Rogue: a novella

6

Everyone in the village has come out tonight to pay their final respects to Macy. The kids, not that there are many living here, are all out mine and Thalia's house with Finn. No one speaks, everyone lost in their own minds, staring at the fire.

I sit on a log, Thalia's head resting on my shoulders, her fingers laced with mine as are breaths syncs in the night air. The stars glimmer above and the moon is bright in the dark sky. A part of me likes to think that the Moon Goddess is welcoming Macy home.

Even the woods surrounding our homes are quiet tonight. It's like the animals that live here are respecting our mourning.grateful"What do we do about Noah?" Thalia asks quietly, her free hand wiping at the tears still lingering on her cheeks, "Do we go look for him?"

Some of the others look up from the flames. Grief heavy on everyone's posture and all share the same look with each other. Remorse is written on all of our faces. The answer is clear to us all, but no one wants to say it. None of us wants to be the person who says the truth out loud.

If we went looking for Noah, we'd be looking for a dead man. If he were alive, Macy wouldn't have made it back alone. Whatever happened out there claimed both their lives.

Going out there could only risk more lives. But where exactly does that leave us? No more trips to the human city? We need those supplies and I can tell by the looks on everyone faces that they know as well as I do.

"We need to provide a wider berth to the pack lines," Jojo says suddenly, her arms clinging to Mac, "Maybe....maybe they got too close and the patrols got 'em,"

Thalia and I share a look but don't say anything. I've only been on two trips to the human city with Noah, but none of the routes are even remotely near pack territory. We have a pretty good system of staying more than one hundred miles from the border lines.

Everyone begins talking at once, voice's blurring together as everyone talks to be heard. The sudden hysteria is a stark contrast to the silence that clung to us only seconds earlier. But maybe they have a reason to be hysterical.

Macy didn't attack herself out there and whatever, or whoever, it was could be heading this way. Are we sitting ducks here, waiting for whatever attacked Macy and Noah, to find us?

"Enough," at first no one hears Iris. She didn't shout and didn't stand up. She didn't even look away from the fire, so it took a minute for everyone to calm down enough for her to speak again.

"We don't know what happened and guessing is only causing more fear," she says once she has everyone's attention, "this is where we've built our home and I, for one, will not live in fear. We will take extra precautions with our supply runs, even if we have to go in larger groups,"

I turn my attention back to the fire as we all absorb Iris' words. She is right, of course. Having lived the nomad life as long as she has, this probably isn't the first time she has dealt with this type of situation.

Still, even though no one is saying it, worry still hangs in the air mixing with the smoke. Despite the feeling in my gut telling me that it was pack wolves who did this, I'll still be cautious. Especially where it concerns Thalia and Finn.

I say a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess, asking her to bring peace to Macy and Noah before pressing a soft kiss to my mates head.

I will do everything in my power to protect the ones I love - and though I hold Thalia and Finn at the top of that list, the others sitting around this fire are included. These people are more than people in my village, they're my pack.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 Year later 

We've made it a point to have weekly meetings. I like to joke that they are pack meetings, and essentially they are. We check in with each other and make sure that everyone came back safely from the supply runs.