Bared

XVII

When we reached the spire, I sent Jon and Quincey to take the prisoners to the cave. Strangely, they didn’t complain, and instead seemed to leap upon their assignment with glee.

    Shaking my head at the two wolves, I turn towards Emma and Ben. “Hunt,” I say. “Bring enough meat for all. Even the prisoners.” I see Ben’s eyes darken at the last word, but a tail flick from me sends him after his childhood friend.

    Lila stands beside me, and I marvel at the large wolf’s quiet poise and calmness. Whitney walks up to me, and says,”Lila. I believe I’ve heard your name before.” Lila simply inclines his head, then faces me. “I’ll go to my den, Alpha. If there is room for me?” I smile a small wolf smile, and say,”Go, Lila. There is always room for newbloods in my pack.” I don’t know where the term came from, but Lila nodded and walked off.

    Green eyes give me a searching look, and I stare right back. “You’ve heard of him, haven’t you, Mother?” Whitney blinks, then nods as she lays beside me. My mind goes back to the day by the lake, when I first found out about my true parentage.

    Whitney sighs now, bringing me back to the present. “Yes, I have,” she begins. “In the Pine Pack, the pack where Ben and I are from, we sang songs when the moon rose. This was before the Black Alpha took rein, and banned all singing of the old ways.”

    Whitney takes a breath, then continues. “There was a song my mother had sung one night. It was about a great seer. Now, this was in the time of the Lost Pack, the eldest and strongest pack ever known. This seer’s name was Lila the Autumn Feather. All seers back then held the title of Feather. Lila was the Delta, you see. A Delta makes sure everyone meets their destined mate. It also helps the healer wolf when females are birthing.

    “Lila had a special gift for seeing who was going to be with who. He could see the lines connecting every wolf. But, his power also gave him hate. He was destined to mate with a female from the Dark Pack, the Lost Pack’s main enemy.

    “Lila couldn’t-wouldn’t-be mated with this female. So, when she was brought back after a scuffle by the boundary, he voted to kill her. But, this female had a power as well. She was also a seer, and she could see what drove others to murder. She saw that Lila’s power had told him something he didn’t want to hear, so he dealt with it with fear.

    “This female couldn’t stand seeing this beautiful wolf in pain. As her trial went on, she saw him give advice to young wolves, sing songs to elders, and help the laboring females. She started to fall in love with him, though little did she know that another was falling in love with her.”

    Whitney paused for a breath again, though a new voice spoke from behind me. “It was my own brother. He tried to take her while she was asleep. I heard her, and rushed to her aid. My brother had already taken her, and had taken off like the coward he was. The female stared at me with eyes the color of honey and blood, and asked if I would tell anyone. I said no, and laid beside her for the rest of the night, protecting her in case my evil brother came back.”

    Lila walked around from behind me, and laid beside Whitney. “Her name was Wille the Winter Feather. Her fur was the color of winter snow, with blue hints the color of a summer sky. I used to joke that she stole amber from the dragons to decorate her flank like my hind legs. Ah, she was a good wolf. When my brother’s pups came, she wished for me to be their father. By that time, everyone had known about what had happened, yet the Alpha didn’t say no. Those pups grew strong and healthy. They earned their titles, sang their songs, and loved their chosen.”

    I smelled something coming off of Lila then: grief, sadness, love, and pain. The combined smells of roses, orchids, ocean, and body odor stiffened my nostrils. I snorted, trying to unclog them. Lila looked over at me, and I saw him smile. “You can smell my emotions, can’t you, Alpha?” I nod, still trying to get the awful combination of scents out of my nasal cavities.