My breaths came out in cloudy puffs as I hauled an unconscious Mandie up the mountainside. Winter was almost over and spring had begun to set in. But at this slightly higher altitude, it was as if time had gone backwards and snow blanketed the forests. The snow was chilly against the pads on my hands and feet and wet snow caked onto my fur and formed frozen ice clumps all over it. Besides those minor nuisances, the cold barely afflicted me. I was plenty warm in my plush fur coat. Mandie, however, was shivering like mad in her hairless human body. I hugged her close to my belly and tried to keep her from dipping into the snow as much as possible.

My warmth started to wane after a few hours of trudging up hills and I knew I didn't have enough steam left in me to keep going the whole day. I would have to stop and find a good place to hole Mandie up in while I ate something. Of course, I chose a tree like last time. It had low, feathery branches with needles that overlapped and kept the snow away from the base. Pushing aside the snowy branches, I dug out a little hole for Mandie and me to sleep in. As I placed her into the cozy hole, I knew it wouldn't be warm enough. Reluctantly, I grasped the long fur on my neck and pulled. I yelped at the stinging pain but kept pulling out chunks of hair. Mandie was buried in a fuzzy pile of warmth by the time my neck and belly were bare.

I could feel the follicles itching, wanting to grow back, but I was too malnourished. Carefully, I replaced the evergreen boughs over Mandie's hiding spot and crept away to find food. I smelled a deer herd close by, as well as a couple of rabbits and squirrels. The air was miraculously absent of red-eye stink, so I deemed it safe enough to hunt for now. The small creatures were nothing of my concern, but the deer would be enough to feed me and possibly Mandie.

I returned only five minutes later, carrying two dead deer on my shoulders. Hoping the remaining body heat on the deer would warm our hole a little more, I scooted one underneath the tree. I feasted on the other one and was halfway done when Mandie began to moan and mumble. Ravenously, I finished the meaty parts of the deer and slid under the tree to comfort her. Her eyes fluttered and I held her close.

"Taz…?" Mandie asked and her eyes filled with tears.

I nudged her cheek with my nose and gently licked her forehead.

"Am I dead?" She smiled jokingly.

I shook my head.

"Good… I wouldn't wanna leave you behind. Who else would watch my ass in the afterlife?" The tears started to run down her cheeks. I gingerly wiped them away with my wrist.

"I'm sorry I ran away!" She started to sob, "I was mad at them, not you! I didn't mean to yell! I thought… I thought you believed what I said about you being a terrible friend, but you aren't a terrible friend! You're my best friend! I couldn't find you anywhere! You know how stupid I am as a wolf. Please don't leave me!"

She grew unintelligible after that and all I could do was hold her until she calmed down and fell asleep again. It was frustrating, not being able to speak in this form. I was so relieved that she didn't hate me, and of course I forgave her. I should have known that she would come to her senses after a day of two of running away from me. She must have been so scared and hurt when she couldn't find me. Why did I believe she wouldn't want to be friends with me?

Her slow, rhythmic breathing made my eyelids droop and I started yawning. I couldn't let myself fall asleep! I had to keep scenting for the red-eyes! But it was so warm, and I was so sleepy. How long had I slept the last time, before they found me? It probably wasn't long enough. I could stay up for one more night, though. I'd done it before.

Stay awake just one… more… night…

Alec, Jane, and Demetri had almost caught up with the wolves. They had stopped moving, probably stopping to sleep, and were only a few miles away, according to Demetri. They were even close enough to hear a howl. Of course, fate had other plans. Out of nowhere, Aro messaged them and they were issued orders to immediately cease their pursuit. Instead, they were commanded to stop at the nearest airport. Marcus was to accompany them and would give them further instructions.

"Marcus!" Jane scoffed, "What sort of mission has this turned into?"

"Perhaps he has some knowledge of these beasts and will assist us." Demetri speculated.

Jane growled, "He couldn't tell us over the phone?"

"Or he just wants to provoke one and die already." Alec snorted, leaning against a tree.

"Alec." Demetri warned. It was extremely rude to say such things about one of their masters.

"We're almost there! We could still complete the mission in less than an hour!" Jane began to whine.

"That's enough, both of you! The mission has changed. We will follow orders." Demetri snapped.

Jane huffed, but complied.

Alec looked down in shame. "Alright," he sighed, pushing off the tree, "Let's follow our orders."

I was jostled awake by Mandie crawling out of our hole. She noticed the now half-frozen dead deer I provided for her and transformed to feed on it. She looked so sickly and weak, even in her larger werewolf form. We were both beaten to a pulp by those stupid ass-biters and barely escaped with our lives, so I suppose I looked just as miserable. I was sleepy, hungry, and the fur I ripped out was just starting to grow back. It probably looked like mange.

