Nocturne

CHAPTER ONE

Peak valley. The pack I was raised in was peculiar to the shifter world because we were the only wolves who didn’t take our names from the moon. The nearest pack of wolves 50 kilometers away from us was moon river.
It is said that pack names are usually taken from events that occur during the formation of the pack. The Lore behind the formation. For Moon River it was because their founding Alpha was saved from hunters by the moon spirit in the huge river that surrounds their pack lands. For Peak Valley, it was never just one Lore. In seventh grade, I heard from the Moon River kids in my class that it was because our founding Alpha took shelter in a cave beneath the huge mountain that borders us. I heard from the adults that it was because you could see the whole expanse of our lands from the top of said mountain and then I couldn’t for the life of me understand why they let the Night Howlers stay at the peak of such a mountain for nearly four years. It just didn’t make any sense. I once heard we had no actual Lore because we were scorned by the moon spirit which at this point in time is the most believable.
Felix said to run until I couldn’t anymore and I honestly couldn’t. Not at this time because whatever Felix did to me was wearing off and I could feel the pain in full force. It felt worse than the initial onset earlier. My guess was he did something to hold off the pain and now it was as if whatever was blocking the dam was broken and the waves of pain became unbearable. I was shifting back which was weird as shifters don’t feel pain while turning back. I had been carrying Mark with my maw and had to place him gently by the base of the tree whose root I had tripped on, grit my teeth and face it head on.
I was sweating profusely by the time I had was finished and I was grateful it was over. Now I just had to look for clothes to wear because I sure as hell wasn’t walking around naked. On closer inspection I could see that the carrier Felix had placed Mark in was made of my Star Wars T-shirt, a pair of shorts and his onesie, making me wonder how far ahead Felix had planned this and when. Doubting Felix never brought any good with it so I refused to dwell on it any longer and decided to push forward for now. Donning my clothes and also getting Mark dressed while wrapping him in a shawl, I also refused to think about my dearest Therese. We weren’t the closest of siblings but I would have done anything at that point to take her place. Mark still wasn’t waking up and I couldn’t say I was not surprised as Felix has said he would only awaken by sundown tomorrow so I had to move fast if I wanted to get something good enough in his belly when he did wake up.
I tried to think of other things like how senior year was to begin in two months. How Mason wanted to ask Charlie Weston to senior prom instead of our original plan to go as bros. How Felix was still in his third year of college and in a serious relationship with the Moon River Alpha in training, Jacqueline Rivers. We always joked that he’d be her Luna but she on leading together as equals. While thinking of all theses things I remained on the move. How did my seventeen year old life get so messed up in one night?
I had turned another corner and found a small freshwater pond. Praying it was clean I held Mark on one arm and began to drink. That’s when I noticed a movement at the corner of my eye. Crouching down as carefully as I could with Mark in my arms. I checked and he was still fast asleep. The sky was dark but being a shifter would make that an added advantage. I could see and I assumed whoever was out there could see as well so I picked a stone and threw it in the opposite direction and when I noticed my dear pursuer was distracted I made a dash for it. Turns out it didn’t quite work out as they were hot on my heels. Remembering my training with Felix, I turned around surprising my pursuer by the sudden change of movement and tackled them to the ground as I had long since put Mark in a sling made from his shawl. It wasn’t the safest for a ten month old but it was better than being caught. I was about to give them a deafening blow to first put them out of commission and then search for weapons I noticed it was Brittie. She was pale and shaking and seemed so confused.
Brightness Frederick or Brittie as everyone called her was one of my pack members and Reese’s sworn enemy.
“Oh Jamie, thank goodness I found you” she exclaimed.
“Wait, what did you mean found me?” I asked equally confused as to how she knew where I was. “Why are you here, what about the pack”
“Oh Jamie, they’re all gone” she said as she shivered. Hugging herself as she seemed to recall the events of the evening. “It was the Night Howlers, they came at us so suddenly. There was no time for the Alpha to be alerted. All the warriors were taken by ambush. A clean sweep they called it. I was so scared”
“Wait Brit, you’re telling me the whole pack is gone?” She could only nod her head as she choked back her sobs. I still didn’t want to think of any of this and kept my mind solely on Felix’s promise to come back to me with Therese in tow.
