Dusk- Book One of the Wolves of Midnight

Chapter 1: Reckoning

Looking up, all I could see was the clouds in the sky. They hadn’t noticed me for the few months I had been with them but recently one has started to take notice, the silver one with golden eyes. That one I must watch closely. She carries an aura about her that radiates like the Sun’s heat, she will be the One. With a hushed sigh, he took to the sky leaving behind black feathers that fell slowly to the ground below.

    That scent. She knew that scent now by heart but it still evaded her as to the face behind that smell. Growling softly the silver she-wolf smelled the tree with the feathers surrounding it and the longer she was there the more frustrated she became. ‘I am supposed to be the best tracker in the pack but I can’t even decipher who was by the tree, this is ridiculous.’ Growling once more she looks up into the tree to see if there were any other clues but the feathers by her paws. Digging her nails into the ground below lowering her ears, not usually one to accept defeat at any task she knew there was no other route to examine for the meantime on this matter. ‘No one else believes that we’re being watched except me, and I can’t just bring them feathers and call that proof. They don’t believe that anyone else knows of our kind and chose to stay close-minded to the idea that folklore and witch, or in this case wolf, hunts were entirely real and humans weren’t entirely clueless of our existence.’ Laying down she sighs and collects her whirling thoughts, from the first sighting of the big black bird that day eight moons ago to the recent noises from the hollow when she is patrolling the outskirts of the territory. After a while the warm air turned crisp and the smell of the forest seemed to change, everything had retired for the night and the scents were going stale. ‘Probably should just head home, Dad and Sky are probably waiting for me with dinner.’ Getting up and stretching briefly, the silver wolf looks at the feathers one last time before returning home, hoping that the feathers would mean something to finding the mystery watcher. With her paws gently crossing patches of low grass and wildflowers, she races home with her mind still muddled at the situation with the mysterious set of eyes that were always on her pack. When she neared her home she perked her ears to the sounds of laughter. Her brother and her father were in the kitchen finishing up dinner preparations and didn’t notice the silver she-wolf watching them from the backyard. 

    Her heart sank when she watched, knowing that they had an inseparable bond that the alpha only shared with one child and it was Skylar's gift from him, and one she longed to have. Looking at her silver paws and black nails on the grass, Sage closed her eyes. Concentrating more on her heartbeat she felt her bones break and realign as her fur receded and she slowly regained her human form. Her soft silver hair fell from her shoulders as she sighed, sitting in the backyard naked. "Well f**k, good thing we always leave clothes out." Standing up and stretching, Sage felt her vertebrae c***k as she took her first few steps. Making her way to the back door, she threw on the black sweats and oversized hoodie that waited outside for her. Quickly braiding her hair with a tie from the pocket of the sweats, she took one deep breath before slowly going inside. Entering the kitchen changed the atmosphere. Her brother and her father turned to greet her but instead stared quietly at the dirt beneath her fingernails and the small scrapes on her hands. “Lose a fight with a gopher, sis?” Her brother was always one for jokes and often used them to cut through silences like the present one, but he was only met with the silent glance from his sister before she looked back over at their father who met with his own mossy green gaze. “I know I’m late but-“Sage started to tell her side but the alpha silenced her with a raised hand, “You’re late. No doubt hunting that bird again for whatever reason, it’s the only thing you’ve been focused on. An alpha can’t worry about the birds, Sage. Learn to act like an alpha or the pack won’t accept you as one.” The sharpness of the final sentence cut her and she stared at him blankly, unsure of how to respond. After a moment she looks down at the linoleum she mutters quietly before walking off, “I’ll just go wash my nails, you guys start without me.” She heard her brother start to protest but he quieted down and she heard the chairs scrape out from under the table. Angrily scrubbing under her nails over the bathroom sink she blinked back tears, her father was typically harsh but he started getting worse after she first mentioned the feeling of being watched. They often had argued over her mental standing and he questioned her if she felt like she was fit to lead the pack, which she always declared that she was, but the questioning never stopped. Her mind raced and she could never piece together why he was stricter with her than Skylar, nothing explained how things got this bad. Oftentimes she would wonder if her mother’s actions weren’t to blame then what was? What caused her to be so different from the others and what made her father so strict with her? She would often wonder if she looked more like her living relatives if that would change anything.

