Prologue
| One Month Earlier |
We’ve been gone for a little over an hour, traveling east to hunt a herd of Elk near Flathead Lake. It’s a nice cool spring evening, the stars just beginning to shine through the clear dimming sky. Hunting had gone off without a hitch. Bogey and Samson carry our prize near the back of the hunting party. The Elk alone won’t be enough to feed all seventy members of our pack. No, it’s simply the centerpiece for our meal. Others will bring fish and small game for the celebration. My mother, the Luna, only turns Forty once.
The Elk will feed her and my father, as well as my pregnant sister and her mate.
Her mate, the newest member of my pack, walks ahead of me. He led the hunt today, as my father had ordered. It’s a position I normally held, but Nicolai McAllister would take over the pack one day and my father wants him to gain the others’ respect. The respect of which, starts with me, Father said.
Nicolai isn’t a bad guy. He loves my sister. They’re expecting pups any day now. And he truly does seem to care about the pack. But in the six months since he’d moved from Idaho to Montana, he’s managed to take over my position in my family.
So as we walk back towards pack territory I can’t help but imagine his demise, him possibly falling into a sinkhole, or getting caught in a hunters trap. But no, his death would hurt my sister and I’m also not that kind of wolf. These thoughts are just imaginings, nothing I’d ever act on.
Nicolai pauses, tilting his amber colored muzzle to the sky. I pause beside him as the undeniable scent of smoke assaults my nostrils.
’Do you smell that?’ I ask through the mindlink.
’Fire.’ He responds. ‘Campers? Humans, Maybe?’ Possibly. Humans are fickle things, going where they shouldn’t and making a mess out of their campgrounds. This area is off limits to them, but sometimes the fragile creatures get lost, or ignore those private property signs that litter the area.
Though it isn’t pack territory, I know this land. I’ve traveled it hundreds of times. This doesn’t feel right. The forest is too… quiet.
’Have you talked to Maya?’ They’re mates. Their mindlink is stronger than the pack’s. Nicolai glances at me, silent as he no doubt tries to communicate with her. He jumps back as if stung, then he peels off towards home.
’Nic?’ I question, a growl echoing with my words.
’Fire. Pack Lands.’ He responds, though I can no longer see him. My blood runs cold. Wildfires are common in Montana. There’ve been times when smoke has covered the sky for days, leaving the forest smelling like dust and ash. But never have they ventured onto our territory. And it isn’t even fire season. This fire didn’t even come with a warning. This is new and it must have started after we left to hunt.
The guys drop the Elk, leaving its carcass on the ground for the animals, and bolt past me, running off towards the red glow that’s just appeared on the horizon. It’s a tiny flicker, hardly noticeable but visibly growing.
I don’t have time to question why Nicolai failed to check in with Maya. If this has been a growing problem in the four hours that we’ve been gone, she would’ve told him. Unless he blocked her to focus on leading the hunt. If so, we’re going to have words.
’It’s moving west.’ Samson says, coming to stand beside me. The older male amber colored wolf looks towards the growing light, his eyes swimming with worry. I turn my gaze away from his to focus on what lay ahead.
’Have you heard from your mate?’ He’s silent for a long moment.
’If there are survivors they’ll be on the other side.’ If there are survivors? I snap my head towards him.
’What did you hear?’ Samson looks at me, really looks. Then lowers his eyes to the ground.
’Go find your sister, Ryan. Before it’s too late.’ Without another word, he’s gone, jogging into the darkness and leaving me stunned. Samson looked… broken. As if he’d lost a piece of himself. Like his mate’s…
The reality of the situation dawns on me. I take off sprinting through the trees, towards the glowing red inferno in the distance. The smoke becomes thicker, the sky ever darker, until my eyes are burning. The ground becomes hotter, scorching my paws. I don’t know how long I run blindly. Momentarily I open myself up to the pack mindlink, but I get blinded by the million sounds seemingly coming from every direction. I trip over my own paws, rolling on dirt. I shut the link down quickly as I opened it, heaving where I lay.
I reorient myself.
’Maya,’ I call out. No response. Fire twists it’s way up the trees fifty yards ahead of me and laying there right on the edge, is a young, familiar wolfskin. Eyeing the burning trees I force myself onto my paws and creep forward. Her red fur is no longer red, turned dark from the smoke and ash and her green eyes are void as they stare ahead. Dead.
’Ryan.’ My sister’s voice enters my head. Thank the fuck. I let out a sigh of relief, backing away from Emilia and scanning the trees for my sister.
‘Maya?’ Flames lick the trees, ten yards back. Too close, I’m too close. ‘Where are you?’ It’s then that I see her. Her red fur, like my own, is now black, but her blue eyes are clear as day. She stands just past Emilia.
‘Where’s Nick?’ She asks. Not a hello, are you okay. She doesn’t even acknowledge her dead friend before her. Maybe she’s already been through here. I glance at the growing flames, beginning to close off our exit. We have to get out of here.
‘I don’t know.’ Nicolai should’ve waited for me. We should’ve gone to find her together.
‘We agreed to block one another tonight.’ She tells me, aware that my irritation is growing. ‘Because it was his first hunt without his pack… If I went into labor –’
’We need to get out of here.’ I cut her off. This isn’t the time or place. Maya frowns.
‘Eric, he-’
’Maya we need to go.’ She looks at me, eyes soft. She starts towards me, wobbling some because of her large belly.
‘Mamma!’ Our little brother’s screams are so loud in my head that I growl, bucking down. Maya does the same. The flames are loud, almost like a roaring and it’s hot, so hot. ’Mamma!’ He screams again. Maya closes her eyes, turning back the way she’d come slowly. Howls echo in the distance. I know exactly what she’s thinking.
‘Maya no. Don’t-’ She shakes her head, sad blue eyes baring into mine. This girl, my twin, who I’ve had around for my entire life. The one I’ve always looked up too, who I’ve stood in the shadow of, watching her try and start a family, who’s so close, I can smell the soon to be born pups she carries inside her. She gives me one last look, then bolts back through the flames, towards our brother.
‘Cam needs me-’ Cameron is five years old. A twin like my sister and I. He should be near the pack den, but all I can think about as I watch her retreating figure, noting the fur missing on her tail, is that I’m never going to see her again. I race after her, diving through the wall of fire, to get to my sister.
‘Maya, please.’ I cry. ‘Please come back. Mama can-’
‘Mom’s dead.’ She answers back. I can’t see her, can’t track her scent. I’m surrounded by burning ground and smoke, invading my lungs. ‘Our family is gone, Ryan. I’m getting Cameron.’
‘This is suicide! You’re pregnant! Think about them! Think about your mate!’ Maya doesn’t answer. She won’t answer. She’s always focused too much on others. Not herself. Never herself. No, I’m the selfish one in the family. It’s what Father liked to remind me.
Fire licks at my ankles, and I yelp at the surprising pain.
Following Maya had been a mistake. I can’t tell which way is north, the smoke overhead blocking out any visual. The longer I stand here, the harder it becomes to breathe. Then I’m running. Maya must make it back. She has to, because if she doesn’t, if I don’t, Eric, my father’s Beta will become Alpha. No one wants that.
I just keep running, until my fur burns away, and lungs become full of soot. I spot green, just as my body gives out and I fall to darkness.
