Brooke, Ray, and Jerry were waiting for us when we got back. The sun hadn't even risen yet, so I had no clue why they were up so early.
Ray smirked. "So where have you two lovebirds been?"
"I...what?" I said, totally bewildered.
Dakota, extremely red, said, "It's not like that guys!"
They all laughed and Jerry and Ray pulled Dakota to one side. I heard him say again, "I told you guys, nothing happened! Leave me alone!"
Brooke gestured me over to help take down the tens. She did the work in her usual cheery manner, muttering "boys" when she looked over at them. The two older Lupine were mercilessly teasing Dakota, pestering him for non-existing details.
We were almost clear of the forest and insight of the mountains. By the end of the day, we should make it into the plains in front of the mountains. It was out in the plains that we were the most vulnerable, though, with no tree cover. Plus the tall grasses could hide anything from natural snakes to tribeless thieves.
As of now, the trees were still great in number and we saw plenty of deer bound away, frightened by our many numbers and noise.
Resting after a couple of hours, we stopped by a small river about as wide as a few full-grown Lupine were tall.
Jerry and Brooke shared a look, but I didn't think anything of it before water splashed on my back.
"Hey!" I yelled, surprised, and turned, getting another face full of river water.
Sputtering, I took off my jacket, threw it over a branch, and raced after them into the water. Floundering after them, I used my hands to send a wave of water, soaking them. Laughing loud and hard, soon the whole pack was splashing in the shallow river. Their excited, joyous shouts rang up and down the water.
Tired and wet, but exuberant, we stumbled onto the shore. Drying off in the sun, I wolfed down some deer caught earlier. Get it? "Wolfed," cause I'm a...you know what, never mind the bad pun.
The sun was still in the middle of the sky, so we packed up and moved on. Leaving only paw prints in the soft river mud, we'd cleaned up everything else as to not attract any unwanted attention.
Jerry was rambling on and on about goats and how delicious they were.
"When we get to camp I'm going to hunt one down and cook it. Their meat is so tender and good, I can't wait!"
Dakota and Ray were looking more and more annoyed and scampered off to play chase while keeping up with the pack. Only Brooke seemed to be actually interesting, asking questions and such. Makes sense, since she was a chef.
I just trotted along, half listening to Jerry and sometimes seeing Ray or Dakota causing disarray among the pack.
By the time we reached the edge of the woods, the sun was low on the horizon. We were camping here, our last night under the trees' protection before venturing into the plains. The sea of green and gold seemed like the woods. Endless.
After helping to set up camp, I climbed a tall oak to watch the sunset. Leaning back on the rough back in my little niche, I allowed myself to wonder about my brothers one last time.
As the eldest, Erin did always have the most responsibility. Even so, he never lost his calm, kind, understanding ways. He was like Jerry: carefree, not letting anything get to him. Not even my constant flow of questions bothered him.
And then there was Mike, my overly serious brother, who was a year younger than Erin and two years older than me. He was always the one who got things done when the rest of us goofed off. It was hard to get him to crack a grin or even more rarely laugh. Mike was warm on the inside though, even if you couldn't see it. Sort of like Dakota.
We were all related, but looked nothing like each other, as siblings tend to do.
Erin had long dark brown hair that curled around his neck, and a messy lock that covered one eye. He had an infectious lopsided grin and a light, bubbly chuckle. Hazel-eyed like our mother, he was the perfect child in the family, excelling at everything he did.
Mike was the opposite like night was from day. He was blond, with stormy grey eyes kind of like mine. Serious to the point of cold, he took after our father. He even had the same haircut, longer locks on the top and something like a close cut on the sides. He and Erin were the top warriors in the Feline's training program.
And then there was me.
I didn't look like either of my parents or my brothers. Black-haired with blue-grey eyes, I wore my hair in a long braid. Which, to my parents, marked me as an outsider. They always compared me to my siblings, saying how much worse I was.
"You're only third in the program?" They'd scream, outraged at my performance in the pre-Ceremony training. So what did I care? Third was pretty good.
How were they doing now? What did they think of me now that I had joined the Lupine?
I let tears run down my cheek, feeling as though a part of me were missing without my brothers. The sun disappeared behind the mountains, and I told myself I had a fresh, new start. I had a new family now. I couldn't afford to think about my past life.
