A Shifting Land

Prologue

The wolf perched high in a tree, shrouded by leaves. He tilted his head, faint silver tips on his fur softening his face, even as the storm screamed and tore, ripping branches past him only to fling them to the ground in a fit of rage. Suiting if he really bothered to think on it, considering how he raged. How tightly he held the faint control.

A faint stir of movement drew his eye. Alpha Firestorm, with her sleek tawny pelt and cool pine green eyes.

Simple. Too simple really. It hadn't taken much on his part. Just timing. In fact she had suggested they do it. Distasteful if you asked him, but so be it. She had been well punished for the suggestion.

The wolf grinned, tongue lolling past his fangs as they dropped down with anticipation at the still sweet memories. Her fear, so ripe and heady as he gutted her, tearing out her internals to watch those kits twitch and spasm with her pain. Their paws kicking out at the sudden chill, the sudden loss of blood.

The wolf shivered with pleasure, remembering when she begged him for mercy. When she used his name, whispering it in a faint plea. "Frost, Frost please. It's your heir I carry. You need to stop. I'll lose the litter."

Movement drew his eyes, his momentary distraction costing him as Firestorm settled to wait in the clearing. He twisted his head, licking his lips as she hunched up with a wince. Even from afar he could see the fresh scar, scab still flaking away.

Her voice was harsh, fierce even, as she ordered his ice demon to her, offering him a choice. One wrought in hell.

His chest thrummed, the low growling note of amusement catching him with surprise, an unnatural emotion for him. Demodaxi obeyed easily, whining and pleading with her in the most perfectly mocking way. He cajoled for peace, whimpering fake promises, all while Frost held her people in a tight clenched fist. A single order and they would die.

Demodaxi performed exactly as Frost ordered, and why wouldn't he? Frost had stolen his mind, his free will. It was a perfect situation. No danger for him.

The snick was his only warning as he was prematurely ejected from his pet's mind. He stared, eyes wide as Demodaxi's head rolled into the river. Dukari do not kill each other. Not like that. A fight is a requirement. It was cowardly to kill so suddenly.

He tilted his head, annoyance buttering his thoughts. Technically speaking, he killed fast. Without a fight. But he was no coward. He did it to terrify his people. Stop their cowardly attempts to dethrone him from his ill gotten but owed to him throne. But Firestorm? She had no reason. She was the good one. The perfect one.

Firestorm examined the bushes, her gaze never drifting up. Blood darkened her feet, her face. "Frost, get out here. I have no want to deal with your underlings tonight. I just want our deal." She sounded tired. Done.

He sighed, his eyes so dark they seemed to be closer to that of a void of space then anything alive, began to lighten. Faint enough that the storm easily masked the difference. A clone shimmered below him, sitting just to the edge of her vision. It stood, drawing her eye.

Fog rolled off it's pelt, ice crystalizing off its red fur. Tiny shards, sharp as glass shrouded them. Slicing into their skin, their lungs.

Frost's eyes lighten further up in the tree. Veins of ice blue lace through the deep purple of his eyes. He settles again, annoyance sinking its claws deeper into his mind. At almost 50 years he should be able to hide his eyes. He was an alpha. He should have the perfect mentality, maturity even, to control them in any guise. He had no need for his eyes to reveal how to kill him.

The clone began to speak, "I have no time for your whining. What is your offer?"

Firestorm twitched, just the smallest of flinches at his harsh words, "You got your alpha with your disease." She spat, "Congrats." Her tail twitched just slightly. "The offer is the third in the litter. Canine in type, just like you. Not insane. Not alpha either. Her for my packs."