Into the Woods

Natalia

"Do not follow him, please," Grant's father admonished. His gaze lingered on the tree line before returning to Grant. "And put some pants on."

Natalia gawked at him.

He chuckled as if it were a joke, then held his hand out to her. "I'm Cole. I take it this is where you made your den?"

Swallowing hard, Natalia nodded, distracted by the surrounding devastation.

Cole let his hand drop. "From what we can tell, an accelerant was dropped over this area several hours ago. The flames started soon after." He gestured at the smoldering ruins. "It looks like someone wanted your little spot gone for good."

"Those goddamned motherfuckers." Natalia breathed, her eyes glued to the blackened remnants of her home.

Cole's eyebrows rose, and he looked at Grant with surprise.

"I assume you have an idea about who did this. Care to share?"

Grant sighed. "We've been having issues with poachers. And someone keeps antagonizing them." He gave Natalia a very pointed look.

Cole grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the still smoking remains of the forest. "They burned about two and a half kilometers that way," he pointed north, "and about three and a half kilometers that way," he motioned east.

Natalia's mouth dropped open and her heart plummeted. They burned around two thousand acres of her forest. "My birds."

"How low did the fire go? Did it burn the through the duff?" Grant asked his father.

"Not that far. It only hit the crown, some of the lower branches, and dry brush. The ground is too wet from frost right now and the accelerant didn't make it through the crown in high enough quantities. From what we can tell, it looks like they did an air dusting. We won't know until we can get back out here in the daylight to inspect the damage."

"Then the birds survived," Grant assured Natalia.

She nodded, unable to speak. Then she frowned. Her head snapped around to look at Grant. "What did you just say?" she demanded.

He grinned at her and shrugged. "The fire didn't make it to the leaf litter on the ground, so the birds are safe."

"I'm so confused."

Rustling in the forest cut off whatever Grant was about to say. He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him even as the other pack members standing in the clearing jumped to attention. The trees shook, sending plumes of ash into the air, muting the light from the pack's lanterns and obscuring their vision.

Silence fell, eerie and oppressive. Natalia placed her hands on the small of Grant's back and watched the woods carefully, but saw nothing amiss. The sounds in the forest continued—the wind rustling leaves and the occasional twig snapping and cracking under foot. Except for the animals. All the animals were gone.

"Are you sure it wasn't a bear or cougar?" she whispered.

"They would never come near this many of us." Grant said, taking several deep breaths. "The ash is too thick. It's covering all the other scents."

A growl sounded in the distance. Natalia swallowed hard.

"There." A voice whispered from the darkness behind them. Grant stiffened next to her.

Natalia turned slowly, trying to see past the smoke and darkness shrouding the clearing. But it was impossible.

Two pinpoints of green light turned towards them. Natalia gasped and cried out, "Grover!"