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Chapter Twenty-One

AUTUMN

T he hair of Onai’s dark braids are coming loose the more she shakes her head at me. We’ve been at this standoff since she arrived this morning.

“Please, you’re my only hope,” I insist.

“I hate to break it to you, but I’ve barely mastered my own gift.”

“Can you just help me do the things that your Mother has shown you? I mean, I’m locking people in ice because I can’t control it. I’m scared I’ll do something I can’t come back from. Something others can’t fix. What if I hurt someone?”

“I’m really not supposed to … she told me not to …”

“Was it an Alpha order?”

“Well, no …”

“Then you really don’t have to listen to it, do you?”

She smirks. “I’m starting to like you, Autumn, you’re a rulebreaker. Maybe you have more in common with Renall than you think.”

“Well, I was playing around last night, and I think my gift is tied to emotions.”

“Like I said, it’s different for every Guardian. I don’t know how much I can help. You must figure it out. Most are tied to emotions. Mine is found in the opposite, it’s in that quiet space. A lot of Guardians need that quiet to link to their mate.”

“Link?”

“Yeah, it’s how we protected them. I’ve never experienced it before, but I’ve been told Guardians can see through their mate’s eyes, guide them, protect them.”

“Wow.” The bit about seeing through their eyes really struck a chord. Maybe those times I dreamt of running in the woods weren’t dreams after all, but actually me seeing through their eyes. “There’s still a lot I need to learn. I never had anything like that with Colton. I had a gut feeling when he was in trouble or doing something he wasn’t supposed to … but I never acted on it either.”

“If I didn’t grow up with this being normal, I wouldn’t know how to explain it to someone. Poor Renall.”

“Renall?”

“Well, he finally found a Guardian, he doesn’t speak her language, and he somehow has to explain our world to her. I don’t envy him in the least.”

“But you speak English and are forced to be with me all day … I feel bad for you.” I smirk.

“Oh, my Goddess, you’re right, who am I kidding? Goddess, help me.” She pretends to pray.

I toss a pillow at her. “I’m not that bad.”

“You do ask a lot of questions.” She winks at me. “But I’m glad to have someone to talk to. It’s rare I can go anywhere other than my garden, or babysitting one of the few pups around. All the Guardians my age have all been mated out.”

“You’re the black sheep of the cave.”

“Sheep?”

“A sheep in a wolf’s den, quite literally.” I realize she might not know the analogy. “It’s a saying in the human world. Never mind.”

“We can be sheep together.” She smiles.

“I’d very much like that.” From her face, I can tell that she has her own hurt that runs deeper. She must have had friends before they came of age. With all the sex around here, you would think some of it must result in babies. None of them had an Alpha order not to touch them until a certain age. They would have been sold to the highest bidder, or worse, have that will taken from them. It isn’t hard to guess what happened to those friendships when they realized Onai didn’t have to suffer the same fate that they did. No, it’s Onai whom I do not envy in the least.

“Last night, when you saw the ice, you gasped something about Ice Clan. Lupe told me this is Protector Clan, but Renall is Warrior Clan? I’m so confused. How many different clans are there?” I attempt to change the subject.

“Oh, I’m sure there’s many we don’t know about, but here at Luna Cavern we’re known as Protector Clan because,” she pauses, coughs, then continues, “We take in a lot of strays. We are the safe place to go when you no longer have a home. We welcome all Guardians and wolves under our protection.”

As I think on that, I realize that it’s not like they have much of a choice, they said their numbers are dwindling.

“Warrior Clan can trace their ancestry back to the original wolves made by the Sun God. Born and bred to be the fiercest warriors. Renall is one of the few who can trace his direct lineage to them. He’s been alive long enough to train with his ancestors. Hunter Clan is the most recent relative from the Warrior Clan, but it’s been bred with the other clans, making its lineage what some consider tainted. Most are bred with Breeder Clan. You can guess what they are known for?”

“No. They don’t–”

“Yup, hearty and healthy offspring. Their Guardians run their clan and are treated like royalty. Then there’s Tracker Clan—best trackers. Each clan adopts one pup from Tracker Clan right after training. They are invaluable as a resource. Ice Clan lives in the Arctic and are hardly ever seen. Their Guardians are the only ones we’ve ever known to manipulate water into ice. They have a whole network of underground ice caverns. Then there’s Shadow Clan—the nomads who burst into shadow, and Blood Clan, the blood thirsty, as rumor has it, cannibals.”

