by Asher North
“If you hear or see anything at all suspicious, wake me immediately,” Eleo said. Rhys nodded, thankful that Eleo hadn’t given him any resistance, and Eleo shifted back into wolf form along with Kaster. Damon was still too weak to do so, so Eleo and Kaster huddled around him to keep him warm.
Rhys sat alone staring at the sky as the stars took precedence, trying his best not to think about his father and Sayer and the rest of his traitorous pack. If the Silver Fangs were in fact following them, they wouldn’t be far behind. Part of Rhys wanted to keep moving, despite how tired he was and how tired the others no doubt were as well, but he knew that they needed rest if they were going to make it to the Gold Eye den without problem.
Moments later, the sound of Damon’s soft snoring reached Rhys’s ears and Rhys couldn’t help smirking. He wouldn’t have guessed Damon was a snorer but then again he also wouldn’t have guessed that Damon was an Alpha if it weren’t for his scent. For a moment, he allowed himself to bask in that scent and wonder what it might be like to get closer to Damon, maybe lie down beside him and use his body to keep Damon warm himself. The thought aroused other feelings and so he had to force it away but he found himself looking forward to doing just that when his watch shift was over.
He shook his head and returned to staring up at the stars, the only thing that seemed to move in the quiet, dense wilds they’d stopped in. Even the insects were silent tonight, which Rhys thought was only fitting given all of the loss that Moonvalley had suffered. Damon had lost his father and now Rhys had lost his as well, though Rhys doubted that Damon was as bothered by his father’s death as Rhys was by Juno’s. Still, Damon’s father was gone and he was left without a pack to call his own.
Just like me, Rhys thought with a sad little laugh. When they’d first met, Rhys thought that he and Damon couldn’t possibly have been more different or further apart but now he realized that for all of their differences they likely had more in common than not. As he watched the stars twinkle and shift in the sky above, he wondered if maybe he’d been wrong about fate all along and if maybe his father had been right after all.
Dark times are coming, my son, Juno had said to him, and Rhys now wondered if his father had some idea of what was waiting for them both. He wanted to cry, to let out his feelings, but they refused to come and he thought that was probably for the best. It wouldn’t be good for him to wake up his companions with his whimpering. They need me now more than ever, he thought. Maybe this is the test I’ve been looking for all along, the way to prove myself as an Omega capable of anything an Alpha can do. The thought steeled his nerves and caused a flame to ignite in his stomach. He owed it to his father to be strong, to be a Greyborn the likes of which Moonvalley had never seen.
“Rhys?” A voice whispered, though it was like thunder in the still of the woods. Rhys turned to find Damon sitting up and watching him, Eleo and Kaster curled around him but so deep in sleep that their words certainly wouldn’t disturb them.
“You should be sleeping,” Rhys said and Damon smiled.
“I would but my wounds won’t let me,” he said. “I have a feeling yours won’t either.” Rhys blanched, only for a second, but it was enough. Damon’s face softened.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.
“And I’m sorry for yours,” Rhys said.
“Don’t be. My father was neither a good wolf nor a good leader,” Damon said, which took Rhys by surprise. “I doubt my brother will be any better.”
“Was your father really so awful?” Rhys asked. The Black Claws were known for being ruthless and intolerant of weakness but Rhys couldn’t quite believe that a pack leader would treat his own heir as poorly as it seemed Damon’s had.
“Worse than you’ve heard,” Damon said. “Truthfully, I’m glad he banished me from the Black Claws. I never fit in with them and they would never have accepted me no matter what I did.” Rhys knew that feeling well.
“Maybe this is all for the best then,” he said and Damon smiled warmly. “Maybe we aren’t bound to the family that we’re born into. Maybe we can make our own.”
“I like the sound of that,” Damon said.