    Her brother was still trying to defuse the situation when she returned to the kitchen; her father still was adamantly stating that she needed to act more like an alpha whereas he was saying she still had time to grow into that role. Her brother was her saving grace sometimes; he often would say things without realizing the effect they had on her and oftentimes it kept her and her father from each other’s throats. Her father’s eyes were boring into hers; this time only his green eyes filled with…disappointment. Feeling a small tug at her heart she feels small again, back to a time when they were close and Sky was never home to act as a buffer. “Dad…” But her father just shook his head and sighed quietly, signaling that he didn’t want to discuss the matter at the moment. “Don’t worry about it for now. Sage, please just stop the nonsense with the bird.” The remainder of dinner was quiet; Skylar and their father spoke, Sage would chime in on occasion where relevant but it was far from a cozy dinner table conversation. There would never be another woman in the house, werewolves mated once and it was for life. If a wolf’s mate died or left them then they would never bond on the same level with another soul that they did with their mate. Some wolves believe they are destined to one another but that can’t be proven until both wolves reach the age of twenty three when their spirits align in the realm beyond the physical. Wolf history was something passed down from elder to child, recorded in books and stored away in a vault under the first pack’s territory- which happened to be the territory Sage would inherit when she took her father’s place as alpha. Not often in their history would the second born child take the lead as alpha, but in rare cases like their own it happened. Skylar was a born follower, from when Sage was young he would follow her lead when they played and even when they were freshly changed pups he would follow her faithfully. Her father was proud of her in those days leading up to her teenage years.

    The following morning as Sage was packing her bag, she growled as she recalled the treatment at the table last night and tossed her bag aside. Sage grumbled to herself angrily regarding her day, "No one else is catching on to signs and it’s going to throw off my game if I keep focusing on that instead of the patrols.” Throwing on her jean jacket she scoffs and rolls her eyes, “Even now I’m expending too much energy on that rather than focusing on the Lunar Ceremony.” Before she can even lace up her boots her older brother Skylar leaned against her bedroom door frame. “Dad said if you’re late for school one more time this week he’s going to make you run the patrols for the next month.” Mocking his facial expression Sage looked up with a sneer, “Late or not, at least I still have the best grades in the house. That in itself amounts to something when it comes down to the competition he likes to hold with our education. Plus, with you standing in my doorway aren’t you going to be late too?” Her brother shrugs and grins, his dull green eyes watching her lace up the final hole in her boots; “Best grades or not, his rule is his rule. And I could care less if I’m late since my teacher won’t be there this morning so no one is counting our attendance until the second period.”

    Sitting up on her bed and looking down at her phone Sage sighs loudly then flops back down on her bed. “At this rate I’ll be running patrols until the end of time.” Chuckling softly her brother shakes his head, his dark brown hair covering his eyes. “I think Dad is just harder on you since you’re next in line and are ‘supposed to be setting an example for the other teenage pack members’ or something like that. And watching their alpha’s daughter come in late almost every day isn’t the example he wants to set.” A moment of silence fills the room before she sits up and ties her silver hair into a braid, a small scowl forming across her face. “Or it’s because I remind him too much of Mom, so he’s harder to make sure I don’t slip like she did.” Skylar’s face drops and he turns his attention to the window, looking seemingly through his sister. “You know that’s not the reason he’s hard on you.” Shrugging and grabbing her tossed bag and placing it on her desk for the next morning she sighs. “I’m not having this conversation again with you, you don’t feel the same gaze that he gives me, or that the others give me for that matter. I’m not what they would envision in an alpha, you look more like Dad and they all look up to him. If anything I make it harder when it comes to hunting because of my coat, so why would they want an oddball leading them when they could have an alpha that blends in with the night?” Leaning against the bookcase now Skylar shrugs, “Because regardless of the small differences you have with the others, you’ve still got his authority and his attitude about things. The pack’s going to follow a strong leader, coat color is only a minimal problem when hunting and that’s only if you let it be.” With one last look out the window Sage grits her teeth then looks over at her brother, “You feel like a run?”

