"To be a human who runs with wolves, you have to be the best."


She knows running through these woods is a terrible idea. It's probably the worst idea she's ever had, but she's desperate. It's been weeks since she's seen another pack, any other pack, so coming here was her last, finel resort.

These woods, these lands were cursed her mother had said (- un baby! Run and don't stop runnin-) cursed first from the Hale Fire, then cursed anew from Alpha Hale abandoning her pack, and then cursed again when it was discovered that a new pack had made its home here.

A cruel pack, a bad pack. One that didn't care at all for peace talks or mistakes. One that either didn't know or didn't care about tradition. Didn't care about Bonds, not the way her mother said they should if they were any type of true pac-

A crossbow bolt slammed into the tree beside her, inches away from her head. She flinched harshly over-correcting her desperate run to head further into the Hale territory. She could hear laughing voices behind her, sounding like the cackling of monsters in her ears. Her bones ached with the stress of running so long in this form, her head hurt from the screechy things they kept using to try and herd her, and she was terrified of were she was, were she was heading. There would be no surviving here, not from the hunters if she didn't get far enough in, and not from the Pack-Not-Pack if she did.

Because she knew something the hunters didn't. Something that was only well known to the Supernatural community.

The people who came here died.

They died in horrible ways, bonds torn, bodies ripped apart. Hunter, Ware, Spirit, it didn't matter. If you came, you died.

She wasn't supposed to know about it. She was too young she knew, too small to help and honestly? She wished she'd never found out. But finding your mother in the middle of challenging your Alpha (- Take her and go Sarah! We don't have time to argu-) over the rotting corpse of your Pack mate wasn't something you could undue. Screaming in horrified surprise at the smell/sight/heartache wasn't something you could undue . Being told of the horrors these monsters did to any who stepped on their land wasn't something you could just undue.

But she deserved to know, her mother had argued that horrible night. Deserved to know who their territory ran up against. Why she was never allowed beyond the boundary line to the South when the Packs to the East, West and North didn't mind pups playing in and around it. When the Alpha had refused, argued that she was to young, too innocent, her mother had threatened to leave.

It had been terrifying.

She knew her mother well enough to know she hadn't been bluffing. If her daughter wasn't told she would leave the pack. Taking all of their magic with them. Horrified that her Alpha would refuse she'd begged the man who was like an uncle to her. Begged her mother to stop but the woman had stood strong in the face of her only daughters pleas, her Alphas annoyance. Even though her mother had never threatened this before it was a potent promise. It showed just how serious she was about being denied. Being the only user of magic in the pack, a Spark nonetheless, they couldn't afford to lose her. And she knew it.

So they told her about Them. The people who Weren't-A-Pack but acted like they were. They told her about the ware-coyote, whose first instinct was to kill. Always. About the Banshee, the girl surrounded by death. Always. About the dark Kitsune, the beta with anger issues, the hunter with the fake code, the True Alpha who was a lie, the cursed Hales.

And others. So many she couldn't even remember them off hand. But one she did. One she couldn't hope to forget. Staring into her mother's dark blue eyes, almost identical to her own. Her sharp nails digging into her small shoulders, she seared the last name into her mind.

The Important name.

Void Stiles.

Nogitsune

Listening to her fierce mother that night had shaken her. Had installed a deep fear of what that man could do.

What he was willing to do at the slightest hint of fear.

Fear, she'd been told harshly, equaled treachery to these creatures. It meant you had done something wrong. No matter if it was just from crossing their borders accidentally, or from trying to kill them. Fear meant treachery and they do not show mercy to those they think have betrayed them.

The others may show mercy if she begged enough, she'd continued, her mothers teeth grinding under the pressure she held them at, but Void Stiles would not. If she was ever caught in those woods she had better pray it wasn't with the Man Who Ran with Wolves, wasn't the One in Red.