But I couldn't stop Erin's voice from coming back to me, surfacing under an ocean of memories.
I was ten, stumbling along behind Erin, tripping over rocks and vines. He was thirteen. Before he'd attended the Ceremony. Before he'd called a clouded leopard and my hopes had died. Before my parents had started to despise me.
"Erin!" I had cried, "Come back!"
He paused, turning and helping me up onto his shoulders. He continued on, soothing words coming out to stop my tears.
"Hey Erin," I'd asked, "What tribe do you think you'll get into?"
Erin shrugged, nearly toppling me from my perch and I squealed loudly. He laughed, adjusting his stance then started walking, a little more slowly than before.
He looked thoughtful and answered levelly, "Don't know, but I want to stay here, with you and Mom and Dad and Mike."
I had frowned, "But what if I get into a different tribe? I don't want to leave you." I'd scrunched up my face and started crying again.
Erin paused, swung me off his shoulders, knelt down and looked me straight in the eyes. He patted my head.
"Even if you get into a different tribe, do you think we'll forget about you? Of course we wouldn't."
Seeing that his words had calmed me down somewhat, he went on, "No, you'll always be here with us. A part of you will still be Feline."
I nodded, eyes dry now, but still worried. I wanted to stay with Erin and Mike, I didn't want to go.
"Here," Erin said, "Let me teach you a poem. It'll help you stay strong, remember that Melody."
The words came on the tip of my tongue, and I whispered it to myself as I wiped my face.
"Nothing last's forever
Everything succumbs to time
It's doesn't mean we're gone
We might come back one day
The earth doesn't stop turning
Like how the sun rises again
Nothing lasts forever
But nothing stays away"
"That's a pretty poem."
I jumped up on the branch and whirled around, hands up.
Dakota lounged on the branch beside me, and my face flushed. Had he seen me crying? I dearly hoped not, I hated to seem weak, especially to him.
I grumbled, swatting a hand at him. "Why do people keep sneaking up behind me?"
He ducked. "Don't ask me."
"How long have you been there anyway?" I questions, praying he hadn't seen me.
He shrugged, "Not long, I just came up to tell you dinner's ready."
Whew, he didn't, I thought, relieved, and followed Dakota to the ground. It would've been embarrassing if he'd caught me acting like a weakling. I couldn't stand the thought of pity from him.
Swinging down from a low branch, I touched down on the ground. I made my way to the campfire, where rabbit was on the menu tonight.
Brooke was complaining about her latest creation. "It could be so much better if we were at the camp. The quality of this," She waved at the meat, "It's horrible."
I grinned, "Well, look at it this way: the rest of us," I imitated her wave, "Can't cook half as well as you can."
She gave me a mock annoyed glance and went back to turning the spit, "For that, you can have an extra portion. The rest of you don't get anything."
Jerry and Ray gave fake gasps while Dakota shrugged and held up his bow.
"I can always just get some more and eat it raw."
Brooke made a gagging sound and for a second we were all quiet.
I caught Jerry's eye and it was hopeless. I burst out laughing, and the others joined in. My sides ached again, but this time it wasn't from fighting a giant snake.
Once again I noticed the meal was all meat. Though I was a predator, I still was a human too. I like a little variety in my diet, thank you.
I stood up, dusting off my pants, and quickly braided my hair, saying, "I'm off into the woods. Be back soon."
Ignoring Dakota's worried look, I shifted into my wolf form, using my nose to sniff out the scent of herbs I wanted. Growing up, I had liked to add little plants to flavor my meals, so I knew what they smelled like. Now, being a wolf, the smells were sharper, easier to identify.
A clump of rosemary grew at the foot of an oak tree and I shifted back to human. This was one of the times that all the little pockets came in handy. Picking a few stems and stowing them away in a pocket, I moved on to the next scent trail.
Moving from herb to herb, I went farther and farther into the forest, not realizing how dark it was getting.
I was at the edge of a cliff, high above the plains, picking some basil and lemongrass, when I looked up. Storing away the last few plants I glanced around. Without the help of my wolf senses, it almost pitch-black all around.
Where in the world was I?
(Side Note: In the book's current year, Erin is 19 and Mike is 18.)