The Ever Wolf

(Rozen) Chapter 3: Out of the Night

I wake with a start and sit bolt upright. My palms were cold and clammy. It was the same nightmare I always had. Fires burning and people screaming. Ashes flying through the air. A snowwhite wolf howling. Suddenly the ground crumbles and everything is swallowed up by the ground. All that's left is me. Then the sky goes dark and a blood moon appears in the sky.

I calm myself down and lie on my side once again. That's when I hear it. A scream so faint I almost missed it. I listen closely. I hear barking and howls. I jump out of bed. I shift as I run and I take off towards the Wastelands.

When I arrive there is nothing but carnage. Bodies of rogues litter the ground. Blood is everywhere. I pick up a familiar scent. Quin's. And then I smell Lilly. They both went it separate directions. I follow Quin's smell for a few steps and come across another pool of blood. I drop to my knees. It's Quin's. It's all Quin's blood.

I take off in the direction that Lilly went off in. I don't see any of her foot prints but I can follow her scent. I look down and see enourmous tracks. Was Lilly carried? Who would do that? I sniff around. There's no scent. Are they concealing it? That can't be right. It's almost impossible to conceal your scent. It takes years to learn. Whoever took Lilly is no ordinary wolf.

I hear a cry. I pick my pace. I run and run. Then I see Lilly standing in a clearing. I run towards her. Suddenly I'm airborne. Flying through the air. I crash to the ground with a white wolf on top of me. The white wolf was covered in blood and was angry. I looked into its golden eyes and saw confusion in them. I throw the wolf off of me and run towards Lilly.

The wolf runs in front of me and growls. That's when I realize that we were eye to eye. I was shocked. How is this possible? I'm the tallest wolf to exist for centuries and here is someone else looking me in the eye.

The wolf growls and crouches down getting ready to lunge. "STOP!" Lilly screams. The white wolf looks at her. "That's my brother!" The wolf relaxes his stance and sits down.

Lilly runs to me and wraps her arms around my neck. I shift back and hold her as she cries. All the while the white wolf has a bitter expression on his face. I turn to face Lilly. "Who is this wolf?" I ask Lilly. She shrugs. "I don't know." Huh? I don't understand. Why would a wolf do that.

"He rescued me. He killed those rogue wolves." I looked at him in shock as he licks blood off his coat. "What happened Lilly?" I say wiping the tears off her face. "Quin wanted to show me that nothing was in the Wastelands. And then we fell in and bunch of scary wolves came. Quin told them she'd do anything if they left me alone. They took her with them and they were going to kill me. The wolf came and killed them all but one of got away and took Quin." She started crying again.

I pick her up. The white wolf eyes me warily. "Who are you?" I ask. "And why did you help my sister?". The wolf doesn't move. At all. "Aren't you going to shift?" He stares at me for second and runs off.

"Will he come back?" Lilly asks hopefully. "No. He won't." I say staring at the dark forest where he disappeared. "Look," Lilly whispers in my ear. "the sun's rising." I turn look where she's pointing. I realize that today's the day of the Blood Moon Festival. Somehow I don't think that it's all a coincidence.

When we get back the whole pack is waiting for us. Their mouths drop when they see that we are covered in blood. Callen runs out of the crowd. He stops as soon as he sees the blood.

I plop Lilly down beside me and look up at my father. "Where have you been?" He angrily. I growl so loud that freezes and the crowd goes silent. "Quin and Lilly snuck out last night. They were ambushed by rogues." I say matter of factly. "Rogues? On my territory?" my father says angrily. "Where are they?" I look him in the eyes. "Dead."

Murmurs start up again. "They were all dead when I got there." I say stonily. I gulp feeling ashamed that I didn't get there in time. "What do you mean?" My father asks softly this time. "A wolf rescued Lilly and then he disappeared." I look down at Lilly full of relief.

"Where's Quin?" I look up. My uncle's here? My uncle repeats the question. "Where's Quin?" I froze. "She's gone!" Lilly wails. Everyone looks at me but I can't make eye contact. "She was gone when I got there. The rogues took her with them." Quin's father dropped to his knees.

All of sudden I can't take it anymore. I run off leaving everyone standing there shocked. I run to my room and slam the door.