Profound Devotion

Chapter 3

July 18th

Monaia

  About once a month, I would accompany my brother through every inch of our territory, taking in things that could be improved or areas that could be expanded into for future housing as the young wolves aged into their independence.

  Today, we were venturing into the dark corner of our territory. I already knew this day was coming, but it was the part of our land that we didn't often visit, so how could I have possibly prepared myself?

  After the...disaster that eliminated the Lycan species, Atticus insisted that it was now safe to inhabit. Now, here we were, my brother guiding me down the overgrown path to map out every inch of the space.

  "Careful, it's a steep drop." Atticus pulled me away from the edge of a cliff, making sure I didn't fall over the one-hundred-foot fall to the river below. With the speed of the current that was stirred by the gushing waterfalls from the mountainside, there was no way I wouldn't have been swept away in a second.

  I swallowed my jitters as I peered over the harsh edge, the breeze across the open land whipping my hair across my face and sending a tingling chill down my spine.

  "We need to block that off if we want our members living around here." He shook his head, marking something in his journal before continuing on. The water appeared calm as I watched the rippling reflection bounce light back out into the air, and that made it all the more dangerous.

  The foliage was overgrown, seizing my feet with its thorns and winding vines each stumbled step I took down the barely-there pressed Earth. The trees thinned out the further we ventured until we stopped near the base of the first mountain.

  Atticus remained a few steps ahead, scoping our surroundings and sketching everything his calculating stare absorbed into the leather-bound notebook he had brought along any time we had done this together.

  The woods were beautiful; tall, swaying branches of the willow trees dropped occasional pink flowers to the flourishing green grass below, the sounds of the waterfalls that spilled over into the plunge basin filling the tranquil air along with the flapping of indigenous birds' wings and the scurrying paws of small animals. I could get used to a place like this.

  I shuffled my feet, kicking loose any remaining vines that were stuck to my sneakers. As I peeled a large leaf from one of the laces, a large, red pool of liquid made my movements still with my foot still hovering in the air. A trail of the same liquid dripped to the left, leading near the overcast shadows of the steep mountain.

  "Um, Atticus?" I called out, though he was now too far to hear me. My eyes were glued to what appeared to be a small cave opening.

  His face was buried in his notebook, trying his best to capture every single detail of the space.

  "Atticus," I tried again, slowly lowering my leg to support my body back on two feet, "we need to go."

  My wolf's instincts--the ones I could still connect with--were telling me to run, that whatever was in there couldn't be good. However, as my legs carried me with cautious steps closer to the dark abyss, something in the back of my mind assured me that I had to check it out.

  Maybe some would say I should have listened to my wolf; should have chosen to turn and leave before I put myself in some sort of danger. Only I could have decided, at that moment, to follow a trail of fresh blood, leading myself into an unknown cave with no sort of protection or even an ounce of my older brother's attention.

  With every wavering step forward and interested peer into nothingness, I could feel my stomach flutter with nervous energy. Anything could be in there--a rogue perhaps, or maybe even just a wounded animal. Either way, I continued on, ignoring the will that was growing stronger and stronger to turn back now; that maybe this wasn't my best idea.