Page 19

Juk

A s we move through the snow, we find no more pieces of the sheep . There is a metallic tang in the air that stings my senses and burns down my nose. There must be smaller pieces buried beneath the snow, none that can be seen by the eye.

All I focus on is the weight of Leesa on my back. She is light between my shoulder blades as she grips my fur for stability. Her thoughts have been quiet since we stumbled across the great shard of black metal.

I can only imagine how she feels. There have been dangerous times before, where a packmate goes missing after a hunt. When tensions were high between the three packs. Rarely does it end in tragedy. We have been fortunate in that regard. The last trying times were when the sickness swept through the packs and wiped out many of the elders.

That was many cycles ago. Since then, times have been oddly at peace. Each pack has respected their own boundary. Fighting among them, scraps and deadly brawls, have not occurred since before my sire’s time. Before he passed, he would tell me many great stories of his father fighting against the others, blood splattering the snow.

Is that what will become of this? I wonder. We are nearing the territory border with the Stygians. There is no telling what the brutes will do if they find us wandering close to the line. Or worse, if we must cross it to rescue the rest of Leesa’s people.

I am so lost in my thoughts that I miss the instant my alpha pauses.

Axyll’s ear twitches. It is minuscule, but the moment he does it again, and his footsteps slow, I pause. Leesa grabs my fur at the sudden halt in my tracks as I turn to look at my alpha. My Seeker shines brightly in wariness as I do. Something uneasy churns in my gut, and then I see it.

The landscape has changed. Though I have not been to the Stygian border in quite some time, I know it like the back of my paw. My tails twitch, my broken one twinging in mild pain as it heals at a crooked angle.

Where once there had been a flat plain, there are now boulders.

I glance up toward the rocky face of the cliff a few feet away. My alpha turns in the same direction. Where normally snow covers the rocky cliffs, it is now laid bare. Mounds of snow, the result of an avalanche, are built up at its base. Black rocks from the mountain’s side poke up from beneath the piles.

Axyll turns towards me, his Seeker meeting mine. The earth shake has reshaped the land. A soft, warning growl comes from his throat and I nod my head in agreement. This will not bode well for the hoo-mans if they landed near here.

“What is it?” Leesa whispers. My mate is smart, not missing a thing. The alpha’s mate casts a nervous glance over to her. “Why have we stopped?”

The alpha huffs loudly this time. The warm air rushes from his nostrils, clouding in front of him. His mate pats his head as she turns towards Leesa. “Something is different here. Perhaps because of the earthquake?”

A bristle of envy runs through me, but it is brief. Already they are so in tune with one another. She understands him in his celestial form despite that he cannot use words to communicate. I long for the same connection between me and my mate. But I cannot be greedy. Vekao will strengthen our connection with time. It has only been one day since Leesa admitted there is something between us. I must be patient. Finding her people comes first. The rest will fall into place when ready.

Kalpa and Baz warily approach the mountain of snow. The metallic scent in the air here is faint but sharp. I cannot describe it as I turn my head, trying to follow the scent and find what peak the sharpness comes from.

Suddenly, Kalpa begins to whine. I snap my head back to him. He abandons the sled, dropping the pulley like it is poison, and starts to dig furiously in the snow. Baz huffs at him in question, but then suddenly his ears go back. He too, begins to dig furiously in the snow, and the fur on my back stands on end.

Distracted by the metallic linger in the air, I missed it. The soft scent hiding under the snow. It is faint, but vibrant and fresh.

“What’s happening? Is it the ship?” Leesa asks. There is a hitch in her voice and my heart breaks. She worries so much for her people.

I need to help Kalpa and Baz dig. My shoulders twitch as I gently try to wrestle Leesa off, but she grips my fur, not understanding. There’s a quick snapping of bones as Axyll barks at Tabros, who quickly shifts. His blue skin is bright against the mound of snow behind him.

“There’s someone trapped under the snow,” he explains in panted breath. “The alpha and beta need to help dig them out.”

