Zombies 5

Old Ways, New Tricks

Willa growled as she hurled rocks at a nearby tree. She was angry, angry at Wynter for leading the Lupus pack to their den, angry at her mother for allowing them to join their pack, and angry with herself, for lashing out at her best friend.

She knew Wynter's heart was in the right place, but how could they trust wolves who had turned their backs on them more than once? They had to protect their own, wasn't that what the elders had taught them? That the pack came first?

Willa grabbed another rock and hurled it at the tree. As she turned around to grab another stone, she froze. Sitting on a rock on the other side of the clearing, was one of the wolves from the Lupus clan. He sat quietly with his head slightly tilted, as if studying her curiously.

Willa growled and her eyes flashed yellow. "What do you want?"

The male wolf didn't speak, nor did he move from his position. He just sat and continued to watch, which only infuriated Willa more.

"Answer me!" Willa barked, her canines bared. "Why are you here!?"

Despite her intimidation the male wolf didn't even flinch, he just remained in place. Willa grabbed at her hair and released a frustrated howl before glaring at him.

"Is that all you're going to do? Just sit there!?" Willa ranted. "I don't understand! Why are you here!? Why are you just sitting there!? Are you enjoying this!? Is that it!? Fine! Sit there! Watch me throw rocks at trees! Watch me howl in frustration! My best friend probably hates me and I can't even figure out how to protect my pack!"

"Willa. I see now, it suits you." The male wolf replied.

"W-What?" Willa asked, her anger slowly being replaced with confusion.

"Willa." He repeated. "Your name, it means protector. It suits you."

Willa crossed her arms. "Yeah, so? What's it to you?"

The male wolf shrugged. "Nothing really, it's just interesting. You're name means protector and you're frustrated because you feel like you can't protect your pack. It's....ironic."

"So that's it? I'm just a big joke to you?" Willa asked before shaking her head. "You know what, forget it. You're not worth my time."

"You realize you can't ever completely protect them right?" The male wolf asked. "Things will happen that are out of your control, you can't change that."

Willa stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him. "Don't you think I know that? My pack almost died twice, because we lost our moonstone. I couldn't fix that. I had to watch my pack suffer instead. I hated it."

"So you can imagine how my pack felt as they watched their friends and family die." The male wolf replied.

"So what Wynter said is true?" Willa asked curiously before giving him a stone-glare. "How do I know that's not a lie?"

Instead of responding the male wolf stood up and walked towards her. Willa backed up as he came near. "What are you doing?"

Without a word he turned around and faced the stone he had been sitting on. Though his back was to her, she saw him reach up towards his own neck and faint glow appeared, then grew brighter. That's when she noticed the moving images being projected on the rock.

Surprised and amazed, Willa drew closer, entranced by the images. She saw wolves laying down, pale and ill; flashes of sobbing families standing in front of crosses made of twigs tied together with twine; an image of Walker hugging a young girl as they sat beside an older male who said his last words with a final breath; and last an empty den as the small pack prepared to leave home.

Willa turned to face the young male and realized she was now standing beside him. He removed his hand from the moonstone around his neck and met her gaze. He said nothing, but he didn't need to, she had seen everything.

"It's true." Willa said softly, finding her voice. "They really are gone. But how.... how did you do that? I thought only memory stones could create projections?"

"Memory stones are just large moonstones. Our ancestors just called them memory stones because they were made solely for that purpose." He explained. "However, any moonstone can hold and project memories if its wearer commands it to."

Willa thought back to the memory stone Wyatt had used to show Addison the image of the great Alpha. It was just a large chunk of moonstone with a different name. Why had the elders never told them that?

"So projections from any memory stone or moonstone are someone's memories?" Willa asked.

He nodded and her eyes widened. "But our memory stone that shows the Great Alpha, how can it hold a memory of someone who didn't exist?"

"The Great Alpha has existed in many lifetimes." The male wolf replied. "They always have white hair, and are always female, that's what the elders told us. It's likely the image you've seen is a Great Alpha of the past."

Willa nodded, rubbing her moonstone between her fingers. "How do I project a memory?"

"Just think of the memory you want to see and channel it into your moonstone." He told her.

Willa closed her eyes and focused on her projecting a memory into her moonstone. When she opened her eyes an image of her at two years old sitting in her father's lap was projecting on the rock.

"Daddy." Willa breathed, staring at the image as she watched her father tickle her two year old self. It was the last memory she had of him before the accident.

Willa turned and looked at the male wolf. "Thank you for showing me this. What's your name?"

"Wade." He replied, meeting her gaze. "Wade Louvel."

Author's Note

Alright guys, here it is. Next chapter on Monday. See ya! -Meloetta246