"No! Please, don't leave me! I'm tired of being alone. Stay with me. Please."

A distant howl sounded, low and mournful. Mist swirled all around me. As it grew thicker, the howl grew more distant and harder to hear.

"Please!" I called desperately. "Please don't leave me." The mist grew thicker and the sound died. "Please don't leave me." I murmured, hanging my head in defeat. I was alone again, just as I always had been and just as I always would be.

The mist became so thick that I couldn't see the ground beneath my paws. Then the ground vanished altogether. I floated in silent nothingness. The first thing I felt was the cold wind, biting through my thick black fur.

I opened my eyes to startling whiteness. Snowflakes blew in my face as I raised my head and sniffed the frigid air. "Damn." I muttered, hauling myself to my feet. Looking around me, everything was painted and impenetrable white. The only color I could see was the brown patch of dead grass where I had been laying.

Shaking my fur in a futile attempt to dislodge some of the clingy snowflakes, I stretched and stood up straight. I raised my nose to the air instinctualy. Not that I would be able to smell much in such a blizzard. Just as I expected, all I could detect was the damp cold smell of snow, wet ground and sleeping squirrels.

I sighed, setting my paws down on the freezing white. For a moment the pad stung then it went numb. 'Hunting will be no good today. It'll be pretty easy to get some food from the city but I'll have to stay there tonight if I go.' I weighed the two ideas in my head.

Finally I decided to go downtown. It wasn't too far away but it was far enough. I never really liked to make the journey there and back in one day, especially in a storm like this. 'It's easy to get stuck in a blizzard in daylight but when night falls I don't know how far I'll make it. If I stay out here though, I'll freeze my ass off.'

Yawning, I began the trek out of the forest to downtown. No birdsong or the chatter or squirrels accompanied my journey, making the howl of the freezing morning wind all the more uninviting. 'The first snow. And look how thick it is. This promises to be a damn cold winter.'

The distant sound of human life broke into my quiet thoughts. I perked my ears and stopped to sent the air. 'Where paw prints stop, foot prints take up. The transformation of a creature truly destined to loneliness. So lonely is this fate that the wolf created another form to stand as a companion. The form of a human. Maybe even in hopes of a human companion. But what a useless hope it is that drives that poor creature. Useless just as it's own existence.'

I knew there were other wolves out there, however few there were but I had never seen one. The humans treated me as one on their own kind, because they knew nothing of my true self. I knew none of the humans personally and none of them seemed interested in making friends, especially with me. In the human world I was considered a street rat. Not kindly looked upon by most of the others, namely the ones with money and food.

I helped out some hungry kids here and there or teamed up with someone and shared the profits but never got a lasting relationship out of it. Not that it mattered. I was used to the loneliness. Outwardly, I didn't show it and I fought not to admit it to myself but in my dreams it was obvious how badly it hurt.

Turning into my human form I zipped up my black jacket and pulled on my hood. In my human appearance I had black hair that went to my lower back and fell in front of my left eye from time to time, black ripped skinny jeans, black knee high boots, a black jacket, black tank top, and black fingerless gloves that just covered my wrist. The only thing that stayed the same when I shifted forms were my purple eyes, and black nails.

'Come on.' I urged myself. I missed my thick black fur as I walked on through the outskirts of the forest at the base of the mountains that over looked the city. The winter weather usually wasn't too bad if you knew how to keep warm but today, nothing could chase away the freezing wind and stinging snow. Thankfully it was a little warmer once I got off the mountain though.

In the city I stuck to the alleys and uncrowded streets. By the time I made it down town where all the vendors set up, it was around 1:00. It was easy enough to steal a hamburger, a loaf of bread and a bottle of water.

I took my score to a nearby ally that I usually stayed in and sat down on a crate to eat. A stray cat ran out of the near by trash pile and hissed when it saw me. I just smirked as it ran off and went back to eating the tasteless hamburger in my hand.

