Her ancient mansion towered the blue town of Hemming's Haven.

In the distance, a lazy lorry crawled up to the path, followed by a sleek black car. They parked just before the rotting trees fencing the house, and quickly went into action.
 
Three men busied themselves with lifting tiny furniture from their truck and into the house. They spoke little, only snapping among themselves about the best footwork and relying on nothing but mutual understanding about where to put what.

And residing in her car, sat a classy girl, fresh into womanhood. She gazed at the workers without want of conversation. She watched, behind giant dark glasses that shrouded her face, as they imitated the workings of ants and bees.

Her name was Isabella Steele, with wit as strong as her namesake, and braided hair as dark as her intentions.

This mansion with all its majesty and hidden threats belonged to her. It was an uncanny birthday gift from a friend of a friend, and Isabella Steele intended to make this her dream come true. She eyed it daringly, letting her gaze flicker everything, from the wooden body to the glass windows that were in desperate need of cleaning.

Isabella's eyed the second floor, and noticed just how it held less dust than below. She leaned forward, bracing her car steering wheel when she squinted before her. The upper windows were just as large as the lower, but they were more in quantity. None had curtains.

Isabella scoffed, and turned away to look around her. The men were still in the house- and provided no entertainment, so Isabella craned her neck to peep at her neighbors' lodgings. 

"Hmm..." her voice low in her throat as her eyes explored.

The house to the left radiated all the warmth that her mansion lacked- it was the paragon of coziness with its humble garden and soft colors. And one particular room was rather close to one of her mansion's window. Close enough for easy conversation. Isabella turned away- and hoped that those neighbors would allow her a life of solitude- it was what she craved.

But when Isabella turned to her right, that mansion competed with her own. While hers was tall, this grey building was twice as long- with its taunting iron bars for windows imprisoning whatever monster dared to dwell in such horrid place. Her eyes widened, and she turned away quickly.

She shook her head, and told herself in a voice as soft as she thought the clouds to be, "No talking with neighbors... No talking to anyone..."

She counselled herself, "The less I talk, the less people will talk to me... The less trouble I will be in... the safest way for me to live... Just me, myself and I..."

But before she could allow herself to be bored, Isabella grabbed a silver handbag that matched her casual jumpsuit and stepped out of her car. Her car keys were carelessly thrown into her pockets. The journey into her new home was quick, and after she passed under her door- she met up with the three moving men.

She didn't want to take a good look at them. They wore similar yellow uniforms and held similar heights, but one was lean while the other two were much thicker. Isabella didn't want to remember them- and so she merely denied them access to her memories by hardly communicating. They didn't mind, and they told her nothing in return.

And when night came quickly- the men left with their lorry. Isabella didn't watch them go, she merely wandered about her new house, committing little to memory seeing that she had grown tired of all the new sights.

The insides of the house were old age grand, but held a plain air to it. There was nothing special about it- the floor was smooth wood and walls a pale peach that managed to survive the years. But yet, hundreds of dents and cracks around the mansion told Isabella that it had not a peaceful past. She forced herself not to dwell on that thought.

And instead she journeyed down the hall that lead to the winding wooden staircase. And while the rest of the house had glorious electricity, the upper floors were cursed into darkness.

Isabella's foot hovered on that first step. And her hands gripped the rail even as she put her foot firmly down.

"What am I so afraid of?" she asked herself in just above a whisper, "It's my bloody house... I'm all alone here."

A few seconds passed, and a small shiver soared through her body, "Then why do I feel that someone's watching me?"

Isabella jumped away from the stairs, and for reasons unknown to her, she bolted back into the safety of her living room where the unlit fireplace stood. And where most of her meek furniture lay- even her tiny bed.

But in her rush, her feet tangled among themselves, and pulled her to the ground. Isabella fell with a yelp, and the force knocked the glasses right off her face.

She lay there, eyes blinking slowly at the blurred ceilings. She sighed, and pulled herself up.

