Whispers From the Moon (Complete - Editing)

Chapter 20

Keith

I flew low over the treetops as I neared the Blue Moon Pack-lands, the wind whistling in my ears and rustling my feathers as the currents lifted and lowered my sleek form. I shifted my wings ever so slightly, but it was enough to send me soaring into the bright blue sky. Despite my less than ideal circumstances, I couldn't help but let out a piercing cry of joy as I traced the clouds and raced the wind.

It was over too soon as I crossed the border, spotting several patrols bounding through the trees. I swooped lower, my wingtips basically skimming the trees below me as I flew. I passed over what had to be the training grounds and stopped, circling overhead in an attempt to spot my target. And then I saw him, he was in his wolf form, a red-brown wolf circling another grey, snarling aggressively. He was larger than the others, a sign of his power over them, but not as large as the dark silver wolf watching over the sparring, probably the pack's Beta. It was only the eyes that told me the brown wolf was Chris, a bright gold with silver flecks dancing in their depths.

Taking a breath to steady myself for the ordeal I knew was to come, I folded my wings into a dive, snapping them open just before I hit the ground and landing a few metres from the duelling wolves. The Beta was watching me curiously and started to make his way over. I braced myself for the painful shift - shifting between animals and my human form was more painful than just shifting to my wolf - and felt my hollowed bones grow and solidify and snap and realign.

By now, I had caused quite a stir with several wolves rushing over to address this new threat. I instantly dropped to the ground, my head twisted to the side, exposing my neck whilst Conan fought to stop me. The Beta lunged at me, his ivory fangs bared as he loomed directly over me. I swallowed as I avoided his icy silver gaze so he couldn't take it as an act of aggression. He pinned me down, placing a paw on either of my shoulders so that he was face to face with me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the brown wolf coming over, shifting as he ran. When he reached us, his face was stormy and the silver in his eyes swirled angrily.

"Who are you?" He snarled, baring elongated fangs.
"Keith." I replied, keeping my voice carefully emotionless and my features blank, not meeting their eyes.
"Who sent you and how did you get on our pack-lands?"
"It's pretty obvious how I got here." Conan remarked sarcastically through me, "And I was sent by Nyra. Mate to Alpha Thorn." Chris tensed at this, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"And how do I know this is not some trap set up for me?" He growled.
"You don't. You'll have to trust me." I replied calmly. He snorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He looked back down at me, sizing me up and calculating something in his head - he was obviously curious about my strange power. Finally, he nodded to himself.
"You have two weeks, if I feel I can trust you by then, I will listen to your plea. Until then I want you out of my sight."
"But-"
"Don't answer me!" He snarled, whipping round angrily. I just lowered my head in respect.
"Yes sir."

Hadrien

Loup had managed to build a wall against the unbearably excruciating pain, but some of it still leaked through; leaving me in a constant state of discomfort. I winced slightly as I stretched, the golden sunlight filtering through the canopy above me, creating a constantly changing pattern of light in the undergrowth. Loup whimpered slightly as a new wave of pain battered at his mental barrier. We were slowly going insane from worry, it had been a week since it started and it seemed to come in sudden waves as Nyra was methodically tortured in whatever cruel way Blake had come up with.

"Let's get going, the patrol should be coming through soon." Loup nudged at my mind, urging me to change forms. Sighing, I let him transform into his form as I took over the mental barrier, creating an invisible wall between us and Nyra's suffering. I hated how helpless I was to help her, but seeing as I was a fugitive in Blake's land, I wasn't in the best position to attempt a rescue.
Instead, I spent my days in my wolf form, constantly moving, doing my own patrols whilst I avoided his scouts. I hunted when and where I could, but my current pitiful situation and my time in Blake's prison was slowly taking its toll on us. Our wolf was scrawny, it's fur matted and dull, it's ribs showing through its shaggy pelt. And to make matters worse, we were slowly burning through muscle, leaving us looking more and more like a rogue as our form became thinner and weaker. It became a challenge to move across large distances at any pace faster than a slow trot, and we found ourselves needing to rest more and more often.