“Hey, it’s ok, Brittie. Listen let’s get to somewhere we can rest for the night and then keep moving on the morrow. It’s late and I’m a bit scared to keep going. Here hold Mark. He makes a good cuddle buddy.”
She then took Mark and then we kept walking until I sighted a cave after a few minutes. It wasn’t raining yet but still couldn’t make a fire so as not to draw attention to ourselves.
With werewolf vison being an added bonus to our nightly quest we settled on some dry leaves. I tried to find more to make leaves to make a separate bed for myself and a warmer one for Mark. When I had done so, I took a closer look at Brittie. She always had long auburn hair and freckles scattered across her face. She had been best friends with Reese until they turned eight.
After planning a joint birthday party, a night to the big day. I never bothered to ask about the details which I now regret but she made me swear not to actively seek out Brightness and to keep my distance even when approached. What can I say? Reese was a really scary eight year old but I distinctively remember Reese wanting to pull out. I had never seen her so adamant about anything. Ever! Not even her bi-weekly slumber parties where she demanded Felix and I be thrown out. Four years ago, Reese came storming into the parlour demanding everything set up in Brightness’ name be taken down. She still celebrated hers though and I heard around the pack house that Brittie didn’t even seem bothered. I was just happy it wasn’t a big enough altercation for the Alpha or Luna to get involved.
Now that I think about it, four years ago was when the night howlers had settled at the peak of our mountain. I didn’t want to doubt what might have been the last member of my pack but with the way things are going I couldn’t think of anything else. Felix didn’t exclusively say to trust anyone and then I was slowing down with Brittie here with me. Thinking back I couldn’t hear or see anyone around last night in a pack that literally never sleeps and then I hadn’t forgotten about how she said “Thank God I found you” when only Felix knew I was heading East. I had always been fairly good at reading facial micro expressions so I decided to test my theory. I asked her to pass Mark back to me and began my questioning.
“Hey Brittie, could you pass Mark over here? I want to see why he’s not being fussy”
“Okay”
I didn’t notice any change in her expression so I carried on.
“I’m sorry if this brings up any bad memories but we need to talk about what we saw or experienced. Think of it as laying all our cards on the table and planning our next move”
“I don’t know J. I don’t think I want to relive those events” She said drawing her legs closer to herself so she could hug them in what I thought was a bid to make herself seem smaller and less threatening but I felt a bit guilty accusing a twelve year old but my suspicions had already taken root.
“But this isn’t about you” I insisted “Think about Mark and anyone else who may have survived.” I noticed a slight shiver run across her body at the mention of survivors but decided against mentioning it.
“Well” she started after a moment. “There was a lot of screaming and blood and the Alpha was nowhere in sight so maybe they got to him first. I was trying to get away after one broke into my room. I was under the bed so they couldn’t see me but they could smell me. He turned around and I made a dash for it. I jumped from the upstairs window and landed on the bushes outside. That’s when I saw and followed you.” She finished with a sob.
“Hey, shhh” I tried to hush her cries. “It’s ok. I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to relive all that. It could be traumatizing for anyone.
“What about your siblings?” she asked.
Deciding against revealing anything, I answered pulling Mark closer.
“Felix and Therese didn’t make it. It’s a miracle I got to Mark before they did.”
The silence had become awkward for me and I wished I could be anywhere but here. I had been doing a lot of wishing these days.
“It’s a bit late and I’m beat. I need some reserve energy if I want to wake up early to get moving so we lose any trackers and then if Mark gets fussy, I need all the energy I can gather”
“Alright, good night” she said adjusting on the make-shift bed of leaves.
“Good night” I propped myself up into a sitting position with Mark in my arms and closed my eyes but I still wasn’t able to sleep. I couldn’t. Not when someone who wasn’t born at the time of my first and only shift at the time knew what I looked like while shifted and then there was the fact that I somehow wished I had kept my questions to myself when I read her facial expression when I had replied her inquiry about my other siblings.
Relief.