I was so tired that I forgot that I was supposed to be on lookout and drifted to sleep again. When I awoke, I was startled by the scent of the red-eyes. They weren't very far off, probably just by a few miles. Mandie was gone, too.

"Did they take her?!" I panicked.

Even after running all around, she was still nowhere to be seen. The deer she ate was outside of the tree and snow had begun to settle on the bones. The one I had eaten half of was gnawed down to the bone as well. She must have wandered off after eating it! Crap, crap, crap! I risked a howl to summon her, but it was left unanswered. The pull toward other werewolves that I mentioned before was only activated during the full moon. On normal days, I had to rely on scent. Hers was nearly gone from the area. If Mandie was attacked and/or taken by them, I had to make sure she was okay. So I decided to do something very stupid. I was going to sneak up and take them all on to save her, possibly by myself.

As I trotted after their scents, I went through what I could do to emerge victorious. The kids would have to be taken out at once. If they were standing close together, slice, I could claw right through their necks. Immediately after, I would have to rip apart the man, Demetri.

I shuddered, remembering his hands on my neck and the sight of him smacking Mandie around. I growled at the memory. He was going down.

The two twins would be twitching around and trying to put their heads back on, so Demetri would have to be taken out quickly. I hoped they had lighters or some sort of fire starter on them since I was terrible at starting fires. Something told me I wouldn't have enough time to make a fire out of rubbing sticks together. Especially when wet, cold snow blanketed everything in the area.

This whole thing was going to be very difficult.

I could hear their voices, so I began creeping close to the ground on all fours. Soon, I was close enough to peer at them from between a few bushes. I was on a hill that overlooked the flat clearing they were loitering in. Mandie was nowhere in sight, so that was a good sign. Perhaps I wouldn't have to fight them after all.

They started arguing about their "orders" or something and the little girl, Jane, was acting like a total brat. She wanted them to continue hunting me and Mandie even though their bosses had apparently said not to.

"Bitch…" I thought with disdain. It took all my willpower to not growl out loud again.

Mandie was obviously not here; Her scent wasn't intermingled with the sweet smell of the red-eyes. They started to take off in the opposite direction, but Demetri was the last to leave. He turned around and stared directly at me. I jumped back in surprise, effectively exposing myself like an idiot.

Demetri grinned when I revealed myself. It quickly turned it into a scowl. "You're a very lucky pup." He spat and ran to catch up with Jane and Alec.

"How did he know I was here?" I wondered and my heart began to race in fear. It was probably the same way he'd been tracking me this entire time. I always thought he relied on smell like I did, but maybe that wasn't the case. At least he wasn't allowed to hunt me anymore. Perhaps the red-eye leaders finally realized that I did them more good than bad. After all, I've probably killed more of my kind than they could ever hope to. Maybe this was their way of thanking me, haha.

I let out a loud victory howl, knowing they could hear it and wouldn't be allowed to come after me. It was my cruel way of gloating. "You can't hunt me, nyeh nyeh nyeh!" I thought smugly. Jane was probably frothing at the mouth at the moment, being the bratty bitch she was.

I was scared out of my gloating by cracking bushes. Yelping in fear, I turned to face whatever was coming after me. "It's Jane, oh shit! I shouldn't have gloated!" Was the thought that first came to mind. Then a scrawny red-brown wolf toppled down the hill and landed next to me. She pulled herself up and assumed a submissive position. Head bowed, tail wagging slightly. The fresh blood of deer and rabbits coated her claws and dripped down her neck. I loosened from my tense state and sighed in relief. Oh, Mandie. She must've finally heard my loud howl and came running to find me after having her own private smorgasbord.

I scratched under her doggy chin and nuzzled her before starting up the hill again. My belly was empty and ready for some grub. Mandie stayed behind for a moment and growled at the scent the red-eyes left behind. She wanted to go after them. She wanted revenge. I nudged her away and grunted. I was the stronger wolf. I was the alpha wolf, here. I knew that the red-eyes were not a threat to either of us anymore, and may never be again.

Mandie reluctantly followed me up the hill and away from the red-eyes. We spent the rest of the day slaughtering and feasting on any animal in our path. It was my way of celebrating, though Mandie probably didn't understand why. I would tell her later, the next time we would both be human.

But that might be a while.

Marcus sat in one of the Volturi's private jets, relaying the events of the past day with perfect recall. Aro and Caius (Caius especially) had followed him through the halls, trying to change his mind on going after the werewolf. Aro was the first to realize that Marcus would never change his mind. Caius eventually relented as well. So his brothers let him set off to be "reunited" with "Didyme" once more.