Only to be met with a pair of wide green eyes.

"Ack!" Isabella jumped back with hands raised, and so did the figure.

The girl blinked twice, and when her blurred companion took down it's arms, Isabella noticed the wooden borders around her reason of fright. 

Isabella shook her head almost sadly, and stooped to retrieve her glasses, "I can't believe my own window reflection is scaring me." 

Isabella turned to look at the same window near her neighbor's house, but a sudden disappointment fell onto her when that house held no lights. It did nothing but encourage her loneliness. However, there was a solution...

Isabella scoffed at herself. "No way am I going for any kind of drive... a long, long drive... in this cool night... under that amazing full moon..."

Before her sentence was complete, the ebony had grabbed her purse and was heading out the door. The night jumped out at her, but she ignored it until she was in the safety of her car and was heading onto the road.

Isabella noticed just how her house was conveniently placed just on the outskirts of this town, right next to the highway- making an easy getaway. She focused on the roads, but the action was in vain. They remained unfamiliar.

So she picked up speed, anxious to scare away the pit in her stomach. And in her attempts at a distraction, she almost missed the moving obstacle in the center of the road.

Somewhere between blowing her horn and shouting, Isabella realized that it would not move further. She slammed the brakes. And the car came to a stop just meters away from her almost accident.

Isabella didn't wait to still her racing heart, she squinted at the thing, and recognition caused goosebumps to raise.

"It's a wolf.."

Curiosity overcame the initial shock, and against her better judgement, Isabella stepped out into the warm night.  But her mood became more and more chilling with each step of Isabella's pumps... until every scanty hair on her arms stood at attention.

But the wolf was caked in mud, lying on it's side with its face away from Isabella. It was still. But seeing as was trembling seconds ago, Isabella ventured so that she could poke it.

"Hello?"

The ebony girl reached out a trembling hand, and jabbed the side. The wolf radiated warmth, but did not move... Isabella released a deep sigh, and tilted her head to glimpse the wolf again.

"Well... it's a girl," she noted with a tiny frown, and when she leaned closer, her frown stretched into a gasp, "She's pregnant!"

Isabella didn't need to think twice. She scurried back into her car, and reached into the glove compartment. She pulled out her first aid kit. And returned to the scene with  fierce determination in her features.

Isabella knelt beside that wolf, not bothering how it must be at least three times the normal wolf size.  And when Isabella opened her first aid kit, she allowed a clean curse to slip past her lips.

"Oh fudger-knuckles..." she whispered, "I've got no scalpel... nor razor blade? That's not fair!"

Instead, the ebony reached into her silver purse, and felt around for her trusted pocketknife. With utensil in hand, Isabella gave a slightly pleased grin. She pulled on her gloves, and took a deep cleansing breath.

"Remember Isabella, there's no such things in your life as regrets..."

Her body worked as though on autopilot, relying on instinct and gifted luck to retrieve a wiggling wolf pup into the world. The newborn squirmed, and made soft noises when Isabella held it in her hands. 

Isabella made quick work of finding out her gender, and making sure she was still breathing. The pup was caked in blood and some clear gooey substance, but Isabella could tell she had fur as dark as it's mother.

A bittersweet feeling came when Isabella realized that there was only one pup to rescue. Yet, the girl wrapped the wiggling creature in the shirt before bringing it to nestle in her arms.

And in the perfect choreography, the clouds gave way to a moonbeam of blue light. It shimmered down on the pair, but it lacked the capacity to illuminate the dead mother. Isabella squinted up.

"Eclipse," whispered Isabella with a little crack in her voice. And then she glanced at her bloody pup.

The name suited her well. She was born on her namesake. Isabella nodded in satisfaction.

The pup whimpered when Isabella moved, and only dove closer in the warmth of her bosom, much like an infant trying to suckle from instinct.

Isabella's smile radiated off her face with the warmth of a thousand suns.

 "My Little Wolf Child..."