Pack Alliance

Lillian curled tighter into a ball. Everything was too loud, she was used to a quiet Sunday afternoon on the gently rotting porch of her parents house. Not the rambunctious SUV she had been crammed into with her four cousins and uncle. 

She was already tired of the road trip she had been mandated on. Her parents and her uncle had ordered her to come along. The Pack Alliance. She was too old and not nearly busy enough to justify her way out of the three week ordeal.

At twenty two, she was the pack outcast in many ways, the only quarter blood wolf in the whole world as far as she knew and far more awkward than anyone else she had met on the pack lands. Though, her mother assured her she was quite graceful for a human.

She curled tighter, pressing her hands up to her ears, of all the wolfy traits she had gotten, only her hearing seemed on par with her cousins. Usually she was quite proud of that, however, in an enclosed space her ears practically bled. She was an only child. Sheltered in the outskirts of the grassy plains her father built their home on.

Sierra was screeching along to the radio top one hundred.

"Turn it down---" Savanna was yelling again.

Groaning, Lillian pressed her cheek to the dewy window, they had been driving for almost three hours now. Across from her, her youngest cousin stretched further into her space, his knobby knees nudging her closer to the corner. He wasn't even awake to glare at. Instead, Derrick had his neck thrown back in the uncomfortable gap between the headrest and the seatbelt. He had been snoring since almost immediately after they settled in the car in the wee morning hours. She was resenting sitting next to him.

She scrunched closer to the dash, her body a mold of the luxury plastic. Squeezing her eyes shut, she counted the breaths between her and where ever they were going.

She knew the Pack Alliance was a big deal. At almost a month long, the procession was an important show of strength and commitment to the Nation-state the wolves controlled. There would be representatives from every recognized pack, with many sending their Alphas. She was also very aware of the opening ceremony's location, it was always the same. First Landing. Afterwards, she would once again be sheperded in the all too tight SUV to the host pack's territory, though she prayed it was close by.

Her biggest thorn in the whole unwanted road trip was about to begin. As a quarter blood wolf, she was not wolf enough to actually visit the site. She had been legislated out of that right almost a century ago. Even so, her uncle had forced her to come. Pack Alliance only happened once every five years, that had won over her mother.

She was so looking forward to her cousins silent laughter as she squeezed past on the remote beaches bordering the actual sacred sight. Savanna was going to be so smug, she just knew it.

The SUV bumped along, the radio still loud, even as the last of the stations faded to half static. They were close.

"Hey--" Her uncle Tom began, "Lilli, you awake?" She hated that nickname. Groaning, like she had actually fallen asleep at any point, she roused herself.

"We're about there now..." He was taking pains not to say exactly where they were, but she could tell everyone knew. Savanna was whispering. Even with that, she felt the blood burning up her neck. She was getting tossed out.

The SUV slowed, diverting with a thump onto the nonexistent shoulder. "I'll come back for ya as soon as the opening ceremony ends." She nodded, seeking his green eyes in the rearview mirror. "At least then we'll finally know exactly where were gonna be bedding down for the next three weeks!" Tom said it like she was five. Like this was the most exciting thing he could think of, a lot less like she was being bumped from the SUV. She fought from rolling her eyes, shame ate at her spine making her stiff and rigid.

Nobody moved, even as the SUV had ground to a halt.

She pressed her lips into a flat tight smile. Just a few hours alone. After all she had been aching for any moment of quiet since boarding. She scuffled around the bench seat, knocking Derricks legs out of the way.

"Toodayy---" Savanna drawled out, though she made absolutely no room for Lillian to pass. All at once she felt like a volcano on the edge of an eruption.

"I mean could you at least OPEN the door!" She didn't bother to gauge reactions, as she fisted her hand back to her seat, ripping the red yarn bag from her seat back pocket. She had been jammed into the SUV for far too long as it was. She was tired, angry, and trying her best not to let her glassy eyes be a target for Savanna's vexing commentary.

Susannah moved first, "umm...." She opened the car door, turning herself just enough for Lillian to bulldoze her way through. "Sorry." Somehow, Lillian doubted the word Susannah had been looking for was really sorry, since she slammed the navy SUV door like a leper was approaching. Lillian barely cleared the whole SUV before her uncle was reversing. He was no doubt mumbling something about her unpleasantness, not that she could hear over the rumble of the car.

Just when she thought they really were driving off without another word, Tom rolled down the passenger window. "Keep your phone on! Be back A S A P." each letter drawled out like its own word.

"Have fun!" Sierra called out, even as the tires rolled forward, stirring up the dusky sand.

For a moment all she could do was stare doe eyed into the distance as she watched the vanishing taillights. How far away had he dropped her? The question came unbidden as she lost sight of the red glow in the otherwise quiet beaches. From here, she could hear the sharp crash of waves on rock, though her weak eyes saw none of it.

For the first time in hours, she was utterly alone. Her face crumpled. Tears rushed down her face unbidden. I hate-- She forced her thoughts quiet, thrusting her wrist angrily at her face. She scratched out the falling tears, she had come prepared for this, though she had known she wasn't quite ready for the strange feeling of abandonment creeping up her neck.

