You may think you want to be in my position, but I assure you that you really don't. Dying an excruciating death is not fun. Yeah. I might have died protecting my family that I will always love, but that doesn't stop it from hurting.
It was just a normal day. Well, normal day for me anyway. I went out to take a much-needed walk after my dad had yelled at me once again for something that I didn't do. I was out hanging with my friends when my dad had called telling me to get back home. When I got home, he yelled at me for plates and dishes being broke even though I wasn't there. We had argued, and when we were done, I left the house with a hand print on the side of my face. I still love him though.
You might be thinking But Dakota, why would you love someone that would hit you? The answer is simple. He was still family.
As I round the corner, I nearly ran into one of my closest friends, Joey. He was a tall and lanky guy that stood out with his slightly pale skin and blue eyes. He grabs my shoulders with a smile to stop me from stumbling into the road.
"Whoa there, Dakota!" He grins, but his smile was short lived when he saw the hand print on the side of my face. "Did you and your dad get into it again?" My silence was enough of an answer. His expression turns from joyous to hatred "Why do you still live with that man? You deserve way better than that." He turns and walks next to me.
I shrug. "He's still my dad. I'll always love him." I state softly. "I've told you this before."
He rolls his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah. Same stuff different day, but you need to put your foot down before it goes too far."
"But we both know what could happen if I lose control of my temper. I…" My words wander off while I stare at my hands as we walk into our little secret hiding place in an abandoned alley. "I could kill him." My right-hand shifts from a normal human hand to a lion paw and back again.
Our hideaway wasn't much. Just a small alley that we turned into our 'safe house.' The ground and bricks had been cleaned as much as we could. In one corner laid three sleeping bags across from a minifridge. That was it. As I said, it wasn't much, but it was a home away from home.
Joey sighs as we both sit on our sleeping bags. "You should still stand your ground." He runs his hand through his brownish blonde hair. "But anyway, besides that, has you powers been getting better?"
I shrug. "I doesn't take as much strain on me to change form, but I can still only maintain it fr a small amount of time." I hold my stomach as it rumbles. My stomach had settled all day. As if it was trying to warn me about something.
"Well, at least it improvement." Joey states with a smile.
At that moment, my phone starts to ring. When I glance at it, I see that it's one of my younger brothers, Corey, calling.
"Hold on Joey. I have to take this." He nods as I answer the phone. "Yeah, Corey? What's up?"
"DAKOTA!?" I hear my younger brother's voice shout on the other side of the line. "HELP!" The phone then goes quiet.
"Corey!?" I stare at my phone before dropping it. I shoot to my feet with Joey crawling to his own feet.
"What's wrong?" He asks, worry filling his voice.
"I think my brothers are in trouble! I have to go." In the blink of an eye, I went from a human to a Peregrine Falcon. The fastest bird in the world. I shoot out of the hideaway and flap towards home. I could hear Joey calling after me, but I didn't pay no mind to it. All that was running through my mind was protecting my family.
I shoot through the air above Boston. I really didn't know it that well, but I knew where home was. I tucked my wings close to my body diving towards the open window of our two floor apartment. It was just a simple brick building like all the others in the area. The wind rustles around me as I zip into the window.
I quickly change back to human faster than I ever have and study my surroundings. The bedroom I shared with my brother, Dean, looked the exact same as it always did. Two beds on opposite sides of the room with two normal brown dressers on either side of the open window. I slowly edge out of the room and start down the stairs that are right across from the bedroom.
I get to the bottom of the steps and gasp. The living room was destroyed. The from door had been blown inwards. Both couches had been torn in half and thrown against the hole that was the front door. In the farthest corner of the room, I saw the reason for the destruction.
Two large wolves had my whole family cornered. The wolves bared their fangs and snarled taking slow steps towards my three younger brothers, my dad, and my mother. All of them has cuts and bruises as if they had tried to fight back against the wolves. The wolves' coats were a blue so light that I thought they were white at first; they're eyes were a dark blue that glinted with both hunger and rage. A blue fog rolled off their fur.
I growled. "Leave my family alone!" I roared getting the attention of the wolves. They round on me and made a sound almost like they were laughing at me. I then realized that they were larger than any normal wolves should be, but I didn't care. They were threatening my family and that was a big no no.
"Dakota!" My brothers, Bradley and Dean, shouted. Their clothes were torn and covered in blood. "Run!"
The wolves advanced towards me baring their gleaming fangs. "You just made a big mistake." Orange and black striped fur sprout all over my body. My hands shifted into large feline paws as my legs reversed directions; I fell onto my newly formed paws. Fangs shot out where my canine teeth were. In the next moment, I was a fully grown Siberian Tiger. I planted my feet and roared.
The wolves seemed to hesitate before they growled. In one swift motion, I leapt for the nearest wolf, clamping my jaws down hard onto its neck. I felt bones snap and break. The wolf in my jaws collapsed, but I didn't have time to relish the moment since the other wolf took that moment to slam into me. I hit the wall slumping against it as the last wolf's jaws found the back of my neck.
I roared in pain feeling my own bones breaking. It tossed me around like a ragdoll causing my neck to break. My vision started to go black, but I held onto one thought. My family. I could die knowing that they were at the mercy of this wolf. With the last of my strength, I pushed backwards slamming the wolf's head into the ceiling. The wolf let go of my neck howling in pain. As quick as my injured tiger body could, I whipped around and clamped my jaws onto the last wolf's exposed neck. I twisted my head, hearing a satisfying snap and feeling the wolf slump to the ground.
I took one step towards my family before collapsing to the ground. My form shimmered as I returned to human. They stared at me before my brothers rushed to my side. Dean cradled my head while Bradley and Corey each held one of my hands.
Tears welled up in Dean's eyes as he stared down at me. "Dakota… Stay with us…. Please…"
I smiled up at him. "It's ok." I coughed, blood dripped down the corner of my mouth. "Just remember that I love you, and…" I pulled a small dagger out of my back pocket. "And keep this. Keep the family safe for me…." My hand went limp. Darkness took over my vision as death took me.