“So do I,” Rhys agreed and again he felt control over himself slipping away as a strange, burning urge in his core overtook him and he knew in that moment that a small amount of his power had been transferred to Damon. He also knew that it wasn’t just his heat that gave him these feelings. There was something about Damon that touched him in his heart and Rhys wasn’t sure if he should be excited or worried by it. Family doesn’t have to mean anything more than brotherhood, he told himself. It can’t mean anything more than brotherhood, he thought but the temptation was nonetheless there.
Eleo stirred then, breaking the moment between them, which Rhys was grateful for. He wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to keep control of his urges if they’d gone on staring into each other’s eyes the way they had been. Eleo glanced between them and seemed to almost immediately discern what he’d woken to. He cleared his throat.
“You should get some rest, Rhys. I can take watch from here,” he said and walked to where Rhys sat. Rhys didn’t dare defy him and didn’t dare get close to Damon. Instead, he laid down with his back against Kaster, who groaned but didn’t wake.
Damon
After two whole days and nearly two whole nights of travel, Damon and his odd assortment of a party reached the den of the Gold Eye pack, though it didn’t look to Damon like much of a den. Its stone walls rose hundreds of feet into the sky like a crumbling castle tower, and though the darkness prevented Damon from seeing its peak, he doubted that he would’ve been able to even if the sun had been beaming down.
It’s incredible, Damon thought as he stared up at it and followed the silhouette of the den as far as his eye would allow. He’d never ventured very far beyond the Black Claw den, which itself wasn’t very impressive. It was built into the mountainside, hard and cold just like the pack that had built it many moons ago. Where their den was intimidating and uninviting, the Gold Eye den seemed warm and almost welcoming, which was a comforting sight for Damon, a wolf without a pack.
He’d read all about the history of the major packs during his studies as a young pup but he could’ve sworn that the histories recounted the Gold Eye den as something smaller and less, well, showy. It struck him then that maybe the histories he’d spent so much time reading weren’t as true to life as his Black Claw elders would’ve had him believe.
“How are you feeling?” Rhys asked, staring up at the giant tower along with him.
“Better, believe it or not,” Damon said and it was true. He could at least walk on his own now, though not very quickly. Still, as soon as he’d been able to walk he’d promised himself that he would. It was bad enough that he was such a burden on Rhys and the other wolves, he didn’t need them thinking he was a weakling of an Alpha like his family did.
“You look like it,” Rhys said and Damon turned to find Rhys’s golden eyes twinkling in the light from the stars far up above. He really was a stunning wolf, all white and all full of a fire that Damon himself had never seen in another wolf. As much as he wanted his new friends to like him and think highly of him, he wanted to impress Rhys more than all of them. Rhys had saved his life and Damon wanted him to show him that it was a life worth saving. He couldn’t explain why but there was something about Rhys that made him aspire to be so much more than he was now and so much more than he’d ever dared believe he could be.
It could also just be the season, Damon thought. He hadn’t been able to shake that theory, as much as he’d wanted to, because the fact of the matter was that Rhys was very much in heat and it wasn’t just Damon who was acutely aware of it. The elder Silver Fang, Eleo, had taken to keeping a very close eye on the two of them ever since their first night together when he’d woken during a particularly tender moment between them. Since then, Eleo had taken on more watch shifts than he’d needed to to keep them from spending more time together than was nec
essary.
It’s probably for the best, Damon thought as he followed the other wolves to the Gold Eye den entrance, which was a massive hole in the stone wreathed in vines and leaves. If Damon had seen it on his own, he might not have believed it to be a den of one of the major packs. He’d always known that the Gold Eyes valued their connection to nature and often tried to divine the future from it but this took worship of nature to an entirely new level.
“Stop right there,” a voice called from the darkness and all of them halted. A pair of haunting amber eyes appeared in the darkness and bobbed left and right until a dark wolf materialized in the light of the moon. Despite being in his human form, Damon still smelled something different about the wolf and when it’d fully revealed itself, he knew why: the wolf was female.
“Who are you and what brings you here?” The wolf asked.
“I am Eleo Bloodvalley of the Silver Fang pack. I’ve come here with my wards to seek refuge from the Black Claws,” Eleo answered before any of them had the chance to say anything that might’ve gotten them into trouble. “And who are you?”
