Leader Of The Pack
Justine is a young woman living in rural Georgia, and has just finished another 16 hour shift at the hospital she works at. Although she is well known in her small town and has many acquaintances, she usually finds herself alone and lonely on the weekends. Justine is one of the top nurses at her hospital, and she devotes as many hours as she possibly can each week at her job. After determining that she is over-worked and exhausted, Justine's boss orders that she use some of her vacation time to take a week off from work.
Justine reflects on her life as she drives home, making the 40 minute trip from the city into the country and realizes that she will feel very lonely until she is able to go back to work after her days off. While she is traveling down a road going through the huge forest before her home, some sort of huge creature runs out in front of her car. Justine screams and has to slam on the breaks, narrowly avoiding running off the road.
She puts the car into park and gets out of the vehicle, looking down over the edge of the road into the ditch to see a man lying in the dirt. He is barely breathing and covered in cuts and blood, and Justine calls out to him. He doesn't respond and she grabs a first aid kit from her car, rushing down into the ditch to help him. As she begins to bandage him, Justine realizes he is dehydrated and weak and decides to take him a little further down the road to her house to help him and use her phone to call an ambulance. Using her training and a compact stretcher in her car, Justine is able to move him into the back of the vehicle and take him home with her.
Once in the house, Justine washes the man up with a cloth and water and dresses his wounds, noticing the wounds look like deep gashes and claw marks. The man is barely breathing and doesn't respond to her voice or touch. Justine fixes some broth and attempts to spoon feed him soup and water and is pleasantly surprised that he responds enough to swallow. Deciding that he is weak but stable, Justine decides to keep him at home and nurse him back to health.
Over the next day, she takes care of him and makes sure his wounds are treated, that he is clean, and that he eats something. On the second night as Justine is sleeping, she suddenly awakes due to a loud crashing noise. She jumps out of the bed and runs to the kitchen, finding her patient half naked and standing over a mess in front of the fridge, chewing on handfuls of food.
Justine stares in shock and gasps when the man's gaze meets her own, noticing that he has ice blue eyes so light colored that they are nearly white. The man guiltily drops the food and begins thanking Justine for all she has done for him. She notices that he moves extremely quickly and is light on his feet for someone who was barely breathing a couple days ago. Justine shyly accepts his thanks and prepares him something else to eat, going to dress his wounds again as he works on his meal.
As she removes the bandages, she is shocked to find that most of the wounds have almost completely healed. Justine doesn't comment on this but begins to wonder what is different about this strange man. She asks his story and the man doesn't remember much about where he was, how he was injured, or how he ended up in the ditch. She asks his name and age, and he tells her he isn't sure, and that he has never had a name. Wary of him and wondering why his circumstances are so strange, Justine asks if he is a criminal, lying to her, or what. The man passionately explains that he would never lie to Justine and that he is grateful for all she has done and exclaims he would do anything for her in return. Justine is a little embarrassed by his words and ends up blushing as he tells her these things. She decides to give him a name so she has something to call him and names him Frost in reference to his eyes.
Over the next couple of days, Frost and Justine grow closer. As he heals and becomes stronger, he begins to help her around the house and in the yard. As Justine works in the kitchen one afternoon cooking, she watches out the window as Frost moves quickly around the yard moving fallen limbs and pulling weeds, cutting the grass, and working hard. She smiles and admits to herself that she feels happier with him here than she has in a long time and is a lot less lonely.
After a couple of hours, Frost comes into the house to take Justine outside, showing her all the flowers he has planted along the house and the stone path he has made for her. Justine thanks him and Frost excitedly accepts her praise, thanking her back for all she has done.
As she walks back along the stone path to go into the house, Justine trips on the edge of a rock and almost falls. Frost quickly snatches her into his arms and carries her into the house while Justine blushes the entire time from the intimate contact. Frost is unsure as to why she acts this way and comments on the redness of her cheeks, causing Justine to become even more embarrassed. He asks her if her face is sore and kisses her on the cheek in an effort to make her feel better. Their intimate moment is interrupted suddenly as a woman harshly kicks in the back door of the house.
Frost quickly pushes Justine behind his back, guarding her from the woman as she busts into the home. The woman grabs Frost around the neck, hugging him tight and exclaiming how worried and scared she was about him. Justine tries to hide her disappointment as the girl seems close to Frost, determining that she must be his girlfriend or lover. Frost seems unsure of who the girl is and questions her. She asks how he can't remember his own twin sister and reminds him that her name is Demi. Justine notices that her eyes are indeed much like Frost's.
