The Silver Lining (Lunar River Series)

Chapter 2

CASSIUS

I inhale the mornings warmth covering my skin. The invigorating nap is filling me up with the calm I need. I guess I also shifted back into my human form. In a moment similar to this one, it dawns on me after I had my first shift, why my mother and I were captured. I remember my wolf hurting so much after that realization. We were simply caught because we are wolves and to them we are mounted taxidermized heads on a wall. I nuzzle my face into the grass and close my eyes. Listening to the sounds around me I re-focus. I do my best to push out the negativity and zone in on the birds chirping, the water rushing beneath me, and the howl of a crying wolf. That's nice. Wait what? That's not right?

My eyes shoot open and my ears perk up. It definitely isn't one of my pack family. Listening carefully, my ear twitches. Again, an agonizing howl pierces through my ear drums. Without a moment to spare, I run. I run towards the sounds of distress. I run towards the pain echoing between the trees, ricocheting against one another towards me. Flashes of my mother come flooding through me, her struggle, her own screams, her pain but I have to focus. I have to find the wolf calling for help. I shift mid run.

Wolfie

 My paws hit the ground faster. I can smell it. I can smell them, hunters!

I slow down to not give away my presence.  I can smell the wolf and hunter just several feet ahead of me. Lowering myself to the ground I scan the area. The quiet between the hurting wolf's cries are almost scarier than the cries themselves. Birds are no longer singing, squirrels are scurrying, and a single vulture circles in the sky above what it thinks is its next meal. A hunter comes into view from behind one of the trees and laughs at his morbid version of victory. The camouflage he so proudly wears hangs heavy with stuffed pockets. His matching shirt flaps in the wind, revealing how it is a size too big for the man.

 On the ground is the poor female wolf with her paw in a bear trap. Blood is staining her brown fur in a mix of red hues. The man in camo approaches her with a machete. Without thinking I take a step forward cracking a branch beneath my paw. The hunter jerks his head in my direction but I freeze low to the ground. One wrong move can get us both killed. I steady my footing and make my way around the hunter. I scout, sniff, and listen. He's alone, I think to myself and I thank the goddess for such luck. The man stands before her and laughs while taunting her with the machete. He raises his rusty blade. The awful state of that weapon only emphasis the vile unkempt nature of the inhuman hunter. With his machete in the air, my body moves on instinct.

All the training and discipline the pack taught me over the years has brought me to this moment. In swift movements, I pounce on him and bite his neck. With a tight hold, I dig my teeth in while I catch my breath and he loses his. The hunter gurgles his blood and some ooze into my mouth. It pools under my tongue, forcing me to hold back the gag it is provoking. I let go to watch the life fade from his eyes. Another scum gone.

I turn around to the poor wolf who is unconscious and bleeding.  I nudge her with my snout but she remains unresponsive. Having no other choice, I shift back to my human form so I can safely help her.

Cassius

I pry the trap open, holding it down as best I could with my foot and removing her leg. The jaws of the trap cut the bottom of my feet but I grit through the pain. The trap snaps closed again, jumps, and settles on the ground next to my feet. Lifting the wolf in my arms, her fur brushes against my bare skin, tickling me. She is so soft it's easy to forget the blood drying up on her leg. The wind blows against us sending a good whiff of her fur up my nose. I can smell roses possibly from a garden, ashes from a fire pit, freshwater from the river, and something else...something soothing. Lavender maybe? It was exactly what I needed. I carry her following the scent that now forms a map in my mind. I hold onto that scent to track the direction she came from. I take another sniff after limping a bit of distance. The trail smells stronger. My foot is almost healed and walking is now more manageable. Once more that lavender mixed with something else I can't figure out dances up my nose from both her and in the distance.