Page 41 of A Wolf's Heart

Kill him.

Make him bleed.

The voices filtered through my mind, coming from the wolves surrounding me. They jumped back and forth, using the utmost restraint.

Take his heart.

Consume his power.

I leaned forward, saliva dripping from my teeth and onto the wolf beneath me. Closing his eyes, the wolf resigned himself to death. Taking one large breath and slowing his pants.

Good bye, Clark. The voice was small, quiet, but it stood out to me, maybe because my voice was normally a whisper in the wind, so it was easier for my mind to pick it out.

Without moving my head, keeping the black wolf pinned beneath me with nothing but the threat of my teeth, I peeked up where I thought the voice came from. On top of a hill, by the base of a tree, stood a smaller red and black wolf.

She was his family.

I raised my head as I watched the whole pack become worked up over the oncoming death…but they were all family.

“Enough,”I said.When they continued, I snarled and snapped.“Enough!”Silence descended among the pack, their attention falling to me.“This is how you treat your own pack? How quickly you turn on a member of your own?”

“He is not worthy!”some wolf shouted.

“Consume him!”another said.

His heart power. That’s what they wanted me to take. Pieces were starting to fall into place now as my mind made connections.

“I will not be consuming his heart.”Lips pulled back, displaying my teeth, I continued.“I do not need to take the power of another, the life of another, to feel powerful myself. And anyone who wants to challenge me on that is welcome to.”I gnashed my teeth.

Three wolves came forward, hackles raised and ready for a fight. I stepped over the limp body of the black wolf, now in a protecting stance.

I caught Weylin out of the corner of my eye, coming towards me.“Stay back,”I ordered him. He growled his displeasure but didn’t come any closer.

The fight with the three before me was more intense than it had been with the black wolf, but I was different. I had someone to protect now. Clark.

I had no training, but I knew my wolf well, and I fell into her to take over. The wolves went for Clark at first, but once they figured out I wasn’t letting anyone near him, they went for me. Fur flying, blood staining my white fur, I held on strong and refused to allow them to get close to him.

I pushed past the pain, I pushed past my own injuries. My whole life, I’d hoped for the day my family would come for me. I’d hoped for the day they would tell me they were looking for me, that they’d tried to protect me, because that’s what family did. But they hadn’t. I could be like them and abandon Clark for my own comforts, but I refused to continue the cycle. This pack was his family, and I was so damn tired of those who were supposed to be there abandoning us.

The power was in the pack. Greed was what weakened us. The power came from standing strong, not turning on one another.

All three of the wolves before me attacked at once, each biting into me. I tried to shake them, but when one pulled one way, the other pulled the other way.

Then a mass of black fur and white feet launched itself at them, knocking two of the attacking wolves off me. I grabbed the remaining wolf by the foot and shook until I felt a snap. He let go, falling to the ground with a yelp.

“The power is in the pack,”Clark said as he stood next to me, wounded but tall, echoing the words I swore I hadn’t said aloud.

Something happened then. The frenzy of yips and cries were silenced, and the back circled around the three attackers, all of them in line with me. I couldn’t help but get the feeling they were waiting for me, waiting for my command.

I stepped forward, towards the three in question as they stood, looking around. Holding my head high, staying proud and sure in myself, in my own power, I stared at them.

There was a beat of silence, and in unison, the three wolves lowered their heads, bowing to me and exposing their necks.

My wolf took control. I raised my muzzle to the ceiling, and the most animalistic howl I had ever felt ripped through the arena. Every wolf in that area joined in, throwing their heads back and letting loose the sound of a pack. The sound of family.

And then they ran.

They ran through the arena as a pack. They ran for no other reason than comradery. In and out of trees, moving in and out of positions. Some nips here and there, but all of them together.

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