The Fire Seer

8- Betrayer

It was the summer of my sixteenth birthday. I had just celebrated the week prior when my wolf manifested, and I was able to take part in my first Howl. The feeling was magnetic and electrifying. I had never felt more alive.

Bounding through the woodlands and adjusting to the mighty strength of Laluin and her new guidance, I ventured further and further until I was deep in the mountains, far from the city. Breaking into a clearing, my body came to a halt, and we froze to see across a meadow of spider lilies the imposing form of a large brown wolf. Getting low to the earth, we stalked forward to grab a scent, hoping it was someone we knew, but the closer we got, the more unfamiliar they seemed. It was not someone from the pack.

Just then, the wolf's large head veered around. "Who is there?" He barked into warm breezy air. Our heart beated wildly as the adrenaline pumped, and we raised ourselves from the tall flowers to present our silver wolf to him. The wolf regarded us carefully before standing and stalking closer. "What are you doing so far out, Little One?" He asked. Defiance bleated in our eyes as we looked at him, and finally, I spoke. "I have just gained my wolf and venture these woods to adjust. What are you doing here, old man? This is Ironfang territory." The wolf raised his head as if to smirk. "I am of no pack, Little One. I am a nomad, moving where the wind takes me. It seems you are much the same," He cocked his large head in the direction of the city, "for who travels eight leagues from their home without doing so to escape?" His atmosphere was calm. His presence held the weight of sorrow and peace all tangled together.

I lowered our head, sinking my paws into the grasses. "My father is Beta," I admit, "I have much pressure on my shoulders as an heir. Escapism is no crime."

"Indeed, it is not," He spoke. "Come, sit with me. Why don't I tell you some stories about my travels?"

Warily, we stepped closer, Laluin and I, sitting beside him and looking over the ridge at the sea of forests beyond. He told me of his ventures to the western sea board and the people and places he had encountered, of the wild feral wolves of Yellowstone and the pack wolves of the Rockies. He spoke of rivers so grand and blue that the sky held no contest to their mighty breadth, and of waterfalls that roared so loud you could hear them for miles. He described mountains so vast he could not trek them, of views so grand they made it seem as though the world was never ending. He told me of the eternity of time and its gifts.

When he stopped, the sun was cresting low on the horizon, and he looked at me. "To tell you the truth, Little One," He said, "I once lived near here with my wife and daughter. You remind me of her, my daughter, Eliza. You have a fire in you," He said. I let out a small sound, flickering my ears. "What happened to them?" I asked carefully. He looked out over the forests. "I lost them in a great war." We fell into quiet, and several minutes of tense silence passed before he spoke again. "I wish to rejoin the ways of the wolf, to join with a pack and settle down. I fear old age has made it hard to muster up the strength to travel."

"I can help you!" I said excitedly, happy to aid. "My father can introduce you to our Alpha. Alpha Roderick and Luna Katia are benevolent! Surely they would house you!" I said. Laluin seemed uneasy. "I do not know, Davina. We do not know this man," She said, but I relented. "You... would do that for me?" The old wolf asked. I nodded my silver head. "Of course! I'll tell you all about Ironfang, and you'll fit in in no time!" I said.

Weeks passed. After school every day, when I wasn't with Elijah and Beatrice, I made my way through the woodlands with Laluin to meet the old wolf, who told me his name was Sabian. I never saw his human form, only the body of his scarred wolf, beaten down from years of travel and mourning. He told me of his family, of warm breakfasts and hikes and summer vacations. He told me more of his travels to white deserts that never ceased and salt fields that crunched beneath his paws. He told me of the snowfields of Canadian wilderness and the biting chill of white-capped mountains. In the midst of the pressures, now accumulating with the arrival of my wolf to begin training as beta, these moments were a welcomed respite.