“Wow. That’s a lot to take in.”

“With the breeding and nomads mixing with other packs, and even humans sometimes, there is no telling how many others there are out there, or determining what their powers are.”

“So if I decided to join the pack and mate with Renall.” My cheeks flush just thinking about it. “Would I be Warrior Clan or Protector Clan?”

“Since you don’t have the blood of the Sun God, you would be Protector Clan. But your pups carrying Renall’s blood would be considered Warrior Clan.”

“Wow.” Children. I swallow. “Even more to unpack. I’m just going to log that away somewhere, um … So the different clans span all over the continent?”

“Try all over the world.”

“There are wolves all over the world? How does no one know about them?”

“That’s where Guardians come in. We protect the wolves from being their normal, aggressive selves and keep them hidden and secret. We remain in caves and mountains and ice to protect ourselves from the outside world while we do what the Goddess gifted us to do—help the Earth thrive.”

“But the Earth is failing, global warming and pollution is at an all-time high.”

“That’s because there are a lot more polluters than there are Guardians, we are simply outnumbered. And there’s the fact that at least a few people know our secret now because we are being hunted. The human devils are a problem, but it is unknown whether they think they are tracking wolves, or if they indeed know they are killing humans.”

I pause, thinking back to the interactions I’ve had with the men who always gave me the creeps at the Gun Lot. Could that have been my Guardian senses recognizing them as dangerous? What more could my body be telling me that my mind has not understood?

“I think … I think they might know. One of them commented on my tattoo.”

“Tattoo?”

“Well, it’s not a tattoo—it’s a birthmark.” I shift, lowering my sleeve to show her my birthmark.

“The Guardian mark,” she gasps. “They knew what that was?”

I nod. “They seemed to, he called his friend over to look at it as well. They have a lot of ammo, special-order silver-tipped ammo. Oh Gods.” I rub at my chest. “They definitely know they are killing werewolves.”

“Good Gods, no, that changes things. We have to tell this to Renall and my father.”

* * *

Lupe rolls her eyes sitting on the arm of Zev’s chair at the head of the table. The green and red banner hanging high above her head. Can she ever get a chair of her own? There has to be at least fifty alongside this enormous table. The fruit and vegetables that usually decorate the length of the table is picked over as dinner was hours ago.

It wasn’t long after my conversation with Onai that Renall escorted us to the same room I met Lupe and Zev a few weeks back. So much has changed since then, no longer is Lupe a friendly face I’m excited to speak English to. She sits there beside her Alpha mate rolling her eyes with every response to my question.

Zev growls and then sighs.

“Tell us again,” Lupe translates. “How did they see your Guardian mark?”

“It’s just on my arm here, in the right shirt it would be visible.”

A growl.

“And they recognized it?” Lupe asks.

It’s my turn to sigh. “Yes, how many times …” Renall grips my shoulders. Tension coiling through the bond. We’re already on thin ice, one wrong move and this conversation could be the tipping point in our time here. I cough. “Yes, they knew what it was. He even called over a friend to look at it. They were pressing further when my coworker interjected, and I was sent to the back of the store. But it looked like they were waiting for me in the parking lot all day until my shift was over.”

“Looked like?” Lupe asks as she twirls the tip of her braid, not even looking at me. She continues to translate the rest to her mate.

“No, I knew. I don’t know how, but I knew deep down they were waiting for me.”

“Ah, she does have Guardian intuition after all.” Lupe smirks.

I wait for Lupe to finish translating, or talking to Zev, it’s hard to tell. “Is there more? Have you seen these men there before?”

“Oh yeah, they go there all the time. They would get special silver-tipped ammo and they have the biggest shotguns, best for long distances. They special ordered several large bear traps. They just seemed like any other customer, except they were in town when my brother was …”

Lupe whispers something in Zev’s ear. Anger and frustration trickle through the bond. I reach up and place my hand over his on my shoulder.

“How many demons are there?”

“I’ve seen as many as ten different men. Sometimes they are the same, sometimes they bring new faces with them. A few I’ve seen only once and never again.” I respond.

Zev stands now, growling something to Renall.

“Ten. Ten men.” Lupe laughs. “Do you think us incapable of handling ten measly men? We are a strong clan, do not waste our time with false threats.”

