Laments At The Border
1310 Words
POV Alpha Marco
The smell of dried blood wakes me up. My mouth is bitter, my skin is sticky, my head is throbbing. My eyes open to the darkness of the forest, the twisted branches above me moving in the wind. I should have known this would happen. But now? What should I do now?
I sit down slowly, trying to organize my thoughts. My chest rises and falls with difficulty, my breathing heavy, uneven. Something inside me still pulses erratically, like an echo of what happened.
The smell around me is thick. Iron, flesh. My eyes go down, and then I see.
Remains.
The muscles in my jaw tighten. My throat tightens. I can't stay here. I can't leave this in plain sight.
I think quickly. The cave. It's only a few minutes away and it's forbidden to anyone who isn't directly connected to me or part of the guard. There, at least for the time being, no one will find... this.
I swallow and force myself to act, brutally pulling the remains out of the ground. The smell spreads, impregnating my nostrils. My chest tightens. What have I done?
The rustling of the leaves paralyzes me.
My eyes narrow, my senses alert.
- Who's there? - my voice comes out hoarse, almost threatening.
A figure emerges from the shadows.
- Alfa Marco.
Caio.
He advances a few steps, his gaze sweeping the scene around me without any change in his expression. Indifference. Neither disgust nor surprise. As if it wasn't the first time I'd witnessed something like this.
Anger boils up in me. Does he think it's normal to see me like this?
- I was looking for you,” he continues, impassive. - We have problems at the border.
My mind is still foggy.
- If you want, I can dig a hole and bury this - he points lightly at the traces around me. - Or maybe it's better just to burn it.
I swallow the metallic taste in my mouth.
- For now, let's hide them. Come nightfall, we'll sort it out.
Caio just nods, obediently. No questions. No insinuations. It annoys me even more.
- What about you? - my voice comes out harsher than expected. - Shouldn't you be patrolling the border?
- That's exactly what I want to talk to you about.
He hesitates for a second.
- What's going on? Just say it.
- Some renegades are approaching the territory.
I frown. - E...?
- They're not attacking us,” he continues, now in an uncertain tone. - They just get to the borders... and start wailing.
Something in my chest twitches. - Wailing?
- Yes. They cry, they scream, they call for their mothers... and then they leave.
The silence that settles between us is suffocating.
- It doesn't make sense,” I grumble.
I need to see this for myself.
I take a step forward, but Caio stops me with his gaze. He points at me.
- What about the blood?
The irritation grows. I run to the river, where the cold water helps me regain some of my sanity. I hastily wash up, get dressed and follow Caio to the border.
What I see sends a shiver down my spine.
The renegades are there, gathered. More than thirty of them.
They ignore our presence. They sniff the air around them, as if looking for something. Then they wail.
Their voices are a song of pain and loss.
And then they leave.
- Maybe we should ask the witch what's going on,” suggests Caio.
My jaw clenches.
- Take one of them and bring him to me.
He does as I say. When the renegade is thrown in front of me, his face carries an empty, lost expression. His body trembles.
- Who are you? - I demand. - What are you doing on my land?
He raises his eyes, but doesn't face me.
- I'm just a son... looking for his mother,” he mutters in a low moan.
My eyebrows come together.
- Mom? What are you talking about?
- Her smell... gone.
I feel a strange shiver run across my skin.
- What smell? Who is this mother?
The renegade squeezes his eyes shut, as if trying to find the right words.
- She's the mother of us all. The one who will come to welcome us, collect our tears and guide us.
- Who is she? - my patience runs out, and my voice comes out in a growl.
- I don't know - he cries. - I just smell her... and I know she'll come.
He looks at me pleadingly.
- Now, please, let me go... so that I can mourn with my own.
He looks mad. Or maybe... he's going wild.
My stomach churns.
I wave for Caio to let him go. The renegade runs back into the forest, and my mind fills with questions.
- This isn't right.
Renegades usually appear in small groups of three or five. They ask for food. And they disappear. But now? There are dozens of them. All acting the same.
I need to talk to Dila.
As I approach her hut, a strange smell fills the air. Something acidic, dense, not at all inviting. My body stiffens. Intruder?
- Dila? - I call out.
Her voice comes from inside the hut, calm as ever.
- Come in, Alfa.
I cross the threshold and look at the mess around me.
- I'll send some servants to help you with that.
She squints at me and smiles enigmatically.
- Ah, Alfa... Shame? That doesn't suit you.
My jaw twitches.
She knows.
- What do you want? - I cut in, impatient. - The renegades are approaching the border.
- And since when is that news? They always come back... they're miserable people looking for food.
- It's not food they want.
She stares at me for a moment, assessing my expression.
- So what do they want?
- They talk about a mother. They mourn as if they've lost something.
Dila narrows her eyes.
- Renegades have no family ties or links to their former packs.
- I know that. But they say they've lost her scent.
My voice comes out weaker than I'd like.
- Maybe they're going crazy. Maybe they're going wild.
The word weighs heavily on my tongue.
Dila notices. She always does.
- Wild, Alfa? - her voice carries a touch of irony. - Is fear eating away at you?
My chest tightens. She doesn't know what it's like to hear Jax howl inside me every night. She doesn't know what it's like to feel this thing growing, wanting to take me over, chain me up, chase me and hurt me, if I didn't have Lycan blood, I'd probably have given in to the darkness completely by now.
- Has Alina appeared yet? She's a very important child. - she changes the subject.
My expression tightens.
- Not yet. But she will. She has no reason to run away.
Dila smiles.
- Alpha, alpha... you still have a lot to learn, especially about humility and that not everything goes your way....
My patience is wearing thin.
- I have nothing to learn.
My gaze narrows.
- With me, you either fear... or you respect.
I give a half-smile.
- But I've always preferred fear. Fear is a natural reflex in people, a primitive instinct that governs their actions. It infiltrates the mind, sculpting thoughts, defining choices and limiting daring. It is fear that sustains order, teaches caution and commands respect. It not only marks the past with scars of mistakes avoided or faced, but also casts shadows over the future, guiding every step with uncertainty and fear. In the end, everyone is a prisoner of fear, even those who pretend to ignore it.
- Writer
