A/N: Wow, I'm not screeching in right before the deadline? I'm surprised. 

Well, my next submission for the Gloves Up SmackDown contest, is COMPLETE! I'll admit, this was a tough one to write. Mostly because I'd never read a werewolf story before. All I knew were the basics - Alphas, Lunas, Betas, wolves, etc. So, I researched by reading a bunch of werewolf stories on Wattpad. And let me say... I noticed some clichés. 
Big, strong, tough Alphas, evil rogues, a wolf finding their mate - I swear I read the same story many times over. And so, my goal for this submission became to break as many clichés as possible. I think I managed to break two, which is pretty good, in my opinion.
My two selected quotes are included in the story, and my two images are at the bottom. Hope you enjoy!
Word count: 2497

The little girl stands alone.

Impeccably shrouded in a tree's shadow, I watch intently as the girl, no older than six or seven, reaches up to her face with her right hand. A shaft of moonlight illuminates the tears on her cheeks.

She glances around nervously, her eyes lingering on a skeletal-looking sapling, with a broken branch leaning against its trunk. A cabin - if it can even be called that - sits behind her, the yellow light leaking from the space between the door and doorframe. Yet, despite the near-freezing temperatures and the girl's ratty clothes, she doesn't even try to get into the cabin. Her scent suggests she's just a baseline human, but there's something off about it, something different.

She is the perfect target.

My blood boils.

The girl wraps her arms around herself, but it does little to quell her shivering.

The girl's guardians have a... habit of leaving her out in the cold, as punishment, without a coat. Wretches.

It's how I met her, actually. I had come across her crying in front of the cabin, banging the door, begging to be let in. Much later, she told me it was because she had knocked over some of her guardians' lab equipment by accident. It's an inhumane punishment; the poor girl could easily be mauled by an animal, abducted, or, most likely, get hypothermia.

It makes me want to maul her guardians myself.

Her shivering is the final straw; I back away, fury blinding me, until I'm sure that nobody in the clearing can hear me. Then, I shift to my human form. My bones crunch and crack, but I've done this so many times that it doesn't hurt anymore.

Once I'm fully human again, I don't hesitate to walk out of the woods, right into the clearing the girl stands in. I allow leaves to crunch under my feet loudly, warning her of my presence.

The girl whips around quickly, brown doe eyes wide with terror, until she catches sight of my face. "Rieka!" She squeals, her entire demeanor lighting up as she sprints towards me and squeezes my legs in a hug. The sight positively melts my heart.

But it does nothing to quell my anger.

"Hey, Joan." I smile, running my hand through her dark hair. Despite the joyful innocence of the girl in front of me, my heart aches.

This is what I could have had, if Blaze-

No. Stop. Not now. Not ever.

After a moment, I gently pull away from Joan's hug, earning me the kind of pout only a young child could achieve.

Discreetly, I scan Joan, and I can feel the fire of white-hot fury spreading, from my chest outwards, all the way to the tips of my now-curled fingers and toes, blazing into an inferno.

Her tiny limbs are covered in small cuts and bruises.

And her face is partially reddened by the mark of a hand.

How dare they?

I try to suppress the urge to snarl. Some primal instinct in me strains to shift into my wolf form and shred those monsters to pieces.

But I can't - at least, not with Joan here.

So, I take another deep breath, and reign myself in as much as possible.

I pull off my thick winter coat and drape it over Joan's back, like I always do. She accepts it happily, snuggling into the warm faux fur and sighing contentedly.

"Joan" I begin, without preamble, forgoing our usual easygoing talk and play. "Do you remember what we talked about, last time?"

She stares for a second, before recognition dawns on her face. I had brought up leaving the last time I saw her, and she was, unsurprisingly, hesitant. It had taken some time, and some convincing, but I'd finally gotten her to agree to it. She nods.

"Are you ready?" I check. "Do you still want to do it?"

She hesitates for a second, then asks, "You'll help me, right?"

"Every step of the way." My throat feels tight at the half-truth. I can't help her with every step.

"Okay." She nods again, sniffling a little. "I don't like staying with Aunt and Uncle. They're mean." She confides. "They never let me out of the for-est, and they poke me with nee-dles all day-"

"Needles?" Alarm bells start going off in my head.

She nods, and my hackles rise at the confirmation.

"Do you know why?"

"They say it's be-cause they need my bl-ood for a pro-ject." Joan says this like it's normal. A shiver runs down my spine, for multiple reasons. This sounds familiar.

"Do you know what the project is called?"

She frowns. "I think it was Pro-ject Var-min. Or Pro-ject Var-nim-t."

My chest feels tight, like I can't breathe. "Was it Project Varmint?"

