Oracle of Wolves

XXII

Holden died the next day. So did the moral that I gave the pack. We buried him much quicker than we had with Milly. Not because we didn't care as much but because we had so many others to take care of as well. The disease waited for no one.

Our efforts doubled in finding a cure and finding another Oracle. I even traveled to South Africa, Kayla's homeland, but I found that she'd left only about a year ago to join a group of "hippies", that's what the mortals think that rouge packs are, and hasn't been heard from since.

Now I stand outside the gates of Ulijana's house in a rural area of a small town in Sweden hoping and praying that she's still there. And alive. I push the doorbell of the modern styled house once. Twice. Three times.

No respond.

I'm about to give up and go back to Alaska when I something from the back yard. A huffing of a wolf after a run. I swear to you that I haven't moved faster since I saved Tyler.

You just had to go there.

I rolled my eyes at my wolf as I made a running jump over the fence to land safely on the other side just in time to see a grey wolf turn into my dark headed friend.

"Hello, Nova Sterling."

____

Not an hour later I was sitting across from Ulijana as we both nursed cups of hot chocolate and waited for her parents to get home while she processed the news of what I'd just told her.

Ulijana might be one of the Oracle of Wolves, but she's only 15- soon to be 16- she has been doing this all her life but she's still a child herself. I hate to bring her into this so soon which is why I went to Kayla for help originally but she's MIA at the moment and I still need an Oracle to help me.

I know she wants to help, but I don't want her to have to. I've seen her death and it's not pretty. That's the only part of it that I'd left out to her. Her part in the premonition I recieved. Finally, she put down her cup on the coffee table and put her elbows on her knees, her eyes not looking up at mine.

"I had a premonition similar to the one you had, Nova."

"Have you seen Kayla? If we've both seen it then she must have as well."

"I saw her a few months ago, half her pack was sick and she came to me for help but I was so busy with my first set of finals that I told her it was probably just the flu and waved her off. She left the next day and I haven't seen her since."

We both went silent. Oracles all have a kind of bond between them, we can sense when the other is killed but not when they are in danger or hurt. We'd have to go through a special ritual for our bond to become that strong.

"We should have done that ritual months- years- ago," she said," The moment you found me we should have done it."

"You know how dangerous it is to do that. We could have killed ourselves in the process."

"But we're so strong, we could have made it."

The silence fell between us again. Neither dared to disturb it, we both know that our minds were traveling to the stories of those who have tried it.

According to the past Oracle's diaries, it has never worked. The power doesn't get proportioned properly between the girls resulting in one being more of a power drain than a power source. It starts slow, the other two get more tired and weak then they have a hard time changing then their wolf stops talking to them then the diary stops. It's been tried 17 times in all wolf history. Only the first time worked.

The very first time was by the first wolves, Asa, the wolf of strength, Horatia, the wolf of the mind, and Xena, the wolf of agility. Xena possesses me just like the Asa does to Kayla and Horatia to Ulijana.

When one dies they create another version of themselves with their own powers. While our humans don't look like them, our wolves do. Xena was a timber wolf, Asa an arctic and Horatia a Columbia.

No one has been able to recreate the ritual because no wolf has been as powerful as the first three.

"It's just not possible, Uli, you know that."

A door behind us opened wide and a dog started barking as it ran under the feet of its owners. Uli's mom and dad came in, both with arms full of paper bags from the grocery store. Stacy, Uli's mom, saw me and smiled while Bennet, her dad, made his way to the kitchen.

"Hello, Nova. It's been so long, how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. I wish I could be here on better terms though. Uli can fill you in, I'd better return to my hotel," I stood up and pulled my bag over my head before looking at Ulijana," I'll need to see you again in the morning, my flight leaves at 3 in the afternoon and I'd like to get yours early."

"Okay, I'll be ready."

I smiled at a confused and distressed looking Stacy before heading out the door and out to the car I rented for the day. I've never felt so awful after one of these meetings but it had to be done.

____

The sun was bright in Sweden as I sat in a park somewhere. I really don't know where I am, I didn't bother to look. I just drove until I found a park. There were children playing on some monkey bars and another on a swing with her mother pushing her high. They squealed loudly with laughter and smiled brightly with honest happiness.

I've been sitting here for a few hours and about 5 families have come and gone, some human and some wolf, some overlapping each other. A lot of parents look at me as if I'm about to make a big drug deal or something but I don't mind. I'm used to people looking at me funny.

My ears pricked as I heard someone approaching but I relaxed when I recognized the scent.

"You've been here for a while."

I let a small smile break out on my tired face," I'm just seeing what we're fighting for. These kids, Ulijana, they are what matters. They will die if we don't do something."

"I know. Are you ready to go?"

"We don't have to leave until the morning."

"I don't want to waste a single moment," I glanced back at her. She had on travel clothes and held a carry on bag in her hand," Come on, you can tell me all about that mate on the plane ride."

"How did you know?"

"The mark, obviously."

My hand went up to brush across my mark. So beautiful, but so dangerous.

Maybe we can stop this premonition, Nova. Maybe Tyler won't really bring us and the pup harm.

Maybe, but I can't take that risk.