The Fall of 06

Chapter 10

"Merda," the young female wolf instantly snaps her jaw shut, and quickly ducks her head, pulling back her ears back in an apology as she lowers herself to the ground in submission. I give my tail a slight flick, reassuring her that the mistake is accepted. I'm not a leader of no remorse.

"The Beta," She pauses, ducking her head low as I look over at her with frosty eyes. "Your second mate, Namda, hasn't returned."

Lamda opens his mouth to respond, but closes it almost immediately. He had been about to snap back at the young wolf who still needed to find her place, but as any good leader would he held himself back. It made my heart flutter, our pack is one that supports each other. We don't bring one another down.

Slowly, I get to my feet, peeling back my ears in dominance, which she correctly responds to by crouching to the ground. I give a slight nod in approval. "Namda will return, Bailey." I keep my tone even and directive as I speak to the younger wolf. The pack is losing faith so quickly, and I'm not going to let it be so. Namda will return. He has to for Lamda's sake and the packs future.

"Merda," Bailey's hazel brown eyes stay locked on the ground beneath my feet. "I am not challenging, nor questioning your authority." Lowering herself nearly to the forest floor, Bailey tilts her head up at me. "No territorial patrol has ever lasted more than five days." She pauses, looking me over for any sign of a reaction. "Namda has been gone for ten days."

What Bailey said is true. With a look at the clusters of ears directed towards me, the pack obviously knew it was true too. Namda had been gone on his patrol for much more longer than they usually lasted. It was hard for them to have faith that he would return. But I know my mate, and Namda would not abandon the pack without reason. Especially on a territorial patrol.

Lamda nudges my nose, his eyes straying somewhere distant that I could not see with my own. "I have faith in my brother." He scans the pack with a stern gaze. "We all should. If something happened to Namda, Merda is still our leader. Namda would want us to continue on, not worry about him.

As the clearing sits silent, the shifting wind becomes the only noise between the pack. That was until the thump of wolf paws on the pine floor sounds from the nearby forest. We all turn our heads, ears perked towards the trees. My oldest daughter shoots through the brush, her cobalt blue eyes instantly meeting mine.

"Lakia," I instantly lower my tail in relief, she is of our pack, not a rival. Of course it's her, she loves making big entrances. As I look her over, I notice she holds herself highly. She has an air of boastfulness, like the kind she had worn after her first kill.

"Merda, on my search for prey I picked up a stale stench. Namda had been there." Her tail wags slightly, giving away her excitement to have found something so important. This would definitely boost her ranking amongst the pack.

"My brother? Where is he?" Lamda instantly steps forward from beside me, eyes darting about and tail perked.

"You're sure it was him?" Lakia turns her head slightly, looking over at a lesser wolf who had spoken with a calm gaze like that of a leader. The wolf seems to immediately regret their decision. Lakia would make a fine leader if she were able to damper her emotions.

"I haven't wronged a scent yet, I'm sure it was Namda." The lesser wolf's doubt is quickly stifled by Lakia. Though it could've done without her usual attitude. Her older brother seems to notice this too, and he haunches his shoulders. He's obviously ready to jump into the conversation.

"Show me." I command, stepping forward before he can jump in. The evidence collected would get nowhere if it was continued to be argued over. Scents could fade quickly, and if the scent is my mates it was a risk I couldn't take. I'll clarify it myself. As pack leader, my word is law.

"Me too." Lamda adds, stepping up beside me.

I block his pathway. "No. Not you." I meet his eyes and see how much those words hurt him. So I lean in closer to his ear and drop my voice down to a whisper. "If anything happens, you're pack leader. I need you to stay here."

His eyes widen. "You really think something happened to Namda?"

I glare at him. "I said if. Not things will happen." Giving him a smile, I turn to Lakia. "Take me to the scent."

Lakia nods. With a swish of her tail, she turns towards the forest. "Come, it's not far from here."

With a glance back at Lamda, I jump off the raised forest floor I was standing on and trot after my daughter. Her ears perk as I slide through the brush after her. As she stops, I caught a gleam in her eyes as she looks back at me.

"Here, on the forest floor." Stepping aside, Lakia gives me room to investigate the pine needles. They had obviously been moved, as most of them lay in clusters unusual of free-falling pines. I bend down, nose millimeters from the ground. As I inhale, I catch a stale whiff of my mates scent. Instantly, my heart leaps. Already I can see those chestnut brown eyes staring back at me. I can see his matted, charcoal fur as he stands by my side. I could feel the heat that radiated from him. I inhale once more, and a new stench prods my nose. It reeks of chemicals, and I scrunch my nose. It smells of overwhelming pine and dirt, with a side of flowery air. I have never come across a scent such as this. Now that I have picked up the scent, I notice it trails farther into dense forest. Dense forest was normally avoided as It's hard to maneuver in, especially if caught alone.

"Merda?" Lakia watches me with widened eyes, her head tilted to the side. She seems to have noticed the wariness I hold myself with. "Did you pick up more of Namda's scent?"

"Yes." I look past her, scanning the darkened forest. "There's another scent too."

Lakia instantly scoffs. "What? I didn't find another! everything just smells like forest!" Her tail lashed back and forth in frustration as she kicks the pines. 

"That's the point." I have never smelled something so similar to the pine needles and evergreens as that scent is. But at the same time, I have never smelled something so unnatural. Lakia couldn't come. She had the potential to be a great leader. If anything were to happen to me, she would be the packs second stabilization. "Stay here."

Lakia opens her mouth, but closes it almost immediately. She wouldn't dare argue with me. I'm her mother, but in the end I'm always her leader. Wrapping her tail around her legs, she sits down with a huff. "Fine, I'll stay here where it's boring and patiently wait for you to return."

Lakia's words drip with sarcasm, but I know she won't disobey. I turn towards the forest and head off along the trail of Namda's scent. As I walk, my paws dig into the musty soil, and dead pine needles catch my fur. It's rained the past few days, so the forest floor should've been made of mud when Namda walked this path. There should be small dents in the dry earth where his claws have prodded. But there isn't.

Something is wrong. If Namda had not pierced the ground with his claws, then he had not been walking. Yet, his scent still continues further into the woods. Perhaps it's a bear that claimed his life. Yet, bears have a tendency to drag their prey, and surely that would've made a long streak in the now-dried mud.

Just as I reach this thought, a bush rustles about five miles away from where I stand. I desperately want it to be the wind, but I know there's no breeze under the thick trees. I move my ears slowly towards the noise, standing perfectly still.

Try as I can, I can't hear anything more. Perhaps whatever creature was there has passed. It could of course be prey. Something as simple as a bunny. At least that's what I thought as I turned away from the brush.

A loud explosion sounds far away, yet so close to my ear. I close my eyes seconds before the object punctures my skull. I promised myself I would always find Namda no matter where he may go, and now, I have.