After that night she'd never spoken a word about it again. None of them had. Her mother and Alpha continued to argue behind closed doors, but she never opened one again to see what was on the other side. The name Stiles became her biggest fear. Of him crossing that border to find her, some no-name kid who'd never done anything big besides fear him. She knew logically the he wouldn't, it was something her mother had been very clear on, that Void Stiles never crossed the barrier towards the other Packs. He paced it sometimes, she'd said which only made her even more convinced on never visiting that part of their territory ever again, but he never crossed. So she knew logically that he had no idea she even existed. But emotionally? She was convinced that he was always about to pounce on her, was only waiting for a time when she was alone and venerable.

That her mother never discouraged her paranoia only made her that much more convinced the man was more monstrous than even she imaged.

There was not escaping her death tonight. But if she was going to die at twelve years old, the last of her pack to survive, she was going to take the motherfuckers who killed them down with her. Call her petty but she wanted them to hurt in ways she had never wanted anyone to hurt before. She wanted them dead, torn to pieces like mer mother told her Void Stiles did to the worst of the dead. Burnt to ash. She wanted them off the face of the planet!

Running a hundred more feet she knew she'd almost made it to the point of no return. The Hunters behind her begin to speed up, probably tired of the chase or maybe they could feel their deaths coming? She didn't know but it was only a paws worth away from the tree that marked the Rune of Hale, she could make this. She had to make this.

Almost there! Just a. Little. Bit. More! She could make this! She could!

Seconds before she'd touched down on the line separating her family's territory from the Hale's pain invaded her back. She knew what happened as she rolled over the Rune made line. They'd shot her in the back.

It hurt! Oh god it hurt so fucking bad.

Rolling to a stop her face pressed against a tree, she couldn't move. It felt like her entire body was frozen between never moving ever again so the pain didn't come back, and throwing up because it hurt so much. She hoped she'd made it over the line, her mother had said the Pack-Not-Pack had an Spark like her, so they had ways of knowing who's crossed into their territory and where. Mom has said the forest would get quiet, a silence that spoke of moving predators. That the edges may get fuzzy around her, screwing up her sense of direction so she couldn't run. Her senses could dull, her ears could deafen and she would feel terribly alone. Like no one would ever find her.

Then whoever was closest would come to judge her and she'd better pray to all the Gods and Goddesses that it wasn't the man who ran with wolves that found her first

Whining out at the pain she didn't know what to do. It hurt to move but she couldn't stay here. The Hunters has to be right behind her, she could try to make it out of the Hales land before anyone found her, now that they'd followed her in but her back ….

- snap -

She shrieked out at the agony that ran through entire body when she twisted around at the sharp crack of a branch behind her.

- painpainpain FEAR -

Oh god.. He was here.

He stood in the dark of the forest like some type of ethereal monstrosity. He was pale in a way that only inhuman things are, like ice or stars. A bright inner light that seemed to either shine from inside him or reflect off of something she couldn't see. It was uncanny in the worst ways.

She was a werewolf. She knew what it was like to be a fairytale, what it was like to be a creature of myth. But this.. man? Looked like he'd walked straight out of a Grimm Brothers storybook. Like those folk legends about making deals with Fae, because even in the dark of dusk she could tell his eyes were entirely black. The pupil was darker then she'd ever seen on anything, like it drew in the darkness around it. But the whites were so much worse, or at least the area where the whites were supposed to be. Because what was supposed to be white wasn't. It was also black. Not the same as the black hole pupils but still darker than night, darker than anything had a right to be.

"See what sucks is I had plans for tonight. BIG plans. Was gonna go out, met some people, plan some murders, you know, the works." The creature threw out jazz hands, bringing her attention to very sharp looking claws. "But then, outta no where I get this little pop up that someone's broken the barrier into myterritory."

The creature paused head tilted backwards in thought. His hands moving to his hips in a sassier way then she'd expected from all the stories, but it was really hard to focus on that at the moment.

She couldn't breath.

It was talking to her. Did it normally talk to its victims? She had no idea. But the contradiction between the way it talked, looked and sounded was extremely unsettling ( and confusing. Why did it talk like a college student?)

"And I have issues with people breaking my barriers. Personal issues, yeah, but I feel like I got some leg to stand on with it, ya' know? Like, you would not believe they crap we've had to deal with before those barriers." The voice continued from where it left off.

Oh my god it was talking to her. What did she even do in this situation? Did she talk back? Did she run away? How was she supposed to talk to him in her full shift form? She was not changing back just to talk to the weird Fae-man.

