Into the Dark(ON HOLD)

Chapter One

Stones paws dug deeper into the damp soil, giving him the leverage needed to catapult himself in the sweet tasting air. Gentle wind tangled through his dirty blond fur as he made his way toward the lake. After a jump off of a cliff, his body landed with a splash into the cool, sparkling waters.

His snout burst through the surface for air and he took his time swimming over to the rocky lake's edge. The morbid sound of cracks, loud enough to scare loitering birds, echoed around him. Each bone in his body snapped, shifted, then healed. It was a process that used to leave red bruises painted across his skin. Over time, he became immune to its pain, as did every werewolf.

The fur was gone, replaced by thick tanned skin. Folded neatly on a nearby boulder was a pair of loose blue shorts. Stone snagged it and quickly slipped it into him.

"Second place, yet again," Stone teased after hearing the rustling of bushes behind him.

Trudging out of the forest with mud up to his thighs was Kris, his eyebrows creased in apparent annoyance. "You cheated."

Stone scoffed. "Brother, I never cheat."

"I beg to differ."

He arched an eyebrow. "What would I gain from cheating?"

Kris straightened himself as he looked over at his brother with golden eyes. "Pride."

Stone bellowed in laughter, if only to justify his brother's antics. Kneeling down to the water's surface, he cupped some of it in his hands in order to splash the contents on his sweat covered face. "I have enough of that," he reassured. Turning back to face his brother, he cocked his head to the side, causing dirty blond strands to become disarray. "Perhaps we should head back. Mother will be worried."

Hearing his words, Kris's jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed farther. "We wouldn't want to upset dear old mother, now would we?"

As he walked by, Stone playfully smacked Kris on the back, urging him to follow as they ventured into the dense forest. "You speak as though she gets easily upset."

"With me, she does."

Stone laughed. "Oh, brother, you should know that isn't true."

Emitting a sigh, Kris flickered his watchful eyes up to the stray beams of light that managed to sneak their way through the roof of trees. "Ah, but it is. She looks as me as though I'm a bug to squash."

His tone was dark; Stone didn't like that part of his brother. The part that let the darkness in his mind be recognized by everyone around him. "That's far from true," Stone argued.

It was an ongoing battle for Kris, Stone knew, which could only be solved by himself. "How could she love a son that isn't her blood?"

"Blood means nothing."

"Blood is thicker than water, Stone." His tone; it was the way he spoke his words that had Stone feeling unsure. Worried, even.

Instead of prodding deeper into his brother's mind, Stone threw a strong arm around Kris's shoulders, if only to lighten the dampened mood. "To me, you are my brother. I don't care about the facts."

Glancing over into Kris eyes, Stone knew that the facts did matter to him. They mattered a lot. 

❂

Standing at the outskirts of the forest, the mountains far off were visible. The fog hung low enough for the tips of them to be covered from the naked eye. From where Stone stood to the beginnings of the mountains was the borders of their territory.