Chapter 5 - Five
The woods had always been my escape.
When the world inside the pack house felt too loud or too crowded, I would come here.
Among the trees, I could breathe again. I could think.
Today, though, even the trees felt different.
Heavier. Sadder.
I sat on the old stone ledge by the creek, my feet dangling over the water, watching the current slip past.
It was strange to think that I had already passed my "shifting year."
The year when a young wolf was supposed to fully bond with her wolf spirit, claim her place in the pack, and move forward into the next Chapter of her life.
I was just out of time.
And I felt no closer to understanding where I belonged.
"You look like you’re carrying the whole world on your shoulders," came a voice behind me.