“I am Valri Blackriver, captain of the Silent Shifters and protector of the Gold Eyes,” the wolf answered and Damon had to stifle a sound of surprise. He’d read that the Gold Eyes operated quite differently from the other packs but he would never have guessed that they allowed females to rise to the ranks of leadership.
The Black Claws would sooner have seen their pack go extinct than allow a female to lead them in any capacity. Small wonder there are so few female Black Claws, then, Damon thought. Once the surprise had settled, Damon found himself feeling excited about the other things he stood to learn about the other packs. Maybe there’s a chance for me after all, he thought and a smile came to his face.
“Why do you seek refuge?” Valri asked, her eyes darting from face to face among them. To his credit, Eleo’s expression was blank and gave away nothing.
“War is coming,” Eleo said, his tone flat. Valri’s eyes snapped to his.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“I mean that we fled our own pack and I fear that the remaining wolves are set to make an alliance with the Black Claws,” Eleo said. “Our leader, Juno Greyborn, was killed in a challenge to his leadership. This is Rhys Greyborn, his son. I was previously the captain of the Silver Fang Rangers. I hoped I might be able to speak with your pack’s leader about what happened.”
“Leaders,” Valri said and Eleo looked puzzled, the first time his face had shown any emotion. “We have two leaders,” Valri explained and yet again Damon felt like the entire world was being slowly revealed to him, bit by bit. The Gold Eyes have two pack leaders? He thought. They really are different. I like them already.
“I see,” Eleo said. “Then I hope to speak with your leaders.”
“I don’t like the smell of you, any of you,” Valri said. “That doesn’t bode well for your chances. A pack challenge in and of itself doesn’t mean war. You’re not telling me the entire story.”
“I didn’t think it was relevant. I’m sorry, I’m not sure what your role is in your pack and I mean no offense, but the information would be best shared with your leaders,” Eleo said and Damon jumped when he felt a cold, wet nose brush against his fingers. Valri had crept around to him without a sound and without any of them noticing while Eleo spoke. She sniffed at him.
“I like your smell least of all,” she said and a chill rippled over Damon. “How am I to be sure that you weren’t sent here as a trap, Black Claw?” she asked and Damon’s blood went cold. He looked to Eleo for guidance.
“This is no trap, I promise you. The Silver Fangs, under normal circumstances, would never make friendly with the Black Claws. Surely you must know that,” Eleo said.
“Yes but these are very much unusual circumstances, aren’t they?” Valri asked. “We’ve heard rumblings, rumors from the other packs and the Packless too, about an upset with the Black Claws.”
“I don’t know what you’ve heard but I don’t doubt that at least some part of it is true. Please, Valri, allow us entrance to speak with your leaders and I promise you we’ll share everything that we know,” Eleo said.
“And harbor an enemy? My pack will not take well to that,” she said.
“He’s injured, he won’t be a threat. Beyond that, we will cause no trouble and we will leave as soon as we are able, you have my word,” Eleo said.
“Historically the word of those who’d side with the Black Claws hasn’t meant much,” Valri said.
“Let them in, Valri,” a new voice said, echoing off of the walls as it came from deep within the den.
“We would speak with them all,” yet another voice said, almost indistinguishable from the first. Though Valri growled her disapproval, she stepped aside to let them pass. In a single file line with Damon at its center, they stepped into the dark entrance and came into a cavernous main entrance bathed in the light of dozens of torches. In the center there was a raised dais and two golden-brown wolves, carbon copies of one another, sat waiting for them.
“Welcome to our home,” the wolf on the left said as they came to a stop in front of the dais. Damon didn’t like being looked down on like this, it reminded him too much of the way that Rhys and his pack’s council had judged him and nearly sent him back out into the wilds to die.
“He is Knox,” the right wolf said as he stepped forward and began making his way down the stone steps.
