Vuko POV
I'm yawning so hard my jaw cracks and then, just when I'm mid-yawn, I sneeze because of the dust from the training ground. Anahita thrusts a coffee at me and I've never loved a member of Waterwolf pack more.
"Where's your Beta?" she asks, sipping at her coffee while we watch the younger pack members warm up. One of the benefits us Named claim is the right to not warm up properly and stand around drinking coffee while the young ones go through their paces.
"Abir?" I say, "Beta Abir is doing whatever the hell he pleases."
She looks at me and I know she wants to say more. Anahita is about ten years older than me and a different pack. She's Waterwolf to my Firewolf. But while I had a shitty older brother who would beat me to near death and call it training, she has been the older sister I dreamed of. Silvia would always take me to her first after Jedan had been at me and Silvia would bind my wounds and tell me to be patient because one day I was going to be bigger than Jedan. That day never came though.
Anahita shakes her head. "I'll never understand why you took on your brother's Beta after he died."
That's Ana. She still talks about Jedan "dying" like it was a natural thing. Not like it was Silvia who killed him.
Don't pretend you're not happy, I tell myself. I always knew what my brother was. It wasn't the hurting. Or it wasn't only the hurting. Other siblings play-fought. This was something diferent. Darker. He was like my father. And I failed to protect Silvia from him.
The pain of remembering her never eases. It's like a knife directly into my hard, a pain so real I feel it radiate even now out through my limbs. My only consolation is that I am still mateless. The Moon Goddess has not yet called another to me, nor me to her. And I'm relieved. As long as I have no mate, there is still a chance that my mate is Silvia.
I feel my Wolf stir. It's okay, Vi, I mindlink, Go back to sleep lazy-bones. He grumbles back that he never sleeps, that I'm the lazy one ... then he's gone. Back to sleep probably.
My father became even meaner after Jedan's death. I didn't believe it was possible. The bruises and scratches on my mom said it was. And on me when I tried to defend her. Who would have thought that a simple chicken bone would kill the old Alpha.
So here I am. The second son. Never destined to be Alpha. Never had a Beta. And suddenly I'm Alpha of the Firewolves. So when Abir asked me to take him on, what could I say?
The pace on the field has changed and I see the young fighters lining up, sweating and panting. They're bright pink with exertion already. They will still have to work a lot harder to be able to control their wolves when they come.
"We're up," I say, setting down my cup. The youths are lined up on the field, sweating and panting. Ana follows my lead as I jog toward them, wishing I had warmed up as my sleepy limbs complain. Get up, lazy, I send a thought-nudge to my Wolf. He's there. But there are no wolves allowed on the training ground. There training happens in the woods and at night.
Actually I love the training. I remember how it was before my Naming, before I knew my Wolf, Vi. It was like I couldn't run fast enough or train hard enough or be long enough out on the field. I came alive in those moments when I was fully on my own, relying on my own senses, my skills, my body. I fantasized about getting stronger, taking on Jedan, even taking on my father. I would force him to his knees in front of my mother and make him beg forgiveness of his Luna. In front of all the packs.
At first, training was a way out of my fear. Then I just started to love the way the body could think before your own mind. The others want to know how I'm so fast, how I managed to dodge blows they didn't even know they were going to throw. The truth is, I don't. My body just does what it has to do and I try to keep me and my thinks-too-much mind from getting in the way.
There are a few young fighters who I think have the same potential. It's fun to work with them and watch them realise what they are capable of. I seem to have some sort of skill with knowing when to push and when to back off. I wish I could be here, on the training field all the time.
I'm walking between sparring bodies, enjoying the soft thwack of blows well-landed--without causing damage--when Didi and his gang arrive.
Abir should have stopped them getting near the training field. That's what the packs had decided at the last meeting. Didi and anyone foolish enough to follow him were barred from the training fields ever since Didi nearly put the eye out of one of his packmates. I was the only one who thought he didn't mean to do it. I've known Didi a long time and he was a different kid when Silvia was still here.
But he refused to apologise and so the packs had to take action.
Where the hell is Abir?
