Wolf Queen - Book 1 of The Nightfall Series

Three

Her heart beat a fast rhythm against her chest, sadness resonating in her bones as she waited for her father. He stood not far from her conversing with Beta Hamish about their departure. Her beast was anxious at the troubles they faced.

Their trip south would take them a few hours with their enhanced agility, no need to hold back for slower wolves. She would match her father's pace with ease. The messengers had left a trail for them to follow as they left in haste, but they didn't need it.

They both remembered the way far too well.

The memories that had plagued her since the messenger's announcement the day before had troubled her, blood, and death, so much death. It was a sickness upon her mind, her beast howled within her in pain.

She hoped whatever they faced would not be a replay of the past.

She toed at the moss beneath her feet and let her hands brush down the soft material of the long cloak she wore with a sigh. Her breath came out in a puff of white, the cold air bit against her skin but it didn't affect her in any way. Growing up beside the mountains, in the forest, allowed her to become accustomed to the elements. Their blood ran cooler than their southern cousins, the cold was nothing to her.

"Are you ready, Ada?"

Adelaide turned at her father's voice, pulling her back to reality and nodded. His cloak matched hers, the furs around the collars brushed their necks. The bear furs had been passed down from their ancestors. The one she wore was her mothers, her fathers belonged to her grandfather.

She turned and took one last look at the pack before turning away, a sinking feeling in her gut. Her cloak swinging behind her as she fell into step with her father. Their feet crunching against the hard frost on the ground as they left the forest behind.

"Don't dwell on the past." Her father said softly as they walked.

"Something isn't right. If a war is happening, then why would they command us to come as advisors?" She pondered allowed, her brows pulling together in thought.

The messengers had elaborated once all had calmed. It had been clear they were to come as advisors and nothing more but Adelaide felt it in the air, something was amiss.

"I sense your unease. We are merely going to observe and assess." He told her, trying to comfort her electrified nerves.

"I do not wish to partake in the destruction of more lives. You are risking yourself and the pack by going to this meeting." She chided, full of foreboding.

"It is as if you wish for my death, daughter. It's all you seem to talk about these days." He told her.

Mirth covered his features as she looked at him and she bristled. Her eyes flashed with her beast and her canines descended as she released a snarl and snapped her teeth before striding forward.

"Do not joke about such things." She threw back.

She heard him sigh as she picked up her feet and let her body flow into a run. Footfalls behind her signalled her father keeping up with her pace as the world blurred around her.

Her nose picked up the keen, sharp, smell of the male messenger and she followed it loosely as she made her own was through the hills and valleys. It was no surprise it had taken them time to find them, they had retreated deep into the wild territories that had not been chartered after the downfall of mankind. While new pack lines were being drawn, they had withdrawn with pride.

Warriors did not fight or negotiate over new lands like hyenas.

Their retreat to their ancestral home, the beginning of the pack, had proved a strategic move on their part. They had gone ten years without any disturbance from the national council, now their peace was shattered. Danger lurked in the dark.