Chapter 1

"Sixteen year old Winnie was hunched down beneath some tall grass, her tail swishing to the side as she locked eyes on her target. a full grown male buck with antlers that if they weren't careful could just as easily kill one of them. "Ok on my signal" She whispered.

"Her brother Aiden who seemed a bit to over confident suddenly got it in his head that as a male wolf he didn't have to take orders from a female like his sister so before Winnie could finish counting, Aiden darted forward his claws unsheathed as he played over what was going to happen in his head. He'd take the animal down with ease and his entire family would be so proud of him. Unfortunately that wasn't how it went, he was so blind to all the glory he'd get from this one catch he ended up tripping and getting kicked in the stomach by an enraged buck. Aiden went flying thru the air and fell flat on his face.

Much to his and Winnie's horror the buck went charging towards him, by this time Aiden was struggling to get to his feet. Winnie yelled "look out!" In that split second she mustered up all her courage and jumped protectively in front of her younger brother. The animal showed no signs of slowing so Winnie did the only thing she could think of, she braced herself and counted down from five in her head before leaping forward her claws unsheathed and her teeth bared.

The animal gave a cry of surprise as Winnie landed on its back and sunk her canines into the flesh of its neck. Infuriated, It tried to throw her off several times but she refused to let go. Her determination not to let the animal kill her brother was what kept her from releasing it. the blood coating her muzzle and dripping down her cheek could not even be enjoyed seeing as she was still hanging on for dear life.

all the while Aiden was cheering her on from the side. Within minutes the weakened buck finally seemed to be slowing down, it was exhausted and soon gave up the fight. "Yah, that's the way to go!" Aiden continued to shout "Show em who's boss winnie!" Falling to its feet, Winnie jumped off the dying animal and looked it over for a second. Her eyes glazed over with nothing but pity and mercy for the poor animal. "Stand back" Was all she told her brother, he stared at her confused. "Why?" She didn't answer, instead she moved around the side of it and stared into its pleading eyes for her to put it out of its misery.

With shaky paws she took hold of its neck, she wanted to end its suffering quickly. so with a final twist Winnie snapped its neck and watched it go limp. "Go with Allah. Goddess of the moon." She murmured softly.

Aiden pattered over to Winnie's side and smirked "Wow sis, that...was...awesome!" Aiden started whooping and howling "I can't believe you took down an entire buck by yourself that is the most badass thing I've ever seen..." He stopped dead when Winnie turned back around to shoot him a look.

"God Aiden you can be such a brainless idiot you know that!? how many times have I told you that hunting is all about team work? that when out here we must always stick together!? or are you off somewhere in Lala land when I'm talking with you" She didn't let him answer "of course you are, all you care about is getting all the attention from these hunts. Well let me tell you something little bro," She was up in his face now "next time I come out on a hunt I'm leaving you at home understand!? I can't be babysitting you every time we're out here."

Aiden managed a nod "Ok, I'm sorry..." Winnie held out a paw and he shamefully took it, he noticed it then. There was blood caked all over Winnie's brand new shirt. Her mother was gonna have a cow and three kittens when she saw her. Still he didn't say a word to her the entire way home.

He'd wanted to help with the buck but Winnie refused to let him touch it. Instead she dragged the carcass all the way home by herself, immediately after returning she was ambushed by several of her brothers. "Oh your gonna get it this time" One of them teased eyeing her shirt Sure enough her mother who was pregnant again came wadding out from their cave. "Oh Winnie not again" She cried in an exasperated tone "We can't afford for you to keep ruining your shirts.

her attention went from Winnie to Aiden in an instant when she noticed he was limping. Thats when she went into military mom mode "boys get your brother inside and take him straight to your father." Two of the wolf pups gulped they knew what he was going to do. To get Aiden's paw fixed he was gonna have to rearrange the bone by shoving it back into place which wasn't gonna be pretty. The wolf pups quickly obeyed and dragged Aiden back in.

Winnie's ears flattened as she eyed the ground "Sorry mom it's my fault he got hurt I should have been watching him more carefully I didn't mean for..." she grew surprised when her mother rather then scold her gave her a smile instead. Winnie's ears perked up once more "It's alright dear, these things happen I'm just proud you brought him back in one piece." She kissed Winnie on the forehead "Thats all that matters. Now come inside and lets get you cleaned up and ready for the party"

Her mother put a paw on her back and led her into the cave. Winnie though not feeling up to it endured her mother's tortures attempts at getting her to put on a dress though it didn't go well.

She kept trying to slip out of them when her mother had her back turned, even several of her brothers who were watching from outside her parents bedroom couldn't help but snicker and point.

"You look like a big red lollipop" her brother Seth laughed as he highfived her other brother named Logan. The two were born just minutes apart yet they couldn't be more alike.

Having had enough Winnie snapped her canines in their direction and the two took off tails tucked between their legs as they did. "Your never gonna find a nice mate if you keep acting like one of the boys" Her mother chastened.

