The Unmarked Mate

Candace lay on the dewy grass in the meadow at first morning light. She always arose early. She was never a good sleeper. Even without her wolf, she was fast. Almost too fast. She broke through the clearing when the sun was just hitting the sky. She liked the quiet. She liked the colors changing in the sky to full light. She liked watching her breath catch on the air in the cool mornings and disappear. She was just lying in the grass, watching the sun rise. That's when she saw it the smoke. She had run well over the ten mile mark. But she just knew it came from home. It was black. It was burning too hot. Something was wrong, very wrong. Candace POV Mom and Dad never burn this time of year and they would never run a fire that could be seen that far off. Mom always covers the smoke with herbs. It shouldn't be there. I took off running as fast as I could. My wolf, if it came, was months off. I could only run at human speed. I was fast for a human but I wasn't a human. I could always focus on my target and get there faster than I should. My parents always warned me to stay vigilant about my surroundings. People and wolves and any other being shouldn't see me run. My parents were diligent. My mom made a blend that I kept on me at all times to cover my scent. My parents knew I needed to run and release my energy but they made me promise to stay safe. Hence my necklace. I saw the smoke and I ran as fast as I could. I pushed myself. I probably should be more careful but something was wrong I needed to get there. I tried to be vigilant but all I could think was what's wrong. What is wrong. Is someone by the house? How? No one has come out ever. Mom has wards to push away unwelcome guests. You would have to know we were there. The wards protect us. Mom can control fire and water. There is no way anything should be burning like that. What if something happened to Mom? What happened to Mom? But if Mom was unconscious, we have the reserves. Dad and Cam could put out a fire. And it still doesn't explain why it is that color. Mom's back-up herbs would have changed it clear or like a fog if it was really bad. What is going on? I kept pushing myself. I just past the boulder that snakes from the evergreens with honeysuckle. That means I am five miles out. The smoke is getting worse. There is no way something isn't wrong. Are they okay? I don't understand. The sun was coming up yellow orange. My beautiful pinks, purples and dark blues faded away as I panted through the evergreens. I ran as fast as my feet would take me. This is taking too long. I pushed. The smoke got darker. I could hear the crackle of fire on wood as I got closer We have lived here my whole life. I have never seen anyone. When we need anything my parents go, usually my Dad. This is wolf country. He is just a wolf. No one would think twice about him. He doesn't smell of rogue. He smells of pack. He was safe. My mom, brother and I can't go. We are different. Well maybe different. Ugh! Why is this taking so long? It feels like this is taking forever. Have I gotten slower or is time just slowing down? I know there is a fire. But where is my family? Maybe they are busy putting it out. Something must have gone wrong. Why aren't they using the cloaking though? The closest to other outside my family has ever been in on the ridge. Cam and I snuck down there one day when we went "camping". We were curious. Being told you can't go near something since you were little makes you want to go near it. So, of course, when Cam was 15 and I was 14, we convinced our parents to let us go camp on our own. We would use all the precautions our parents taught us. Mom would give us herbs to cloak our scents and to hide us from view. We would use the forest skills to make few marks on the Earth so no one would know we were there. We should have never gone. We were cloaked but when we got to the peak. We heard it. It stopped us in our tracks. The cracking of branches as an animals, no actually animals, ran through the underbrush at the treeline of the trees. Our hearts dropped. We knew better. Our parents warned us. We were lucky Cam made us put on our herbs and protections from camp. But we forgot to protect our camp. We saw them come to the clearing. Clearly they were on patrol or something. They paced the outskirts of the treeline. They went right through where we came from. We didn't have a way to mend the branches we just recently broke. They knew someone had been there. And they came right from our camp. If they had they had seen our things and knew there was no scent. If they were smart, they knew we were cloaked and protected. Based on how they were acting, I was sure they knew. Cam was smart. He knew we had to leave our stuff. We were sure they were linking for more wolves if they were patrol. We needed to leave and fast. We were lucky that day. They knew we went to the clearing and I am sure if they didn't already know it then, they would find out, we were still in the clearing because there was no exit point where we broke out. We snuck by just barely as they started to patrol the perimeter of the clearing. In and out the same way. I was so scared but the wolves were beautiful. The largest was absolutely stunning. I had never seen black shine like that. And