Just as we disappeared into the bushes behind our hollow, a patrol of three wolves came loping into the clearing. A patrol consisted of three different wolves: the 'runner', a lean, fast wolf; the 'sniffer', usually a smaller wolf with an acute sense of smell; and then the 'warrior', a large, thuggish wolf used to take out any threats. We crouched low, hoping we had been able to effectively mask our scent. They stopped, scenting the air suspiciously. My heart stopped beating, I didn't dare breathe; we were in no state to fight and would be as good as dead if they found us.

Loup was tense as a coiled spring, every muscle taught in anticipation. The sniffer approached our hollow, a soft growl emanating from her throat as her keen nose picked up our faint scent even after our desperate attempts at masking it.
"Oh no..." I muttered. Loup just continued to watch the scene before us in tense silence. The small, tan coloured wolf disappeared beneath the tree, hackles raised as the other two scanned the area around us. The runner was a sleek silvery grey with long legs and a lean body from a lifetime of training for this position. Even with her honey coloured eyes, her gaze was hard; icy and calculating. The warrior was your typical thuggish wolf, broad shouldered with relatively short legs and a large, powerful jaw. His pelt was a dull, muddy brown with matching burnished gold eyes.

The sniffer returned, and gave a few silent scout signals, telling them that she had picked up a rogue's scent. The warrior gave a low snarl, his fur bristling and his lips pulling back, revealing yellowed fangs. The runner just nodded, signalling for the sniffer to show her our scent trail. I began to panic, my heart pounding. And yet Loup stayed strangely calm as he watched the scene unfold before us. The runner reappeared from the hollow, her nose close to the ground as she meticulously tracked our almost nonexistent scent. Loup continued to lie there, still as stone, waiting as the runner basically passed directly in front of us. She stopped, her amber eyes meeting ours, cold and unblinking. My breath caught in my throat as those mesmerising eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul. I basically didn't react as she gave a short, sharp bark and the warrior dragged us out of hiding. It was only when the rock was flying at my face that I realised what was happening.

Maya

I completed my final lap of the track, sweat gluing my hair to my forehead. My breathing was ragged and my limbs felt like jelly.
"Line up! Now!" The trainer barked. He was an intimidating wolf: tall and muscular with close cropped dark hair and stormy grey eyes. I scampered over to the line and joined the row of sweaty and bedraggled young wolves. He marched along the length of the line, staring down at us with barely contained disgust.
"Tonight I want all of you here doing 10 laps. Next, you will run the agility course and then finally 5 more laps. Dismissed." Whilst most of the wolves wandered off, grumbling, several of us just stood there, numb from exhaustion and dreading the torture to come.

"Come on. Might as well get some rest while we can." Eclipse gently took control after realising I was in no state to continue and guided us slowly towards the barracks. I collapsed on the narrow bunk, my head hitting the thin pillow with a thud as I stared up at the dull grey bottom of the bunk above me. Every muscle in my body ached from overuse and my hands and feet were blistered from constant running and climbing. Focusing on my breathing, I let my mind drift off into the now familiar world inside my head.

***

I stepped through the swirling golden mist where Eclipse was waiting for me. Her pelt glittered with a blanket of glowing stars, her mate symbols. Only one other wolf in the world would have those identical markings, and even then they were only visible in this dreamlike world. I crouched down, burying my face in her scruff as she greeted me warmly.
"How is she doing?" I asked quietly, nodding towards a section of swirling mist where a form floated, her hair swirling around her like she was underwater. Beside her, her wolf whimpered, clawing helplessly at the translucent gold barrier between them; the marks of the Moon Goddess glittering on her coppery pelt.

"No change, Nyra seems to be constantly in contact with silver so Trinity cannot help her." Eclipse looked over at the pair, her eyes filled with pain for the wolf. Standing up, I approached the wolf slowly so as not to startle her. When she glanced at me, her green eyes held so much pain my heart clenched.
"I'm so sorry..." I whispered, stroking her back consolingly. To my utter surprise, she turned to me and pressed against my legs. When I crouched down, she buried her face in the crook of my neck, whimpering in pain and fear for her human. All I could do was hold her.