❝ I DRIFT THROUGH THIS OCEAN OF FEAR, MOOR ME DOWN. ❞
• SHORT-LISTED FOR THE SPECTRE AWARDS •
Delilah Dire has had everything taken from her. Her rights as the next leader of her family's pack, her friends, her home; everyone and everything she...
After our tryst, Talos and I walked down to the lake for a quiet moment. Out in the sun with the warm spring breeze carrying the sweet scent of the wild flowers across the lake. There was a couple of friends out canoeing, and a fisherman out on the water. They paid us no mind as we strolled hand in hand down the pebbled shore. Small waves lapping gently at the stones underfoot. Talos chuckled softly to himself. "It's so strange. Before, our mate bond was like a choked brook, trying desperately to burst out and be more than a trickling flow. But now..." I nodded in agreement. I knew what he meant. I could feel it. Now it was like a coursing river, surging strong and true. The kind that shaped mountains and created valleys.
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"I think your parents weren't surprised by how you acted about the story of who Hallow are." I remarked. Talos feelings reached me before his words did. Frustration, anxiety, shame.
"I know. I can't say I'm proud." A deep sigh. "It's like... all my emotions hit me at once. And I can't figure it out in my mind, it's like an overload. Everything becomes so much louder, it's like someone's cranked the volume. I don't want to fly into a state, but I do." He kicked at the pebbles with a tips of his boots. "I have this great power, but the way I use it... Frankly, it's embarrassing." His forest green eyes cast upwards to the sky. "I'm supposed to be the next Alpha of the mighty Stone Pack. But I'm so afraid. I'm so weak." I couldn't help but see a tear glitter in the corner of his eye. I gripped his hand tighter and drew him to me.
"You're not weak, Talos." I protested as he gazed into the bright blue of the sky.
"I am. Hallow scare me, Delilah. What they've done so far, and the power and influence they wield. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how to protect our pack. How to protect you."
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Talos' words hit me hard. Like the thud of a rock being hurled into my heart. "Listen to me. You're not weak. And let me say, I am far more scared of Hallow than you are. And hearing that they are knocking at our door terrifies me. But I'm not going to let what happened to my family, happen here. It's just not."
"How can you be so sure? We haven't got a plan of defense, no idea where they are, or what their next move may be. We're blindfolded in the dark." His voice was rising, I gritted my teeth.
"Trust me. Please. I know this is frightening, but we have to relax. Let them act first, as much as we hate it. All we can do is run more patrols and enforce a curfew to keep people safe. Like your parents said, we have to wait. They're wise people. I doubt they would do this unless they had no other option." Talos still seemed displeased with the choices offered to him. But he sucked it up, and held his head high as we continued to walk along the lake.
"Well, they better hurry up about it. When it comes to these matters, I am not a patient man."
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Over the coming days, the patrols were raised to seven wolves a party, with at least two out at all times. Consequently, all the Warriors, Hunters, and Scouts were very tired and training was cut down to the bare minimum so everyone still had energy to go out. Tensions were high and you didn't need to be a genius to figure out that something was up. Rumors floated through the pack everyday. It seemed like every hour you would here some bizzare new reason as to why we were fortifying the territory so heavily. And even though Talos protested about me being on the patrols, I won that argument. I was part of the strongest class of Warriors, and I'd be damned if I wasn't out in the forest protecting my pack like I was supposed to.
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In the busy haze of it all, I rarely saw my friends. Maritza was often on opposite patrols to me, so our paths didn't cross. Reiner was in the thick of it. If he wasn't out on patrol, he was talking to Alpha Emory, Beta Levon, or one of the Deltas. Combing over reports, trying to find any clue of what Hallow may be doing. And then Sybil. She still hadn't been quite right since Lucida Sidera. But upon hearing the news about Hallow, she's become reclusive. All her time is spent in her bedroom, or her Oracle room. Every now and then I'll see her walking down the hall. Her large silver eyes are heavy with dark bags, and there's a always cigarette in her mouth.
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Double update! Sorry it's been a minute guys. I just wanted to have some safe for work content for people to jump to if they didn't want to read the last chapter. ;) What are your thoughts now we're finally startinging to get into the thick of it? Please comment! And don't forget every vote helps ya girl out. ♥
