Page 9

Juk

Day 9

T he next day, I am the first to rise in the pack. I slip out of my shared hollow, Brex still snoring loudly next to me and exit into the main cavern. The beta B was up late the night before, skinning the meat of his fresh kills to replenish the stores.

My skin ripples with anticipation. I stoke the central fire, waking the flames hiding low within the wooden fuel, bringing it back to life before I make my way outside. I can hear my alpha and his mate quietly mating in their cave as I near the entrance. One last moment of privacy before we are together for six days to travel to the territory’s border.

Vekao greets me as I emerge from the den’s entrance. She is luminous in the sky, which is painted with purples, greens, and the soft glow of yellow as the sun begs to break on the horizon. The stars still litter the sky, not yet drowned out by the sun’s light, and the wind is still on this day. I see no clouds on the horizon, and yet my Seeker twitches in my mind.

I do not know what bothers it as I climb down the cliff’s face to the base at the bottom. Amble sleeps down here in his celestial form, guarding the assembled and packed sleds. At the sound of my descent, his looks up lazily, Seeker gazing at me, before lowering his head again.

“I wish to have a quick run to stretch my legs before the others awake,” I say quietly, knowing he can hear my words. The delta snuffs in response, his eyes still closed. His Seeker still gapes at me through a half-lid, guarding the sleds and our den.

As I shift quickly, bones snapping in and out of place, something small twists inside me. My intuition is warning me of something, but my Seeker cannot yet place what it is. Something about the upcoming trip, something not favourable.

Once shifted, I shake out my fur and stretch my front legs. I ensure that my scrap of leather is tied securely to my back leg. It is a treasured piece that I must have on me, always.

Then, I bound forward into the snow. I race past Amble, who does not bother to lift his head as I run by. My paws pound against the snow, large, but silent. The feeling reverberates through my body as I run at full speed, no destination planned. I merely mean to stretch my muscles, burn off my nervous energy, and clear my mind.

Kalpa’s words from the day before ring through my mind. Thoughts of change and of our pack moving forward. Female Celetans are rare. They have always been rare, for as long as our ancestors can remember, going as far back to when Vekao gifted us our celestial forms. Some generations fared better than others, having what would be considered a plentiful bounty of females to bring forth the next line of litters.

But ours was one of the lower rated ones. And the sickness that swept through the territories did not help. Our previous alpha and his mate were lost, as were most of our parents’ generation. They were lost either from the sickness, from the unspeakable cold that swept through, or from scraps with the other packs as resources and food grew sparse. The sickness started within the Ashen Pack and spread to the Stygians and Snowscapes.

Most of my generation was spared. The elders before us fought tirelessly to keep us from fever. Some were lost, such as Hant’s littermates. And the five elders we have now are all that remain from the generation before us. Four—four elders, I remind myself. Joval has been exiled for his brash attack on the alpha’s mate. I have never understood his hatred towards Axyll, a hatred started when the alpha was a young cub.

I push thoughts of Joval from my mind as the sun-kissed mountain air hits my face. Given how few females there are of my generation, two of whom have already born at least one litter each, perhaps Kalpa’s thoughts are true. Maybe these strange, short, tailless females are meant to strengthen our pack. While there are still more unmated males than there are new hoo-man females, it does bring up our numbers. Brings up our chances to have more cubs, to continue the survival of the Snowscape Pack. Our alpha has already taken one as a mate, and though it is much, much too early to think on whether they can even have a litter of cubs, it is something. It is a possibility.

But more than half of these new females may reside in the Stygians’ territory. The Stygians . My paws dig into the snow as I come to a halt. Overlooking the snow-covered valley, the endless peaks of mountains, some littered in the greens and blues of the trees, my hearts pound in my broad rib cage. Those dark-coated, amber Seeker, star-worshipping heathens ... To think that Vekao would gift them the same as us, that she would gift them more than us... it is unfathomable. It is outrageous.

What have they done to deserve such a gift? Living underneath the mountains, roaming at night, worshipping the stars instead of Vekao’s magnificent light—or even small Jaci’s in comparison... There is nothing they deserve but a swift death. They are fierce, which is an admirable quality I suppose, but they are monsters. Vicious and unfeeling, our natural enemies since the beginning of time. There is no reason for Vekao to favour them, to gift them more females than the Snowscapes. One already lies in their mountains. But the others, the seven we set out today to rescue, they are meant for us. Not them.

An updraft from the cliff below me ruffles my fur, and snowflakes skitter into my nose. It is cold and abrupt, snapping me from my muddled thoughts. I give my head a shake and a sharp exhale to clear my mind once more.

It is not up to me to decide what is fair or not in the eyes of Vekao. She favours at her whim, and her plan is absolute. It is not for me to know her plan, only to follow the course she lays before me. If she has plans to aid the Stygians—for whatever pervert reason—then there is nothing to be done. And there are no signs showing favour towards the Ashen Pack.

I recognize the path laid before me, or so I think. My trek back to the den, back to where the others are rising with the sun, getting another quick meal in before it is time to depart, is slower. My mind is cleared now, the thoughts and unsettling questions thrown out as I focus on what I do know. What I have not yet accepted that Vekao has gifted me.

Leesa . The thought of her sends the breath out of me. I think of her slight frame, her dark eyes and hair, and of her determination to get back to her people. She is a leader, Leesa. The hoo-mans say they have no alpha among them, that they make their decisions together, but I am not so sure. Leesa has the spirit of a leader. She argues back against the alpha, she directs the two other new females who came to our den. She is demanding and fierce, and my hearts soar at the thought of her.

But she is not happy here. I do not need to ask her to know it. It is plain on her features, on the disdain written across her face when Axyll and Ee-vee were united under the moon. It fractures something inside me, ever so slightly. To know that Vekao has given me a mate, one that blinds my Seeker each time with her flawless presence, only for her to be unhappy here... how can one mate with someone like that?

Perhaps it is for the best. The idea of a mate has always been an anxious one for me. My duty as a beta is to protect my alpha at all costs. I see the conflict sometimes that Amble faces with his delta duties, and his urge to protect his family. I have been alone most of my life, and I have dedicated my life to protecting the pack. To suddenly have someone in my life who might distract my focus, to have to choose between protecting my alpha and protecting her... the thought is terrifying.

It is best if I do not have to choose at all. I will help Leesa find her people, and from there, I imagine they will return to the stars. My hearts will break when she leaves, when the glimmer of a family and cubs fades back into nothing but an unattainable dream. But it will be for the better. Ee-vee may have chosen to join our pack, but I will not force Leesa to do it. I do not even think she realizes that we are meant to be, that we are fated to be with one another... and I will not enlighten her of it.