In the distance I heard the bark of a dog. Dogs were common enough here. Wolves however had been hunted and killed off in mass amounts and now very few survived in the few still wild areas. Or, like me, hiding in human forms with the humans who tried to kill off our entire race. Not all humans were evil though. I had heard some talking once about how the disappearance of the wolves was a shame and that they were beautiful creatures.

There was still a huge bounty on the head of any wolf. That's why I had to hide behind a human appearance. That's why I was alone. There was a part of me that hated the humans for what they had done to my kind. But I knew not all of them were at fault. Wolves were not the only ones to have suffered such a fate. Many other wild animals had as well been driven into hiding or extinction. The first that usually came to mind and conversation were wolves, bears, and big cats, none of wich I had ever encountered nor imagined I ever would.

I finished my hamburger and opened the water bottle, taking a big drink then replacing the cap. Sighing, I leaned against the wall and unzipped my backpack. The snow had stopped so I pulled out my black notebook and opened it to a blank page to try at some poetry.

I had no one to talk to so I wrote it all down in the form of poetry or short stories. I loved to create other worlds with my words. Worlds I could escape to when reality became to much. I sometimes went to the library to read but on Tuesdays it closed early so I didn't bother. By the time I got there I would only have half an hour before it closed.

I stared down at the notebook. My mind was a blank as the page. I couldn't even think of how to start. I sighed, closing it, putting it back into my bag and zipping it up. I leaned back and rested my head against the wall. 'So what now? Just sit here and day dream? No. I do that too often. I've still got a long time untill the sun goes down. I guess I'll go for a walk. Maybe I'll find someone to talk to. Heh, yeah right.'

I put the loaf of bread and the water bottle of water in the backpack and slung it onto my back, standing up. I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked out of the ally. I emerged into the street and turned left, in the direction of the park.

No one paid me any attention as I headed down the sidewalk. The park wasn't too far away but by the time I got there I was warmed up from the walk. I loved the park. Usually I would just sit on the park bench and stare off into the trees, listening to children laughing and playing and keeping an ear out for any interesting conversations.

Today there weren't many kids but a few teens were sledding down one of the snow blanketed hills. They looked a few years younger than me, about fourteen or fifteen. I was eighteen. Most of the humans my age would be driving and moving out of their parents house. But unlike the others, I had no car, no money, no friends, no family, and no home.

I trudged through the snow over to my favorite bench. It was shielded from the snow by the huge pine tree that towered above it. I looked up from the white ground at the sound of voices. Two women were sitting on my bench, talking. I made a large circle around them to leap silently into the tree where I could peak down at them and listen in without them seeing me.

"Yeah. I know." Said the girl on the right. She had bright red hair and pale green eyes. She was wearing a white puffy coat and blue jeans with snow boots. "I watched it on the news. Oh my gosh, just after that though they started talking about finding wolf tracks on the other side of the mountain."

'Wolf tracks!'

"No way!" The other girl exclaimed. Her curly brown hair and matching eyes blended with her dark skin. She had on a red tightly fitted coat and black pants and boots. "What if it was just a big dog?"

"They were way too big to be a dog and they were shaped a little differently. Exactly like a wolf. I saw the picture. There were a whole bunch of them too like there was more than one. The news broadcaster says that they're going to search the surrounding area to see if they can find them."

"What will they do with it if they catch them?"

"I don't know. I hope they don't hurt them though."

"That's so crazy. I thought they had all died out."

"I heard that there were a few left in the wild."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Maxine told me."

"Maxine? Oh my gosh, did you see what she wore to the dance on Friday?"

"Yes! She looked like such a whore. I can't believe..."

The conversation below me faded as my mind began to spin out of control. 'Wolves. On the other side of the mountain. By the sounds of it maybe even more than two. How is this possible? There's no way. But what if it is true? What if there are actually other wolves so close.'

I clutched my head as the world around me danced in a swirl of sparkling white and deep green and brown. My stomach flipped then the breath was driven from my body and something hard slammed into my back. freezing cold water soaked through my jacket but I couldn't move. I gasped for breath and closed my eyes.