Demi goes on to explain that the 'leader of their pack' was murdered and that she needs him home as does everyone else. She asks if he killed Ristov and Frost simply stares back in question. Justine is unable to stand it anymore and demands to know what's going on. When Demi raises her voice in anger at Justine's noisiness, Frost growls and steps forward at his own sister, causing her to back down from Justine. Demi finally explains that Frost, whose real name is Damien, is a werewolf and member of her own pack. Their leader was murdered by Ristov, a man who was exiled from the pack because of his disloyalty. Damien was next in line to become pack leader and was attacked by Ristov and his gang in an effort for them to kill him. As she tells the story, Frost's memory begins to return to him.
Demi begs Frost to come back with her and explains that the pack needs him to lead them and protect them from Ristov. Moved by his sister's pleas, Frost tells Justine that he doesn't want to put her in danger and that he should do his duty to his pack. Justine sadly agrees and tells him that she understands and wishes him the best in his journey. She watches as Frost and Demi leave the house, shocked as they change before her eyes into two black wolves before disappearing into the forest.
Depressed by the loss of Frost, Justine spends most of her time in bed thinking about him and reflecting over her life. He has been gone for two days and she has been missing him and worrying about his safety. As she is laying in bed, she hears a loud crash outside and quickly jumps up, figuring Frost must have come back to say goodbye. As she runs to open the door and greet him, she is suddenly thrown onto her stomach on the cement porch. Justine looks up to see a brown wolf on top of her and watches in horror and surprise as he changes on top of her into a rough, unkempt looking man covered in scars and dirt.
The stranger tells her he could smell Frost all over her and this home and that she must be important to him and that killing her would surely devastate him. The rough looking man places his hands on her neck and begins to choke her and Justine feels herself slipping away. Just as she feels she can't take any more, the man on top of her is thrown several feet and lands on the ground. Frost grabs Justine and lifts her to her feet, checking her for harm and holding her to his chest and identifying the other man as Ristov.
The other man runs into the woods, and Justine watches as Frost changes to a wolf and chases after him. Demi soon appears, asking if Justine is okay and helps her into the house. The two women hear yelping and horrific sounds outside and Justine begs Demi to do something, but she tells her she can't interfere because this will determine whether or not Frost is worthy of ruling the pack.
The two wait in silence and Justine jumps up as Frost returns, limping and with some cuts and bites. She wastes no time taking care of his wounds and Demi excitedly congratulates him, expressing how proud she is and how she can't wait for him to take his place as pack leader. Justine listens sadly to the conversation, when Frost suddenly tells Demi to stop. He tells his sister that he can't be pack leader and that he doesn't wish to go back. Demi is in shock, but Frost goes on to tell her that he owes his life to Justine and that she is now his pack and where his loyalty lies.
Justine is shocked as well by his confession and as she stares at him. Frost harshly kisses her and pulls her to him. Demi angrily asks who will lead the pack and Frost tells her that she is his twin and will be as good a leader as he would be. He tells her to go on and tell the pack that she and Frost defeated Ristov together, and that she, Demi, is to be the leader. Demi hesitates at first, but accepts his wishes and tells him that she hopes he will be happy with Justine. After she leaves, Justine continues to treat Frost's wounds and help him to bed, accepting as he asks her to lay with him. She falls asleep in his arms.
Fast forward a couple months: Justine is on her drive home again for work, exhausted after a long week, but no longer feeling lonely. She reflects on her first meeting with Frost and how he changed her life. As she pulls into the driveway, she is greeted by an ecstatic Frost who helps her from the car and quickly scoops her up into his arms for a kiss. He tells her he missed his mate all day and that he is happy to have her back at home.
Chapters
Chapter 1: Justine's back story, her driving home from work, and reflecting on her loneliness. She sees a creature run across the road, finds Frost, and takes him home.
Chapter 2: Justine treats Frost's wounds and takes care of him. She wakes one night to find him in the kitchen and sits with him and talks. She finds out his story and gives him his name.
Chapter 3: Justine and Frost grow closer. He helps her around the house and yard and surprises her with flowers and a path he built. Justine trips outside, Frost carries her in and they share an intimate moment.
Chapter 4: Demi appears and tells Justine the truth about Frost and who he is. She explains what is going on and Frost agrees to leave with her. Justine is left alone and reflects on her loneliness and missing Frost. She thinks he has come home and goes outside to see if he is there.
Chapter 5: Justine is attacked by Ristov and saved by Frost. Frost and Ristov fight and Demi and Justine are left in the house worrying. Frost finally comes back and explains he wants to stay with Justine. Demi accepts the role of pack leader and leaves.
Chapter 6: Prologue and short intimate moment with Justine and Frost.
Characters
Justine
Age: 25 Nurse at local hospital. Light brown hair, green eyes.
Frost (Damien)
Age: unknown, but looks about 27, werewolf. Black hair, ice blue eyes.
Demi
Age: unknown, twin sister of Frost, werewolf. Black hair, similar ice blue eyes.
Ristov
Age: unknown but looks about 35, werewolf. Brown hair, brown eyes. Very unkempt with a rough beard and overgrown hair.