Chapter 45 [End]

Mila woke with a light start.

It had been nearly ten years since she had been abandoned to the surface world. Seven since she had officially become Kody’s family. He continued to sleep peacefully next to her.

The moon was nearly full and shown brightly through the windows of their room. If she listened hard, she could hear the gentle cooing breaths of a sleeping Rori one floor below, but that wasn’t what had stirred her.

Mila found herself dressing quietly. She pulled on a sweatshirt that was miles too large for her and a loose pair of pants she’d hemmed herself. She put on the first pair of shoes that she laid eyes on which were really just house slippers and stepped outside.

The night was quiet. Normally, alphas stayed at the center of the pack lodgings, but since they had taken up residency in this little Vermont town after the expansion of the packs, Mila, Kody, and Rori had moved to a house in the outskirts. It was a small house with a quaint garden surrounded by forest.

The grass crunched a little under her weight. The unicorn, though it ought to be heavier than her, made no noise at all when it approached. It blinked to her, lowering its head to accept pats, but she could feel that it was restless.

Whatever had stirred her had also called to it and it was itching to move. Mila stroked its mane as she walked around to its side. She climbed up onto its back, squeezing her legs tight to hold herself in place.

The unicorn gave a soft bleat like a goat and began to move.

She wasn’t sure exactly where they were going. Something was calling out to them both, pulling them forward. She didn’t have to think at all. She just had to move.

For miles they traveled at break-neck speed. After awhile, she understood that they were headed North. The moon was setting to her right as the sun began to rise at her left. Still, they kept going.

Even while the wind turned colder till her breaths came out in short puffs of vapor. They ignored hunger and thirst as the sun began to set and the moon rising to take its place once more.

They didn’t so much as turn their heads when the scent of the wolves disappeared behind them and they were entirely freed from the territory. Not even the distant surprised calls slowed their travel.

Mila clung to the unicorn as it grew colder and colder. It didn’t bother her. If anything, it felt good. She was moving as though in a trance, her body on autopilot.

Her body ought to have cramps from hunger. She ought to feel dehydrated or exhausted. The long hours of running were becoming days and still, she felt invigorated.

It wasn’t until the sun dipped again that the unicorn slowed. Mila slid off from its back onto a snow-covered ground. In any direction, there was nothing but the white gleam of snow and ice reflecting the moonlight.

Had she been as human as she looked, she would feel unbearably cold here. Even though it didn’t bother her terribly, her human skin was becoming red and chapped. She could see the tips of her fingers turning purple. The illusion of frostbite settling over her.

She knew for certain her toes would be feeling the same. If she kept going, they might actually snap off. It wasn’t that big of a deal to her. A little water and she would be able to heal the damage to the skin. Another moon cycle and magic from the witches would even bring back the toes if she didn’t want to bother just changing skins.

It snowed a little. The light dusting sticking to the windswept curls of her dark hair. The cold wind made her movements a little stiff. Still, she was urged forward by a call that she couldn’t quite hear.

She hadn’t been particularly aware of any living creatures outside of herself and the unicorn all this time. She’d heard them, seen the blurs of their bodies from the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t entirely absorbed their presence.

Now she noticed something. Several somethings really. In this barren area, she could see for miles in all directions. A little ways off to either side were shadows moving with her.

She didn’t know exactly where they had come from. If their journeys had been as urgent as her own. They all moved as a single entity now, walking in the direction of this call that had presumably summoned them all to this empty land.

When the icy ground ran out, Mila found herself standing in front of water. She regained control of her body as she gazed down at it. It was too cold and her senses had been too dull to be able to smell it even though it was right before her.

She blinked at it dumbly for a moment. Then a zing went through her entire essence and she felt that she could hear the call. Not just hear it, but the water glowed in front of her. Even brighter than the glow of the moonlight on the ice.

She turned her head to look at the shadowy figures that had come with her to this place. Some looked as though they’d hardly traveled, while others looked as though they’d crossed continents to get here. She wasn’t sure exactly why it was this spot they had been called. It wasn’t particularly special.

But it was still calling. The light coming from the water brightened and she felt like something was screaming for her to jump into the icy water and sink down into the abyss.

She looked at the unicorn, its large, horse-like head turning to look back at her. There could be no words between them, but she felt a deeper understanding. The unicorn left her side then, stepping right off the edge of the icy and sinking into the glow. Before it entirely disappeared, she saw the single large tooth of a narwhal breach the surface and then it was gone.

She knew why she had come now. She knew what had called her.

She had been abandoned on the planet for a decade now, but she was finally being called home. She would be welcomed with open arms.

She didn’t step forward. She stood there, hesitating for what felt like hours. One step and she would be back in her home that she had craved for years. One step and her purpose in life would be realized one more. She would be back in her hive, feeling the touch of all her kin.

Never again would she feel alone. Never again would she feel lost.

Still, she waited. She hadn’t planned on making a life for herself out here. She hadn’t ever even considered what it would be to live without the hive mind until it had happened.

Now, she had a husband and child – an entire pack – waiting for her. If she didn’t return to them, she was sure they would understand. They knew how she’d longed for the ocean waters. They wouldn’t begrudge her for going back.

Just step forward, it urged. Just come home.

Mila wasn’t the first or the last to walk away. Without speaking a word to any of the others, she turned her back on the water and started the trek back to the pack.

It was an open invitation, after all. She was welcomed back, but she didn’t have to go. It wrenched at her chest with every step, but with every step, she felt more confident with her decision.

It was much slower and lonelier without the unicorn. She felt weak and exhausted until she breathed the scent of the wolves’ markers again.

Then she was being greeted by the warm arms of Kody and the tough, smooth embrace of Rori. She leaned into them, letting the sweetness of their love seep into ever pore. The ocean might have been her first home, but this was her home now and she felt no regrets.






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