I held my tongue, despite the withering retort longing to be let out. Cutting the elders out of this meeting entirely was not possible. They held too much sway and commanded too much respect from the rest of the pack.
“Communing with the forest” was a load of bullshit, though.
The forest was alive in its own way, yes. It lived and breathed, and even, I would argue, had a soul, a pulse attuned to the world that humans could not hear. What it was not, however, was sentient. It did not communicate with us. This was simply an excuse for the elders to say my plan was faulty and to try to stop it.
I wasn’t about to let that happen. I was done letting them make the rest ofmy pack run scared.
“If you are willing to volunteer, please seek me or Gerratt out and notify us,” I said, not giving anyone else a chance to speak. “When I know anything more about the situation, I will let you all know. Thank you for coming, and I’m sorry that I did not come before you with better news.”
The meeting ended, and people began to rise and leave.
For their part, the elders stayed put, looking at me expectantly as though waiting for me to walk over to them and discuss my plans with them. As if then and only then wouldthe “real” plan be developed, with their input and guidance, of course.
Which is precisely why I didn’t move or even look at them. If they didn’t like what I, the alpha, was doing, they could come to me and discuss it. I did not answer to them, even if openly defying them wasn’t something I was quite ready to do.
Eventually, even those who knew there would be an argument between me and the elders left, growing tired of waiting. Even some of the elders decided it wasn’t worth it and shuffled their way out. I still didn’t move.
At the front of their little group, Elder Jackson finally bared his teeth and caved, walking over to where I stood. I still stared out at the raised levels of the meeting grounds, pretending he didn’t exist until he came to a stop and opened his mouth to speak.
“
I am the alpha of this pack,” I snarled, cutting him off before he could utter a single syllable. “Not you. Not any of you.”
Elder Jackson snorted. “If you think it’s that black and white, go against us openly. It won’t go well, and you know it.”
I jabbed a finger at his face. “You are doing this pack no favors with your isolationist fearmongering,
Elder.” I threw the term at him derogatorily. “We have long helped the humans by patrolling the forest and keeping the darkness at bay. We were welcomed in the town by its residents, those who know our true nature and those who don’t. We make their lives easier and safer by preventing the Chained from extending its influence. The Chained isour problem. Our duty. Not theirs.”
“And look where it got us,” Elder Jackson said, shaking his head sadly. “We should be far larger than we are. There should be no empty houses out there. We should be one of the most powerful packs on the continent by now. Instead, the lasttime we tried to save them from the Chained, their treachery decimated us! We lost nearly half of our people.”
“That was generations ago,” I countered. “A century and a half. We don’t even know exactly what went on at that time.”
Elder Jackson didn’t back down. Neither did those at his side. “What we do know is that much more in the way of losses back then, and we would have been forced to merge with one of the other packs. What we know is all those deaths were at the hands of human treachery.”
Most of the other elders nodded along with Jackson as he spoke, making their feelings clear. A few did not, and one or two of those who did nod looked hesitant to do so.
“Regardless, your desire to hide iswrong
,” I said, coming as close as I dared to calling him a coward.
“And so is violating the boundaries of the heart of the forest,” Elder Jackson countered. “We do not cross the Dyne. You know this. It is against the rules.”
“Rulesyouset!” I snarled, staring him down. The word was on my lips. But such an insult was not one I could take back if uttered.
Being branded a coward in a wolf pack was a death sentence. Any wolf would challenge such a claim. I did not want to do that. Fighting an elder would ensure a split in the pack, a fracturing that we could ill afford at this time. No, I had to find a way to unite, not destroy.
Otherwise, my people would suffer. And what kind of alpha would I be if I allowed them to suffer, or worse yet,caused their suffering by pushing for a schism?
Somehow I had to get the elders to stop being afraid.
“We will see what the forest has to say,” Elder Jackson said, making it clear that he was done talking about it.
Snarling in disgust, I pushed through them and started up the stairs.
“Lincoln.”
Elder Germander’s voice stopped me, but I refused to turn back.
“Be careful how close you get to the humans. Remember, that too is forbidden.”
Baring my teeth at no one, I did not acknowledge the comment. I left before I said anything else.
They would not understand if I told them that staying away from Sylvie was no longer an option. That every time we were apart, my wolf howled incessantly for her. That my body felt dull and unalive unless I was by her side.
I hungered for her-a hunger I could not quench by staying away. The only thing that would satiate me was her. To hear her voice. To look into her face.
To hear my name spill from her lips, taste her skin under my lips, and feel her body under my fingers once more.
The shift to wolf form came unexpectedly, the beast exploiting my temporary distraction. It was too much to resist at that point. The call was too strong. The need too great. I had to see her. To be with her.
My feet started to move on their own accord, and I left the meeting grounds behind. Cabins and other shifters passed by. Trees began to blur as I picked up speed, disappearing into the forest as I ran on without stopping.
Right back to her.
Sylvie
I went out the next day to get some answers.
When Lincoln had failed to return, I had been left with yet more questions, and I was growing sick of being clueless. It was time to get my ass in gear and figure out something,anything about what was going on.
I covered a giant yawn. But none of that was going to happen before coffee.
After waiting hours for his return, I’d had no choice but to go back to sleep. The prickly sensation of danger had faded not long after he’d disappeared into the forest, but the rest I’d gotten had been only fitful. I feared for Lincoln, though my gut told me he was okay.
When I dreamed, I had dreamed of the wolf again. Of being chased through the darkness. It was always right behind me. Even awake, I could hear the heavy panting, and the occasional hunting growl, letting me know it was still there. That I wasn’t escaping.
And when I turned to try to face it, I was greeted with mismatched eyes that sucked me in until I was no longer looking at a wolf. I was looking at Lincoln.
Lincoln, and his mismatching eyes. It was a coincidence that he and the mysterious wolf shared the same heterochromatic aberration, but it was ahell of a coincidence. That was for sure.
“Lots of odd coincidences in this town, it feels like,” I said to nobody in particular as I downed a cup of coffee and refilled a travel mug to bring along. Something told me that today was going to be that type of day.
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