Breathing deeply, Lillian swiveled, taking in the glowing red disc inching up on the horizon. She forced herself to calm. In a few minutes, her eyes would fully adjust as dawn broke over the unfamiliar terrain. Until then, she would not dwell. She thumped the red strap of her purse across her shoulders. Adventure.

Her mother had told her to enjoy herself. It's a blessin to even see the shoreline out there. She knew her mom missed pilgriming to First Landing. She had been a priestess before she met Lillian's father. With that resolve, Lillian committed to walking the edge of the road.

Her sandals slipped endlessly on the sand embankment. But she careful not to stray too far into the roadway. She did not want to be haphazardly run over. This road was only ever this busy once every five years.

She wasn't actually sure how the ceremony started. Somehow she figured it had to do with the rising sun. Unfortunately, as a quarter blood she would never know. Her heart twisted on that. Almost all the same ancestors as her cousins, but they would be allowed and she would not.

After the sun crested the last of forest, she felt safe enough to venture more fully onto the road. Her sandals flung up less sand on the flat ground. She hadn't traveled farther than a quarter mile, but walking on the sand embankment had already winded her slightly.

She pressed on, occasionally tipping her head back to track her surroundings. Now that the sun was hanging in the sky, she could barely see the peaks of white waves before they smashed into the shoreline. The forest on her right was still as shapelessly dark as ever. Most everything else was blurred in the soft greys of the early hour.

Still, she felt the urge photograph the moment. At least then her mother would know she had walked some of the same steps. She fumbled for her bag, the red strap still secure across her chest, even as she fished for her phone.

Her head buried in the bag, she hardly noticed WOLVES ONLY blaring on both sides of the roadway. The signs were almost the size of a billboard and very clearly meant to mark the start of sacred land. She toed to a stop, inching backwards, already feeling too close to the border.

For a moment, fear pulsed wild in her veins.

Then almost sardonically it tipped. She was standing in the spot of her people, if only feet from the concentrated grounds. Who had the authority to say exactly where the Goddess had sheperded her ancestors? This was closer than she had ever been.

In a burst of glee, she tipped her head back, letting out her best "Aaaawhooooo" as if she were a real full wolf, then dissolved into laughter. Still she knew better then to pass the WOLVES ONLY sign.

Treason was not something she was eager to invoke.

Turning towards the sandy beaches, she gave a wide berth to the signs and the property beyond. Her sandals flung the grey-white specks in her wake, leaving fresh indents in the pearly landscape.

The further she got from the road, the less clearly the boundary was marked. She tried not to dwell on what the punishment for treason was. Having both feet ripped off by wolves still paraded across her mind anytime she tripped closer to it. Almost funny. She punched down the imagery. Better to focus on the now.

She had walked in a wide arc back towards the cresting waves. The sun had fully risen by the time she stomped onto the cold, wet, tidal sands. Her sandals crunched more agreeingly on the denser terrain.

Sweeping her gaze across the beach, she could see why it was sacred. Even in the early morning light, the sand sparkled. The grassy knolls she knew hardly compared to the pristine pearlescent sands in front of her.

A short distance from her, the lovely sprawling beach went jagged as the coast rose into a series of rocky cliffs. It was still beautiful.

She staked her belongings on the sandy dune. Unbuckling her sandals, so she could walk unencumbered, she shrugged out of her t-shirt too, grateful she had listened to her mom's advice. Now she could rush into the morning waves in her swim suit.

She had never been in the ocean before.

Somehow, she wasn't expecting it to be so warm, even with the brisk chill hanging on from last night. She rushed into the waves, laughing as they soaked the cotton shorts she hadn't removed.

At first she dogged the shore, rushing further in as the waves receded. She wandered deeper, feeling the way the ground rippled from sand settled long before she had arrived. She tiptoed deeper, careful not to get swept in past were she could touch. The crests landed sharply, huge swells breaking against her broad shoulders, like a playful shove.

She tried to imagine the way her ancestors would have felt, bedraggled and half drowned when land fell from beneath them. Saved by a true act of mercy from the Goddess.

But, quickly she lost the imagery as the salty water sprayed her, soaking into her face and hair. The whole world lost some its sharpness in the warm salt of the new sea. She only turned back when a large wave threatened to sweep her glasses off her face.

Then, she tracked the shoreline from the shallows, feeling the tickle of the waves lapping her ankles. She wandered the area almost reverent, feeling her way the sand went from cold and damp to warm like the water washing over her feet. She walked until the rocky tidal pools became obstinately in her way, even then she poked through the small pockets of captured sea just looking.

Yawning, she retraced her steps to the flag of her lone belongings. Her t-shirt fluttered, still partially trapped under her sandals. She wrenched it out, shaking the fine dusting of sand off, before re-laying it across the sand. Without waiting for her damp skin finally dry, she lay down in the sand.

Settling, she rolled her neck feeling the tension of the early morning drain. Prying the sticky damp strands of hair free from under her face, she lazily turned to her bag. Just in case her uncle had texted, she pulled her phone free, squinting in the warm sun to see the screen. Nothing had changed. Relief flowed through her. Returning to the SUV was feeling herculean.

The sun beat down, warming her exposed skin. Her eyes blinked heavy, lulled by the repetitive noise of the waves crashing nearby. For the first time since she left her home that morning she could feel the strain ease out of her shoulders. She stretched, rolling onto her back in her own cocoon.

Finally she slept.