BROKEN MOON, PART 2
Claudia King
Published by Claudia King at Smashwords
Copyright © 2013 Claudia King
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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* * * * *
Broken Moon, Part 2
* * * * *
The cold chilled April to the bone. Despite her warm clothes and mittens she shook uncontrollably, the dying light turning the white landscape grey and lonely. In the blink of an eye her whole world had changed, leaving her alone and vulnerable in the middle of the swirling blizzard, darkness creeping in around her as the cold worked its way between the folds of her clothing.
Her throat was tight with a frozen sob, one that felt like it would tear her apart if she let it out.
Harper was gone. He was dead. He would never—
April clutched at handfuls of the powdery snow through her mittens, eyes wide and watering, refusing to think about her childhood friend's empty cabin, her empty future without him, all the conversations around the fire they'd never be able to have.
She shuffled backwards, away from the creaking bridge, leaving a messy trail through the snow as her trembling muscles tried to get her away from the terrible site of what had just happened.
She felt like a helpless child, abandoned and alone in the wilderness, deprived of the comforting hand she'd always been able to cling to for support.
Ahead of her the feral wolf prowled back across the bridge, no longer afraid now that its pursuer was gone. Its eyes were fixed on April, hungry and unblinking as it climbed over the fallen rubble and snow scattering the planks, skirting around the smashed section of the bridge on agile paws. A thin howl joined the whistle of the wind, and two more dark shapes crept out of the blizzard on the far side of the bridge, padding silently after the first wolf as it approached.
April struggled to get to her feet, but panic sapped the strength from her muscles and she tripped back into the snow with a whimper, trying in vain to summon the survival instincts of her wolf to the surface. She could see the gaunt frame of the first wolf clearly now as he approached; a male, wild and savage, yellowing teeth bared in aggression.
She needed her wolf's legs to run, but how could she run? Harper was gone, and her stomach was still in free fall, flailing and twisting in an uncontrollable panic.
His pawprints were still there in front of her, clear and still until the feral stepped across them, scattering snow across the last trail left by her partner.
She met the feral's gaze, hot tears finally spilling from her eyes as she clutched handfuls of hard snow through her mittens, lips pressed together tight as she willed her wolf to awaken. Somewhere deep down she still had that burning need for survival, and right now it was the only thing she could latch on to for support.
The sound of soft paws crumpling the snow behind her reached her ears, and she twisted around expecting to see a fourth feral, but the creature standing over her was no wild beast.
He'd crept out of the blizzard without a sound, Cyan's amber eyes shining against his jet black fur as he stepped in front of April, putting himself between her and the other wolf.
The feral gave a nervous bark, suddenly hesitant, but he didn't turn and flee this time. The two others were coming up behind him, spreading out to encircle their prey as they crouched down on their haunches, ready to pounce. There were still three of them, and Cyan was all by himself.
April struggled to will her wolf to the surface, but her dark protector's sudden arrival had broken her concentration, sending her thoughts and stomach plummeting once more as though they had tumbled off the bridge along with Harper.
She couldn't help Cyan, and he couldn't help her all by himself.
The first wolf lunged, but Cyan moved like lightning, catching the feral's neck between his teeth with a vicious snarl and hurling the creature aside with the kind of strength April had never before seen in a werewolf.
The second two darted in fast, one sinking his teeth into Cyan's flank while the other locked jaws with him. Again the dark-furred male twisted ferociously, the sheer power of his body sending both wolves stumbling through the snow as he threw them off, spinning around and taking a few steps back so that he was facing all three of them.
There was blood on the snow, but April couldn't tell whether it belonged to Cyan or his attackers. The three ferals were hesitant and confused, thrown off guard by the strength of their opponent, but their rabid hunger still burned in their eyes.
They came at him again, and he sent one reeling with a staggering cuff from his forepaw before the remaining two went for his throat. He snapped his jaws at one, drawing more blood and sending it scuttling back with a yowl of pain and a torn ear, but the remaining feral latched its jaws around his shoulder and held on tight, snarling and digging its paws into the ground to try and drive him back.
Rather than trying to twist away again Cyan scrabbled to find his own footing, pushing back against the wolf so suddenly that it tripped and fell, legs slipping out from beneath it as it was bulled over by the force of Cyan's response.
They came at him again and again, but every time the larger wolf drove them back with such ferocity that he almost seemed like a wild beast himself.
April watched, frozen with cold and fear, until at last the male feral turned and ran, streaking back across the bridge and disappearing into the snow. A distant howl cut through the air and a moment later the remaining two followed, battered and bloody.
Cyan's body heaved as he gasped for breath, one of his forelegs giving out beneath him as he slumped forward against the ground. April finally dragged herself out of the furrow her body had carved in the snow, crawling forward on hands and knees to rest a hand on his side in silent thanks, but the moment her fingertips touched his shaggy fur he shrugged her off with a snort, stumbling to his feet again and shifting back into his human form.
