The hum of the car and the crunch of gravel under the tires nearly drowned out the radio of the small sedan. Eli's grasp on the steering wheel was firm, even with the uneven road trying to turn it for him. He regretted leaving as quickly as he did, knowing that Henri probably had questions, but it didn't sit right with him about what was going on. He wanted answers and he knew just who to go to, Elder Ezara.
Being the oldest living wolf, she would know what was going on or at least point him in the right direction. The concern was that none of his staff was able to reach her. He'd sent two wolves to personally give her a message and they returned stating that she was not locatable. Thankfully, Alpha Jacob opened their borders to him so that he could seek her out personally.
Ger home was up toward the mountain pass, bordering on the lands for Winter's Cross and Lunar Blood packs. It was a fine line, but the relations between the two packs welcomed her as community grandmother. So when word was sent to both alpha's about the search for her, they were all too eager to assist. Morgan had reached out personally to Eli, offering his assistance and agreeing to meet him at the Elders home. Alpha Jaroth, of the Winter's Cross pack, advised that his team was unavailable but they would send their finest hunter to assist him.
The gravel road came to an abrupt stop just before the pass up the mountain. Exiting his vehicle, he would have to continue on foot into the forest that edged the mighty mountains. Grass and debris gave way to a small dirt path that guided it's patrons deeper yet into the depths of the forest. Eerie silence filled the cold pathway, as the birds had already left for the winter. Eli recalled a path similar to this that would take him back to the place of the avalanche from many years ago.
Rolling his shoulders and shifting the pack on his shoulder, Eli refocused on the task at him. It felt good to be in the fresh air and away from the house. With all the chaos that had taken place over the last week, and the tension that rose within him from it, there was a relief to being away. The crunch of snow beneath his feet gave him reason to stop and asses the area. The snow was undisturbed for the most part, aside from one set of large footprints that would lead down the path. Shaking his head, he recognized those prints to be Morgan Estlen's, his large feet always gave him the appearance of a giant. Taking caution, he chose to step within the already laid footprints and continue down the path.
The silence continued as the sun began to set among the trees. Days were getting shorter, even while making good time he would still just barely reach the Elder's home before nightfall.
It was the site of smoke in the air and the hints of burning wood that encouraged him that last hundred yards to the small cottage. His arrival was not met with the anticipation of cheerful greetings, but instead a small campfire was burning about 10 yards from the cottage. A log had been laid before it and the smoke rose high into the setting sky. The windows to the cottage were dark giving the environment a thriller vibe, if not for the campfire burning to give light to the space.
Scanning the area, the snow leading to the porch was undisturbed and showed no signs of a visitor in sometime. While the snow could be fresh, there were no signs of the foot prints he had been following up to the clearing. The prints ended where he stood. Crouching down and examining the area, he saw where the space had been covered up and the snow looked disturbed and slightly different from the space around it.
"I didn't know if I shouldn't cover my tracks." Morgan spoke from his seat near the fire. "Old habits die hard."
Eli gave a sigh and stepped onto the snow. The soft crunch beneath his feet mixed with the sounds of the crackle of the fire. "Have you checked the house?" He dropped his bag beside the make shift bench.
"I did, no one's there." Morgan poked at the fire before him. "It didn't feel right breaking in." His features danced in the orange glow of the fire.
"No one's been there for a while." A female voice spoke out from the evergreen trees that surrounded them. Eli growled in response and Morgan dropped to a crouch, prepared to shift. "Simmer down, boys." Her voice patronizing as she dropped from the overhead branches with grace that could only be described as cat like. Her black hair was pulled from her face with a tie at the crown of her head. Her blue eyes surveyed her environment and the three men before her. She looked young, younger then she was. Her lean frame appeared smaller as she rolled her shoulders and stood tall. She wasn't very tall, in fact many would have called her short while she preferred to be called vertically challenged or height impaired. Finding comfort in creating jokes from the comments meant to sting her.
"You must be the one Jaroth sent." Eli watched her move gracefully across the clearing and approach the fire.
"Beta Jaroth did send me." She eyed the two men before her.
"You can't be more the fourteen!" Morgan stood to his full height, dwarfing the woman before him.
"Twenty, but thank you I like being underestimated, gives me the edge." She winked to Morgan and started to move toward the house.
"Where are you going?" Eli moved to stop her, but she was faster and keenly dodged his grasp with a spin.
"Inside. No one has come or gone for days." She turned back toward the house, "You took longer to arrive then I expected." She climbed the stairs to the front porch to the sound of groaning and sighs behind her. Turning the brass doorknob and listening as the door clicked open. It wasn't uncommon to find pack homes unlocked, usually welcoming presences came from the homes. Pushing the door open and looking inside, the warm welcome ended with the thought. The home was cold and unwelcoming. The woman gave a shutter as she looked inside, not crossing the threshold.
