Chapter 37-

-Ten years later-
Irvin:
I know I’m not allowed to go on scouting missions until I’m sixteen, but I started shifting over a year ago and I’m fast enough to keep up with the other warriors. Tensions have been high lately; I heard my dads talking about having to set more traps around our boarders, and the alarm warning us that the border has been breached has been set off everyday for the last few weeks. The other men in the pack have been spread thin between patrol rotations that have doubled and setting and resetting traps and alarms around the borders. We have no idea how the human hunters know how to disable the alarms and traps. Thankfully no one has gotten within a mile of the village, but everyone is on edge. It seems like something big is coming and we are sitting ducks waiting for it to happen. There is a different smell other than the human’s scent and the pack that I picked up in the woods a few miles from our house. I know I shouldn’t be out here, especially not alone but I want to do my part to help the pack. I’m not too young, they may be extra worried because I’m their son, but I am capable. My wolf form is gray with white all along my belly. The feeling of transforming and feeling the strength and speed that my body becomes capable of is amazing. When I decide I’ll follow the new scent to see where it came from, I hear a twig snap behind me. I growl and spin around to find Oriel had followed me. “Irvin what are you doing out here? If mom finds out she will have a conniption. The alarm went off this morning and dad is calling a pack meeting for tonight.” “I wanted to help. I thought I smelled something strange out here.” “And you what thought you’d follow the trail and save the day?” She is such a smart ass sometimes, but she is also my best friend and I know she won’t rat me out to our parents. “You listen and behave all the time, right? I know you went with Brody, Korbin and Layla to the falls two nights ago.” “You went too dummy!” “Don’t I always go and keep you out of trouble?” “Oh, that what you call it huh? I know you were checking out Layla.” “No, I wasn’t.” I give her a look and her face turns as red as her hair. I know she gets jealous even though she is my sister, and it bothers her that Layla has a very obvious crush on me. I love Apollo but I’m closer to Oriel than anyone else, for as long as I can remember I don’t want to be anywhere without her. We fight sometimes but only because she is so stubborn and thinks she knows everything. “No one is more important to me than you, you know that. Now we should probably go back home especially if everyone is already worked up.” “No, let’s go find out what that scent is. I want to help too.” “No way firecracker. Our dads would kill me if I took you out. What if we do find something and you get hurt, I could never forgive myself.” “I have the dagger dad gave me and I have you, what’s the worst that could happen?” She knows I can’t deny her when she gives me that pouty look with her different colored eyes big and shining up at me. She knows that she won and climbs on my back. We don’t get far when I see a shadowy blur run ahead of us, every hair on my wolf body stands on edge. Without thinking of the consequences, I howl out the distress signal and the alarm blares. When I turn to run back to the house and away from the threat acutely aware that Oriel is on my back and in danger, she jumps off of me and runs towards the shadow her dagger drawn. “Oriel stop!” I yell and chase after her. Oriel isn’t like the other girls in our pack, she is already bigger than the rest of the girls and as fast and strong as most of the boys. I know its always bothered her when people make comments about her stature. I think she is perfect just the way she is, but she is still not as strong as a shifter. I quickly catch up and howl out again, the shadow though has stopped running away and is almost to Oriel. I jump in front of her with my jaw open wide, my teeth itching to get into him. Now that he’s this close I know why his smell was so different; he’s not a wolf shifter like us but he is a creature of the night. I have heard of them but never actually seen a vampire up close before. I know our history, we used to live alongside of each other in peace all children of the moon goddess. When the war broke out between wolf shifters the vampire king used it as his chance to grab power for his people, thinking he could wipe us out as we fought each other. Of course, since then they have been known to not be trustworthy allies, but we occasionally worked together or lived in close proximity. Our pack was betrayed by a vampire who aided the hunters in their attacks that killed the women and children of the pack before the other woman came and found mates. “So, this is the red headed bitch Marcus wants so bad hmmm.” His disgusting sneer makes me want to gut him. “Maybe I’ll take her now. Then we wouldn’t have to wait anymore lurking in the shadows.” “Fuck you, you’re not taking my sister anywhere. You’re dead for stepping foot in this pack!” When I see him lunge forward, I don’t hesitate, I jump on top of him and rip his throat out with my teeth. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth as he twitches below me. I see his hand raise up to claw at me but Oriel that stubborn girl she stabs him in the forehead, and he finally goes limp. “You were supposed to run, not stay behind and fight.” “I would never leave you Irvin, you know that.” “You need to protect yourself Oriel, I would never survive if something happened to you. I heal faster than humans.” “I know I just wanted to protect you too.” I wipe the blood spatter and tears from her eyes and hear the heavy footsteps coming our way. “Irvin, Oriel!” My dad James runs to us hugging each of us to his chest and looking us over for injuries. Once he sees that we are unharmed the fear in his eyes is replaced by anger and I know we are in trouble. Just as he’s ready to lay into us our dad Lucas runs up to us with worry and fear written all over his face. “What’s going on here?! Why are you two out here, and with a filthy dead bloodsucker?” Oriel pipes up with more courage than I feel right now. “We will tell you everything, but we should get back and be close to mom and Apollo in case he wasn’t alone.” “Lucas take them back to Ember and have Shane organize a lockdown and perimeter search. I need to sever his head and burn the body.” Our dad nods at our Alpha’s commands and turns with a severe look of disappointment on his face. “Oh, and if you think you two are off the hook, you couldn’t be more wrong.” “Yes dad.” We both say in unison. Fuck we are in deep this time; I should have known better but I can’t help but feel satisfied seeing an enemy’s dead body at our feet and knowing I protected the pack.
Our mother paces back and forth in front of the fireplace. She sent a very curious Apollo to bed not long ago. I know mom is worried about Apollo following in our reckless footsteps, he’s still a pup and probably a few years from his first shift. Although his might come on sooner than mine did, he has Alpha blood running through his veins so he will much likely be bigger and shift sooner than the others in our pack. I found out around age eight or so that my parents adopted me when I was born. I overheard my friend Brody’s mom talking with my teacher about how my biological mom was attacked and left after I was born. When I asked my mom about it, she broke down and told me that I was hers, no matter who gave birth to me that I was as much hers as Oriel and Apollo and both of my dads said the same. It bothered me at first but now I feel special because she choose me, I have never thought of my mother as anything but my mom and my Luna. I hate feeling her disappointment now. We are waiting for my father James to get home from checking in with all the pack families. As of now we are on a strict lockdown and the women and children are not to leave their houses for anything unless escorted and have permission. Unfortunately, I am still considered a child. I know the losses my pack has faced in the past, that makes what I did today worse. I put my sister in danger, and I feel ashamed.