Wait.

Did he seriously say plan some murders? What the fuck?!

Suddenly, before she has time to focus her wandering attention back onto him again, before she's even realized he's moved at all , there's a horrible shredding feeling in her shoulder. His face Is right in front of her, she can see small galaxy's in his black, black eyes. He's holding one of the arrows that had been in her shoulder.

The face above her grins a serrated smiles. ( Those teeth can't be real) " And I really, really hate it when my plans get messed up." The arrow snaps in his grip.

She doesn't know if it's from the physical pain she's in, or the mental pain from knowing she's the last of her pack but something in her just.. gives up.

She'd known running into this forest was a suicide mission from the beginning. She'd preyed that some miracle might happen and the Hunters would die then she'd somehow get out alive, but she'd known. In her heart, she'd known.

So watching this myth come-to-life lift up his boot and press down on the hole in her body doesn't register. She can feel it, kinda, she knows he's talking about wanting her to change back so she can tell him who she's after but.. it doesn't really matter. What's the point of fighting when she knows she's gonna die either way? She just wanted her family back..

Maybe it's Luck, or Fate or some almighty being that decides she deserves to get something out of this before she dies, because she can hear the Hunters finally catching up. Their talking can't make it past the fuzzy feeling in her head but whatever they say must be incredibly interesting for the Fae man since he lifts his boot up swiftly after the talking becomes audible. He's gone from her side the next second. She can't really see a lot anymore, her vision was getting weird, but the light from before seems to be vaguely behind her so maybe he wants to see how this plays out? Who knows with the minds of the Fae.

Since she wasn't going to die for a while it seemed, she might as well get comfortable. Dragging her hind legs underneath her belly she sighed loudly. God, she was tired. Running for what seemed like hours, getting shot with actual fucking arrows from an actual fucking crossbow when before the worst she'd ever gotten hurt had been breaking her arm, was ridiculous. Other teenagers didn't have to deal with this shit.

The shock was probably getting to her. She couldn't even talk herself into feeling something other then exasperated annoyance when the Hunters fell through the foliage around them like untrained puppies. She was just done with this all. If she was going die she wanted to get it over with, please and fucking thank you.

The only one with a crossbow spotted her first. His face twisted into a grin that had this been any other situation she'd have called it handsome. He was all blonde hair, blue eyes and white, white teeth. He looked like any one of her friends older brothers, unfortunately for her this all American jock seemed more interested in lining up his crossbow, then smuggling her and her friends candy during a sleepover. Annnnnnnd neither of his friends looked like they were gonna stop him. Wonderful.

Oh look, the lead puppy has something to say.

" You did pretty well kid. A couple more years and you might have actually managed to escape." Said lead jackass. His friends laughed uproariously behind him. Like this was all some game and they hadn't hunted down and murdered her entire Pack like animals.

Way to rub it in jerk.

She couldn't exactly reply so sitting and not looking at them was gonna have to be her answer. Turned away from the hunters as she was she could see the slight flicker of light from where she knew the Fae man stood.

Wonder why he's not doing anything? Didn't mom say it hated hunters more than them?

She turned back to look at the hunters who hadn't gotten any closer, thank god. They were still trying to taunt her into reacting. Sucks floor them but she was alway to numb to care about anything they said right now.

Can they.. not see him?

Huffing tiredly she eyed the space between where the creepy, glowing Fae was and the hunters. It couldn't be more than forty feet. And her dumbass was stuck in between.

They definitely couldn't see him. There's no way they'd focus on her when a fucking glowing, black eyed fairy-guy was so close.

She could try and make a break for it. She might even make it if the Fae guy chased her and the hunters caught on that there was another creature(?) in the area. They'd probably go after him first, since it was pretty obvious who the real threat was between them was. But that would really only work if she could out run fairy guy just enough that she'd stay ahead of him AND the hunters.

She was fast but no matter how she thought on it, he was faster.

There would be no getting away from this tonight.

"You really should listen to your betters, puppy. You never know when you might need to hear what their saying." The voice from ahead of her mocked right as a twinge of that hated crossbow sung.

