Northern Lands: Bound by fate

Chapter 21

ZANDER

Conan and I needed the shift. Transform to the most primal part of ourselves to feel our connection to nature. We all stripped down around the fire and, with arms open and lifted towards our Moon Goddess, let our wolf spirits take over our body.

As an adult werewolf, the shift was painless. The only thing audible, the snapping of some of our bones as they twisted and bent. Fur sprouted from our skin and after a minute, Conan was standing on his four legs between the other werewolves, where before we had all been reunited in our human form.

The unity that ran through our blood as Alpha Kaan howled into the winter night made us move as one, following our leader, repeating his call in echo. The full moon recharged our energies as a pack, and it helped me to lean on their strength in my current state. To hold on to my sanity with my mate missing.

We ran together under the bright silver celestial body that shone its light on the snow, and mirrored a shimmery silver reflection on the lake, illuminating the ripples from the breeze on the surface. The forest was beautifully bathed in the moonlight and the fresh snow cracked under our paws as I trudged behind the children and woman, closing the rear defenses with a couple of pack warriors.

Alpha Kaan led the pack during the run with his Beta at his side. Normally, the Beta had to roam the flanks, but it was safer for Kaan to monitor Leander in his wolf form. Relegating to me the duty as a Gamma to ensure something did not ambush us from behind.

I took the back of Conan's mind, letting go for a moment in the nothingness. Trying to let all the heavy worries wander from my head and replenish my energies as in the morning, we continued our search.

Conan ~ We will find her.

That was the last thing I heard from Conan before I let him completely take over. I trusted my wolf, and he knew how much I needed the time-off. One moment to rest, before succumbing to the heavy weight I carried on my shoulders.

⌘

"Are you ready, Zan?" Leander offered me a hand to pull me up from the ground.

I lay naked on a bed of fallen pine needles. My body was still riddled with healing scratches from the forest. After running the entire night as Conan through pack lands, he was exhausted, and we slept until the moon made a place for dawn. The sun was rising slowly, peeking the orange glow through the mantle of night over the mountains.

A small growl left my lips in compliance, making my cousin smirk down at me.

Leander's tattooed chest was bare, and he only wore some gym shorts. He threw a second pair at me to cover myself up. As werewolves, we were used to being naked around each other, but we had still some modesty in human form after the shift.

"We have to get going, if we want to catch them before they turn in for the day," Leander announced, folding his hands at his hips. For once the red was gone from his eyes, staring back at me with his normal honey gold ones.

"Pack run did you good," I mentioned, getting up and wiping myself clear of earth and leaves.

"Novak was getting restless lately," Leander spoke cryptically, staring ahead in the distance in deep thought. "Since the day I met Calandra, actually."

His admittance made me pause, putting on the shorts he was offering me. "Does he sense anything unusual?" I asked, knowing that Novak was a different kind of wolf spirit.

"The bastard won't tell me," Leander's mood darkened.

That was enough for me to stop inquiring. There was no need to poke the bear while he was sleeping. In this case, his wolf spirit. I wished he could open up to me about himself.