SILVER CREST
960 Words
Liyana stepped outside the cottage with her bag.
She looked back at it one last time.
Her eyes lingered on Maren's window.
“Goodbye, Maren.”
Nova stayed quiet.
Liyana took a slow breath before walking toward the pack entrance.
She didn't look back again.
The guard at the entrance recognized her.
He knew about her transfer.
“Leaving today?”
Liyana nodded.
“Yes.”
He stepped aside and pointed toward the forest.
“Silver Crest is close. Take this direction.”
He explained which path she needed to follow.
Then he added,
“Once you're close enough, you'll pick up their scent.”
Liyana nodded.
“Thank you.”
She walked beyond the Moon Shadow border.
The moment she crossed it, something inside her changed.
Liyana stopped.
She could feel the pack links.
One after another...
They disappeared.
The familiar voices she had grown up hearing and blocking out faded from her mind.
The wolves she had known her entire life.
The people she had worked beside.
The pack she had called home.
Gone.
Liyana's chest tightened.
She had known this would happen.
But knowing wasn't the same as feeling it.
Nova was quiet for a long moment.
Then she whispered,
‘We’re really leaving.’
Liyana looked back toward Moon Shadow.
“I know.”
She stood there for another moment.
Then she turned away.
Liyana continued into the forest until Moon Shadow was far enough behind her.
She stopped.
Nova finally spoke again.
‘We should shift.’
Liyana looked down at the clothes she was wearing.
She couldn't run in them.
She opened her bag and carefully removed the clothes she was wearing.
She folded them and placed them inside the bag.
Then she closed it.
‘Ready.’
Liyana took a breath.
“Ready.”
She shifted.
Her bones rearranged.
Her body changed.
Silver-white fur covered her body.
Her bright blue eyes remained unmistakable.
Liyana stepped back and gave Nova full control.
Nova lowered her head, gripping the bag by its strap.
Then she ran.
The forest rushed past her.
Nova followed the direction the Moon Shadow guard had given them.
She ran faster.
The further she went, the weaker Moon Shadow's scent became.
Then Nova lifted her head.
She caught a different scent.
Stronger.
Unfamiliar.
She slowed slightly.
Then she recognized it.
‘Silver Crest.’
Nova picked up the pace.
The territory was close.
Very close.
Nova slowed as she approached the border.
She could smell several wolves nearby.
Guards.
She stopped.
The guards immediately noticed the unfamiliar wolf approaching.
One stepped forward.
“Stop.”
Nova stopped.
The guard studied her carefully.
She wasn't carrying the scent of Silver Crest.
And she was carrying a bag.
Another guard moved closer.
“Who are you?”
Nova couldn't answer in wolf form.
She lowered the bag from her mouth and placed it on the ground.
Then she shifted.
Liyana quickly grabbed her bag and dressed.
The guards didn't react.
They were already used to wolves shifting back into human form naked.
Liyana stood before them.
“I'm Liyana.”
The guards remained cautious.
“Liyana who?”
“I was transferred from Moon Shadow Pack.”
One guard looked at the other.
Then he mindlinked their Alpha.
‘Alpha, there’s a female wolf at the border, claiming to be Liyana from Moon Shadow Pack. She says she’s been transferred here.’
They waited.
A few moments later, the Alpha answered.
‘Let her through.’
The guard nodded.
He looked back at Liyana.
“Your transfer has been confirmed.”
Liyana released a breath.
“Thank you.”
The guard stepped aside.
Liyana crossed the border.
The moment she entered Silver Crest territory...
She felt it.
New links.
At first, they were faint.
Then one by one, they began forming.
Different voices.
Different wolves.
Different connections.
Liyana stood still for a moment trying to raise a wall to block them all out.
It felt strange.
Almost like stepping into a room where everyone was already talking.
Nova looked around inside their shared mind.
‘We’re connected again.’
Liyana nodded slowly.
“Yeah.”
Then she noticed something else.
Her scent.
It was changing.
The scent of Moon Shadow slowly faded from her.
A new scent settled over her.
Silver Crest.
Liyana took another breath.
The change was unmistakable.
She now smelled like them.
She looked back toward the forest.
Moon Shadow already felt distant.
Liyana swallowed.
Then she turned forward.
She walked slowly through Silver Crest.
Everything felt unfamiliar.
Different houses.
Different faces.
Different scents.
She kept one hand around the strap of her bag.
Nova stayed close inside her mind.
‘We’re really here.’
Liyana looked around.
“Yeah.”
She glanced at the wolves passing by.
Some looked at her curiously.
She couldn't blame them.
She was new.
A stranger.
But technically...
She belonged here now.
Still, there was one thing left to do.
Find Edric.
Liyana asked a pack member where she could find him.
They gave her directions.
She followed them until she reached his house.
She stopped outside.
Her heart began beating faster.
This was the man Maren had written about.
Her uncle.
Someone she never knew existed.
Liyana raised her hand.
Knocked.
The door opened.
A man stood there.
His expression changed the moment he saw her.
He stared at her.
“Who are you?”
Liyana swallowed.
“I’m Liyana. Your niece.”
His expression changed again.
She quickly added,
“Your sister, Aunt Maren, sent me here.”
For a moment, he simply stared at her.
Then he stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Liyana hesitated.
Then she walked inside.
The door closed behind her.
For the first time since leaving Moon Shadow...
Liyana didn't know what would happen next.
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