SON OF THE MOON

Two sides to a man

Caleb had seen Adira stopping and facing the rogues, but he had also lost sight of her in the fight. He tried to reach out to her, but all he got in return was silence. She was alive, all right, but nowhere in sight.

He found Nathaniel and Abigail arguing as they helped transport some rogues' bodies by dragging them from their hind legs. Caleb marched up to them, interrupting their bickering. "Have you seen Adira? Where is Angel?" He asked, now realizing he had not seen the guard since that morning when they had left the pack lands.

"That's what we're talking about," Nathaniel replied. "Angel is probably still back there" He pointed in the direction that had entered from. "He was the first to be attacked. I believe we should go now to look for him," He looked around the field. "But I do not know where Adira is. She and the Luna ran ahead of us."

Abigail pulled harder to get her burden near a growing pile of corpses. They were to be burned as soon as possible, no time to get them to the morgue.

"I think we should take a group with us," Her voice was raspy and deep. Her soft features did not match. "There could be more of these things back there."

Caleb noticed Nathaniel wanted to argue with her, but he held his tongue. Abigail pushed her white hair away from her face, daring her brother.

"Take ten able bodies with you. Make sure to look around the area and tell me what you find."

They nodded once and set out, pulling people with them until all twelve were out of sight.

He walked around a bit longer until he noticed a black wolf lying dead on the ground. There was a human hand underneath it. Worried, he ran and landed on his knees, moving the body to the side. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Adira lying on the ground covered in blood. Her eyes were closed, and three deep and long claw marks crossed her chest from her right shoulder to the middle of her belly. She had a green-colored wound over her neck, black veins spreading over her cheek all the way into her scalp.

He yelled for a medic to tend to her, fear and worry in his bones. He was pushed by the same medic who had helped Matias, but he did not mind the aggressiveness. Samuel, he believed was the medic's name.

Rose was more familiar with their names.

Alexander was right behind him, Nora following right after. She gasped and tears filled her eyes as she covered her mouth.

"No... Adi..." Caleb heard her whisper the nickname he had only heard a few times. Alexander embraced her, trying to get her to turn away, but she refused to avert her eyes from the scene in front of them.

"What happened?" Caleb noticed the worry in his voice. Although he and Adira had been fighting for the last month, Alex still worried about the young she-wolf. Caleb shook his head, not sure of the situation himself. They would have to wait until Adira woke up.

Some warriors were stopping to see what was happening. Some were curious, others appeared to be nervous at the blackness surrounding Adira's wounds. Caleb looked around for something to cover her with, he found the thin black blankets used to cover the bodies of the fallen Warriors, none had been used yet.

He pushed people out of his way and placed the blanket to cover Adira's nudity. It was nothing new to him, or anyone for that matter, to see a fellow pack member in their birthday suits, but Caleb wanted to give her some privacy. He placed the blanket over her, leaving exposed the area where the medic was working. The three big gashes that covered her front were already stapled together, the black veins no longer spreading.

In a weird way, Caleb found them to be wickedly intriguing, like roots from a tree, reaching into the earth looking for... something.

Rose approached them but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Adira on the floor. Her face was blank, but her brow betrayed her. Caleb had an easy time reading her expression, there was concern deep within her. He knew that neither wished for the other to die, they were part of the same pack. Both women had been at odds for a while now, but they still performed their jobs flawlessly.