"What's wrong?" Morgan stood at the base of the stairs leading up the porch.
"Something bad happened here." She turned to look to Eli, "I can feel it. Something unnatural."
"Ya, I feel it too." Eli's brow furrowed as he examined the room from his place. "Let's close up and examine it in the morning."
The woman moved aside and allowed Eli space to close the door. With the door shut she felt her skin settle and the hair on her neck relax. She'd not encounter a feeling like that before, but her instincts ignited and she knew to leave it alone.
"Come on," Eli turned from the front door, "we can camp out tonight." He motioned back to the campfire that still burned brightly.
With caution and unease, the trio set up to sit about the fire. Morgan relaxing onto the felled log and Eli taking up a seat on a nearby rock. He watched as the woman moved about the clearing, looking to the trees and then to the white floor.
"Looking for something?" Eli inquired as he watched her stance shift and her fingers twitch."I'm calculating." She looked about again and then turned to the two men. "There should be at least two types of animals moving about the area right now, and they aren't." She moved to sit cross legged on the damp floor before the fire.
"Are you sure?" Morgan questioned.
"Of course I am. I was raised in these woods." Her response was curt and short.
"Sorry, our manners are out of place. I'm,"
"Beta Eli, of Azure Rise." The woman finished for him, "And you are Beta Morgan of Lunar Blood." Her eyes never left the space beyond the fire, deep within the forest, as if she expected something to move.
"And you are?" Morgan's voice was annoyed with the woman.
"Ashleigh of Winter's Cross." Her eyes glanced to Morgan, watching his brow furrow at her answer. "No title, just a warrior." Her eyes went back to the forest.
"She's modest, Morgan." Eli smiled to the woman, "She's the best hunter at Winter's Cross."
"Don't know about all that." Her eyes rolling in disgust at the languid title that was used. "I'm just happy to be away from all those females." Her lips curling upward in disgust as the two men around her chuckled. "You'd hate it too if every female in your pack went into heat at The. Same. Time." Her words were laced with disgust and annoyance. The scent of a female in heat could drive an unmated female insane. The chance to leave the compound with a purpose delighted her.
"Yup." Morgan popped the P as her spoke, reflecting the same emotion as the female near him. "It's said the smell is intoxicating when it's your mate, but to me it was nauseating."
"Your pack too?" Ashleigh's eyes softened as she saw the large man carrying the same burden as her.
Morgan nodded in response, his eyes fixed on the blaze before him. Ashleigh's eyes shifted to her other companion, looking to see if he was in the same position. Eli met her gaze with a small nod.
"Our Luna went into heat first, about a day before the pack." Eli shifted uncomfortably on the rock, sitting just on the edge of the radiant heat.
"I be it drove your pack insane." Morgan glanced up to the other male, his brown eyes almost appearing amber in the fire light.
"Not sure, they were away." He met Morgan's gaze, "They were gone less then a day after their ceremony when it struck."
Morgan watched as Ashleigh threw a small stick into the fire. "I guess that's why you came here? To get answers from the Elder."
"That was the Luna's idea, she said her grandmother would have answers." Eli shook his head, trying to get his thoughts straight. "Right now I just have more questions."
"Wait," Ashleigh straightened in her seat, "your Luna is the lost Alpha's Daughter from Lunar?" She chuckled as Eli and Morgan both nodded. "Wow." The word came out in almost a gasp as her brow went up in astonishment. "Ain't that a pickle. Torn between prophecy and loyalty." Her eyes fixed back on the fire.
The rest of the night was silent, as they waited out the nighttime hours. The few sounds of skittering animals and bugs that should have brought comfort to the trio, never came. The silence was strange and unsettling, keeping them awake even as they took turns and tried to sleep.
Morning dawned and they found themselves staring at the door to the house once more. Morgan, who was the bravest the night before, hesitated before grasping the door knob firmly and turning it. With a loud click that broke the silence, the door unlatched and swung open on it's squeaky hinge. Threshold welcomed them into a large living space. The fireplace was just inside the door on the wall to their left. Furniture filled the large living space, with a hallway entrance sitting beside the fireplace that would take them further into the cottage.
The walls should have been a soft blue shade, but currently they looked more of an ashen gray. Dirt and dust was settled on the furniture, as if no one had been in the home for a while. Eli's eyes scanned the room as he slowly moved to cross the doorway, Morgan's hand on his shoulder giving him pause. The two shared a brief nod and then moved forward. Crinkling of dirt beneath Eli's foot as he stepped into the house gave way for the trio to exhale all at once. They all waited with baited breath for the shoe to fall.
Walking fully into the room and looking about, the silence from outside continued into the open space. Upon further examination, Eli realized the dirt he was examining was not dirt at all, but ash. He bent to the floor and ran his fingers through the dirt, massaging it with his fingertips.
