68

68
Aurora
Running snow, paws sinking into the deep drifts as we bounded. Following the plush tail ahead of me the massive wolf cut a path through the snow for us all. Evander. Clear starry skies, the high full moon, and the Aurora Borealis softly flickering colors across the horizon. Shots fired, the scent of blood and gunpowder filling my nose. Blake, his black wolf, came up beside me as we took to the trees. The Shot had come from higher up and far away. They weren’t even killing for a purpose, but to kill they would never find their mark up in the dense trees. We came upon the feral female wolf, her tawny coat molted, ungroomed as she struggled to drag her wounded back half up an embankment, towards the cover of the denser trees beyond. Her whines turned to snarls as she snapped at us. Fierce amber eyes met mine and held. Evanders, wolf bristled, I began to feel something inside me reach out as I fought to delve deeper into the vision.

The scene changed abruptly. A woman with silky brown and reddish streaked hair lay in a bed, amber eyes stared unseeing. She was black and blue, her lip and eyebrow cut, blue and purple fingerprints were worn like a collar around her graceful neck and her amber eyes held no sign of being aware. Her nearly dead body was exposed, bare, for anyone to see. But the surroundings made little sense to modern decor, the crisp sheets were rumpled, flecked with blood and the seed leaked from her exposed core and other places. My soul ached and my darkness burned with a vengeance.

‘Tick, tick, tick,’ a watch on the nightstand. It looked expensive, with all the gears visible beyond the watch's face. ‘Tick, tick, tick,’ as I zeroed in on the watch, I noted the time and date shown on the face. The uniqueness of the etched gold band.

The minimalist furnishings held no pictures, no memories, no inclination of where she could be or who owned the place she was at. Brawdy laughter filtered in from a far off room, and I strained my ears. White curtains fluttered a warm breeze, salty ocean air hit my nose. “Lads, I hope you enjoyed your little release and that my Omega had fulfilled your needs.” My ears honed in on the voice. “She was feisty, just how I like them,” a deeper voice chimed in satisfaction. My anger coiled in disgust.

My eyes landed on the girl horrified. Committing the voices to memory and the laughs of others not speaking, but clearly involved in the apparent assault of the woman here. I strained to hold the vision, as I tried to pull out any more details. *‘I will find you’ * I vowed. Her haunted eyes were the last thing I remembered before jolting awake.

Clawing my way out of Evander’s arms as I fought the heave of my stomach. His grip tightened. ‘I'm gonna be sick,’ I linked out, not trusting my stomach to take advantage of me when using my voice. He released me quickly, and was on my heels as I bolted to the bathroom, narrowly making it to the toilet as Evander grabbed up my hair. I heard Millie's footsteps come halfway up the stairs as I heaved again. I didn’t make out what she said as she called out to Evander. Her footsteps receded before returning up the stairs moments later. As I was washing my mouth out.

The small window let in the faint light of the approaching dawn. “Drink too much?” she asked, while thrusting a glass of water at me. I shook my head accepting the water to clear the bile from my throat. Sweat beaded down my back and the light cami and boy shorts I wore clung to me like a vise. I shuddered as I shook my head pushing past them and grabbing my leather-bound book off the nightstand. “The dreams again?” Evander asked. I nodded as I flipped the pages open to the next blank ones and began drawing the ragged, broken woman. “Evander my colored pencils please,” I asked, not taking my eyes off the page, my hands moving quickly expressing details.

Millie sat next to me on the bed, her tee and flannel tightly wrapped around her as she simply had underwear on her bottom half. She sat with awe watching the scene come to life. “The wolf she was hunted just shot from far away. They had no inclination to collect her, they just did it, They would have murdered her, but she was still alive.” I brought life to the color of her mangey tawny coat and the fierceness in her eyes. With the pencils, Evander had given me. When I started on the adjoining page, Millie’s hand gripped my shoulder, the graphic nature of the image clearly disturbing her as her hand covered her mouth.

Evander, who had been pacing, stared down at the image of the broken woman and an ominous growl escaped his throat. His muscles stood rigid, his gaze fierce. “She has to be one of the rouges. We have to find her before the hunters do.” I implored as my hands danced over the pages adding sparse details from my memory. I struggled to make entirely clear, snow-laden trees, rock formations, whatever tiny detail that could help. “The snow hasn’t fallen yet. There is still time. This is why we are here. Her story needs to be heard. The men that did this to her, I heard their voices, there was no remorse, she was simply a feisty toy to play with. They called her an Omega. I could smell the sea, it was warm.”

Now Millie growled as Evander’s fists clenched. “That is a term if I had my way, I would banish from existence.” Evander grit out, clearly upset by it. “She's being treated like a slave. The.. the.. council must..” Milly stammered. “It was probably members of the council that did this,” Evander spat. “This is why I refused to entertain their offer. Why I wanted nothing to do with them. At the time, I didn’t see how I could take them all on. But now,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “Once all these battered souls voice the transgressions of the packs and leaders who have wronged them, how can we not take them down?” He had a determined air to his voice, mirrored the conviction that leached through the bond to me. I nodded in agreement. “We have to save her. It all starts with her,” I agreed, tapping the page, prior to flipping it and detailing the watch. Millie left and brought up coffee in the time it took me to bring that image to life.

“It’s the only thing there that stood out. The room was empty and unlived in. There were no personal effects. This is all I have and the memory of their voices, their laughter.” I said shaking my head with disgust.

After showing my brother the images he set off in wolf form to scout with those who watched the border. Millie, Evander, and I ate our breakfast in silence. We were in a bubble at our table surrounded by others who took little notice of the somber aura that surrounded our persons.