"I'm fine," he panted, gripping her hand tight as he tried to help her up. "Can you walk?"
"I don't know," April responded, her voice sounding as numb as her body felt. "Harper fell."
"I know." Cyan sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "I saw. But we can't stay here. I don't know if I'll be able to fight them off again."
April gave him a small nod, clutching at his hand through her mittens, afraid to let go even as the snow trapped between their palms began to melt and soak through the fabric. She dragged herself to her feet, leaning against him as she forced her heavy legs to move forward, tears still running down her cheeks, a sob still buried in her chest, but unable to come out.
* * * * *
Cyan was ready to collapse after the fight with the ferals. His body ached from the bites in his shoulder and hip, but neither of them were serious. A human might have needed a doctor, but he knew his werewolf body would begin to heal the damage by itself within the hour. He'd been pushed to the brink of physical endurance before, and he wasn't about to give in now, not when there was more than his own life at stake.
He let April lean on him, supporting her with an arm around her shoulders even though the effort of doing so tore at his injured muscles as though the ferals were sinking their teeth into him all over again.
They would have been much faster in their wolf forms, safer from the biting cold as wel
l, but he wouldn't be able to support April on four legs. He doubted she could even summon the will to shift shape at this point. She seemed numb, vacant, and that was always the most dangerous way for a person to be after suffering such a loss. Harper had just been another werewolf to Cyan, another unfortunate victim, but to her... Living her isolated life up here in the mountains, had she even had to deal with the death of a loved one before?
The troublesome realisation that they wouldn't make it back to the camp at this pace crept up on Cyan until it forced him to speak. Night was falling fast, and the pair of them might freeze by the time they stumbled back to the warm cabins of the Highland Pack.
"We won't make it back to camp like this," he said. "I need you to take your wolf form, if you can."
At first April didn't seem to hear him, her eyes fixed ahead as she clung to his arm, but just as he was about to repeat the question she spoke.
"There's a hunting cabin near here. Off the path. This way." She tugged his arm to the left and they stumbled their way off the path, heading further into the blizzard towards the rocky mountain face.
Her voice had sounded so fragile and distant, a million miles away from the eager, friendly girl that had welcomed him to the camp that morning. The only one that had welcomed him.
His chest tightened for a moment and he grit his teeth, ignoring the pain and pushing onward. He would do everything he could to get her back to her people safe. For her moment of kindness, she'd earned at least that much from him.
"How do you feel?" he said, though he felt like any kind of conversation was pointless right now. It was painfully obvious how she must be feeling. All he could do was get her somewhere safe and keep an eye on her until morning. This was something she'd have to deal with by herself over the coming weeks and months. Maybe even for the rest of her life.
He didn't know her. What could he do to make the loss of her partner any easier for the girl?
"I want to cry," April said in a thin voice, almost lost amidst the howling of the wind. "But I can't... I can't stand it."
You'll cry soon, Cyan thought. And again, and again. But each time it'll get a little more bearable. He didn't share his thoughts aloud, but he tightened his fingers around her shoulder, giving the shivering girl a squeeze.
Thankfully it wasn't far to the hunting cabin. Cyan would have preferred to put a little more distance between them and the feral wolves, but the cabin was sturdy, and the wind and snow would help to mask their scent.
The building was built on wooden stilts a few feet off the ground with a short set of wooden stairs leading to the door, presumably to keep it from being buried in snow drifts. Cyan helped April to the door before collecting a few heavy blocks of firewood from a pile behind the cabin and following her in. It was pitch black inside, the only window covered with heavy shutters to keep the cold out. April fumbled her way to the table and pressed a box of matches into his hand before slumping down in the corner.
By the light of a match he closed the heavy door and bolted it shut, cutting out the howl of the wind and plunging them into silence as he searched for a lamp or some candles, the sounds of his and April's heavy breathing feeling oppressively intimate in the dark cabin.
He found an old paraffin lamp by the door, but by the feel of it there was barely any fuel left, and after lighting it he made his way straight to the stone fireplace. In the dim light he could see April was huddled up against a heap of soft animal hides beside him, and a coarse rug lay beneath their feet. Besides the table, a pair of stools, and a trunk in the corner, the cabin didn't have much in the way of furniture.
After he had kindled a fire and fed in one of the hunks of wood he'd brought from outside Cyan sat down beside April, breathing a sigh of relief as he finally let his aching body rest, grateful for the warmth of the flames and the pile of furry animal hides behind him.
"Do you want to talk about him?" he said at last. "I know I wouldn't want to be alone with my thoughts on a night like this."
April nodded unsteadily, looking into the fire.
"Who was he?" Cyan said. "How did the two of you end up together?"
