The Wolf's Song

An Uneasy Silence Before the War

Michael

Blood stained my fingers. It was not red, but of a burgundy tone that darkened with the passing of the hours. It smelled of metal, but also of other things, of fear, of earth, and the passage of time. It was not fresh, but I knew it was not very old either. Probably from the night before.

Behind me, Robert held back a growl. He was wearing simple gray sweatpants; his chest and feet were bare, and his hair remained disheveled. An angry expression crossed his face, as his eyes avoided my gaze.

This wasn’t his fault, of course. Robert wouldn’t do such a thing; none of us would, but I knew better. The body only two meters away, after all, was more than enough evidence to give away these facts.

We only found her a few hours ago. Francis was in town, but Robert was patrolling the forest when he sensed it: the scent of human blood calling him. As soon as he located the body he called me, and before long we were all here.

Now, Francis, Andrew, Robert and I saw the girl who had died at the hands of an aberration, for I did not consider that a type of wolf shifter, such as I or mine are. This was something different, and it had to be heartless enough to murder a girl who hardly came of age…

My gaze drifted from the trail of blood to the young girl’s body She had blonde, dirt-streaked hair; blue eyes wide, and looking up at the sky one last time before she died.

“Damn it,” Robert growled, behind my back. “Damn Damien!” he screamed.

“Francis, can you take care of the body?” I asked my Beta, and he nodded as he took the girl, or rather what was left of her in his arms and left.

I knew what happened, or at least I had a pretty clear idea in my head. Yesterday at some point in the early morning, after I had finished my watch, a wolf had sneaked into our territory and left the trail of prey it had dragged over the mountains all the way here: A girl from another village, for her scent, was not Bamberg’s, whom he had killed in my territory as a statement.

“Do you really think it was him?” Andrew asked. “Is it Damien’s fault?”

I remained silent for a moment while bringing my fingertips to my nose, and breathing in slowly. I could sense everything through the scent: the blood clotting time, the route it had taken, and I could even pinpoint the village from which this girl must have been taken. No, the scent of Damien and his wolves was not present, but who else would cause this? There were no other wolves in Bamberg, or nearby, and the few packs I had come across over the years had been nomads going elsewhere. No one wandered into my lands.

“It must have been him,” I replied, as I stood up. The problem was that I was not sure. The scent of the killer was that of a wolf, probably an adult, but I couldn’t identify anyone I know. To get this far, though, it must have crossed much of Damien’s territory.

“And who else would it be?” Robert complained. He was bursting with anger. He couldn’t stand the killing, but to make matters worse, he was the one who got the body and I knew he couldn’t forgive himself for not getting here sooner to stop the killer. Even if I or Francis did not blame him, he would blame himself for this for the rest of his life.

The truth was that I myself had no idea if this was a declaration of war on Damien’s part or not, as this sort of thing didn’t seem to be his style, but I also had no idea who else it might be, and I didn’t intend to risk underestimating Damien again.

“Andrew, I need you to keep an eye on Diana from now on when I’m not around. Become her shadow, if necessary,” I commanded, and he obeyed, I didn’t need to use my Alpha voice for him to carry out my orders as well as any of my wolves.

“And what will we do?” Robert asked as he looked at me, full of anger. His thoughts were violent. He wanted to cross the border of our territory and hunt down Damien.

“We will keep our forest protected,” I affirmed, “if Damien wants war... he’s going to get it.”

“Fine,” Robert stated in a hard voice, hatred stuck in his every word. He slammed his fist into one of his palms, and I knew that the force of the impact could have broken a car in two. “For his sake, I hope his little blond head isn’t the next one to cross my path.”

Robert left, but I decided to let him go. He turned into a wolf halfway through and disappeared, and I gave him space, knowing he needed time to run and clear his head. Francis had done the same. His emotions had disconnected, giving way to the wolf’s mind to run open field to the mountains, where he would take care of hiding the girl’s body, in a spot where it couldn’t be found.

It would be dangerous for all of us, after all, if a forensic examiner were to check the body and note the size of the bites or test the saliva that permeated the wounds, he would discover that something strange was going on.

These were things we always have to be on the lookout for, traces that we had to cover up so as not to be discovered. In this case, it was better than the girl’s torment was camouflaged by her disappearance, and not that it was discovered that a rare ancestral creature was her murderer.

We walked slowly, Andrew and I, as he followed me through the forest. I had taken care to erase the evidence of the scene so that not even trained dogs can find traces of blood, but I know that no one would look for the girl in the middle of the forest, in an area so far away from the city she probably came from. Yet still, questions flew through my thoughts, as I retraced my steps, on my way to the nearest point of the city. Where did this mysterious wolf come from? And as well, why had he decided just now to create new wolves to hunt humans who have nothing to do with our conflict?

I sighed. My head hurt, but as I closed my eyes I felt the threads of thought, the emotions of Francis and Robert floating inside me.

“From now on,” I said out loud to both of them, even to Andrew and myself, “we are at war. If you find anything, if you see anything, or if anyone intrudes within our territory, you have permission to act accordingly.”

Behind me, Andrew nodded, understanding perfectly what I meant. Francis and Robert’s emotions danced within my consciousness, and I knew they had understood the message, what I meant.

I didn’t expect to have to come to this, to have to make this decision, but I won’t continue to give Damien the benefit of the doubt while all around me, everything was falling apart. I couldn’t risk it now, not when there was so much to lose, so much at stake.

The lives of my pack, my family, my loved ones, this town, and its people I had sworn to protect… and more important... I would not put Diana’s life at risk. I was willing to do anything as long as she was safe, even if it implies this...

“If Damien wants war, he will have a war.”