Fighting Fate

CHAPTER 2

An insistent shaking and tugging on her arm returned Fiona to the here and now. She’d utterly tuned out, lost in the memory that bubbled to the surface annually on this day.

Looking down at the upturned face of her son she furrowed her brow

“Sorry honeybee, what did you say?”

“Mommy, I have to go pee!” Ah, back to it then.

“Ok, let’s go find somewhere to pee. Rowan? Gabriel? Do either of you need to go to the bathroom?” She called to her older children, who were tossing a frisbee in the grassy field to her right.

“No!” they both shouted, too absorbed in their play to be distracted.

“Are you SURE?” She asked again, suspecting she’d come back with one child and have to traipse back with another.

“Mom, we’re fine! We’ll just pee over in that bush if we need to!” her son declared.

Fiona rolled her eyes and let out a barking laugh. Her kids were definitely the type to pee outdoors in broad daylight. But such is life for kids raised with wolves. Their father could handle the next potty run.

“Mommmmm, come on, I gotta go!” her little one insisted.

“Ok, ok, lets go buddy”

Making their way to the shelter of the forest, she let her son pick out a suitable tree to mark, smiling at the simple pleasure a little boy takes in peeing on a tree.

“Mommy, can we shift and play tag?” He looked at her with eager eyes.

“Not today honeybee, it’s a picnic day, not a shifting day.”

His lower lip pushed out and he looked like he was about to whine and insist, but she held up a hand before he could

“Ah ah, the answer is no. I don’t want to hear it. You know we don’t shift today.”

He pouted and gave a little “hmph,” but nodded and shimmied his pants back up.

Helping him straighten his pants, she tucked his little hand in hers and they walked together back to the family.

On a blanket in the sun, her husband rested; his long legs stretched out, crossed at the ankles. He had one muscular arm thrown over his head, using a hand for a pillow. The other lay still on his taut abs.

With his hat pulled over his eyes to block the bright sun, his broad chest rose and fell in an even rhythm.

She could never understand how this man could sleep with two kids running and squealing in the field beside him.

But she didn’t begrudge him his naps. She knew he needed them.

It also gave her a chance to stare in a way she wouldn’t have had he been awake.

The lines of his body, so familiar to her, still made her heart flutter. The T-shirt he wore was a relaxed fit, he wasn’t showy like so many of the young guns in the pack.

But she knew exactly what lay underneath the jersey fabric.

Knew he worked with rigorous discipline to maintain his strength and fitness. He wasn’t getting younger, but he was still Beta and an imposing physical presence was important to maintain. His shorts displayed well muscled calves.

Yes, she was still smitten with her husband, even after 11 years.

Returning to the blanket, her youngest ran off to play with his siblings.

“You two, let him have some turns too!” she called out.

“Yeah mom, got it!” Rowan replied, her hair streaming out behind her as she ran.

Checking to make sure all was well, she sat down next to her husband and her mind wandered again…

***

Following the anguished howls echoing over the valley, she reached the top of a rise, and looked down into the swale.

It smelled strongly of elk and musk and another scent she couldn’t place. It made her ears flatten and her tail tuck.

An uneasy whine escaped her throat without her even thinking.

The three males were hovering over the prone form of a smaller female.

Nat was moaning and howling as if he’d been mauled by a bear. Matthew and Isaac leaned against him from both sides, offering support the only way they could. Their heads were lowered, softly whining at his utter loss of control.

Seeing your Beta fall apart was not something any pack member was accustomed to or prepared for. She could tell they were at a loss.

Padding quickly down the hillock, she tread over the tracks of clearly frantic elk. She could see the skid marks from their sliding hooves, the deep divots in the earth where they’d changed directions suddenly.

Steeling herself, she stretched her neck to graze Isaac’s flank with her muzzle.

He turned, recognized the question in her eyes, and shook his head.

Fiona huffed sharply, and moved to Nat’s side, Isaac stepping away to make room for her. Back hunched, he sat on his haunches and waited helplessly.

“Has Alpha been notified?” she linked only with Isaac, leaning her weight into Nat’s side as she did so.

She doubted he’d even registered that she’d taken Isaac’s place.

“Yes, he’s aware of the situation. He’s still only to West Thumb. I don’t know whether he’s been talking to Beta, but I doubt anyone could get into his mind right now.”

Isaac was right. Nat’s mind was completely shut off.

She made a few attempts to link, but his body was heaving, tortured howls rolling through unbidden.

He’d lowered himself to his belly, stretching his neck over the fur of his mate’s, nuzzling her jaw helplessly.

Turning to Matthew, who remained on Nat’s left she quietly asked

“What happened?”

His eyes were downcast

“They were on the hunt with Wapiti Lake Pack. Bull elk turned on her. He hasn’t told us much, just that she got clipped by his antlers then caught underneath him as he slid in the mud. I don’t think we’ll get much more information until Alpha arrives. She was still alive when we got here, but she was already fading. She had no strength to shift”

For the first time, Fiona focused on Samantha’s form. She had a tear in her underbelly near the flank, as if she’d been trying to jump clear of the massive antlers, but got her stifle snagged on one of the points. Just behind the shoulder, an unnatural hollow implied a crushed rib cage.

One square strike or kick from a mature elk, and a bull at that, was devastating to a wolf.

Samantha’s neck was at an odd angle and her eyes were glassy and void.

Her lips were slightly pulled back from her teeth, and bloody froth clung to her muzzle.

Fiona lowered herself next to her dear friend and cried with him.

As his heart was gutted, so was hers.

This was the only chance he’d get to fall apart and she knew it. Once the death rituals began, he’d have to wear a mask of stoic grief.

She buried her face in the fur of his ruff and howled with him. Matthew and Isaac lifted their muzzles and joined the sorrowful chorus.

Somewhere in the distance, echoes from the Wapiti Lake wolves mourned with them.