Page 107 of Untamed

"I'm going, too." I look up into Sarg's determined, young eyes.

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33 – Mactiir

Willa

"Do you... um... want some clothes?"

I look at the Abbi-Wolf blankly, my hand on the doorknob of the Glass Lake House. "We leave on paws, yes?" I look at her inquisitively.

"But you're-"

"My Mactiir is out there waiting for me. Clothes are unnecessary," I explain. She wants me to waste time putting on clothes only to take them off, and then what? Carry them with us? I have collected water and some...crackers, in a bag, but that is all. Both One-Eye and Abbi-Wolf carry much more, armloads of things, that they shoved inside their...backpacks. They seem to take comfort in their little collections, but I'm concerned with getting the three of us as far away from the enemy pack... and thelake...as possible. We can hunt for food, and with fall approaching, so is the rain.

"Don't argue, female," One-Eye huffs at Abbi-wolf. They have a moment, both females puffing up, hackles rising.

I snap my canines at them. There is no time for more silly arguments. Perhaps this is why Mama didn't have any more children. Cowed, they both turn and follow me back into the forest.

"Can we trust her?" One-Eye says under her breath to me. She is gettingsogoodat speaking under a whisper.

"She is not a threat," I reassure One-Eye. My she-wolf doesn't sense anything from Abbi-Wolf other than a deep ache of loneliness and fear. And... well... she reminds me of myself when I was a baby wolf, all alone in a house, surrounded by somethingvolatile; fraught uneasy, turbulent. I glance at the smooth, dark glass of thelakeone last time. Maybe not turbulent...

Being under the forest canopy lets my lungs fill with air again. I hadn't even realized how cautious I had been in that house. Even my breathing was shallow under the watchful gaze of the lake. My body eases into my world with eagerness.

The fire is coming. Flames in the west, devouring the land with an insatiable hunger. To the south are my Mactiir and his pack. The lake dominates the east. And to the north? Wolves racing on paws.

"Whatpackis south of here?" I ask One-Eye. I try to remember the map in the cowhouse, but the vision flits away before I can remember.

"The BlueSnout, the pack who abducted you," comes the reply. "Herpack," she indicates Abbi-Wolf with a nod of her head and slight sneer.

"And the north?" I interrupt the soft growls being tossed in the air again.

Abbi-Wolf is the one who answers. "It used to be part of the WovRib. They're pretty much gone now. And beyond that, the FeraxMaw and... well... the wild."

The wild. Where my home used to be. Where the fire started. The fire ripping through the forest.

I inhale, my breath shaky. We are trapped.

"What?" Abbi-Wolf whispers.

I look at her blankly. I must have spoken out loud. "The fire burns in the west. Thelakeis at our backs. Wolves are racing from the north, paws running, coming here faster and faster. We can only go south, where my Mactiir is. Where battle and blood and death are."

Both females stare at me, tears welling, bottom lips quivering. Even One-Eye looks horrified. "What do we do, Luna?" she whispers.

I blink at her. "We go south. Where else can we go? I will hide you both while Mactiir makes his war on the enemies. Then we will go back to the Pack. Shift to paws. We will run before those wolves in the north come here."

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Mactiir

We lick the blood from our chops. Our fur is sticky and heavy with it. We shake, letting droplets fall as they will, in an attempt to clear some of the iron-tinged scent from our nostrils. Groans of pain mix with screams of the same. Music to our ears.

Grinning, we look at the wolves kneeling before us. Good. We are alpha. They should be on their knees before us.

We take a step and feel the ground squelch under our claws. Dispassionately, we examine the long, black claws sharply curving from our hind legs. Flesh of enemies still clings on our nails.

Darkness roils inside us. We have destroyed everything. The light left, and darkness came, and still, we fought.

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