Page 13 of Alpha's Fate

“Water. We can shift and smell it. When we find the water we’ll find the horse and just bring it back to her and be done with this,” he said softly. I shifted instantly and breathed in deeply, starting forward when I caught the scent of water. Together we leapt the fence and took off toward the water. It was a river, not stagnant. I could smell the freshness of it as we got near. As we approached the river I saw him, bright in the moonlight filtering from above him.

“She sent you!” He cried as we shifted back, wanting to let him see us as humans. “Ride me back and I’ll come with you.” I shook my head no and he tossed his head, his mane bouncing gracefully as he lowered his head. “You must be tired from running all the way here.”

“No,” my mate said. “We can make our own way, thanks.”

“You’re far from her hut. I’ll lead the way if only you ride me back,” he said, and hesitantly I nodded.

“I’ll need a bridle,” I called back, taking the rope from my mate. “You’ll have to let me bridle you with her rope.” He lowered his head as if nodding, taking a single step back toward the deep, gentle waters. I hoped I knew what I was doing as I approached, doing my best to tie the rope around the horse’s mouth and gently wrap it around behind the back of his head. As I moved to the side I quickly whipped the rope around his neck and pulled it taught in a slipknot. “Come on, come with us,” I said, tugging him. Gagged and tied he seemed to glower at me before acquiescing. I noticed that where his leg was submerged into the water the horse had a skeletal leg, desiccated flesh still clinging to the bone. As soon as he stepped back on land the flesh formed anew on his ankle and we were quickly on our way.

My mate shifted beside me and I walked with him toward where he smelled the hut. It felt like hours but it couldn’t have been that long before we made it back to the fence. When we did the horse tore from my grasp and jumped the fence, landing inthe perfectly manicured lawn. As it did dawn broke above us and light shone down on us for the first time in a long time.

“Here,” the old woman peeked out again. “I am grateful for you.” She said, walking over to the horse and untying it deftly, fingers working better than their arthritic appearance implied they could. “With this you have earned my help. Take from the fence your favorite skull and return yourself to the one who stole your names.” She slammed the door behind her and I jumped back again, turning to look back at the skulls staring at us. I shivered slightly but approached the first one I saw, gently reaching out. As I did the eyes flickered brighter and with a deep breath I took it from its post and looked back at my mate.

Neither of us spoke, we just turned and headed back on the path we’d carved toward the witch’s hut, trailing our way back to the glowing forest. I noticed that, for the first time in days, the wind was silent. As we approached the forest I saw dozens of little glowing faces peering around trees and mushrooms, just staring at us. The skull turned in my hands and all at once all of them vanished behind the trees.

I held the skull to my chest when it turned back, taking in the heat from inside the skull. It warmed my chilled skin as we made our way silently back up the path to Lilly’s hut. I heard a soft, happy humming from inside and I walked in defiantly.

“Give us back our names,” I demanded, and she chuckled softly.

“You gave them to me fair and square.” She answered lightly, turning to look back at me over her shoulder. I held the skull up and at the sight of it horror crossed her face. “The witch!” She cried, drawing away from me. “Put it away!” I held it higher and further toward her, causing her to back up.

“Give us back our names!” I commanded again and she took the paper from her belt and held it over the fire. “Don’t mess with me.” I had no idea what I was doing, but as I strodeforward with the skull held high it burst with flames, beginning to blacken as it burned.

“Okay!” She cried out, throwing the folded paper at me like a paper football. I kept the skull on her, the flames burning but not touching me. Not giving off more than a gentle heat like the morning sun. My mate stooped and picked up the paper off the floor and Weston- oh God, I remembered his name. Weston walked backward toward me. I turned and as I went to leave the flaming skull burst, hurling itself toward her. Whether it was her screaming or the skull I would never know. We were blown out of the mushroom and when we landed she was there.

The witch stood above us with a box in her hands. I stood and looked back where we came from to realize the glow was far in the distance.

“You’ve earned this, Granddaughter,” said the witch, handing me a small, wooden box. Within the box was a soft glow, and as I lifted the lid I saw a stone box, glowing softly and seeming to be inscribed with runes and glyphs of ancient languages I couldn’t possibly understand. When I looked back up we were alone.

Chapter fourteen

Weston

Our Packs were at our feet, something I appreciated. I looked over at Cora who was peering into a wooden box that was emitting some kind of glow. Even from where I stood I felt the pulses of power, the gravitas of the situation washing over me in waves. Whatever we had was formidable, something to be respected and revered. In silence I dressed myself before taking the box from Cora. It was so nice just to think her name. Iheld it carefully and reverently, taking in the old magic pulsing from within. As I looked down at it, it was almost as though there was an aura of visible power, a cerulean shimmer around it that projected each of the glyphs- pictures that glowed and shimmered. It was a battery, some kind of a key maybe.

“What do you think it is?” I asked softly.

“I have no idea, but it has the lightning on it.” Cora looked up at me as she tied her shoes. “Be careful with the box, too. I feel like it’s important.” I nodded, handing the box to her when she reached for it. Slowly and carefully, she tucked it into the empty space in her Pack that her extra shoes and clothes had filled up.

“It feels like a key. Like it fixes something or opens it- I’m not sure.” I said quietly.

“We have to keep moving,” she sounded almost desperate. “I think it’s over- I think we won. So much time has been wasted that we could have spent getting to our destination.”

“I know, babe. We’ll make it, I promise.” I thought back to what Lilly had said, that we would end up when we needed to be. I hoped that was true even as the library burned and all the names fell out like ashen snow.

It didn’t take long for us to find ourselves face to face, finally, with those we had been looking for all along. I actually sighed in relief. They were barely distinguishable from the shadows, shifting slightly and blowing away like bits of smoke in the wind. Cora tore the page from her notebook and held it out silently, her hand shaking slightly in the face of those stark white eyes. It was just us, now. Just us alone in the forest with the Pack we had been seeking for days.

“For your Alpha,” she said, and the one in the front of the Pack stood up on human legs. It was different than the way we would, simply standing up as the wolf fell to mist around her.

“Who are you?” She asked, her voice sounding like a whisper on the wind.

“Cora Onyxian of the Onyxfang Pack,” she answered, keeping her voice calm and measured. As unnerved as I was in their presence I took my cue from her.

“Weston Silverstreak of the Silverstreak Pack.” I echoed.

“We’re the Alphas of our newly formed Pack. We’ve come with a proposal,” she said, her arm still outstretched to the shadow woman. For a beat we all stood there silently, us, the woman, and the ethereal wolves around her.

“Come with me.” We followed her deeper into the forest where a small, dilapidated encampment was. Everything seemed in shambles, things falling apart and buildings crumbling. It looked like an old site, like the foundations of the homes of pilgrims you’d see occasionally on the television when one was being excavated. She led us to what seemed to be, terrifyingly, a cemetery. There we found small stones and one large tableau that was leaned on top of some of them, broken at the base like it had fallen over and landed there. It looked like the only thing that would be able to function as a table. “Sit. We can talk here. Place your proposal on the tableau.”

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