Episode 8

After talking to my mother and reflecting on my life, I realized that my father, throughout all these years of training, prepared me for this moment. He taught me to run, jump, climb, fight, hunt with a bow and arrow, survive in the forest, and hide. I thought it was just so that I wouldn't be in trouble in the hands of some evil man.

Now I know that I win or I win, there is no alternative other than that, otherwise I die and dying is not an option. My things are packed, I could hardly sleep last night, thinking about everything I will face, that's why I've already packed everything. The bare minimum inside a huge camping backpack. The guys from the store brought the clothes, which I will change at the airport there, because it's not cold here yet.

My father took me to the airport. No one came to say goodbye to me, not even my mother. David finally got things sorted with his companion and took her to a cabin that my father built for him, and they're mating. Adriana reconsidered her rejection when she found out he wouldn't be the beta of the alpha. Who would have thought? In the end, she wasn't that spoiled after all. Finally, I said goodbye to my father and boarded the plane bound for Alaska.

Arriving at Anchorage Airport, I left the arrivals hall and found a man with a sign with my name in his hands. It was very cold and I had already changed clothes in the terminal bathroom. Now I was wearing a fake deer fur coat, but with a warm sheep wool collar.

The man led me to a helicopter and took off, flying over the whole city, heading towards the mountains. Before we entered the mountainous region, skirting the forest, the helicopter descended almost to the edge of a river. That whole region was uninhabited and the ground was soaked, preventing the helicopter from landing.

"You'll have to jump, take off the headphones, open the door, put your feet on the ski of the aircraft and jump, go."

I did what he said, not quite understanding what it was, but if I had to jump, there I went. I jumped.

As soon as I jumped, the helicopter left me alone. I had spent hours on a plane, made two layovers, and now the helicopter, it was almost evening, I looked around and was able to locate myself through the photos and maps I had studied with my father. I followed the river to the beginning of the mountain ascent, before searching for the cave that I knew was there, I filled my canteen.

I changed my sneakers for hiking boots and continued, finding the small cave, it looked more like just a hole in the mountain, but it was safer than a deeper cave with wild inhabitants. This way I can hide from the cold and keep an eye on everything around me at the same time. Night came quickly and along with it, the cold. I unrolled my sleeping bag and entered it, keeping myself as far away from the entrance as possible.

I woke up at dawn, before the sun rose. I washed my face and mouth with the water from my canteen, kept everything deep inside, transformed, and went after something to eat. I knew I would only be able to hunt an elk or a hare at night, for now, we'll have to settle for fruits or fish.

But clever Rose managed to catch some birds and after satisfying herself, she went to the cave, I returned to human form and cleaned the birds, roasting them over a fire, it was a good meal.

After I finished eating, I cleaned everything, washed myself in the river, grabbed my things, and left through the forest path. The backpack was getting in the way a bit, as a wolf, I would be faster. I looked at everything inside it and eliminated what I could, hiding it among some rocks. I put a strap on each shoulder, with as much slack as possible, to see if it worked.

I heard laughter in my head, it was the funny Rosa.

"Why are you laughing, Rosa?"

"You're going through all this trouble and forgot that we have magic, you can gather everything, put it on your back, and I'll take care of it, hurry up, we're wasting time."

I really forgot, now I was the idiot. Ugh, I deserve it. I did what she said as quickly as possible and then transformed and continued on, running. I climbed the mountain that already had some snow and circled it to pass through a valley, almost invisible, when I reached the other side, it was getting dark.

Time to hunt, Rosa approached the small waterfall next to the valley exit, which is hidden by the surrounding vegetation. She is cunning and when I least expect it, she ran and caught a antlered elk, and we are already eating. After drinking water and washing up, we went back a bit and entered the space behind the waterfall, but it is not deep and very humid.

We exit.

Rosa looked all around and chose a tree. I returned to human form and with the backpack on my back, I climbed the tree. It was very tall and had thick trunks. Reaching the middle, where the branches are closer together, I managed to settle in, with the backpack serving as support, I put one leg on each side of a wide branch and slept another night.

When I wake up, almost falling from the tree, I grab the canteen and wash my mouth and face and put everything away. I climb down and after walking a bit, I realize that this tree was different from all the others. This seemed like a sign that I am on the right path.

I continue along the path that circles another part of the mountain, I decide to descend because I see from up here that there is a path almost hidden by the lower vegetation that winds towards the other side of the valley and reaches a clearing.

While I descend, I look for something to eat and don't find anything. I pass through the wettest and coldest part and reach the narrow river that passes by. I fill the canteen, drink a bit, and go to a drier spot. I gather some twigs and dry branches and make a small fire among some rocks I gathered.

I put the canteen in the fire and when it heats up, I pour inside two sachets of instant coffee and one of sugar, I don't like it too sweet. I shake the canteen while holding it with a cloth. I let it cool a bit while reaching into my backpack pocket for a pack of salty biscuits. I eat, drinking the coffee from the canteen. It was good to drink something warm and have some carbohydrates to balance out all the protein. Mom always used to say that.

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