Female ✔️

19: a looming fog

Bare feet pressing into the warm ground of early July, I've always liked the mornings in this time of year in the North. When the air is cool and crisp, the afternoons however are another story. It's almost like the salty air traps the heat, awash with the biting cuts of oceanic wind that taste of brine. I realize I haven't gone down to the sea in a while.

"Do you wish you were off training with Jack?" I look over to the younger male, still building himself up, still just a pup.

"I mean maybe. But soon I will have my own training; Beta training. Though that was never the plan, Kieran chose me since the order... Skewed." Both knowing he is referring to the death of their oldest brother, I nod solemnly. "Life always goes on."

"He'll be back tonight, actually." I rub at my chin, looking out towards the bay cliffs through the sparse treeline. I can vaguely see the gulls swooping through the clear air.

"Do you miss him that much that you have been counting the days?" Jermayne laughs, shaking his head.

"Of course I do. I love him, you wouldn't understand. Not until you find a mate."

"What if I said I did?"

"Find your mate? I would know." Confident words.

"What if they were a male?" This question is so sudden and brief it catches me off guard. "What would you think of me then?"

Brows furrowing in, I stop to look at him. I can't read this face he has on, it's blank. I sniff the air between us softly, trying to pick up something. Nothing. "I wouldn't think of you any different. I'm not that kind of wolf. I may come from the old ways but that isn't how I am. I would love you the same as I do now, as a brother."

Embracing him cheek to cheek, I show him my undying support with a toothless smile. For a small moment, he returns the affection, before pushing me away and laughing, his cheeks are rosy pink colored flush with his tan skin.

"So you really are in love with my brother, huh? Even though you aren't true mates."

"Yes." I don't go any further, none of them know of my mate, hundreds of miles to my back. The one I don't want, the one who doesn't want me. It always rubs me the wrong way, how wolves always ask me this.

"That is true sacrifice."

"That's all love is."

The path we decide to create unravels with each step, leading further and further towards the borders. Pure sun is shimmering through the tree branches above, casting a golden glow upon everything it touches. Even the moss on the shadowed treebark looks happier. Though the afternoon itself seems stagnant suddenly, all in deep contrast. As if everything is holding its breath, lie in wait. Pause. Reassess.

Opening his mouth, tongue rolls over dry lips before he goes to speak but I shush him. Listening close, tipping my head back slightly. I take a deep inhale of the air. What is it...

Copper, metallic. So faint but oh so familiar. Blood on the wind. Now that I know the scent is there, it clogs my nostrils, not to be ignored now. Straining my ears, I can hear the slightest sound of whimpers, ragged, raw.

"Do you..." I can't finish my sentence, but I know Jermayne has heard it too. We stalk through the woods like a single body, fluid and in balance. Two wolves on the hunt. Mixed feelings flood through me, a blend of fear and then the larger thrill of what happens next. The sickening part of me, enjoying this hunt, as if looking for the potential drama that could unfold.

Gradually the smell of death gets stronger and more prevalent, and I become more anxious. Picking up speed until we come to the scene.

Behind a large boulder lies a body, a female. She's naked, exposing pale skin to the trees. Thin flesh on her chest, torn apart. I can glimpse at her rib cage, some of the bone available to the outside air. I want to throw up. Coated in blood from bite marks and scratches. Her face is cut at the jaw, eyes wide, staring upwards. The heave of her chest cavity is laboured, taking too much effort. Everything around her is red, red, red.