“But it’s not … they have already …” I stammer.

Zev growls again waving me and Renall toward the direction of the door. I don’t need to speak wolf to know we are being dismissed. As I stand to leave, I notice Onai slipping back into the shadows of the far corridor. She thought the hunters were a threat. How can Zev not see what they are? That they have already killed his people because they obviously understand how and what they are. They found me and my brother, and it’s only a matter of time before they find us in this cave. We are not safe, even here.

* * *

Renall is quiet as we trek back to our room. The cave has emptied out as darkness starts to descend, but there are still mated wolves around shooting us unsavory looks as we climb the stairs to return to our cave. After the door is securely shut and locked, I find myself wondering if I embarrassed him. Onai and I made him call upon Zev to listen to a threat we thought he should be aware of, only to be dismissed like an ill-mannered child.

“Okay?” I ask.

He’s bent over the fire adding a few logs when he twists toward me and nods. “Rokay.”

“Is he always like that? Ignorant?”

Renall grunts.

I’m not sure if he understood, but I must remember Zev is his friend no matter how much I’m starting to get a bad taste about him and his mate. Guardian intuition Lupe had called it. I wonder if my intuition is warning me that they can’t be trusted. Can I trust anyone here anymore?

Renall straightens as the fire roars in front of him. It casts his tan skin in a golden glow. A bead of sweat trickles down his spine. I shiver as heat pools low in my belly. He, at least, is someone I can trust, can’t I?

* * *

My heart flutters in my chest and an energy pulsates around me. My eyes automatically open to the darkness of the cave. I turn in bed to face the cave wall. The moon rock inlaid into the wall beside the bed blinks. Weird, I’ve never seen it do that before. Lifting my head slightly, I stare to see if it will do it again. It blinks, then brightens. Suddenly, a crack forms along the wall, from that crack, a golden light emanates. The crack spreads, then deepens as it expands farther down the wall. I slip out of bed and place my palm on the wall. The dirt wall shimmers under my touch.

Autumn.

My name is whispered again, the same voice I heard previously. I glance around, but the only person in the room is Renall who is snoring on the couch. As I pull my hand away from the wall, I hear it again.

Autumn.

That second time, there’s a tug in my chest. I’m being pulled by some invisible force, much like the bond Renall and I share. This force seems to be coming from the cave itself, driving me forward. The crack continues toward the door now as my fingers trace along, following it.

I tip toe into the living area and slip out the door without waking Renall. I’m alone on the top ledge of the cave. The cavern is dark and silent, except for a few murmured, grumbling snores echoing in the night. The crack spreads farther, urging me to follow the golden light shining onto the cave floor below.

Autumn.

That pull urging me on. I follow around the ledge as it spreads down the two flights of stairs until I reach the cavern floor. I apprehensively walk deeper into the central hive, past the empty tables. My hand trailing along the crack in the wall taking me toward the hallway to the right. This. This is where I need to be.

My bare feet start tingling before I hear it. The growl vibrates the very ground I’m walking on. My heart stops. Slowly, I turn around to see who has caught me sneaking around the dark cavern alone. My chest ceases beating until I meet the angry, glaring eyes of none other than Renall. I freeze.

How did he know?

He continues to let off a rumbling growl as he stalks toward me. I’ve awakened the beast. His glowing eyes are narrowed at me and then his fangs extend. My breath is caught in my chest as he approaches.

“I was just … the wall was …” But as I turn around to show him the crack in the wall, it is no longer there. The cavern wall sits as it always is, dark and covered in dead, leafy growth.

When he gets close enough, he grabs my arm, tosses me over his shoulder, and drags me back upstairs. His growling stops on the second set of stairs, then he’s silent until he drops me into the cave and closes the door behind us. He shoves a wooden chair behind the door. Then he turns to me. All the softness is gone as he begins growling at me again. His hands become animated as he begins lecturing me again. What I did was stupid. I could have been found by anyone late at night and alone in the cave. But it was magic pulling me forward, following that familiar voice. When he realizes his attempt at scolding is futile, he collapses back onto the couch and runs his hands down his face before curling back up. I watch in slight amusement as he goes from animated to snoring wolf in a matter of moments before I walk back over to the bed and slip back in. As I glance around the cave, it’s dark once again, the walls are no longer cracked or glowing here either. But what I find more upsetting—I no longer hear her call my name.