The sparring stops as everyone stares at Didi. The crazy thing is that he still looks like a kid. He has soft down on his face which I'm pretty sure he doesn't need to shave yet. He's tall and broad but his cheeks are still round and pink and there is still a layer of puppy fat on him. He's only a few months out of his Naming.
Yet the packs are worried about the following he has. Young ones, male and female, from our packs--Ironwolf, Firewolf, Waterwolf, Airwolf, Earthwolf--are wandering over to his meetings and coming back from them changed. Angry, dissatisfied.
He walks through the silent fighters, all confidence and swagger and his gang members follow after. It's me he wants.
"Vuko," he says, "You're getting slow."
"Morning Didi," I say, careful not to let him see any irritation in me. That's what he wants. "Nice to see you and your gang."
I win this round. His cheeks turn bright pink. "They're my pack," he says, "You'll pay for that."
"What do you want, Didi?" I ask. I want him to get off the training ground and back to wherever him and his gang have been holed up.
"We wish to train," says Didi.
"You've been banned, Didi," I say, "You know that."
He nods. "Just one fighter," he says, "I invoke First Combat rules."
I can't believe what I'm hearing. First Combat rules are invoked before a war. They're a last chance to prevent a full scale to-the-death battle.
"That's not training," I say, my brain racing, what is he trying to do here, "That's hand-to-hand battle," I lower my voice, and lean in, "Didi what are you doing?"
Didi takes a step backward and speaks more loudly. He has a point he wants to make here. "First Combat," he declares, spreading his arms wide.
"Didi," I say urgently, "I don't want to fight you."
Actually I want to smack him about the face and send him home like the kid he is, is what I want to do but he's forcing me to treat him like the Alpha of some weird pack of misfits.
"That's okay," he says grinning and still speaking too-loudly, "Because I have nominated my fighter."
And just then the biggest damn werewolf I have ever seen steps up to the training ground. I swear the ground shakes as he crosses it toward me.
What the hell?
Vuko POVHe's big and I haven't seen him before. I glance at Ana but she's transfixed. Her eyes are wide. I'm guessing she hasn't seen him before either.The other Alphas have begun to crowd the field. Among them is Didi's father. He steps forward."You are not Ironwolf," he says.Didi--and Silvia's--father was once an imposing sight. Tall with silver hair, he was the only one who ever stood up to my father. Since Silvia's banishment though, he has become stooped, old.At first I think he is talking to Didi. But he is addressing the giant who will be Didi's champion.Didi answers for his champion. "No, he is not Ironwolf," he says to his father and I'm relieved that there is still respect in his voice. But he is also resolute, "You need to step aside, Dad. This is a new pack. My pack. You have no jurisdiction over us."I'm aware of the murmuring of the crowd at the edge of the field. Didi has just declar
Vuko POV Beta Abir disapppears again for the rest of that afternoon. I feel like an idiot going from pack to pack asking if they've seen my Beta so I give up after a bit. Nobody had seen him but apparently my battle against the champion has gained me some fans. Ana has to rescue me from one waterwolf who is all but sitting in my lap rubbing against me. The waterwolf (Tina? Bettina? Trina?) is really pretty and sweet. I admit that I was enjoying the attention. But mostly I was embarrassed. I'm male, I'm nearly twenty-one and I've been separated from my true love for four years. Can you even imagine how hard that is? Ana has little sympathy. "Your face!" she keeps saying, then bursting into laughter till the tears are running down her face, "Mr I-defeated-a-giant-but-turn-to-jelly-with-the-girls." Not like jelly at all, I want to say, but keep that to myself. As I finish my rounds, with Ana at my side as a sort of female-attenti
"Say that again," I say to Frey, unable to believe my ears. We are standing on the edge of the training field, the sky darkening around us, a chill in the air. I think about Winter coming and Beta Abir's news that Didi is planning an attack on the stores. I shiver. That would mean the destruction of his own family's pack too. Surely not? "I have information about Silvia, where she is," says Frey again. Silvia. For the past four years no one has said her name. Let alone told me where to find her. I have spent every day of the four years tormented by how I wasn't there for her. The night that was meant to be ours. Her Naming Ceremony. We had told each other that our wolves would find each other that night. It would be an early blessing from the Goddess--a confirmation of the destiny we have always believed in. We could not believe that the Goddess would make us wait another five years. We were such fools. So when Beta Abir came to me the afternoon befor