"Then I guess I wont" Winnie said once again trying to wriggle out of the dress. Her mother shot her a look of disapproval and sighed as she rubbed her swollen belly. "I don't even know why I bother. Just wear whatever you want, remember we're leaving in a few minutes so make sure your dressed.." She wobbled out of the room leaving Winnie to look over at the dresses in disgust.

"Winnie?" She eyed the door, Aiden was hiding behind it "C-Can I come it?" Winnie only shrugged as she threw the dress in her paws on the bed "go for it." She said in a casual tone. "I don't care."

Aiden who seemed sort of skittish slowly made his way in and sat on the bed "what do you want?" Winnie asked without looking at him. Her focus was more on the lime green dress hanging in the small closet.

He was moving his feet which were dangling off the bed back and forth. it was a habit he picked up when he was nervous. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for thinking I could take down that buck alone. I thought maybe if I did then mom and dad would be proud of me and for once would give me some one on one attention. That's all I wanted. So am I forgiven?"

He shot her the biggest puppy dog eyes he could make and Winnie though was used to this kind of thing relented in the end and smiled "Yeah your forgiven" she playfully put an arm around his neck and giggled being very careful not to hurt the paw that had been bandaged up.

That's when they heard their father Wayne call them front outside the cave "Kids put your butts in high gear and lets move." The cave literally began to shake as all Winnie's wolf brothers made their way towards the car waiting for them. "We don't wanna be late for the party."

"Winnie's ears perked up at the words. "C'mon I'll race ya to the car." She jumped off the bed with Aiden following right behind her "ok but I warn you, I've gotten a lot faster since last time we raced."

"Well bring it on. Show me what you got."

After arriving at the hotel, All of Winnie's brother's scattered and went off in different directions. Winnie's plan was to go upstairs and see her friend Dennis. She loved spending time with him, they always had so much fun together.

That was the plan anyway but her mom led her into the dining area where a couple of Wayne's wolf buddy's were waiting. His friends names were Layla and Odis Mackelmerry. They were ok for grown ups it was their kids that Winnie couldn't stand.

First there were the two older twins Erica and Brett two of the most stuck up, shallow and snobby wolfs Winnie had ever met and she had over 300 brothers. Then there were the little ones Tiffany, Lily, Micheal and Rovi. The wolf pups from Hell as Winnie's mom once called them which was funny considering how many trouble makers she had.

Winnie wanted to sneak away but her mother kept pushing her towards Brett who was standing near the punch bowl. He kept her attention for a few minutes, It was when He started bragging about how he'd met some famous humans and got signed to become a movie star that Winnie finally couldn't take it anymore. She knew he was so full of it and would rather endure having her bones broken and be put back in place the way her father had done to Aiden then listen to him any longer.

"So, Winifred. care to join me for a stroll out in the cemetery? I hear it's quite lovely this time of night." He held out a paw expecting her to take it so when she backed away he became a bit surprised "you know as much fun as that sounds I think I'm gonna have to pass. Excuse me for a minute" she all but ran to leave out of the party room. Brett not willing to accept her refusal followed close behind her.

"I must say all this running is quite unfitting for a lady..."

"I guess it is" Winnie shot back "Anyway as much as I loved our little talk. why don't you go find yourself a nice pond to drown yourself in and leave me alone" she headed outside to get some air though he followed after her "that is terribly rude of you. I'll have you know that I..."

As he was rambling Winnie disappeared into the trees. she hoped like hell that he wouldn't run in after her and stopped after a minute to make sure she wasn't being followed. Her nose never picked up his scent which meant she was in the clear. Sighing she headed back to the hotel. As she entered thru the push in doors she saw Dennis sliding down the stairway and whooping in pure joy. He jumped down onto the floor and did an air fist pump but stopped short when he noticed Winnie staring at him.

He waved her over and the two met each other in the middle of the hotel. Winnie resisted the urge to jump on him like she did when they were little and playfully punched his arm./p

He pretended to wince back "did anyone ever tell you, that you hit like a girl?" he teased.

"Takes one to know one stink breath"

"Ha, good one. where'd you pick that line up. The swamp?"

"She giggled and ended up pouncing him, her paws pinning him down by his chest "your so silly zing zing." the words had just slipped out and she covered her mouth but it was to late to take it back.

"zing zing? wow you haven't called me that since we were kids." Winnie quickly jumped off him "I know, I'm sorry I didn't mean to it just slipped out I..." Suddenly feeling super embarrassed she turned to leave "I gotta go..." Dennis quickly got to his feet and reached out to her before she could run "No, wait!" he took hold of her arm and she turned back around in shock.

Realizing what he was doing he let her go but continued to smile. It was a soft sort of smile that fit his face just perfectly, he seemed to perfect to be real. "Don't leave yet. You just got here, my mother says she has something special planned for me before the end of the night and I want you to be here when I find out what it is."

"You sure?"

"Positive." He took her hand and grinned "Now c'mon lets go have some fun" nodding, she playfully tagged his shoulder and giggled "Race ya there." before bolting forward. right on cue Dennis took off running after her. Both laughing the entire way. Little did either of them know this was gonna be one eventful night.

to be continued.