Despite the apparent madness of his quest, this was the clearest his mind had been for a long time. Ever since his dear Didyme died and the fiery rage her death initially brought in him died as well, he had been in a stupor. All he could feel was grief and numbness. He only partook of two of his once many hobbies. Reading with his brothers was the first one. He felt obligated to do that, though. But no amount of studying could ever stick with him anymore. It was so difficult to pay attention. It was as if his brain had grown a layer of mold and all his thoughts were often too fuzzy for him to make sense of.

There were times where a scent or a sight would snap away all of the fuzz and he would almost feel alive. Those were the times he partook of his second hobby; sketching. Sketching Didyme, to be more precise. Laughing. Smiling. Pouting. He would draw her face in a million different poses. However, seeing his dead love's face over and over again, yet unreachable, led the mold to grow over again. When that happened, he would suddenly have great difficulty drawing her and would simply stop in the middle of a sketch. Then, he'd tuck the precious drawings away in a desk drawer, or a box, or under their old bed. His room was littered with them and he refused to ever clean it out. He could never get rid of a single precious paper.

Now, Marcus was feeling alive again. The mold was completely gone for the first time, it seemed. Instead of devoting his time to drawing her perfect face, he stared at the picture on his phone. Aro had sent it to him after Marcus demanded it. Who was this girl? Why did she look exactly like his beloved? What were the odds that the guards would send a picture of her? After boarding his plane, he was struck by all these confusing questions. What on earth was he even doing, running after a werewolf woman like this? His guards were given no explanation because he had none.

Marcus supposed that he just wanted to see her. To smell her. To hear her. He just wanted to be near her again. Yet some small voice in him was whispering, "She isn't the same. She isn't Didyme," and maybe it was right. The woman in the picture had brown hair and tan skin. And she looked so enraged, yet frightened. Like a dangerous animal. Why did all of these qualities excite him? She was so different from Didyme. Any trait that strayed from her perfection should disgust him.

And yet here he was, more attracted to this woman than ever before.

Mandie and I were stretched out on our backs, rolling happily in the snow. We probably just killed off all the deer in the area. There was no escaping us when we were hungry! Now our bellies were full and happy. I tried making a snow angel, but the proportions looked wacky. The extra joint in my hind legs made the robe of it look too strange. Instead of giving it a halo, I gave this one horns.

"Snow demon," I snorted to myself, "Fitting!"

I was so innocent as a kid. I used to make actual snow angels back then. Now what am I? A monster, I guess. I started to feel the depression coming on and quickly wiped away my snow demon. Pushing all of those bad thoughts away, I tackled Mandie and we tussled for a while, getting covered in snow. I was so glad she was okay, that she didn't hate me, that we weren't being hunted anymore, and that we were together again. There was so much to be thankful for, lately. My luck had completely turned around and we were gonna be happy again, dammit!

I bit Mandie's neck a little too hard and she let out a shrieking yelp. I immediately jumped off of her and whined, my ears going flat. She immediately forgave me, getting up and licking my snout. I licked her back. She was too cute and sweet sometimes! This was probably due to her dumb wolf brain making her act like a puppy, but it didn't mean it was any less sweet.

We decided to move on after a few more hours of frolicking. Besides, there wasn't much prey left to hunt in this area and we'd be hungry again tomorrow. We were bottomless pits, us werewolves. Plus I wanted to keep going in the direction I sensed werewolves in the past few full moons. I think we were headed north, but I didn't have a very good sense of direction and just assumed that. Werewolves can cover a lot of ground in a just a few days and it was definitely noticeable that it kept getting cooler the further I went in that direction.

Lush, mossy forests surrounded us after a few days. Spring was definitely touching this place, unlike the mountains we were in before. There were so many pine trees around and I was in heaven. Mmmm, pine. One of my favorite scents!

After the mossy pine forests, I was certain that we'd crossed the border to Canada. It was a bit more snowy here, but it seemed like it was starting to warm up. It was here that Mandie and I noticed the first signs of werewolves. We growled at the scent. Mandie and I had been hunting werewolves together for so long that her wolf form understood that "other werewolves = bad". We found gashes clawed into trees and old carcasses picked clean. There also wasn't much game around; definite signs of werewolf activity. We circled round and round this territory until we finally found a tiny, secluded cabin. I could hear someone moving inside. Whoever it was smelled human at this distance, but I knew up close I would be able to tell if it was a werewolf or not. It would feel almost like cheating if I killed them now, while still human and vulnerable. And, odds are, they moved all the way out here to keep their loved ones safe. I'd spare them until tonight.

The full moon was on its way.

That's all for now! I am so sorry for not updating for most of the summer. I had a two week long vacation I just got back from and before that I had terrible writer's block.

I reread this because I already had it written and I melted at how cute Mandie was, gah. She made me want to start writing again. So leave a review to thank her for inspiring me! The next chapter will be out soon (hopefully).