            The two siblings raced through the tree line as quiet as ghosts as they ran the line of their territory. Sunlight danced its way through the gaps of leaves creating designs along the forest floor, speckling off of the nearby river and warming the feathers of a nearby resting dove. Silence was one calming factor to these runs through the woods; it was why it was her haven when things were difficult at home. Her brother’s dark brown fur and mossy green eyes made it harder to see him whereas her own silver fur and golden eyes made her stand out brilliantly among the trees and brush. For years she believed her coat was a curse sent from the Gods to punish her for her mother’s decisions to abandon her pack and her family, she was an abnormality in her family of dark furred wolves and dark haired human locks. Most wolves in their region were shades of brown, dark grey, or black fur, the red wolves and lighter wolves had their own territories out west and north, so it made her seem more like an outsider than the alpha’s flesh and blood. Noticing his sister’s distracted body language Skylar grinned and rammed into her, expecting that to start a play fight but instead was surprised when his sister toppled down the side of the slope with a startled yelp. Looking down in the direction she rolled he anxiously paced up and down the strip of ground to find a safe way to get down to her, his eyes peering into the brush for any sign of her. With a frustrated growl he tried to slide down the same way carefully, finding himself tangled in branches of bushes. Still growling and struggling, he managed to get himself further tangled in the brush, his sister struggling to stand below due to the tumble. From the corner of his eye, Skylar noticed a large black wolf that smelled nothing like his pack; it’s crystal blue eyes stood out brilliantly against his raven black fur. Growling defensively at the wolf, Skylar struggled more to free himself and reach his sister. The strange wolf looked over at him and then looked at Sage, continuing forward towards her causing Skylar to struggle more and more until he was tossed free from the brush and tumbled towards his struggling sister. In one swift movement, the black wolf grabbed Sage’s scuff between his teeth and dragged her out of the way of her brother’s tumbling mass; her own growl sounding as a warning to back off as she gained her balance back and stood between the large male and her brother. Perking his ears and tilting his head to the side slightly, the black wolf studied the small silver wolf. Her warning growl and harsh golden stare catching his attention, seemingly captivating him. Noticing behind her that the other darker colored wolf had regained his composure, the black wolf began to back away, keeping his ice blue eyes on Sage. Flashing the pair a bright grin that showed his abnormally large canines, he turned and ran off, leaving the siblings on edge from the sighting of the new and mysterious wolf.

    After the encounter the siblings shifted back and uncovered hidden packs of clothes among the leaves. Being wolves, they had grown accustomed to clothes stashed away along the territory for when they took their human form; and the siblings had their own stashes along their typical running route for moments like this. Looking around the area for a moment and taking a deep breath in, Sage growled and clenched her fists, “Bastard.” Shocked by his sister’s exclamation, Skylar looked over at his sister, concern painted across his face, “What?” Sage glared at him, her golden eyes shining bright in the fall sunlight. “He’s using something to mask his scent. He knows he’s trespassing and is cocky about not being caught!” The mystery wolf has left no trail to follow and he was long gone since he “rescued” Sage from her toppling brother. She sighed again and rolled her eyes, “Let’s go, we’re definitely late now.” Nodding quietly, Skylar started walking back towards the Jeep. He glanced back and flashed her a playful grin and shrugged, “At least we have a good excuse for being late now.” Sage rolled her eyes at him again and continued to walk to the Jeep in silence, the strangeness of the feathers that morning and the mysterious wolf haunting her mind.

