Shadow Range

Chapter 3

Light broke over the horizon slowly turning the sky a myriad of pinks and oranges with purple accents. Ariadne sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking a 500 foot drop. Still in wolf form she was curled up her head resting on her paws as she watched the sun come up and the birds begin to sing. Breathing in the scent of the cool air she registered that it would rain later that day and she stood slowly stretching her body before whirling around her lip curling over her teeth in a snarl. Out of the woods a black wolf padded head held high completely calm even though not 15 foot away stood a female wolf ready to fight. Ari slowly relaxed her muscles and snarled at him one more time before sending a thought through the bond she still shared with anyone from her pack.

Any particular reason you’re up here at dawn? Making sure I don’t run away or is it just that you can’t bear to be parted from me? Even though it was thoughts there was still a snarky undertone and that filled her with a sense of pride that quickly dissolved as he answered still infuriatingly in control of his emotions.

If you remember Ariadne Selene you aren’t the only one that used this place to think and clear your mind. But maybe you are just so wrapped up in you and being selfish that you forget other people have problems.

That was enough for her. She snarled and leapt through the air at him her teeth bared and aimed for his neck. She didn’t care that he was twice her size and she didn’t even think about the fact that he had had more training than she did. All that mattered in that moment was getting her teeth in his throat for challenging her. There were two major events that happened when she jumped the first being that he batted her aside easily and stood over her and the second, and more terrifying was that as he laid his body on hers it forced hers to become human and that only happened with pair bonds.

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She could feel every inch of his body pressed against hers. It made her think of the time just before he left that they had lain side by side in the grove of Cyprus trees surrounding their favorite waterhole. They had been talking of what life would be like for them when they got older. They had always known what her destiny was, but they were never quite sure of his, only that her parents trained him the same way they did her. Ari had sat up on an elbow and looked down at him, his hair barely brushing his face and getting slightly longer the closer to his back it got. His blue eyes had met hers and suddenly she felt something she never would have believed possible. She wanted him to kiss her, she actually felt that way about her best friend. Before she could act on that thought she had lain herself back on the ground with a huff and closed her eyes. “Ari.” Dom had whispered her name so softly she almost didn’t believe he had. She kept her eyes closed and refused to look his way, afraid he would see her traitorous thoughts in her eyes. Because her eyes were shut she barely had time to register and open them in shock when he rolled on top of her, using his weight to press her body into the ground before he grinned his lopsided grin and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that made her entire body flush with pleasure and her brain go fuzzy with want.

But in that instance there had been clothes, here there were none and she couldn’t help the blush that crept up her cheeks. She could feel the entire naked length of his body against hers and she shoved at his chest and bucked up against him before going rigid, realizing that she too was naked and he wasn’t exactly unhappy to see her. She bit the inside of her cheek and murmured keeping her face turned away. “Get off me please? I want to go home.” With that Dom rolled off shifting as he did to become the massive black wolf. She closed her eyes and shifted, turning her back on him and heading down the mountain at a pace fast enough to put distance between them but slow enough she could think about everything that had happened long ago.

Ari and Dom had learned from a young age that not everyone in the world was good and that not every wolf you meet has a pack to stabilize them. When she was 10, she and Dom had been exploring a little farther out than they should have been when they had come up on another wolf. One who smelled funny to them and looked hungry and more than a little lost. They had made friends with him and would sneak him food and blankets from home to make sure he was fed and warm. After a month or so he had begun to look much better. Around that time they had begun to learn about lone wolves and rogues, they both realized what they had been doing and how dangerous it was for their friend. As soon as they were free Dominic had led the way and they went to warn him.

It was nearly dark when they reached the cave he had been hiding in and he had come padding out a gleam in his eye. They couldn’t hear his thoughts because he wasn’t pack but his body language said something was wrong. Ari had mimed leaving, and he just stood there. Within moments, she still wasn’t quite sure how it had happened he had leaped forward and grabbed her by the soft area at her neck dragging her through the forest, whining and yipping with pain. Dom had tried to stop him but he threw his much bigger frame against Dom catching him between him and a tree and causing him to slide down unconscious. Before Ari could reach him the older wolf had grabbed her by the neck and begun dragging her again, this time her fighting him the entire way.

They hadn’t made it very far, maybe only a mile or two when she heard a call in the distance, a howl she recognized as her mother. The rogue had dropped her and howled himself. Within moments there was a sound on all sides of them and more wolves, all looking slightly bedraggled and with the same smell had come crashing in to stand behind him just moments before her mother and the guard had come through the trees on the other side. The rogue made sure Ari was prominent in the middle of the clearing. She raised up and spoke to her mother calling for her.

“Mom please, I’m scared. I don’t understand.” She had whimpered as she spoke, any pretense of fight left in her gone before them all. Her mother turned her head toward her and met her eyes.

“Quiet my child. When the fight begins get behind us and to Dominic. He will get you back to your father.” With that and a last look of love she turned and the snarls began. Her mother leapt over her and right into her captor without a second thought or glance. The small grove filled with the soung of snarls and tearing flesh. She stood, painfully and took off for the trees. She refused to look behind her, even when a yelp called her. Within seconds she ran into something and fell back. She jumped up snarling before she realized it was just Dom. She felt weak with relief but he just helped support her and they raced for the safety of home and her father to await her mother coming home. It never occurred to Ari that her mother wouldn’t, just as it never occurred to her that the young wolf they had found was dangerous, until it was too late.

Ari came back into her senses as if she had just been dunked into a pool of freezing water; quickly and all at once. She looked around and realized she had made her way home. She padded up the step of the back porch and slid in through the dog door and shifted. She didn’t bother caring about clothes, it wasn’t like she had neighbors. She took the stairs quickly and trudged down the hall to her bedroom, opening the door and practically collapsing on the bed.