Sunlight

Chapter 2: The Searcher's Sword

It had been at least four hours since Simon had gone. I was still sitting on the sandy beach staring out at the ocean. This beach was the packs’ favorite place to go, and only we knew about it because it was only accessible through our territory. No humans ever came here, or ever would for that matter, as long as this was our land.

Warm, dry sand slid up over my toes as I pushed them towards the rolling tide. Slowly, I hauled myself into a crouching position, still looking out at the salt water waves.

My mind was still trying to grasp what Simon had said ‘if you two have not found a mate in the next year… Nightshade and Wolfsbane will force you to give up your alpha position to whomever they please and you won’t be able to redeem yourself until you find a mate. I truly am sorry.’

A mate? Of all things they had to make us find mates. Both Calla and I had planned on staying single forever. After Simon left, I turned and came straight here.

Reaching this beach as a wolf had only taken a few minutes. I hadn’t been in a hurry though. And I was pretty sure nobody had followed me either.

“One year? One year? I might be able to fight of a hundred Searchers at once but I am no miracle worker!” My anger caused me to strike the water. I sucked in a sharp breath.

They were getting to us, all of them. Every one of them, her parents, Nightshade and Wolfsbane, and especially the Keepers. The Keepers could decide everything about our lives, where we live, whether we could have children, and sometimes even who your mate was. I was not about to let them decide who I was gonna be stuck with forever. But rarely, very rarely, some have heard the Keepers have killed a Guardian because they “endangered” my kind.

It was said that they held the power to take away a Guardian’s wolf soul. Even though it has never happened, that we know of, some are still careful.

Eventually we might be free. We were told that the Keepers only want what is best for all of us. Did I believe it? No. I didn’t, Calla didn’t, our packs’ didn’t, and nobody I knew believed it completely either. Not that they hadn’t helped us out before, but they had hurt and annoyed us too. Plus, there was usually a catch when they did help. The Keepers had been ruling us for hundreds of years.

They never let us forget it either.

A few yards from where I was crouching, I heard a soft thud in the sand and it slid, like a footstep. I stood up and started to climb a nearby tree. I stopped on a low two-foot- thick branch. Looking where I heard the footstep, I spotted a man. He was in his late forties, and he was laying on a rock looking for something. Probably to figure out where I went.

The breeze was blowing his scent to my right, so I couldn’t tell if he was human or something else. As he slid up higher an inch or two, the sun hit just right. A sword. He had a sword. This man was no human, he was a Searcher.

My lips curled up as my canines sharpened. I released a low, warning growl, and the Searcher looked up in my direction. He caught my eye. Scared, the Searcher rolled over on his back, gasped, and started to stand up. The sword at his side gleamed menacingly in the bright sunlight.

I phased and growled at him, but didn’t attack because something inside me says to look closer. My eyes narrowed as a strip of glaring light flashes near me. Positioning myself to jump, I notice a glowing red line on the swords blade. He had an enchanted sword. Usually only younger Searchers had them. So my guest is a scout. Searchers are getting stupider and stupider.

Looking in his eyes, I saw something I hadn’t seen in years. This man had been possessed by a Keeper (seeing as they were the only ones that had the power to do so). Once a human, then he was changed to a Searcher, and now just an expendable.