"He was my best friend when we were little. My only friend, really," April replied. She sounded as though she was on the verge of tears, but at least she was talking. That was good. "I mean, there was Blackthorn, too, but he was more like an older brother. Harper was—" She stopped, closing her eyes and pressing the back of a hand to her mouth, a sob threatening to escape. "He was the one I could always talk to. He was the one I always went on adventures with."
Cyan nodded. "And when you got older?"
"Everyone has to find a mate," she said blankly. "He was going to be mine."
"Everyone?" Cyan frowned.
"To carry on the pack. It's our duty." April stifled another sob, the tears finally spilling from the corners of her eyes. "I didn't want it," she said, her voice almost a whisper, as though she was afraid of him hearing it. "I didn't want any of it. I didn't want to be a mother, I didn't want to be mated yet, I just wanted... I just wanted everything to stay the same as it always was."
"Because of your instinct?" Cyan said.
April nodded, swallowing hard. "I suppose so, but that's no excuse. I should have been more grown up about it. I should've been happy with what everyone expected of me. I didn't want it, but I didn't want—" Her voice broke, a heart-wrenching sob escaping her chest as she shook with grief. "I didn't want this!" She buried her face in her arms, gasping for breath in between her tears as she hugged her legs close, rocking back and forth like a lost child.
Cyan put his arm around her, taking a deep breath as she leaned in to him, clutching at his jacket and burying her face in his side as she wept. He had experienced enough heartache to be dull to the random cruelties of the world by this point, but still he felt for the girl clinging to his side as her body shook with grief. She didn't deserve this.
"Don't blame yourself for feeling that way," he said. "It wasn't your fault."
"But— but I didn't want to be his mate!" she sobbed. "And now he's dead!"
"You not wanting it didn't make those rocks fall. Sometimes when you lose someone it is your own fault, but you don't have to burden yourself with what happened to Harper." Cyan paused, his throat tightening. Part of him almost wanted to tell her the truth; that there were worse ways of losing someone than watching them die, but that wouldn't do either of them any good right now.
He rubbed her shoulder gently, letting her cry into his jacket for as long as she needed, and as the minutes wore by he began to realise that he wouldn't be leaving the Highland Pack any time soon. They might not have spoken much, they might not have even known anything meaningful about one another, but some shared experiences went beyond words. He was the one who was here for April on a night she'd remember for the rest of her life, and he wouldn't be able to move on until he knew she was going to be alright.
For all of the bad things that could be said of his instinct, part of the reason he'd become an alpha in the first place had been a desire to lead others. Not just to subdue the strong, but to protect the weak as well.
Her own pack would be able to take care of her in the months to come, but right now he was all she had.
* * * * *
April cried until her chest ached, her eyes sore and puffy and her body stiff from clinging to her quiet companion for so long. She had a lot more tears to shed, and every moment brought with it a new memory of Harper that she'd never be able to relive again, but at last the exhaustion of her body overcame the pain of her emotions. She drifted in and out of a fitful doze, slumped against Cyan's lap as she held on to him for comfort.
She didn't know what she would have done without him. She'd be dead, torn apart by the feral wolves, or huddling here by herself with nobody to numb the pain of losing the person she'd been closest to in the world; not as a lover, but as a friend.
If only they could have stayed friends. Perhaps then Harper wouldn't have needed to prove him
self to her, or to himself.
Why couldn't everything have just stayed the way it was?
April couldn't keep track of time, but the cabin was still dark and the wind still howling when she opened her eyes. She looked up at Cyan, her fingers still clutching at his jacket and her head resting against his thigh where it had fallen in an exhausted slump.
His eyes were lidded, but he was still awake, the firelight casting shadows across his face as he stared off into the distance.
"Cyan?" she whispered.
"Mhm?" His lips barely moved.
"Thank you for being here."
He shook his head faintly. "I'd have done the same for anyone."
"But... thank you." She closed her eyes tight, but no more tears came. "You're a good person."
He looked away then, gazing into the darkness of the cabin as though hesitant to meet her eyes. She eased herself up from his lap, but the loss of his warmth frightened her, made her feel alone again, and she wrapped her arms around his waist a moment later, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Have you ever lost someone?" she said softly. After a pause she felt him nod, and she squeezed tighter, her voice cracking with emotion. "A mate?"
"No." His tone was distant. "But maybe... maybe she could have been, if I'd done things differently." He shook his head. "You don't want to hear about me."
"Please?" she said. "I don't mind. I don't want to be quiet. Alone." April's chest hurt at the thought of trying to sleep again, with nothing but the memories of Harper digging into her soul like shards of ice. The loneliness would kill her, her inner wolf scrabbling around in a panic for anything familiar and comforting to latch on to. She might have had a dull instinct, but right now it was amplifying everything she felt about Harper a dozen times over, forcing her to confront not just the pain of his loss, but the terrible changes it would wreak on her safe and structured life in the days to come. Her wolf couldn't handle change on this scale, and she'd never before had her expectations of the world shattered in such a way.
Broken Moon: Part 2 Page 1