Spirit Wolves Book 1 -completed-

Alone

They ran for hours. When one was tired, one of the others would carry them on their back. When they were thirsty, they drank their own spit, and when they were hungry, they grabbed berries from bushes they ran past. When they finally stopped, it was dusk again, and they were at the edge of the forest. None talked, for there was nothing to say. Each took turns as sentry so they could sleep the night off. However none of them could sleep. Their dreams all plagued with the images from the night before. They'd all seen things not even adults did at such a young age. Stormflare was only 12 and Orion and Crimson were only 13. They were barely teenagers and to see such horrors, the three of them had matured greatly in the past 24 hours. 

It was Stormflare that broke the loud silence and tension between them, "We should probably find a stream so we can drink and cool off. Then we should find something to eat." his voice cracked and Crimson knew that he was trying to hide how hurt he was.

"Yeah, we should." Orion said. Crimson was silent. She'd lost her mother during the fight last night. She knew they'd all lost someone close. For Stormflare it was his girl, and for Orion it was the last of his family. She wanted to comfort them, but she couldn't form words.

As the boys searched for a stream, Crimson looked for food. She'd always been a good hunter, and being such, she quickly brought down a meaty buck that would provide their first meal alone. When the boys got back to their spot, they informed her they'd found a stream a few miles East from where they were. She still said nothing. They pulled the dead buck and started walking towards the stream that would help them survive. 

As they trotted, they each were listening for any footsteps so as to fight off any predators, or enemy wolves. Crimson silently thanked their instructor for teaching them to hunt as well as fight. 

"What pack were they?" Stormflare asked.

"They were the Bloodlust Rogue Pack." Orion answered simply.

Crimson still said nothing. That night the three of them slept side by side. Crimson couldn't find words to comfort the boys, so this would just have to do. A month passed and they'd gotten used to their new home, though Crimson hadn't spoken one word since that night. That horrid night that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. Both Stormflare and Orion would try to get her to talk, but nothing ever worked. They tried talking about planning hunts but she just let them do the talking and did what they told her to do. Stormflare tried asking her questions about her life with her old pack and she stayed silent. Orion tried getting her to talk too at first but he gave up after a few weeks. Stormflare hid it well but Crimson could tell her silence was annoying him too. 

She wanted to talk, she wanted to laugh and have fun with them but she just didn't have any motivation to do anything. Some days she would just lay in their den and stare at the wall for hours. Orion called her lazy to Stormflare when she did it, and she wanted to get up and help out but she didn't have the motivation to get up. It was as if she was stuck in some place that wasn't life, but it wasn't death either. Yes she was alive and moving, but mentally, she was dead. It seemed her life lost its reason when her mom died. She missed Trace, Tristen, and Aiden more than ever and wished they were there with her. 

Three months passed and Stormflare was giving up on getting her to talk. When they were eating the dinner Crimson had helped hunt he asked, "Hey guys, should we try to find a new pack of rogues to join?" 

"No" She answered. Neglect caused her voice to be raspy, and hoarse and Stormflare looked around for a minute before realizing that it was a word not a cough. They both looked at her in shock for a few seconds before continuing the discussion.

"I don't think we should just yet." Orion answered. His tone was sharp as usual. He had become closed off and hard over the months that had past. He would speak, but he was almost always glaring at Crimson, or fighting with Stormflare over her.

"Why not?" Stormflare asked looking at Crimson hopefully. 

It was Orion that answered, "We're doing just fine on our own, there's not a reason to."

"Yes there is, protection. I'm 12 and the two of you are only 13! We're not supposed to be on our own." 

"If we were to join a pack then they might not be able to give us enough food so we don't go hungry. The Darknight Pack was lucky enough to have food for everyone. Not many rogue packs have that," He said glaring, "Besides, Crimson and I are turning 14 later this year meaning that we'd have to start the adult training and you wouldn't have time to make friends in your training. That and they would probably have a different test we have to do. The Darknight pack was one of the very few rogue packs that didn't have a kill or be killed trial."

The three were silent for a minute before Crimson said, "He's right. Unless we need to join a pack we shouldn't. We're doing just fine on our own." With that said she stalked back into the den and went to sleep.

Stormflare and Orion looked at each other and Orion said, "Stormflare I get that we're young, and you don't want to be alone, but most rogue packs are less likely to help orphans. Especially battle orphans. We'll be ok, you have the two of us." He started walking to the den before turning around and saying, "By the way, You're not 12 anymore, your birthday was two days ago."

The next morning Crimson joined them at the creek and Stormflare excitedly asked her how she slept. She mumbled "fine" before dunking her head to get a fish. 

Orion continued constantly glaring at her and not talking to her. He acted as if he thought what happened was her fault. It was during one of his cold, malicious stares that she felt more alone than ever in the three months after that slaughter. She had lost her mother, and seemingly only had one more person that liked her. Orion hated her and everyone else was dead. Stormflare was the one thing she was holding on to and she made a vow to herself not to let anything take him away from her. He was the one thing making sure she wasn't alone and she would protect him until the day she died.