    The ride to school was a long one; Sage would be making this ride for the last few months where her brother had another year to go after she graduated from their college. The silence in the car was unbearable for Skylar as he glanced over at his sister, “Moping about the wolf won’t tell you who he is any sooner.” He could sense how tense she had been since seeing the wolf, and was worried about him as well but Sage was analyzing things too sensitively. “He wasn’t normal.” Her tone was dead, there was no emotion behind the statement and her eyes only read confusion. “For a werewolf’s eyes to be blue in their human form, sure, but his wolf has blue eyes- icy blue eyes like a dead man’s. And he’s brave for entering the territory knowing we’re the largest pack on the East Coast. Something isn’t right.” Her gaze was focussed out the window of the Jeep, replaying the events in her head over and over to try to find an answer. So transfixed on the memories, Sage didn’t notice they had gotten to school. Sighing and reaching over to his sister, Skylar pleaded with her, “Sage, just let it go. This morning may have been a freak coincidence that he was there at the right time.” His green eyes filled with concern and soon she sighed and looked back at him. “I can’t just let it go, Sky. Something about him is drawing me in and I have to know my answers.” Skylar reached over and grabbed his things, opening Sage’s door as he reached across. “Come on, If we hurry, maybe Dad will let you off easy this time.” Rolling her eyes as she hopped out of the Jeep, she grabbed her things and flashed a reassuring smile to reply to her brother’s humor. “You know that won’t happen.”

    The college was mixed with human students and werewolf students, with the human students not suspecting a thing aside from the normal day in their minds. Most of the attending wolves belonged in Sage and Skylar’s pack, which their ancestors named Rising Sun Pack since the sunrise was often one of the most remarkable sights of the day along the waterside territory the pack owned. The other wolves in attendance at the school belonged to either two smaller backs in the area, Red Mill or Grey Rock- neighboring packs to Rising Sun but they still had their territories to run so borders were there even when the college was on the middle ground separating the packs. Wolves from the packs mingled with one another, but drama was prohibited between the members to prevent war from springing from drama and invalidated violence. Humans were not to be involved or used as pawns either in any wolf related drama, as unnecessary deaths were frowned upon by the pack elders. The professors were also primarily wolves, with a few human faculty that were informed and instructed on the supernatural. Those faculty also knew the consequences of exposing any students and that the repercussions would reach beyond just their lives, but their immediate family would also face the same fate- so many kept quiet and the rest had a further interest in learning about the wolves. Any newly turned wolves were also instructed on how to handle their wolves in the early stages of their shifting, when their emotions ran high and their reactions were often quick and not fully thought out. Professors were provided the names of the newly turned wolves in order to be on the look out for warning signs of force shifting so the students could be removed from the room before their wolf shifted and exposed their kind to the humans. Aside from the extra protocols and training, the professors were just like any other college professors.

    Settling into their first class of the day, Sage and Skylar both were met with murmurs and glances from their classmates. The Alpha’s son and daughter were late. Their professor didn’t mention anything of it and continued with the lesson; Chemistry was their first class and one primarily made up of their pack members and a few humans for this period. The siblings had their differences with how they viewed the human students- Sage avoided them when she was able to limit the possible drama that follows, yet Skylar took the female students as conquests or flings. With his known reputation, Skylar had become quite the “ladies man” among the human students and a “player” among the wolves, yet he wasn’t the only wolf to do this and he wouldn’t be the last. Female wolves often chose to wait until they met their mate or only have casual dates with humans to avoid pack drama, those that chose the humans often turned them if feelings developed too far into the relationship which was becoming a problem to the packs. Turned wolves didn’t necessarily mate with the wolf who turned them, their souls are still bound to the choice of the Fates- the beings that decided who each wolf was soul bound to from birth or creation. Sage on the other hand was just popular gossip for the female wolves due to her attitude, status, and family’s dirty laundry. Yet none of these things got to the siblings because they leveled each other out; if one was frustrated the other would talk them into calming down or defuse the situation. When Sage was younger, after her mother left the family her anger often got her into trouble in school and with the pack. There were brawls, spats in school, and wolf fights when they shifted, all because the other kids in the pack were making fun of her for her mother’s decision to abandon them. Those kids would often go after Skylar too with the same harassment but Sage would quickly make them regret going for her older brother; the pack elders were at a loss to how to tame the beast in Sage that had been awoken and her father was mourning his mate’s sudden absence, no one could control her- or so they thought. After weeks of her outbursts, Skylar began to get upset at how wolves began to fear him because of his sister and how she was viewed and pleaded with her to stop fighting back and something snapped in her that tamed the beast that was her anger. Since that day, the siblings had been there for one another through anything, whether it was at home or in school. 

