After walking for an hour, I turned around and saw four blobs in the distance behind me, following my trail. It seemed at least four of the girls had believed what I’d told them. The others would be dead if they didn’t figure it out soon. I couldn’t tell if one of the blobs was Ivanna.
Eliza’s wolf yipped in high-pitched excitement and I spun back to face her. There on the ground between the cracks of earth and dead dry brush were strands of a long dead plant that had little balls attached to the vine. It reminded me of sea kelp.
Exhilaration thrummed through me as I crouched closer. The plant was covered in a white powder which made it appear to have no signs of life but when I picked it up, I grinned. It was heavy and the white powder was coming off on my fingers, revealing a dark green healthy bulbous fruit-like plant beneath.
Squeezing one of the bulbs between my fingers, I laughed when fresh clear water squirted out.
Eliza turned in a circle as if chasing her tail and I scooped up a giant six-foot string of the plant and ripped it from the ground, putting it around the back of my neck to travel with like a scarf.
Eliza whimpered and looked up at me.
I shook my head. “We don’t need it just yet. Let’s ration in case we don’t find any more.”
I was thirsty too but not desperately so.
City wolves. I shook my head.
After a few more hours of walking, we’d discovered ten more vines. I was now easily popping the bulbs into my mouth after brushing off the tasteless powder and sucking down the cool liquid. The roots must have run really deep into an underground water reservoir because they were full of fresh water. I gave Eliza’s wolf plenty as well and we had more than enough for the walk out of here stored around my neck in heavy hanging vines.
I couldn’t help but think where we would be if Axil had not told me about them … his blue eyes, the things he’d said to me over the past two days. They swirled around my head, leaving me in a wave of confusion.
We walked south at a decent pace until the sun started to lower in the sky and my legs felt like mush and my body craved rest. A wolven shifter could go without food for about seven days but it cost us a lot of energy. Especially if we were shifting forms like Eliza had. I knew by the way she was walking, her back legs giving out, that she needed rest.
“We’ll camp here tonight.” I pointed to a cropping of three dead bushes that would give us zero protection against predators or the elements. It was just an easy spot to point to. She walked over to the dried bushes and collapsed in front of them panting and then looked at me as if awaiting the next instruction.
“You can sleep first. I’ll wake you in a few hours for my turn,” I told her.
At that declaration her head dropped onto the dry mud and she closed her eyes. She was out.
I peered at the ground around our little camp before the sun was totally blotted from the sky and found a few smooth rocks and a large stick. Useless as weapons if we were attacked.
I didn’t want to shift into my wolf form and consume the energy, especially without food, which was why Eliza was staying a wolf. She’d already done it once and to go back and forth would kill her of starvation quicker. We both knew that without even saying it.
I was confident Axil hadn’t lied to me and I was sure we were going south. What I questioned was whether we would get lost or slow down so much that it took us longer to reach Death Mountain than I had anticipated.
My mind warred with my instinct as I tried to do the math on when I last ate. We had spent twelve hours traveling here on the wolf sled, and then twelve hours knocked out. Then another twelve hours walking today. Yesterday morning with Cyrus was my last meal. So almost two days.
If I shifted into my wolf form to keep us safe from predators overnight, the walk tomorrow would be slower because I might have to shift back to human form to carry the long and heavy water bulbs. Draping them over my wolf’s back might only cause them to fall off as I walked on all fours and had no boxy shoulders to keep them on.
A howl rose up in the distance and my instinct won. Pushing the wasted energy and the future lack of food from my mind, I stripped down quickly and fell onto all fours as my body welcomed the change. Some wolves didn’t like being in their animal form more than a few hours, others could go days without changing shape.
I was the latter, most dominants were. I loved being in my powerful wolven form. And if I shifted now, I’d probably have to remain this way or I might not have the energy to shift back to human.
It didn’t matter what my mind thought, though, as I’d already started the change. Muscles strained, bones broke and I breathed through the pain.
Eliza lifted her head to look at me sleepily, probably awoken by the noise but then dropped back down when she realized I was just doing this as a precaution and we weren’t under imminent threat.
Once my shift was complete, I felt so much better. If a threat were to pose itself somewhere in the night, I would be ready to fend it off.
I was tired but I didn’t want to fall asleep, so I stayed standing. Every half hour or so I took a small loop around sleeping Eliza to keep my blood pumping and force myself to stay awake and alert. I was bored and so I allowed my mind to wander to the time I’d first met Axil.
I never wore dresses but my friend Maxine had convinced me to wear one to the skills camp registration day. It was mostly a meet and greet with the other dominants. The dress I’d worn was white with small pink flowers embroidered on it. Way too girly for my usual style and yet I’d felt beautiful in it. A lot of teenagers went to the summer skills camp in Eagle Cliff territory to hook up and I had hoped to find a boy with whom I could share my first kiss, but I’d had no idea I would meet the love of my life.
I was fifteen, dominant and incredibly naive.
After registration, I’d made my way to the food tent. There was a full band set up and as the sun set on the first night, I was dancing my heart out with Maxine. My arms were up in the air as I threw my hips side to side and laughed with a carefree joy I hadn’t had since my parents died.
That’s when Axil made his move.
The first thing that attracted me to him was his confidence. Most dominant men had an annoying level of confidence but Axil’s was tempered with something else. Something I couldn’t put my finger on at the time.
Respect. He respected me even before he’d touched my hips and stepped in front of me, looking down at me with those piercing blue eyes.
“Dance with me.” It was more of a command than a question but I knew I could say no if I’d wanted. He was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen, so I nodded and threw my arms around his neck.
That’s when he leaned forward and smelled me. His nose went to my hair and he moaned. I’d never met such a forward boy in my life! These things were not done at a first meeting in my pack, but with him … it felt right.
“What do I smell like?” I asked him with all the innocence of my fifteen-year-old self.
He pulled back and said something I’d never forgotten. Something that still plagued me today.
“My future wife.” He grinned.
In that moment, I’d fallen instantly in love with him. A puppy love with no depth but it was love just the same. First love. The reckless, careless kind that you jump into without much thought or fear of consequence.