The Fragility of Fate ✔️

34 | The Darkness

Gabriel

The mountains were standing mute. The breeze in the tall trees not even willing to register a whisper as I walked alone. Unnerved with what was to come, I watched dusk cast its pastel hues across the sky, nature's preamble before the Moon would set the stage for the night.

Everything was in motion. I'd gathered every warrior we had. Male, female. It mattered not. For most of the pack, this was a hunger that had been gnawing away at them since the death of their Alpha- my father. That was what was special about our pack. We were family, blood or not, and they wanted revenge for his death. This wasn't just about Miesha, or I. It was about all of us.

Greyson and Nate had done what they could to ensure their strongest were ready. Our combined efforts near doubling what we otherwise would have had since their arrival at Cross Rivers.

We knew Jacob and the Rogues were coming and I had but one request issued to them should he arrive while I said goodbye to Miesha- leave him for me.

The echoes of the silence split me at the seams as I paced towards Neve's cabin. With each impatient tread, I swore I could feel the arms of my father in the wind wrapping around me. It brought me comfort to know I wasn't alone.

I struggled to compose myself, my breath jagged and torn as I called out to him.

Father.

The Moon rising to meet my mourning as she watched her land fill with the quaking cry of her creation.

My chest heaved.

My vision was crystal clear. His face wearing nothing but pride as my beautiful mother held his hand. The vision stole my breath. Standing tall in their grace, I watched them smile. Her hair was her crowning glory, just as if she were young once more, painting a golden gloss over the dappled sky.

Mother.

They were here. For the briefest second it was as if they never left.

It didn't matter how much time had passed, or how much I had aged- I just wanted them back. But tonight there would be more loss.

The pack felt the pain of my undoing. One howl set off the others, one by one the symphony rippling across the valley, until an ode of reckoning filled the fields with foreboding. My people were thirsty for revenge. And it was coming.

Forgive me father.

~

Whipsawing with each bound, I let him break through. Splitting the Earth like tree bark, his paws hit the dirt as he hurtled in pursuit of his mate.

His golden eyes pierced the fields. His vision honed in on everything from the iridescent wings of the dragonfly that swept past him, to the claws of the cicadas that gripped the tree trunks as they sung their evening song unaware.

As he thundered on, he knew what lay ahead. I feel his body buzzing with emotion as he got closer to his other half. His breath humming along with the cadence that flowed from the strength of him.

Not long to go now.

Through the thickets and lurching over the decay of dying trees, he became one with the wild. Blurring at the seams I pushed him further forward as we ran together deeper into the darkness.