Silent Walk, Book 1 of the Vigilance Series

Chapter 8

        Months later, I turned 16. I hadn't figured out who I wanted to be my mate, but before I could sit down and think alone, Kyr ran up to me-panicked. "Enai! We must get to to the Orphanage! No time for talking we must go Now!" I nodded and we darted to the Orphanage. I saw what he was talking about. It was all burned down, to smoldering piles of burnt rubble. I was a wolf at the time, so I bent my nose down to pick through the ash. The human officials hadn't noticed it yet, but when I picked through the ashes, I found bones. Dark, burned, bones of young pups. Some of them were wolf bones, some were human. I did notice also that there was broken crossbow bolts around the place and speared through some of the bodies. As I sifted more through the black graveyard, I heard whimpering. I scented the air and caught the scent of someone familiar. Shaneesha! I screamed in my mind. The whimpering stopped. I darted through the rubble and saw another wolf, almost as black as the soot around her. She looked up at me, and I caught the acrid scent of burnt hair mixed with blood. She was hunched over something else too. I bent my nuzzle in and a paw flashed out at me and lightly cut my nose. She was protecting one of the young. Kyr and I helped Shaneesha up on her feet while holding the pup in my jaws.

When we got to the cabin, all of the other wolves were up and alarmed. I felt pounding screams in my head of worry and confusion, so I sat down in my room while Kyr explained. Shaneesha was in shock and the pup was in another room with Osiris. I smelled of char and soot when Kinteera came in, but I didn't care. He asked "What happened to you?" and I explained to him everything from my point of view, hoping that Kyr hadn't twisted the story.

The next day, I walked into the kitchen to see the rest of the pack glaring at Shaneesha and the pup. Her hair was messed up and scorched, her face showing a haunted glow as she stared off into the distance. Kyr stalked up to her "What happened!?" I could feel his rage as well as hear and see it. She looked up at him, stunned and silent. Kyr raised his hand and left a bright red mark on her face as she collapsed on the floor. "Kyr stop!" Silleca shouted. He clenched his fists. He turned, and I was almost certain he would hit Silleca too. Osiris stood beside me and whispered "Why aren't you stopping him?" "He gets things done, Osiris. We need him." I cautioned. She sighed "You really are a fool." and walked away. Kyr sat down on the sofa angered. Kinteera tried a different approach. He helped her off of the floor and sat down beside of her in a kitchen chair. "You remember me, right? I'm Kinteera." She nodded and glared at Kyr who was sulking in the living room. "I don't know him though." she snarled. Kinteera put his hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, he won't hurt you. Just tell me what happened and we will all leave you alone." he soothed. She started:

"It was late afternoon when two humans came into the orphanage, requesting entry. I dismissed them, telling them that the kids here were defective and mentally incapable-to most humans that would mean that they didn't want them. But they pushed me aside and pulled out guns and lighters. One of them glared at me and said "We know exactly what goes on here, you don't need to hide these... creatures from us!" They were so angry. At what? Kids? What did they do wrong? Why do they offend humans as much as they do? They killed them all, right in front of me. Then they beat me, slapped me, and... and... other things I'd rather not disucess. They shot the young in the spine-not the head. Once they left all of the young screaming and dying, they started to light up the place. But I saw one. He was hiding under a table near me and he looked very frightened. Luckily, none of the Hunters saw him, so when they were out of sight, I sneaked towards him silently. When they all left, I hid under metal furniture and waited, just in case they were waiting outside. I passed out and woke to you guys. That's it, I swear!" she was frantic. I had no idea what to do, so I consulted Kyr an hour later about it. He told me that we should go to the wreckage to scent them out and follow them from there.

I took Kyr, Osiris, and Kinteera with me to the Orphanage and told the pack to stay put unless an hour had passed without my return. When we got there, the reek of Hunters was everywhere. They had obviously come back sooner. There was also a distinct trail of where they went. Behind the Orphanage was a large patch of unclaimed forest said to be owned by humans, and the High Monarch had respected that. Well, that was also where the trail went. We passed through the brush easily, as there had been obvious trails of where they went. I also seeked other routes they could've taken. It was seemingly the only route they went had to be the most distinctive trail. Almost as if they wanted us to follow them... I stopped for a second and lifted my narrow head to the air. The scent seemed to lead off, but just a little bit. Kinteera scented it too, and he dived in through a thicket that wafted human scent. I heard the sound of a harpoon, and the whinnying of a wolf. "Kinteera!"