Silvia POVThe wolf looms in the alleyway, his fur almost blue-black. The streetlights behind him tip his dark fur with a glow like fire. He looks like he's just escaped from hell. He stalks closer, his lips drawn back from his mouth in a drooling, growling snarl.Silvia Ironwolf, the hunter mindlinks, You have been avoiding me.That's all the invitation Fer needs. I feel her push at me and I know this is her time. I glance at Luka--all of his attention is on the dark wolf--before the sweet-pain of my shift takes over and then I am Fer, standing with my tail and head held high, my paws planted firmly on the asphalt. She is unafraid. I am unafraid.Or so I tell myself.I do not know you, says Fer and I'm so proud of how fierce and low her voice is, You have terrorized this child. Explain yourself.I have a message for you, says the wolf.They say you see the attack fir
Silvia POV We stare at the pages before us. Luka has drawn us. Me and Fulvio. I look up and see the Witch--Esme--watching me with a smile. "I like your piercings," she says. I want to fall into bed and sleep for five years. My feet are still bleeding. I'm in a ripped and bloody pink waitress uniform. I've been attacked by the biggest wolf I've ever seen. Then rescued by another biggest wolf I've ever seen. And discovered my downstairs neighbour is a seer and his granny is a Witch. The same Witch who was at my Naming. Who is now complimenting me on my piercings. "Thanks," I say as she continues to grin at me. "I can't wait to find out how you're using your precious gift," she says. My precious gift! If my feet weren't so damned sore I'd run over there and ... I look down. My feet are still bleeding! I look behind me and see that I have left bloody foot prints in Luka's apartment. I look at his mom who has gone f
Silvia POV Fulvio changes back into his clothes after his shower and we find ourselves once again in front of Luka's apartment. I've changed into jeans and a t-shirt as well and brushed my hair out so it's more like I used to wear it. I'm not wearing any make up. In the bathroom mirror I stared at myself for a long time, wondering at this person I was seeing. It was like seeing an old friend after a long, long time. My eyes huge and dark, my hair falling in waves around my face. A little older and sadder than I once was. I try not to think about how Fulvio looked at me when I came out. He had that hungry look again and I didn't hate it. Fulvio knocks and we hear running footsteps and then the door is flung open. It's hard not to be happy yourself when someone looks that happy to see you. Luka is smiling and chatting already, telling us about the dinner his mom has made. I interrupt the flow of words to ask if he has a
Vuko POV That night I llie in bed and I stare up at the ceiling. It should be simple. Frey tells me that he knows where Silvia is. I go to fetch her. Happily ever after. The end. But it's not. I'm now Alpha of the pack responsible for her banishment. Oh, and she's been banished. But more confusing even is that tonight I feel like I saw Ana for the first time. Now I can't get her out of my mind. Ana is smart and funny. She challenges me. She's caring. She has incredible strength and agility--I have seen her run. I have seen her wolf, Akira, run. I've always known all of this. But now I have also seen that she is beautiful by any measure. She has the pale blue-tinged skin of all of her pack. Huge green eyes framed with thick black lashes. That froth of white hair around her head like river foam. Now I have seen her as female, with curves and smells that are intoxicating ... I groan and rubbed my fists in my eyes. Stop! I told my
Vuko POV Something no one tells you about Quests. There's a lot of walking, trudging, lumbering, plodding, slogging ... ... by the time the sun shimmers at the horizon behind me and the crescent moon dips below the horizon before me, I have thought of every word I know of to describe really, really, really boring walking. There is absolutely nothing here. I think of the stories we told each other when we were pups. About wraiths that lived beneath the sand of the Barren that would pull you down into their nests. They would paralyze you and then their grubs would feed off you, slowly eating you alive. That was a favorite. There are the roaming packs of wilder-scorpions, creatures that are half beast, half scorpion. Where the beast's tail should be is a scorpion's sting that will cause your skin to turn black and then they eat you alive. Then there was the one about the tumbleweed spiders. Their bodies transparent so all you see is ripples on t