"Hey! Holy crap! Are you ok?" I opened my eyes and made out two blurry figures crouching over me. I blinked and they became clearer. The two girls that were sitting on the bench were looking down at me worriedly.

"Yeah." I choked, still trying to get my breath and nodding "I-I'm fine." I pushed myself up and sat there, recovering my breath.

"Are you sure? You fell pretty far. That tree's really high up." The red head reached out and rested her hand on my shoulder. "Here, come sit down on the bench." The other girl offered her hand and I let her help me to my feet and brush the snow off my back. The world tilted as I took a step but the girls caught me before I could fall, supporting me between the two of them and helping me over to the bench.

They sat down, one on either side and looked over at me. "You gonna be ok?" asked the girl with the brown hair.

"Yeah." I replied, now able to breathe.

"My names Breanna." She said, smiling at me

"And I'm Stacy." The other girl chimed in, smiling as well.

"Nice to meet you. Thanks for helping me. My name's Mizuki." I flicked my hair out of my face and tried to smile back.

"What were you doing up in that tree anyways?" Stacy asked. "How did you even get up there?"

"I was just sitting. I like to come here to think sometimes. I climbed up there to get out of the snow since you two were on the bench" I explained.

"Do you live near by?"

"Uh... yeah, kind of. I should probably be getting back though. My er... boyfriend will be worried about me."

"Oh. Ok then." Breanna stood up and pulled my up. "You sure you'll be ok?" I nodded "Alrighty then, bye." Stacy and Breanna waved to me as I turned to walk away. I glanced over my shoulder and waved back.

"Bye." I called over my shoulder before hurrying back to my ally. I kept up a steady jog the whole way there. When I arrived I was a little out of breath and sat down on the crate, leaning back against the wall.

'So what now?'

With a sigh, I stood up. I grabbed the crate and pulled it away from the wall. There was just enough space between the crate and the wall for me to lay down comfortably and out of sight. I lay on my back, staring blankly up at the dirty white sky.

I kept myself from thinking about what I had heard from the two girls at the park. 'It doesn't matter.' I convinced myself. 'I've been alone for as long as I can remember. That's never going to change. It can't change. It's all I know.'

'Alone she lived

Alone she cried

Alone she traveled

Alone she tried

No one was there

Left alone to fight

The demonic darkness

That stalked her at night

Alone she stands

And alone she strives

Alone she continues

And alone she survives'

' couldn't I have thought that up earlier.'

I laid there, thinking untill the sun went down. When it disappeared I sat up and pulled the loaf of bread and water out. distractedly gnawing on the bread, I listened to the slowing city life. Everything was normal but I had a strange feeling.

'Probably just a storm coming.' I told myself. 'I might as well stay here tomorrow. I don't like hunting in such thick snow. As long as I have to pretend to be a human, I will take up the opportunity for free food. It's the least they can do for killing us off.'

Laying there in the ally, I was restless. I longed for the pine trees and clear sky of my mountain home. The city was too loud and the street lights too sharp. Eventually, I fell asleep as I dreamed of a place where I could be free. 'A place free of humans and the death and destruction that they bring. Green fields of soft, lush grass, dotted with flowers bobbing in the slight breeze. Tall, thickly leaved trees with birds singing from their tops. Cold clear streams teeming with fish. Blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds.'

'The cool night air. Bright, twinkling stars and a huge full moon shedding its silver light on the quiet world. Crickets chirping from the bushes and fireflies chasing each other in brilliant flashes of yellow light. A clear howl, echoing for miles. Then one by one more and more join in untill they form a single voice. Furry heads raised to the sky, singing to the full moon and filling the sky with he heart song on the wolves.'

'The place that she can only find in her dreams. The world of longing replaced with the world her heart so longs to see. So pure is the place wich she seeks in her sleep. Unrivaled by all the many places of beauty on the Earth. The land where dreams thrive and peace is truly found. It could be nothing but Paradise.'

Whoo! Here we go! I've been wanting to write a Wolf's Rain fan fiction for a while now and I finally got my lazy ass to do it. I hope you like it. Please review! I love you all my dearest readers!