Chapter 7

“You’re right that sounds totally insane.”

That took a little bit of the wind out of my sails, but I persisted.

“The Moonblood’s killed our families, so they own our pack’s land. If we kill their Alpha, we own them. Revenge, supplies, shelter, a new pack, all wrapped up in one tidy bow,” I explained.

We dug through the remains of my pack to look for supplies. We figured we had some time before the Moonbloods came back. They’d already stripped the pack grounds of everything of value.

All they left were bodies.

The bodies of my family. My friends. My pack.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ziron said. “And what happened to my family wasn’t my fault. There was nothing we could have done.”

He reached out to turn me away from the corpses. I let him. I wasn’t crying. Wasn’t even really mourning. I was just numb.

“We’ll gather some supplies and head out,” Ziron said. “There has to be some weapons left, some food. Then we’ll go.”

I take a breath, but the idea of searching through the ruins of my home for supplies was less than appealing. I had seen the bodies of my parents today, that was all the bodies I was mentally able to handle. But we couldn’t leave without supplies.

“Should we bury them?” I said suddenly. Ziron knew what I meant.

“I… there’s just so many,” he said quietly.

There were too many for the two of us. To bury the whole pack ourselves? It would take days.
“I have to bury my parents,” I said. Ziron shifts awkwardly beside me but he nods.

“I’ll um… gather those supplies.”

We split up then, for two horrible tasks. Ziron picked through the rubble of packhouses and homes, stepping over bodies of children. I went home, to the charred remains of my family, my safe place.

I can’t look at their bodies. When I finally bring myself to try and pick them up, the skin is so charred it slides off the bones. I turn quickly aside to throw up.

Ziron notices and moves over to me. He looks significantly older than just a few moments ago. He reaches out, his hand hovering over my arm like he wants to be reassuring but he’s scared to touch me.

“We can’t stay here,” I mumble, wiping my mouth on my sleeve.

“No,” he said. Then, with a hesitant voice, “My pack doesn’t believe our bodies mean anything. They’re just houses for our souls. Human form, wolf form, doesn’t matter. What’s inside matters.”

“What’s inside is gone. They are gone,” My voice broke and tears escaped down my ashy face. Ziron reached out and pulled me into a hug. I let him.  

For a moment I let him hold me. Then I felt something. For a second, I’m confused. My wolf is stirring, but why? Not because of the hug, not because of Ziron. Something else. Someone else.

We heard a twig break in the forest.