“And he is Lux,” other wolf said, following. Why are they speaking for each other? Damon wondered and when he caught Rhys’s confused eye, he knew he wasn’t the only one trying to make sense of the situation they’d found themselves in.
“We are the House Lunalis, seers of the Gold Eyes,” they said together. A brief moment of silence passed among them all as they took in the strangeness of these two wolves.
“I am Rhys Greyborn, heir to the Silver Fang pack,” Rhys said a few beats later as he stepped forward to meet the two wolves. Damon admired his bravery, the easy way he assumed the role of leadership. That should be me, he thought. I’m the Alpha and a pack heir myself. I should be speaking for all of us, especially since this all concerns me anyway. He hung his face so the other wolves wouldn’t see the tinge of red that accompanied the burning on his cheeks.
“We know,” the wolves said, again in unison.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Rhys Greyborn,” the one Damon thought was called Lux said.
“… You have?” Rhys asked.
“Oh yes, for many years,” Knox said. “Since before any of us walked this earth, we’ve been waiting.” Damon had to stifle a laugh. This only seemed to get weirder by the second.
“You know not of what we speak,” Lux said, reading Rhys’s face, and Rhys shook his head.
“Then let us tell you,” Knox said.
“Two, and one; the dawn has just begun,” Lux began, seeming to recite a poem from memory.
“Moon and sun; fate cannot be outrun,” Knox said.
“All and none; the war is not yet won,” Lux said.
“Two, and one; will save us from the sun,” they finished together. Their words echoed around the den. Damon was speechless. None of what they’d said made much sense to him and he doubted it made sense to any of his fellows, either.
“I don’t understand,” Rhys said. The twin wolves smirked, almost in unison.
“You will in time,” Knox said. “Maybe now isn’t that time. In any case, your friend is wounded and needs help,” he continued, nodding at Damon.
“I’m doing well now,” Damon said, not wanting to miss out on any of the conversation that was sure to take place between Rhys, Eleo, and the Lunalis twins.
“Don’t overexert yourself, Damon. We might need your strength soon,” Rhys said and Damon’s heart caught in his throat. My strength? He wondered. It was the first time that anyone had spoken of him as anything other than a coward, and the fact that it’d come from Rhys who was so fearless and, well, strong, made Damon�
�s head spin.
“Listen to your friend. He knows well,” Lux said. “Our Healers are the best in all of Moonvalley, they will see that you are mended.”
“I’ll come with you. I’d like to see the famous Gold Eye Healer’s Guild,” Kaster said, the first time that Damon had heard him speak in hours. It wasn’t as good as having Rhys as company would’ve been but it was still better than being alone while these foreign wolves poked and prodded at him.
“Good idea. Kaster is training to be a Healer himself,” Eleo said to the wolves.
“We’re aware,” they said together again. At first he though the twins were just odd but now they were starting to concern him. How do they do that? He wondered. Was it some sort of strange bond born between them while they were in the womb together? And more than that, they were so young, barely older than Damon and Rhys, and yet they were already leaders of their pack.
“Arie and Aero, escort our guest to the Healers’ Ward,” Knox called and seemingly from nowhere two older, more world-weary looking wolves appeared, golden-brown just like their pack leaders.
“Arie and Aero Silverback?” Kaster asked, his voice full of awe. Damon had never heard of them. “They come from a family of the most famous Healers in all of Moonvalley, credited largely with many of the advances in medicine we now know,” Kaster said. Maybe I’m in the right place, after all, Damon thought.
“This way,” one of the wolves said and with one last glance at Rhys, Damon and Kaster followed off to the left of the main room. The vines that covered the outside of the cave didn’t stop their growth inside and now that Damon looked closer, it seemed that they were almost intended to be used as guides for navigating the den itself. The more that Damon saw and learned about this pack, the more that he liked about them.
They entered a large room a few moments later, just smaller than the main den, and found several other wolves, beds, and jars full of all kinds of different creams and liquids. Kaster looked like he’d never seen anything quite as beautiful and Damon realized then that Kaster was perfectly suited to a role like this—and that maybe he might be too.