Midnight Wolves

Chapter One: Crashing

It was the sound of the child crying that drew her from her dreams. It always was. And it wasn't the voice she heard every night in her dreams – the young girl, lost, calling for a mother that was never going to come. No, it wasn't that child that woke her.

It was Uma. Barely five years old but with the lungs of an adult. God that child was loud when she wanted to be.

Or, sometimes, when she needed to be.

Callie's wolf raged against her as she woke and tried to wrestle control. Her power hung heavy in the air, sucking the oxygen from the room until she could barely draw in a breath. She could sense the Rootbridge pack buckling beneath the weight of her wolf's power, submitting to the dominant waves her wolf had called forth.

Finally, her wolf relented and Callie's world slipped back into colour as her power stalled and she released the Rootbridge pack from her hold. Uma's crying stopped for a moment, before beginning again. Loud and long. But this time she heard Jake fuss over her, no doubt cradling his young child to his chest.

It was Cassidy then, this time, who would come to check on Callie. To reassure her that it was OK. That the pack understood, even if Callie didn't. That it didn't matter that she could barely go a week without having a nightmare and forcing the entire pack to submit to her wolf. That they loved her anyway.

Of course, she knew that Cassidy and Jake did. Since she'd moved in with them over two years ago, they had been nothing but welcoming and kind to her. The pack on the other hand had quickly run out of patience. No matter the opinions of their alphas, it was hatred and concern that they eyed her with.

Footsteps neared her door and she sighed softly as Cassidy knocked and opened it, giving Callie a small, sad smile. She perched on the edge of her bed, resting a hand on her covered leg.

"You alright kid?"

Callie looked down, balling her hands in her lap and nodded once.

Cassidy sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Did you see anything new?"

Callie eased herself back onto the bed and laid down, nestling into the duvet for warmth. "I don't think so. I was in the forest again and there was a bright light overhead. I was-I was trying to find her, I kept calling out but she never came. I-" Callie shuddered and held back the tears burning in her eyes. "I'm never going to remember am I?" she whispered.

Jake appeared in the doorway, leaning against the painted wood and crossing his hands over his chest. He glanced between his mate and the wolf he'd come to think of as a daughter. His chest was tight with worry.

They'd hoped Callie would benefit from therapy. She'd needed it after what had happened with her moonmate who had tried to force a mating with her, only to be brutally murdered by Caleb. A wolf that, at the time, Callie might have loved, but who later found his own moonmate.

But during those therapy sessions, something had happened. Something had changed.

At first it only happened when the moon was nearly full, as though Callie's control had slipped when her wolf was at her most powerful. The first time, Jake had woken to a crushing, crippling sensation in his chest. His wolf was whining and had torn forth before Jake knew what was happening.

Cassidy had been caught as unawares as he was, and both of them had been forced to the floor, their ears flat and wolves whining in agony beneath the waves of power. At the time, Jake hadn't known what was happening, it was only afterwards when they'd found Callie wide eyed and sobbing that they'd known.

J had always said she was powerful, and they knew she was – she'd shown them once all that time ago when she'd intervened between two half-rogue wolves. Jake kicked himself for forgetting. He'd never met a wolf like it. It seemed strange that a wolf that small could hold a power that big.

Since the first time, it had happened again and again and his pack were getting restless. They didn't enjoy being torn from their beds in the middle of the night by a wolf powerful enough to make an entire pack submit to her without even intending to do so. They were concerned. A wolf that powerful, that out of control. No good could come from it, they said.

It was when the neighbouring packs began complaining that they too were being forced to submit to that same wave of power that Jake knew something had to be done.

Cassidy disagreed.

It was the worst argument they'd had, and things still remained brittle between them. Jake wanted her gone. Cassidy wanted her to stay. And Callie? Well, judging by the look he saw in her eyes at the moment, Callie wanted to go too.

Maybe Cassidy had seen it earlier. Maybe that's why she'd been so intent on Callie staying because she knew she wanted to leave.

Cassidy and Callie were talking quietly between themselves, Jake staring at the wall over their head. They fell into silence, both staring at him.

He frowned and quirked his head. "What?"

Cassidy shrugged and glanced at Callie. "Told you he wasn't listening."

Callie rolled her eyes and slowly got to her feet. "I think I want to go and see J. Do you think she'll let me?"

Jake and Cassidy shared a look, each shrugging before nodding in agreement.

"I'll give her a ring, let her know you're coming." Cassidy said as she stood and headed out of the room.

"It's the middle of the night!" Callie called after her.

Jake shrugged as the young she-wolf began packing some of her belongings into a bag. "J barely sleeps these days anyway, she'll be up."

-

A/N

Welcome back to Rootbridge!

Upload schedule will be one chapter every day.