I, too, told him stories. I told him of our packhouse and it's winding floors, of our Alpha and Luna and their son Elijah and how kind they were, of the expanse of our city and my favorite places to hide away from troubles. I told him of school and of life, and he listened like no one ever did. I told him, out of anyone, that sometimes I wished I could be a normal human, something I had never voiced, and how I wished I could travel like him and never have a home to return to. He scolded me for it, but I held firm. Sabian's life sounded like freedom.

It was the end of September when they attacked. Rogues surged past our defenses, crushing our watch towers and ripping through our patrols like a hot knife through butter, devastating our forces and sieging the city. When Sabrian came from his great mountain saying he wished to assist, I led him to the packhouse, past our defenses, to meet with Alpha Roderick. What I did not know was the horror that awaited.

For the first time, I saw Sabian in his raw human form--a scarred and beaten man with peppered hair and dark skin and rage in his eyes. And when Alpha Roderick and the others saw him, it became clear.

"Sabian Patel?" Alpha Roderick said in disbelief as Sabian held the blade to my throat. I whimpered in fear. "That's right, Roderick. Recognize me after all these years?" He snarled with a fury I never thought I'd see in him. Rogues joined behind him, filling the packhouse full of our women and children and the leaders of the pack. Luna Katia held her sister, who sobbed in fear. Roderick ordered his men to stand down as the blade sunk deeper into my neck, drawing blood. "Why have you come, Sabrian?" Roderick asked coldly, his eyes filled with the black rage of a cornered alpha. Sabian howled with laughter, a dark sound that formed a pit in my stomach. My mother and father were there, watching in horror, and I cried. I wanted my mom and dad. Elijah was there, his knuckles white. If not for Roderick, he would have lunged to save me.

"Why have I come? Why, after you decimated my pack? After you slaughtered my family? You have robbed me of everything, Sinclair!" He snarled, pulling my hair back to expose my neck more. "This stupid girl of yours led me right to you, you know. Stupid, stupid girl, listening to anyone with an ear open. Your whole fucking pack will die, and I'll let you and her live, just so you know what it feels like to lose it all. Just so you see what it's like to suffer."

"No, please!" I sobbed out, trying to maintain my footing as he lifted me off the ground. "Shut up!" He screamed at me, and in the opening, Alpha Roderick shifted, his clothes ripping apart as his wolf advanced, going for Sabian's throat. Sabian, in his surprise, let go, reeling back as his rogues advanced. The other wolves of the packhouse advanced as the woman and children fled. Flesh tore from bone. Blood soaked the floors. A battle tore through the building. I scrambled from the floor, running to my parents who hugged me and pulled me away, making their escape. My mom held me tight, kissing my hair, before a wolf tackled her. I fell to the ground, whirling around as my eyes widened. My mom screamed for mercy as the wolf lunged, taking her neck in its maws and tearing her head from her spine. I couldn't feel anything.

The next thing I knew, my father was locked in battle, screaming bloody murder as he shifted and tore the wolf to pieces. They had been fated mates. The love of his life was dead, because of his foolish daughter. A voice rang in my head, my father's wolf Alsin. "Davina, run!" He cried as a human rogue ran him through with a silver sword. His body lurched, and his eyes drained of life. I screamed and screamed, scrambling to my feet again and running, running, running into the woods.

The rogues were on my tail. I shifted. Laluin and I ran until our paws burned. Branches sliced out skin. We approached the river border of Ironfang and leaped.

Hours later, we limped back to the packhouse having lost the rogues. The packhouse was in cinders. Bodies piled and turned the green fields red-orange with the sunset light. Those who survived looked at me as I shifted back to human, nude and bare to them, and for the first time, my pack looked at me like I was the most evil creature they had ever seen. Alpha Roderick was dead. Luna Katia was dead. My parents were dead. Delta Anthony was in critical condition. Elijah was now alpha.

For envisioning freedom from the shackles of fate, I had created twice as many chains. My six years of imprisonment began. For trusting. For hoping. For dreaming.