    Class continued on slowly, each word from the professor groveling about how the students weren’t listening and paying attention to the equations for the formulas. Whispers came from the wolves about why the siblings were late. “Maybe she was chasing birds again.” “She thinks the birds have something to tell her, or maybe to lead her away like her mom.” “I feel sorry for her brother for being her Beta to her when she takes over.” Sage found her nails digging into her arm hard enough to break skin, causing the warm trickle of blood to come from one of the punctures. Smelling the blood and his sister’s anger, Skylar reached over and gently pulled her hand off her arm, “They aren’t worth it. And for one, the bird we saw this morning might actually be worth chasing if he’s a threat.” Looking over at her brother she nodded, her golden eyes dulled by the thoughts racing through her mind. Her arm soon stopped bleeding and the only thing remaining were light marks where her nails had broken the skin. From the corner of her eye she saw her brother watching her wounds heal, she always healed quicker than normal wolves so the reaction was normal for her. Suddenly the door to the lecture hall opened up and slammed, the new arrival was nonetheless undisturbed by the sudden silence and eyes that locked onto him. Blue eyes and raven black hair, but even from her seat Sage could smell he wasn’t a wolf but a human. The professor raised an eyebrow to the young man and looked over his laptop, assumingly at the attendance sheet. “Stone?” The young man nodded and looked around the classroom, his cool eyes scanning over the faces. “You’re sitting in section 4-B, please take your seat and refrain from being late again.”  Moving quietly through the rows of students whispering about the new human in the class, the man with raven hair sat two seats over from Sage, leaving the empty seats as distance between them. He neither smiled nor acknowledged the siblings, and the rest of the class went by silently. Yet just as before, Sage was captivated by the human sitting in a primarily wolf dominated class, unaware that he was the new subject of curiosity among the supernatural student attendance.

    Once the lecture was over, students began to file out of the room in a chattering mass to move to their next class; the new student seemed out of place and remained seated, finishing up his well notated lecture notes on the Chemistry lesson. Sage and Skylar normally were the last to head out since the bustle of bodies crowding to get out of the door was unappealing to them, yet with the newcomer staying back as well their curiosity peaked. “Stone, you have a first name?” Skylar asked with a humble tone to try not to freak the guy out. Looking over at them, Stone seemed to find amusement in the question. His icy eyes meeting Sage’s gold ones and holding for a moment before facing Skylar, “Stone is fine, I’d rather leave some things as a mystery to keep your interest.” In one quick motion, he swiped his books into a leather bag by his seat and stood up. One last time he looked at Sage, this time his icy eyes held more of a humorous hint, winking at her with a smirk, “Until next class, Greylin siblings.” Her hair stood on end as Sage watched him leave the classroom, beside her she felt Skylar growl under his breath, “What the hell was that?” Shaking her head slightly Sage jumped up from her seat, leaving Skylar with both of their books. “Sage?! What the hell?!” Skylar scrambled to get their things as Sage ran out of the classroom, ignoring her brother yelling at her. Sighing and carrying both of their bags, Skylar shook his head, “Perfect. Just freakin’ perfect.”