Year of no Stars

Chapter 3

Man, this uploading thing is going to take a looong while :/ I hope I at least get some reads for this effort...

Year of no Stars- Chapter 3

    Two years since Jasper’s murder and it is finally Tera’s time. I can’t say I am sobbing or my heart is hurting but most definitely, I am grieving. Dapt sits next to me on the left, Arey on the right. My head hung low, the air rings with the sorrowfully howls of the pack. I stare at Tera’s cold body. My fingers tingle as I rub her fur one last time. It is soft and silky like a pup and long; nothing like Jasper’s.

    I watch as Dapt and Arey drag her lifeless body from camp, to bury her somewhere deep so predators do not scavenge. I stay behind. The pack falls asleep under the stars that night; a cloudless sky and full moon. A never before seen star twinkles brightly tonight; I watch it carefully as my eyes droop. Tera is watching over us.

     Bara and I are the only ones left of the pack since I had joined. Seven long years and Lantor’s son, Trayli, is now alpha male with his mate, Corlia. We get along very well. I can’t wait for her pups to arrive. She promised I could name one. I want to name one Jasper Jr. after him. Corlia says she would be honored to be the mother of a pup with a name of such significance to me.

    I am so much more different then when I was little. Two years old to fifteen; that’s thirteen years of the wild built into me. I love it. I breathe in nature’s fresh air every morning, afternoon and night. There is no one to stop me from hunting, from doing what I love. It was truly the perfect life.

    My mind wanders on this, trying to think back to my very first day. Was it berries I ate? I don’t even remember where the cave is anymore. “Laura, come quick!” Corlia’s voice snaps me from my thoughts. I open my eyes to see her light grey pelt spotted with a tiny splash of blood. My hearts starts to race. My fear is soon stolen as my gaze adjusts to the young male wolf beside her. He stumbles, eyes rolling back and forth. He is thin, the smallest wolf I’ve seen yet. He isn’t as broad as the other male’s. I leave my spot and dash forward toward them, as Trayli does as well.

    “I found him lying half unconscious not far from here,” she says in a pant. The wolf leans heavily on her.

    I’m not sure how to respond but I know Corlia looks tired. I brush up against the wolf and he relieves the pressure from Corlia’s shoulder and presses it all to me. He is heavier than I thought. I watch as Trayli helps Corlia over to some shade and comes back to me. “Lay him down somewhere away from the den,” he says in a hushed tone. “We don’t know what state of mind he is in and I want him nowhere close to the pack.”

    I nod my understanding and lead him slowly to the other side of the clearing. Trayli dips his head and nudges Corlia to her paws and I watch them walk to the den and disappear into a rock cave. The grey wolf curls up on a patch of grass and I sit beside him. “My name is Laura,” I say quietly. I wonder if he can hear me.

    “Misah,” he responds in an equally quiet tone. I glance in his direction; he lies quite comfortably and I can see the wound behind his left ear very clearly. You can tell it once bled heavily by the dried blood around the edges and the sticky substance in his fur; as well you can see the great deal of pain it has afflicted upon Misah. Confusion, no doubt, has played a huge role in how he came about Corlia in the woods. I can see the disarray in his eyes.

    “What happened, Misah?” I ask. I can’t help myself; isn’t it natural to be curious? I should let him rest but my wonder plagued at me harder.

    “Some hunters,” he answers. His eyelids drop and his lips part in a yawn. “They shot me… but I woke up unharmed. I was in a cage and I could hear growling and whimpers. Before I knew it, I had been placed in front of the growling beast.” Misah stops and shakes his head. He continues with a long sigh, “It was blood thirsty and I lost the fight badly and the men beat me over the head, for loosing, I think.”