrow.” He teased, but he was looking past behind me. I looked where he was staring
and felt that same familiar weird sensation whenever I see him. The Alpha was heading our way and oh boy, he seemed
annoyed. “That would be my cue to leave, see you later Willow.”
“Okay,” I replied but he was already with his friends.
“Did he hurt you?” A deep voice sounded behind my back.
“A-Alpha.” I bowed and avoided his eyes.
Xyrus lifted my chin and moved it sideways, examining my body as well for injuries. I moved out of his reach instantly, aware of
the many eyes on us, watching.
“Alpha, Julian, and I were just having our morning training. Besides,” I look around and sure enough, everyone’s subtly paying us
attention so I lowered my voice. “Everyone might get the wrong idea so stop doing this.”
I emphasized the last words. He was always like this and that annoys me so much. He was the one who saved me three years
ago. And since then, he hadn’t kept his eyes off me. He’s always there, watching my every move.
“We’ll see about that princess.”