those eyes were this translucent blue green that just looked like the lake on a sunny day. Cam snapped me out of watching them and directed us back. Luckily we made it.far enough away when we heard the howls, we knew it was more than five we saw. It was at least a dozen from multiple sides. They were hunting us. They knew we weren't right. They probably assumed witches with the cloaking and protections. They wouldn't have been wrong per say. But they wouldn't have been right either. We were late getting back home. We had to back track a ton to make sure our tracks were covered. We never told our parents. We just told them that we had lost track of time and got turned around. I don't think they really believed us. We knew the woods. We went out there every day since pups. There is no way we would get lost. But they didn't question it. We stayed close to home for months after. Every crack of twig for a week made me jump out of my skin. I kept thinking it was them or someone. My parents probably thought I was nuts but they never said anything. I dreamed of the black wolf. Every night for months. I still do occasionally even though that was nearly three years ago. I am never scared of him though. He never wants to hurt me. He just shows up in the background or sometimes is there is protect me from some ridiculous thing I am dreaming about. The crackle seems to be dying back. Maybe my family is putting it out? But why is it still black and gray? Why aren't they using the herbs? Is my family not safe? I pushed hard. I didn't even feel my feet when I ran like this. I knew every path out here. It was like the paths bent to me, which I know is weird But I have always felt the need to run and run hard. When I was little I would have all this energy. My mom called it the wiggles. But every since I could walk, I wanted to run. And once I could run, I ran. I could run faster than Cam since I was 5. Even when he is his wolf, Trey, ran, I was fast. A wolf can run up to 37 miles per hour. The fastest human is max 22 and that's a short distance. I have to be going around 30 when we have clocked it before. I just have this energy inside me that needs to come out. So I run. And boy, is it coming in handy right now! Where is everyone? I start looking around more instead of focusing just on getting there. I have been so focused on the smoke that I didn't notice. Something seems off. I stopped a mile outside the house. Something is wrong. There are tracks everywhere. We don't make this many tracks. I look closer; there are footprints everywhere. These aren't ours. Why can I hear nothing but my heartbeat right now? Is time moving slower or is it just me? Stop. Think. We trained for this. What did they tell us to do? Breathe. What am I supposed to do? I can hear the crackling in the distance and the smoke. I need to find one of Mom's stashes. I need to cloak myself. Where is the closest one? Think. It is in the briar up ahead, maybe twenty feet due south. It's in the wrong direction from the footprints. I watch my surroundings more as I move as quickly as I can to the briar. I take care to cover my tracks as my parents taught us. I manage to get to the briar and put on the visibility cloaking when out of the woods comes a grey wolf. Damn, my heart drops into my stomach. I drop to the ground instinctively. The wolf cannot see me because of the cloak but I totally didn't remember that. I tried to cover my breath before I realize what is happening. The grey is flanked by six other wolves. White, brown, various sizes and colors. They appear to know each other and were working together. Then from the other end circling directly from my house comes the beautiful black wolf with the gorgeous eyes flanked by ten more wolves at least. What is going on? I didn't see tracks of wolves before. There were only human footprints towards the house. The smoke now festered to a grey as the fire was clearly dying off. I could hear loud cracks as large pieces of wood clearly where cracking apart in the distance. My heart was still going a mile a minute. I didn't dare move. What are these wolves doing here and where is my family? All the wolves convened for a moment. Probably silently talking through a link. Ugh. What I wouldn't have given to be able to hear them right now? Maybe I could have sorted what was happening out. The wolves bared their necks to the black wolf. The black wolf took the lead and they all left due north. North towards the city Cam and I saw the day on the ridge. The same day I saw that black wolf for the first time. The same day I thought I would never see it again. I slowly got up to watch them leave. I am cloaked they cannot see me or smell me. The wind is blowing towards them but I know my herbs will cover my scent. The black wolf stopped in his tracks. My eyes got wide. My heart was in my feet at this point. I stopped breathing. There is no way. The black wolf walked back a few paces. Sniffing the air. There is no way. How could he possible know? He couldn't. He couldn't put that together. I'm cloaked. He couldn't. It is just my panic. The black wolf circled around slowly. The other wolves surprised at his actions. Questioning his actions. It didn't quite make sense to them perhaps. I didn't dare move. I just stood their paralyzed.