"Yes!" She claps, like this is good news. "You got it!"

I murmur a series of expletives under my breath.

Project Varmint.

No wonder she smells slightly different.

Project Varmint.

I grab her shoulders, on the verge of a panic attack. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

She frowns again. "You didn't ask."

Her response makes bile rise in my throat. She thinks this is normal.

I haven't cared much about anything, ever since the Incident. But now, I've come to care about her, the sweet, but cheeky, and startlingly intelligent girl.

I should have asked her to leave sooner, trust be damned. Anything to get her away from that horrid project.

I should have known.

I'd vowed to protect her, and to get her out of here.

I've already failed.

All I can do now is try to salvage what's left.

Quickly, I usher Joan over into the forest. Once we're sufficiently deep in, I kneel in front of her. "Joan, you ready to ride?"

A while ago, I showed her how I could shift. I thought she'd be terrified, but she defied my every expectation by being excited.

She doesn't understand the implications yet. She doesn't understand how terrible some werewolves can be. She doesn't understand the darkness our species is shrouded in.

For that, I am grateful.

She nods, grinning, and I shift, my skin turning into tawny fur. Then, I sit down, feeling her clamber onto my back a second later. She's as light as a feather.

Once she's secure, I get up, and begin sprinting through the woods.

The further I get into them, the deeper my heart sinks.

As much as I want to, as I yearn to, I can't raise Joan. She deserves better than I - a rogue, a deserter, someone who can't let go of the past. And there's only one place I know that would possibly accept her.

The Pack of the Twin Pines. My old pack.

* * * * *

The sun is rising by the time I'm face-to-face with the Alpha of the Pack of the Twin Pines.

The distinctive golden eyes that greet me as I walk in, framed by the navy blue fabric of his seat, send my brain back into torrents of memories, so many that I pause for a second, trying to fight them off.

No matter what we used to be, no matter how long I've known him, the Alpha is not my friend. Not anymore.

"Rieka." It's his warm, deep human voice that brings me out of my thoughts. Bizarrely, my first thought is, it's gotten deeper. It's a testament to how long it's been since I last saw him.

"Alpha." My voice, in contrast, is as cold as an arctic winter. My tone hurts him; he loses the small amount of hope he had on his face. "I've come to you with a request."

"Please, call me Zeke." Like you used to, his eyes beg. "And go ahead."

Already back in my human form, I glance down at Joan, who's simultaneously hugging and hiding behind my legs. "This is Joan." At her name, she peeks out and offers the Alpha a tiny wave. He smiles, moving to take a step closer, only to meet my sharp glare. Instead, he waves in return.

I turn around and crouch in front of the girl. "Could you wait outside for a moment, sweetie? I really need to talk to Alpha Ezekiel, alone."

She nods, glancing at the Alpha again before stepping out of the doors.

I face the Alpha once more, my face turning frosty. "If your guards scare her again or hurt her, I'll kill them. All of them."

He nods, seriously. "I assure you, they won't."

"Good." I stare at the floor as I begin. "Anyhow, Joan. I found her living with her abusive bastard guardians in the woods. So, I got her out of there. But-" I try to swallow the lump that has arisen in my throat. "-I can't raise her. And I didn't know where else to take her."

I raise my head, meeting Zeke's gaze again. "Please. If you are still the good person I knew you to be, take her in. Give her a home. Give her what I can't."

He considers it for a moment, eyes growing distant like they do when he's deep in thought. But, after a moment, he comes back to himself, and responds. "No."

"No?" I clench my fists, fury rising. "No?! Why the hell not? What the frick happened to, 'Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do'?! Huh?!"

"Rieka," The Alpha looks concerned. "If you'll just let me explain-"

"No!" I jab my finger at him. "She's a part of Project Varmint, did you know that? That damned cross-species genetics project that ruined my life!" My chest heaves from all the yelling. I take a moment to collect myself, trying not to break down. "I'm lucky their experiments didn't work on me. But we both smelled her. She smells different, not quite human. Whatever they did to her, something changed. I can't take her back, Zeke. Not after what they were doing to her. You're the only ones I know with whom she'll be safe. Please."

I watch as Zeke hangs his head. "I want to, Rie." The old nickname feels like a knife in my heart. "I want to. But I tried to do good, and look where it got us. Look where it got Blaze."

My heart stops.

It's the first time I've heard his name out loud, since I left. And the sound of it paralyzes me.

But only for a second. After that, my rage comes back, with double the intensity.

"How dare you." I grit out. Zeke looks up, surprised at my tone. "How dare you." I stalk up to him, uncaring of the consequences. "You don't get to use my dead mate as an excuse to not help a little girl!"

