The Lord ✔️

Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Return of the Outcast

Crescent closed her eyes, sniffing the air, trying to detect any scents of her siblings. "Andromeda?" she called, worry filling her lungs, and her voice. "Hunter?" She wandered cautiously around the area she knew was Skystar, from Queen Coraline's descriptions of the area.
Behind her, Diana and Serena were looking around. "No sign of them," Diana said, looking troubled. "Are you sure they're here, Carol?" Her body tensed for a second, and then she looked at Serena and Crescent uncertainly.
"I told you not to call me that," Crescent growled. "The stupid name my lovely mother gave me." She was absolutely disgusted that her mother was Queen Cora, and she didn't understand why Queen Cora had been chosen to be queen out of all her littermates. Preposterous, she had thought.
"We've only just entered Skystar," Serena pointed out. "I'm sure Andromeda is smart enough to not make the camp for her rebellion right at the edge of Skystar, especially not towards the side closest to Findrut; Queen Cora would find the rebellion in a instant, and there would be a full on battle. Since Andromeda's wolves wouldn't be prepared, Cora would win, and, you can guess what would've happened: you'd have to continue living with her."
Crescent sighed softly and rolled her eyes. It was so like Serena to make long and sometime emotional speeches, always saying in detail what she thought, and adding her opinion to the end.
The three female wolves continued walking deeper and deeper into Skystar, looking at the pine and birch trees, the aspen and willow trees, the bubbling creeks, and the caribou in the far distance. They stepped through the snow, not thick, slowly melting; and they gazed at the birds who chirped as if it was spring. It seemed wonderful here. Crescent couldn't picture Andromeda going anywhere else, but she was nowhere to be found, and they had been trekking for hours on end.
"Carol? Diana? Serena?"
Crescent whipped around and stared at her brother's wide and incredulous eyes. She studied him. He looked bigger and stronger, and his eyes held some protectiveness she had never seen before. Behind him, was a black wolf—Ruby—and three tiny things moving in the background.
"Hello, Hunter," Serena said, looking calm. "We were wondering if we could join this—uh—pack?"
Hunter stared at her, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. He turned to Ruby, who gave him a smile and a nudge, and then he turned to me, looking more confused than ever. "Where is Queen Cora, Carol?" he asked, looking weary. "Is this a trap?"
Crescent rolled her eyes. "This isn't a trap," she said. "Coraline is not anywhere here. And don't call me Carol. My name is Crescent."
"Huh?" Hunter asked again. "Your name was Carol, the last time I checked."
"Well, you checked too early," Crescent retaliated. "My real name is Crescent. Mother just changed it. I found out some important wolf had named me Crescent, but Coraline didn't want that, because she didn't like the wolf. So she renamed my Caroline, or just Carol."
"O-Kay then," Hunter said, still perplexed. "You can join. I'll take you guys to Andromeda, come on."
Ruby started walking, the three things following her, and Hunter followed. Diana, Serena, and Crescent shrugged, and began to trail after the wolves who had allowed them to join. However, Crescent was worried—Hunter had always been forgiving and easy to persuade, but Andromeda was different. She was stubborn and mistrusting, which could be good or bad. Bad, in Crescent's case. Oh well.