The Wolf

Ch. 19: So It Begins

~Alex~

The mission took two weeks. Two weeks! It consisted of reconnaissance on a rogue wolf pack. They live about 300 miles east of our camp. We were supposed to make sure that they weren't up to anything fishy. And they weren't. They were going about their daily lives in peace.

I'm not sure where my father got his information from, but I'm sure this can't be the same rouge wolf pack that he said was so dangerous. Meanwhile, Nico may still be missing. I haven't been able to send or receive any messages to camp to see whether or not the search had been successful.

Today we finally get to go back and I'm excited. We're already running full speed to camp. The rest of my crew is just as eager as I am to return back home. We're all sick of camping out and eating cold meals. It sucks.

Trees pass by in a blur of brown and green. The wind whistles past my ears. I can think of nothing but seeing Nico. I bet he's safe and still mad at me back at camp. I can't wait to apologize and be friends again.

We reach the center of camp and revert back to our human forms. The guys pat each other on the back and laugh, glad to be home. Stray pack members greet us, asking how the mission went. I stay and answer a few questions, but I use the excuse of having to report to my father to escape.

It's around noon, on a Sunday, so everyone's either lazing about or gone into town to attend church. I decide to stop by the omega cabin before reporting to my dad. As I jog to the cabin, I see Blake talking to Dom. He seems to be heated; he's making wild gestures with his hands.

"Hey!" I call, walking up to them. "What's going on?"

Blake turns towards me, his anger seems to cool down at the sight of me, while Dom seems panicked. I wonder what they were discussing.

"About time you got back, Alex," Blake says, "where the hell were you?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I was on a mission for my father, not my idea. Why, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?!" Blake's voice starts to rise, Dom raises his hands to try to calm him down. "What's wrong is that Nico is still missing, is what's wrong!"

All the blood drains out of my face. My breath gets stuck in my throat. A dizzy spell catches me in its clutches. I put out a hand on the wall to steady myself.

"He's still missing?" My voice is barely a whisper.

Blake stops, his face gone slack. "You didn't know?"

I sit down on the porch steps and put my head in my hands. Where is he? Why hasn't he returned yet?

"He's still missing, we need to find him. The council said that looking for him is a waste of resources and time. They also think that he's a spy!" Blake informs me. I could see the rage glinting in his eyes. I wonder just what he's heard about Nico from that bloody council.

"A spy? A waste of time?" I could feel my blood boiling. My k9 teeth grow longer of their own accord. I'd bet my eyes are glowing too.

Dom steps away from me. "They accused him of stealing the Moon Chain and spying for a rouge camp for his parents. Which is preposterous."

Without another glance to either of them, I'm halfway across the camp to the main house. I need to bring this up with my dad. How could he? How could he just let them talk like that about Nico? He promised to search for him.

The conference room door bangs open and I rush inside. My father is sitting at the round table, he looks weary. But right now I'm too angry to ask him how he's doing. He looks up at me, his face is blank as though he expected this to happen. It only made me angrier.