And, as suddenly as it came, all of the anger drains out of me.

I'm tired. I'm tired of grieving. I'm tired of being mad. I'm tired of missing him so badly that it feels like a hole has been carved into my chest. My own head drops, mimicking his actions from a minute ago.

"You did the right thing, Zeke." The words are painful, but I know that they're true. "Nobody could have stopped him from coming on that mission, not even me. I don't know everything that happened, but you were Blaze's best friend. And I know that if you could've taken his place, you would've done it in a heartbeat." I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the image of him in my mind. My mate.

Kind. Intelligent. Protective. Dead.

I somehow find the strength to open my eyes again. Zeke at least deserves that much. "But when you came back, and told me that he was gone, and you didn't even have a body to bury, because it was all in ashes- I was so angry. Because you had promised me you would protect him, then came back only to tell me he was gone."

Tears are now dripping down Zeke's face. Right now, he doesn't look like the brilliant Alpha of the Pack of the Twin Pines. He just looks young and lost.

"Sometimes I regret finding him, you know." I chuckle bitterly. "It sounds callous, but if I hadn't met him, I wouldn't have to endure this heart-wrenching pain. But he made me so happy, too, with all his bad jokes and pranks, even if it wasn't for long." I smile wistfully. "It's like that saying, 'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.' "

By now, my own eyes have filled with tears. "Please, Zeke, don't turn Joan away, especially not on Blaze's account. She's the brightest little girl you'll ever meet. You don't even have to interact with her, just ask someone in the pack to adopt her. Anything to keep her safe."

"Okay." Zeke's response is swift, much swifter than I thought it would be. "I'll let her stay."

That's when the tears in my eyes finally fall. But they're tears of relief. "Thank you. Thank you."

I turn around, eager to tell Joan the good news. But Zeke's voice stops me. "Rieka." I spin to face him. He's standing up now, looking a little panicked. "What about you? Will you stay?"

I shake my head. "No." I can sense the exact moment his heart drops, in time with his face, and it stings. Despite everything, I've never wanted to hurt him. So, I try to make him understand. "I can't. Everywhere I go, even here, I see his face. I can't deal with that."

Zeke nods, sadness in his eyes. It makes him look much older than he really is. "I get it. I see him too. But I can't leave."

My heart aches for him. He loved Blaze too, in a different way. How does he deal with it, seeing reminders of him everyday, knowing that he's gone? I would have gone insane.

We stand in silence for a moment, before Zeke speaks again. "I'm sorry." He repeats his words from earlier, meeting my eyes as he does. "For not saving him."

I shake my head, my tears falling a little faster. "There's nothing to apologize for. I forgave you a long time ago. It's just... raw, still."

Zeke nods, silently. Together, we walk outside.

I know I'll stay until Joan gets settled with whatever family she's placed with. Make sure they're taking care of her. And then, I'll set off again.

It's selfish of me, to leave Joan here, alone, when I know it will hurt her, because I can't get over the past. But she's healing, and I can't help her heal when I'm so broken myself. Especially not here.

Maybe, one day, I'll come back. I'll be able to look at Zeke again, without feeling like crying, and watch Joan grow up. I'll be able to think of Blaze with a smile on my face.

One day.

I'm looking forward to it.

A/N: So? How terrible was it?

An alpha showing some weakness?! nO wAy!! A rogue wolf who isn't evil? REvOluTiONarY. 
I'm kidding of course. But there are the clichés I tried to break. Did I do a good job?

Some clarification: Varmint means 'troublesome wild animal', which I thought was fitting for a cross-species genetics project. Rieka was formerly a part of Project Varmint, but escaped. The project didn't give Rieka her werewolf traits; she was born with those, but the scientists of the project didn't know that.

As for the main character's name, I pronounce her name the same way you would "Rika", but if you'd prefer pronouncing it like "Raika", that's acceptable too. It's up to your interpretation.

Finally, I'd like to emphasize that this story is mainly about healing. Rieka saves Joan (named after Joan of Arc) from her "Aunt" and "Uncle" (scientists of Project Varmint) and brings her to the Pack of Twin Pines so she can heal from whatever they've done to her. Zeke and Rieka fight over Blaze, Rieka's mate and Zeke's best friend, because neither of them have healed from that incident yet. And Rieka makes the ultimate decision to leave Joan in the hands of the Pack of the Twin Pines because she realizes that her presence won't help Joan or herself heal. I feel like self-healing is a topic that should be touched on more; it's okay to do what's best for yourself, sometimes.

Anyhow, even though this was a tough entry to write, I still had a lot of fun. Hope you all enjoyed, and wish me luck (Round 2 results are coming out soon!)!