Spirit Wolves Book 1 -completed-

Ghost

Three years had passed since the night Orion tried to kill Crimson. She was now 17, Stormflare was now 16, Orion was fifteen, and Ryan was 20.

Crimson stood at the edge of a cliff she'd found, looking out over the forest. She came to this spot when she wanted to get away from her friend and brother. Orion still thought she was to blame for what happened four years ago. That one fateful night they'd barely escaped the bloodbath. However, he hadn't tried to kill her since Ryan spared his life, and she felt she was slowly gaining his trust.

"Crimson!" A shout rang out from behind her. They were looking for her. She couldn't let them find her here. It was her spot, and hers alone. She'd come here daily for a few hours and it was her getaway. She looked over the edge, and gazed at the waters of Bottomless Lake below her. They'd named it that because it was so deep, even when they were a good seven yards from the surface, they still couldn't see the bottom. She'd never jumped off her cliff before, because of the height, and it still seemed like a bad idea.

She heard another yell. Closer, this time. She looked behind her and was just about to take a step to the voice that called her home, deciding against jumping, when her paw lost its traction in the rock and she fell.

Her instincts kicked in and as soon as she felt herself fall, she pushed to gain distance from the cliff. She heard her shrill, piercing scream, and her thoughts drifted to the sharp rocks waiting for her. The cliff was about fifty feet from the lake, so she had a long way to fall. When she was just a few feet from the surface, she took a deep breath and braced for the water's sting.

She hit the water and dropped lower than the rogues could've swam. Maybe that's why she could she the bottom a good hundred feet below. She swam for the surface she couldn't see. She gaged that she was a solid fifty feet below the surface. She'd been swimming as hard as she could towards the surface, when she felt her lungs start burning. She saw with despair that she was still twenty feet from the surface. As her eyelids began fluttering shut and she let out the last of her air, black spots began to fill her vision and she heard a faint splash and saw a white body coming towards her. Then she only saw darkness.

He pulled her unconscious body from the Bottomless Lake and collapsed on the sandy beach. Panting, Orion checked her for serious injuries. Ryan and Stormflare burst from the trees and onto the beach a minute later.

"Is she okay?" Stormflare asked, Ryan crouching beside his sister.

"She ran out of air twenty feet from the surface, and she broke a few ribs from the fall, her chest and side are going to have massive bruises, and she may be a bit disoriented, but other than that, she'll be just fine. "

"How far would you say she was?"

"I don't know how far down she was, but I did see her fall from the top of that cliff." Orion said nodding in the direction of the cliff.

"Damn, that must be fifty feet at least." Stormflare said, looking at Crimson in awe.

She suddenly jolted and coughed up water. After she caught her breath, Orion asked, "Out of curiosity, how far would you say you were?"

"Well I could see the bottom about a hundred feet below me, and I couldn't see the surface, so, you tell me."

"You saw the bottom?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

After she felt sturdy enough to walk back to camp, they left the beach.

As they were eating supper, a nice buck, a wolf emerged from the brush. She was light gray and had dark green eyes. Stormflare's whole face lit up as he recognized his love, Askara.
He tackled her and licked her all over.

Then he started to cry.

"Hey, buddy. Don't cry." She said gently.

"I thought I lost you." He choked out, "How'd you escape?"

"I was drinking from a nearby creak when the attack happened."

"But your mother? She said her baby was dead."

"She was probably talking about my newborn baby sister." Askara said sadly.

"How old would you be now?" Stormflare asked changing the subject.

"I'm 17 so you're birthday is right around the corner."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Wait Stormflare, when is your birthday?" Crimson asked.

"September 11."

"And when's yours Askara?"

"Oh, mine's August 31."

"Well well well, looks like we've found a ghost. Welcome back Askara." Orion said.