The Alpha's Ghost

Chapter 1

“No.”

I was firm. I had to be. I had gone with all of Tammy’s crazy ideas but I had to draw the line somewhere. What hadn’t we done? With the last of our savings, Tammy and I had gone on so many wild adventures. Skydiving, bungee jumping, ocean diving, hiking. We ate sushi, we did drugs, we even ate a snake. At this point there wasn’t anything we hadn’t done.

Except for this.

“Oh, come on, Kendall!” Tammy begged, rolling about on the bed in her black joggers and red t-shirt.

Her blonde hair had finally grown some and she had styled it up, getting rid of the beanie she always wore. The make up on her face hid her pale face and sunken eyes. She looked better than she usually did but I easily saw through that. She was anything but okay. She was always tired and had a lot of dizzy spells. She kept a handkerchief by her side for when she coughed and it was always stained with blood. I really wished that she would not push herself that much. But then again, this was the only thing she could hold onto, the only reason to endure the last few days.

Black Rock was private property. Some billionaire owned a range of mountains in the deep woods. It was rich in vegetation and wildlife, and not always the good kind. Sightings of bear and wolves were popular, making the area dangerous. I could not help but wonder why Tammy wanted us, weak and defenceless girls, to go on a trek there.

Did she want to die early? Well, did she want to die earlier? We still had a couple of months...

“I know we did a lot of life threatening stuff but this is too extreme. I don’t want to get torn apart by a pack of wolves!” I protested, trying to get her to see reason.

Tammy sat up, her face determined. It glowed for the first time in a year, making me weaken my resolve. She was happy and it was a rare moment for us.

“I’ve done my research. I know a safe way to do this! Please trust me, Kendall. You know I can’t do this without you.”

All the fight in me deflated. I was weak against Tammy when she became this desperate. She has so much she wanted to do. I was ashamed because while she only had a year to live and had so much to do, I had a lifetime and felt empty. I wished there was a way for me to be in her stead.

“You’re going to get us both killed,” I sighed, softening and giving in.

She pulled at my arm and hugged it tightly. “I know it’s selfish, but dying with you doesn’t sound so bad.”

That was how we found ourselves on a dark path in the deep woods. I was nervous, every sound making me glance over my shoulder. It was dark and we had our flashlights shining on the path. The amount of mosquitos there was ridiculous. I worried about Tammy because of it. She did not heal like I did. She was already panting, even though we had a break five minutes ago. She clutched her bloody handkerchief, her eyes darting about excitedly despite the evident exhaustion.

“We should go back now,” I urged. “We’ll be too tired to go back if we don’t do that now and we’ll end up getting found out.”

She waved me off. “We’ll be fine.”

With surprising energy, she took off. It took me a moment to recoil and match her pace. I froze when I heard a low, ominous growl and bright yellow eyes in the bushes. Tammy had rushed ahead, unaware of the danger we were now in. My heart leapt to my throat and I was out of breath.

I took off after her, my eyes searching for somewhere safe. “Tammy! There’s something here!”

She frowned as she watched me run up to her. My heart raced in my chest and I failed to calm myself down. If we have to run, Tammy won’t be able to catch up. Animals have a good sense of smell so we can’t hide. No one was here to help. What were we going to do? I had to make sure Tammy would not get hurt.

“There’s nothing-“

“Tammy, hide. I’ll distract them. As soon as we leave, you run as hard as you can and don’t look back. We’ll meet back at the car,” I barked out orders, shoving her back the way we came, my head swivelling around.

“Kendall, you’re being paranoid,” Tammy said before a howl broke off, making her stare into the distance.

Tammy paled, the little blood left in the veins of her face disappearing as she widened her eyes. She shivered violently as she stumbled back. I looked for a place to hide her but found none.

“We have to run,” I begged her, grabbing her hand and taking off in the opposite direction from the howl.

Tammy was not fast enough but I held her hand and ran with her. I could feel her losing her strength, making me even more desperate. She stopped and fell forward, throwing up on the grass. By then, I could hear the growls of a pack of wolves hidden in the bushes. We could not run anymore because Tammy was throwing up blood. Also, we were already surrounded with no way out.

Was this how it ended?

“Go,” Tammy groaned as she wiped her mouth, leaving traces of blood smeared across her face. “One of us has to make it out.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“You’re right. You’d never leave me,” she said. “You’ve always been by my side. I was never alone. I love you for that, and I’m immensely grateful. I’m sorry I made you watch me die. I wanted to be there for you too.”

“Tammy,” I sobbed, my body trembling as I held onto her, not ready to let go.

“Go and live enough for both of us, love enough for both of us. Please,” she begged, using her little strength to push me away. “You’ve made me so happy. I want that for you too.”

There was no way I was going to let it end like this. Not like this. I shouldn’t fail her...

A large dark wolf leapt out of the shadows, landing on top of Tammy’s nearly lifeless body, teeth bared.

I screamed.

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