"Ash." His voice barely a whisper, his eyes glancing back to the pair behind him. Ashleigh had begun to examine the mantle and fireplace, while Morgan was looking down the hallway to rest of the house.
"Fireplace is empty. Cleaned out perfectly." Ashleigh looked back to him.
Eli rose from his crouched position and reach for his pack. A few vials were heard clinking about in his pack, breaking the silence with a tinkling for a short time. Morgan's creased brow asked everything that Ashleigh also questioned.
"It's banesblood and calendula." Eli lifted an orange vial from his pack, it was small in size but the mixture swirled as if it was volatile. His fingers moved to the stopper on the vial and paused. "You may want to step out of the house." He looked back to see Ashleigh already on the way out and Morgan following behind her. Eli backed up the way he entered, removing the stopper as he did. "Cross your fingers."
With that, he released the stopped and poured the liquid onto the floor. The swirling mixture flowed from the vial in a thin line, snaking across the floor as it touched the wood boards beneath their feet. Morgan would have sworn he heard Eli swear under his breath, as they all stood awestruck, watching the liquid circle about the center of the room.
The explosion hit faster then expected. There wasn't enough impact from it to move the trio from the doorway, but the dust scattered from the room. There, standing in the middle of the room was large hooded figure. A dark blue cloak seemed to wrap about them and the hood of it obstructed the view of their face. Stars seemed to dance along the cloaks edge, as though it gave a glimpse into the midnight sky.
"And so you have come." The deep bellowing voice of the hooded figure filled the room. The floor beneath the cloak was burned and scarred, showing impact of fire.
"Who are you?" Eli's voice showed more strength then he thought it would. His heart racing in his chest.
"I am your undoing." The maniacal chuckle that rose from his throat brought cold shivers over Ashleigh's skin, leaving raised hairs in it's wake. "I will take which was promised, she will be mine." No laugh or chuckle came with the smoke that rose up from the ground. Swirling about and dissipating, a rancid smell about it, they left as quickly as they had arrived. The charring on the floor became more prominent as the smoke cleared, leaving behind a charred body that the cloaked figure had been covering.
Ashleigh growled from behind Eli, giving tell that she too knew that smell. Eli sighed and shook his head. With slow and purposeful movement he approached the charred body, his hand covering his mouth as if it could protect him from the lingering scent. The body laid curled in an almost fetal position, charred and burned and nearly unrecognizable. The only sign was on their wrist, a dark tattoo of a crescent moon, the spiral coming out from it and ending with profile of a wolf howling. This was the Elder.
Eli hung his head low and gave a low growl, his eyes flashing from dark brown to yellow as he looked to the two at the door.
"Is that...?" Ashleigh's words were laced with worry, but the growl behind them showed the anger that raced through her veins.
"Elder Ezara." Eli rose to his feet, his eyes on the ground. "It looks like she was tortured."
"She came out of hiding to attend the ceremony." Morgan spoke in a whisper. "Her Alpha recommended against it, now I know why."
"She was in hiding?" Ashleigh looked to Morgan as Eli pushed passed them to exit the home.
"She was." Morgan watched as Eli took slow deep breaths, obviously calculating his next move. "The threat on her granddaughter's life put a target on her and she knew it." He turned to look at Ashleigh, his eyes full of anger and concern for the one he cared about. "She was a grandmother to many in our pack. Her death will not be taken lightly."
"Nor should it." Eli spun around, "She is the grandmother to our Luna. We will avenge this." Eli clasped Morgan's arm in a warrior's pact.
"That we will." Morgan agreed with him, grasping his shoulder with his free hand.
"Great." Ashleigh strode over to them, "When you are done with your bromance, you can fill me in on the plan."
Eli and Morgan released the other's arm and looked to the woman. Her black hair shown hints of red in the sunlight and her blue eyes reminded Eli of a clear summer's blue sky.
"Fill you in?" Morgan asked her, as if he didn't hear her completely.
"You aren't going. Winter's Cross has no skin in this." Eli stated blandly.
"Shut it." Ashleigh spoke coolly to them. "You can fill me in or I can fumble along and ruin your plan. I am in this, Ezara was like family to me as well." Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she took a steadying breath. "She's the only one that didn't turn me away when I was born. I have to do something."
Morgan turned to Eli, watching him grumble with indecision.
"Fine." Eli turned to her, "We head back to Azure Rise, I need supplies to track this Warlock." He pulled his pack on his shoulder, "From there we'll build our plan."
The trio agreed and walked out, leaving the cottage in their past. Word would be sent to Alpha Jacob of Lunar Blood, advising of the situation and they would take care of the Elder's body. The concern was on Eli's shoulders, as he bore the weight and task of having to tell his Luna that she has to mourn her loss all over again.