She screamed out when another bolt hit her in the side deeply. It burned like medicine in her veins. She couldn't help but tear at the ground with her claws, sending up chunks of grass and dirt.

She was being forced from her more powerful form, bones knitting back into place, shrinking down into a more human form. It had to be wolfsbane. She'd never felt it before, never had a reason to protected like she had been at home. God it fucking hurt. Why couldn't they just kill her already?! Why did they have to make it hurt? She was just a kid! What did she ever do to deserve this?

Tears were finally flowing down her face after holding them in so long. She cried because everything hurt so much, she cried because she missed her mom, she cried because she was going to die and she was too weak to do anything about it. She just wanted to go home.

" It really is a shame she wasn't just a little bit older." Curled up on her side, human again, she shivered. How could these hunters be human? They were-

"-Monsters." And enraged voice snarled. "Your nothing But Monsters."

From her curled up position she couldn't see perfectly but she could see well enough. The moment the unknown (to them) voice spoke up, the Hunters burst into action. The lead hunter, the one with the crossbow turned on her will a wicked looking scowl like this was somehow her fault. And technically it was. She had lead them into this territory after all.

" Who the fuck was that, Ana?" The hunter demanded. The other hunters had turned their backs towards their leader. They were now turned in a circle, back to back, eyes sharp for the slightest movement in the trees.

As of that would help them.

"That's not my fucking name." She grinned back. She could feel the wolfsbane sludge dripping down her chin.

The hunters eyes widened. "I don't care what your fucking name is you little bitch! Who the fuck is here!" he questioned harshly. "We hunted your entire Pack. You don't have anyone left to help you, we made sure of it."

Another crossbolt was loaded into the bow, while the hunter studied her devastated face cynically.

"If you answer truthfully we might even make this painless." They wouldn't. She knew they wouldn't.

"Fuck you, ty dupku!" She couldn't stop. " Mam nadzieję, że cię zabije! mam nadzieję, że wyrwie ci serce i sprawi, że jesz! Twoja śmierć mnie nie zadowoli! Twoja wieczna męka mnie nie zadowoli! Zabiłeś moją mamę!" She yelled as loud as she could over her own sobbing. " Nazywam się Anastazja i przynoszę wam waszą śmierć"

The forest around her rang with silence.

She could die happy now knowing that she was the one who brought to justice the men who killed her family. They might never know what she said, but these last few minutes of both their lives would mean something to her. That at least she knew it was because of her they coundt hurt anyone else ever again.

"Pity. Guess you'll have to die in agony like the rest of your mangy Pack." The sound of the crossbow went off again. "Have fun being poisoned to death."

She hunched over more in preparation of the pain she knew was coming, but never happened. She laid there dazed for a moment sure it was gonna happen any time know. She'd heard the crossbow go off, and she couldn't move so there wasn't really any other outcome then her getting hit again.

Oh god

Ok, so. She lied. There was one, very small possibility that one other thing might have happened.

She really didn't want to look.

But she had to didn't she? It was either look up and see what she already knew had happened, or continue staring at the very interesting dirt in front of her.

It was nice dirt. Dark, and it smelled good. It smelled like… wet dirt. There was some grass mixed in with it to. Grass could be fascinating when you thought about it. Very green.

"Yeah. I've heard enough from you dicks." Fae-guy mused.

Fuck. That voice was really fucking close . Like, right in her freakin ear close!

"Wish I could say this wasn't gonna hurt but you've really pissed me off.


Polish; ty dupku! - You asshole!

Polish; Mam nadzieję, że cię zabije! mam nadzieję, że wyrwie ci serce i sprawi, że jesz! Twoja śmierć mnie nie zadowoli! Twoja wieczna męka mnie nie zadowoli! Zabiłeś moją mamę!" She yelled as loud as she could over her own sobbing. " Nazywam się Anastazja i przynoszę wam waszą śmierć" -

I hope he kills you! I hope he tears out your heart and makes you eat! Your death will not satisfy me! Your eternal torment will not satisfy me! You killed my mother! "She yelled as loud as she could over her own sobbing. "My name is Anastasia and I bring you your death."