Page 25 of Those That Are Lost

We reach the edge of the trees and are considering how best to set up a camp for the night when the peace of the mountains surrounding us is disturbed by a low, reverberating howl.

CHAPTER 13

AURORA

The note cuts straight through me, sending a chill up my spine. It’s not like I wasn’t aware of the wolves living here in the Northern Isles but I’d yet to hear one, even though I’d been here for months. Something about that piercing howl sounds menacing and I’m wishing we don’t run into the beast cutting through the silence.

Before it ends, a second one joins in, then a third. A symphony surrounds us and echoes off the mountains looming above.

From the edge of the trees, Ty walks back into the open, scanning the horizon, trying to identify the location of the wolves. I instinctively move towards him, wanting to provide him with protection should they spot us and come over. Henry joins me, flanking my back as I do Ty’s.

Another chorus of howls fills the silence that had fallen from the first. These ones vary in pitch. A couple of shorter barks join in too. I mentally try to tally the total number I hear, there are certainly more than five at this point. The thought of being attacked by these beasts sends adrenaline coursing through my veins and my fangs extend on instinct. Surely the wolves don’t attack people, right?

Or vampires. Hopefully.

The shifters would be as unaware as the rest of the world to our continued existence. If they do attack, they’re going to be in for a shock.

I jump out my skin when the next howl sounds far closer. My head snaps to Ty, who's got his hands cupped to his face. To my horror, he’s howling back.What the hell?

Henry catches my eye and looks just as confused as I feel as Ty releases another shorter note.

“Ty, what are you doing?” I bat his arm with my hand as even more wolves join in, more of them sounding closer than before.

“I’m letting them know who we are,” he replies like Henry or I should know what the fuck that means.

“Like telling them exactly where we are so they can attack us?” My voice pitching upwards as I pick up on the sound of footprints bounding on the snow.

“Don’t worry, they won’t attack. At least they won’t if you stick with me,” he responds like it's a damn joke. This is serious, my earlier bravado starts to waiver as my mental tally doubles with the amount of cries I now hear.

“Want to clue us in here, buddy?” Henry sounds as nervous as I do.

“We’re in the Northern Isles, surely one of you has figured it out.” Ty looks between the two of us, eyebrows raised.

“Don’t waste time.” I scan the surroundings. “I know about the shifters but why would you want to gain their attention?” From how close they sound, I’m surprised I can’t see any of them yet.

“Ty, I really don’t fancy running into the shifters right now. They’ll expose us.” It's the first time I’ve heard Henry with any sort of anger.

“Calm down, both of you. I hoped we’d run into them when I planned this route.”

“You what?” both Henry and I shout, equally shocked.

“I know them.” Ty turns to face us both. “They won’t hurt us, and they know we still exist.”

My eyes widen, then blink rapidly as I process that bit of information.

Before I can ask anymore, we run out of time. Three massive wolves appear from the trees, then two more drop from a side path to join them as they reach us. They lope towards us, barking excitedly.

Their coats vary in colours; three are slight variations on steel grey and white; one is so dark their coat is almost black, stark against the bright white of their underside. The final one, the one in the middle, is almost pure white and is slightly smaller.

All bar the white one close in fast, spraying snow everywhere as they skid to a halt in front of us. The smaller white one is more graceful, having slowed on her approach.

Ty crouches to his haunches as they reach us. The darkest grey one and the black one launch once more, barrelling into Ty, sending him to his ass, yipping and wagging their tails so fast their whole bodies are wiggling. Ty’s laughing as he sits up to pet them and brush the snow off his chest.

Henry and I step back, looking on, completely speechless.

I’ve read about the wolf shifters, seen some of them on social media but never had I expected to be standing five feet from a group of them. I feel like I’m watching some rare phenomenon, these are the last wolf shifters, the only ones that survived the war. Words utterly fail me. As for the fact Ty seems to think they know about us, I’m going to need him to start explaining soon.

The greeting goes on for a few more seconds before the white wolf barks loudly. Immediately, the two jumping over Ty stop and take a few steps back, allowing him to stand.They sit, still wagging their tails but obey what was clearly an order.