Wolves of the Falling Stars Book 4: The Return

Chapter 7

Thank you all for your patience in uploading. I realize I vanished from this story for over a month due to returning to school/studying for a big standardized test/ and finishing up a novel I submitted to the Watty's a few weeks ago. I feel I have more free time now with some of those other things out of the way, so expect weekly updates from this time on.

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Quiet Ocean wrestled with her siblings at the entrance of the den she called home. Snow Fall was putting up quite the fight, but she wouldn't let her brother win, not when Daffodil Bloom was at her side. Their mother was dozing, not paying much attention to where the pups were playing.

Their play fighting had taken them away from the den slightly to the edges of the den area, near where the omegas stayed. Curiosity sometimes drew Quiet Ocean toward that den, but she could not quite understand why. Perhaps it was the mysterious way in which the omegas lived, tucked away from the rest of the wolves or perhaps it was because of the stories she had heard about Lily Petal, the wolf that had gone mad.

Either way, though Quiet Ocean noticed she and her siblings approaching the omega den, she thought nothing of it and with Daffodil Bloom's help, knocked her brother to the ground. Snow Fall struggled under his sisters' grips and growled, but the two only fell on their backs and laughed.

"Even though you're bigger than us, you're still no match for us!" Daffodil Bloom teased.

"That's right," Quiet Ocean added.

Snow Fall was grumbling to himself. "That-that's because you two played dirty. I want another round!"

"Stop being a sore loser," Daffodil Bloom teased.

Out of the corner of her eye, Quiet Ocean noticed someone watching her. She turned her head just slightly, seeing Lily Petal peeking her head out of the omega den. The she-wolf looked haggard, with bloodshot eyes and matted fur. Her appearance took Quiet Ocean by surprise, and she found herself jolting slightly.

Small Fox often told the pups to keep away from the omega den. It was not in the same way Shining River told her pups to stay away for the sake of their dignity. Rather, Small Fox warned that Lily Petal was slowly losing sanity as time went on and that it was best the pups stay away so as not to upset her. Quiet Ocean had heard the she-wolf's name passed around in conversation, but it was always in a negative tone, one that was biting and almost teasing.

Quiet Ocean had heard a little about her relation to the she-wolf. Jay's Tail, their uncle, had been her mate and died in battle. Shortly after, the she-wolf had gone insane. Occasionally, Quiet Ocean heard the mention of pups too before it was quickly hushed around her and her siblings. It was not a topic appropriate to discuss around them, but Quiet Ocean could only guess what they were speaking about. She'd heard the rumors herself. The pups died, only furthering Lily Petal's insanity.

"What'cha looking at?" Daffodil Bloom asked.

Quiet Ocean quickly turned away from the gaze of Lily Petal, about to offer an excuse, when words began to come out of the omega's mouth.

"This isn't a place for pups to play!" Lily Petal spat. Her voice was weak, yet still carried a sense of animosity. Her lips curled back into a snarl, revealing her sharp incisors. 

"We didn't mean to get so far away from the den," Snow Fall argued.

"Snow Fall," Quiet Ocean warned, knowing he too had been told not to interact with Lily Petal.

"Stupid pups, rotten pups. I hear your cries all day. Can never get a wink of shut eye with you playing all the time. Wish you never existed. Wish there were no pups in this pack," she grumbled.

"Hey!" Daffodil Bloom exclaimed, her fur spiking. 

"Get out of here, you disgusting pups!" Lily Petal growled.

"That's enough, Lily Petal," came a stern voice from behind Quiet Ocean. She turned, not sure when her mother had arrived. Small Fox was always caring and nurturing, but she looked just about ready to sink her teeth into Lily Petal's throat.

"Come to talk to me, then?" Lily Petal asked.

"That's no way to talk to these pups," Small Fox growled. 

"They wandered over here themselves. They disturbed my nap," Lily Petal complained.

"It won't happen again. I take responsibility for that," Small Fox said. "But that doesn't give you the right to shout obscene things at them. They're as much a part of this pack as you are."

Lily Petal rolled her head back and cackled. The strange sound shook Quiet Ocean to the bone. She had never once been afraid of a wolf until this moment.

"You don't get to tell me whose a part of the pack and who isn't. You don't get to yell at me about pups--"

"Lily Petal," Small Fox warned.

"Don't come near the den again," Lily Petal growled before slinking back away into the darkness of the omega den. 

"This way, pups," Small Fox growled. There was something deeper going on between Small Fox and Lily Petal, Quiet Ocean observed, but she cared little to ask what it was, not when she was still shaking slightly from the encounter.

Small Fox led the three pups back to the den, where she promptly told them to take a seat.

"We're sorry," Daffodil Bloom murmured. "We didn't know we had gotten so far away."

Small Fox sighed. "It's all right. Accidents happen. I wasn't paying attention, but I will urge you three again to stay away from the omega den. I am sorry Lily Petal scared you. Her mind is not right. She's slipping more and more each day, and I'm afraid she might be dangerous if you three get too close."

"Then why is she in the pack?" Snow Fall asked. "You think she'll attack us? We're pack members. We shouldn't attack each other."

"No one knows what is going on in her mind. The other wolves can handle her if she lashes out, and thankfully her sister cares for her in the omega den. But, as much as you hate to hear it, you three are pups, and you're not big enough to fend for yourself...so stay away from the den. She's been known to shout mean things, but I'm guessing her bark is worse than her bite. Still, it's better to stay safe," Small Fox said.

The three nodded and went off to their respective corners to sleep. Quiet Ocean was still shaking, but the calming gesture of Small Fox's tail gently curling around her made her feel safe.

Still, there was something haunting about the way Lily Petal looked at her, as if she had seen that face before, somewhere, on someone.