The Lost Son.

Chapter 13

Emera's day had been fairly uneventful compared to the last few days. With the girls gone it was quiet, and she was able to look after the last minute prep to the rooms. She had the boys pitch some of the large pack tents and put cots into them for and extra wolfs that showed up, she helped Cookie peel a few hundred pounds of potatoes, played ref as the male members of the pack held wrestling matches and was able to finish writing out and printing rules and itineraries for visiting packs. The girls had gotten home, happy and loaded down with bags of clothes. Ryan had told her he hadn't had any issues at all and other than a growl here or there from Grant, he was well behaved. After dinner the group of wolves gathered in the front of the pack house, it was the usual for full moon nights. She told then the normal pack rules for a run and they took off changing as they went. Emera watched as the pups changed and went off to frolic and play with their parents.

Emera and Ryan were the last to change.

"Hey I met the new neighbor in town today!" Emera froze and looked at him, "Now I know why you were so happy that day." She blushed and Ryan smiled so big she thought his checks would hurt, but before she could say anything he took off at a sprint and changed. She followed him and let her wolf take over and chase him down. Her wolf tackled Ryan and pinned him to the ground, wanting to make sure that he knew that the man was claimed. The alpha snarled and held him to the ground until he submitted then released him. Ryan slowly stood up and looked at her. He smiled the smile that she associated with Ryan when he figured out her secrets and then took off, tempting her to chase him. She did and they played until the wind changed.

The alpha stood dead still and sniffed the air.

'Fire', she thought to herself and took off in the direction of Alex's property. Ryan and a few of the other wolfs that were near smelt it too and followed close behind. Emera slowed when she reached the brush line and snuck closer until she could see the opening. Though it was getting dark she could tell he had been busy cleaning the place up. She nervously looked around until she found him. He was standing on the other side of the old cabin. That was up in flames. For years that place had haunted her dreams, and brought back bad memories. It gave her a feeling that she would never be able to explain. As she stood there watching the fire take away the old cabin her wolf couldn't help but mourn all of the pack members whose deaths were associated with this cabin over the years, the ones who were never found. Emera could sense they were present, and her wolf tilted its head back and let the loudest and most heartfelt howl escape. The rest of the pack joined in, some close, some far, each one joining into the chorus and filled the air with a mournful melody.

Alex jumped when he heard the howling, it was close, really close and looking around he noticed at least ten large wolfs standing in the brush on the other side of the fire. Their glowing eyes staring at the fire, they seemed to be almost standing guard of the cabin and what lay inside of it. When he caught the eye of one of the wolves, it was snow white with bright almost glowing green eyes. It starred directly at him and almost seemed to nod its appreciation to him. Like it was thanking him for destroying the old cabin. Then it tilted back its head and let out another long howl followed in time with the others and more he couldn't see.

That must be a huge pack, Alex thought to himself. But instead of being scared he felt like he would be safe. Then before he knew what he was doing he too began to howl with them. When he looked back into the woods the wolfs were gone.

Emera had noticed that Alex had been looking over at them. She looked back at him and locked eyes. He didn't seem to be scared of them, but she knew he wouldn't need to be. For some reason her wolf had claimed this man and she didn't quite know why. She gave him a nod as to thank him for what he had done and let out one last mournful howl. Then to her surprise he joined in, his human voice singing with her packs. Her wolf sprung forward wanting to get to him but Emera wrangled herself back in and instead took off in the opposite direction, she had to get out of there before she lost control of her wolf. The others followed behind her and they ran back into the woods owned by the pack. Emera ran and ran and ran farther then she had on a full moon for a long time, but she needed to keep her wolf busy so she wouldn't go back and find Alex. She would go talk to the Keeper in the morning after the Elite's meeting before the other wolves began to show up.