Leesa lets go of my fur at once and jumps from my back. Ee-vee does the same from the alpha, and together we race towards the mound.

“Oh my God,” Ee-vee whispers. “Do you—are they still alive?”

“It is hard to tell, but the scent is fresh and warm,” Tabros explains. The rest of their chatter is lost as I dig with all my might.

My paws scrape against rock dragged down with the snow. The pile is a mix of fluffy snow and black rock. The rock scratches against the pad of my paws and the snow causes my nose to twitch with each deep swipe.

As we get deeper into the pile, Axyll’s Seeker meets mine once more and growls darkly. He nods towards the pile and then glances up at the mountain. I follow his gaze and carefully study the curve of the cliffs, the silhouette against the sky. There, I notice it. The curvature and proximity to the territory line. There is a Snowscape cave buried under the snow here.

We focus our efforts towards where the cave’s opening would be, and as we do so, the scent becomes stronger. It is hoo-man and female, I realize. Unfamiliar, but those underlying similarities to Ee-vee and Leesa are there.

I snap back at Tabros, a command he will understand to prepare the rescue supplies from the sled.

Leesa and Ee-vee help Tabros in my peripheral vision. The alpha and Kalpa are nearing the entrance to the cave. Axyll turns towards me. He is half buried in the snow, and he nods towards it, barking in two sharp tones. They are near the bottom. As I am the biggest, I must move through first to create the biggest possible opening.

The alpha and Kalpa move aside. As I move past them, I notice Kalpa seems particularly distraught. He whines towards the hole they have started. It tunnels into a black abyss.

Soon, I huff towards him. We shall free whomever is down there soon.

The snow sticks to my fur as I hunker down and dig into the hold. The cold tries to seep into my flesh, but my warm fur holds it at bay. The scent starts to grow stronger. It is light and airy; of sunshine. I can describe it no further than that. It is not the strong musk of my mate Leesa, but pleasant enough. I hear Kalpa let out a small yip, and I growl at him to be patient. I need to ensure the hole does not collapse on me.

It feels like an eternity crawling through the hole. Everyone’s breath is bated, waiting on me to complete this mission. If one of Leesa’s people are down here, I do not want to fail her. Not after she has been separated from Kay-tee. Not when she has lost two of her people already.

Through the abyss, there is a sudden rush of air. The snow breaks away into the cave’s entrance. A light glows from within. It is faint and feeble, the weakest fire I have ever seen alight in a pit.

As my eyes adjust in the shadows, the cave looks a mess. Supplies are dumped and scattered. There is no order here, and I wonder if instead of a hoo-man, if a leope or other creature came in here. Perhaps a wild, untamed lupin. Or a vrander, though they do not normally take to caves.

The scent of the hoo-man is strong in here, but my hearts begin to beat wildly. What if we are not hurtling into a rescue scenario, but one of tragedy? What if the remains of one of Leesa’s people are in here, a half-forgotten meal by a leope?

It would not explain the flames, my Seeker reminds me, and I take another scan of the room.

And there, cowering in the shadows, I see her. A small, slight frame, shaking from the cold. As I take a step toward her, the reek of feces and urine, of dirt and sadness hit me all at once. It is mingled with her scent.

My eyes lock on hers, and she starts to scream. I am taken aback when the pointed end of a spear comes towards me, but she does not know how to use it. She swings it wildly and weakly, the weight of it too great for her arms.

“S-stay back!” she sobs.

Something bumps into me from behind. Hands push into me, begging me to move forward, and the Ee-vee’s scent hits me.

I carefully move to the side, away from the wild hoo-man, and let the alpha’s mate pass through. The spear comes too close to her face, and I growl a warning at the female. Protecting the alpha’s mate is my duty.

Ee-vee slides into the cave, ignoring the spear’s pointed end. She stands up carefully, her arms spread out in a submissive manner, as the wild hoo-man emerges from the shadows.

“Evie?” she whispers, her voice cracking on the name.

“Oh my God,” Ee-vee whispers. “Jade.”