Page 98 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Wolves ranging in various colors of tan, black, grey, brown and some had a hint of gold in their fur circled Ember. She was the only white wolf and the only one with beautiful mint colored eyes and she was mine. Ember took one last glance as me and I nodded my head for her to go.

A large howl ripped from her throat as the fellow Wolves howled in unison. With a few hops, Ember dashed at the front of the pack, leading them on her shifted run.

Ember

Four extra limbs to be in control was difficult, but Elea took over and had no problem adjusting to our new form. Hundreds of Wolves dashed through the thickets, the bushes and jumped over streams to keep up. The wind was blowing in my fur as I let out yips and howls of excitement. My heart was racing, and my mind was running a mile a minute. I wanted to feel nature, run through the forest until I could no longer breathe.

We circled the territory, which was large in itself. We took a stop to drink from nearby springs, but we never stopped for long. Everyone was as equally excited, welcoming me as we sprinted under logs. The mind-link was clear as day now, I could hear mom and dad no problem as well as Dante. In fact, I couldn’t just hear their voices but feel them too. Whether that was a normal part of the bond with a pack, I wasn’t sure. However, the guilt and worry poured off my brother Michael heavily. I felt the sickness of his heart. It was stronger than I ever felt when we told my family about the empath ability. Does my Wolf make this gift stronger, or did I break down another barrier?

Dante stayed by my side the entire run. As we ran, my heart couldn’t handle the heaviness that Dante was carrying. How could he live with this pain? Mom and dad had already trailed off halfway through the run to stay with Steven and Hunter. They were both close to shifting but not there yet and didn’t want to leave him alone with Ares. Ares could be a trip sometimes.

“Dante, come with me.” I nudged him as we walked towards the pack lake. The sun had set long ago, and the crickets were out in full force getting ready for the upcoming snow. They would bury themselves deep into the soil to get away from the frost and come out when spring had finally started to thaw the ground again.

I sat on a nearby rock; it was flat so the heat from the mid-day sun still radiated from it as we looked over the lake. “What’s wrong, Dante?” I said flatly. “Don’t lie to me.”

Dante’s Wolf paws shifted as he whined. “Don’t fight your Wolf. He wants to tell me something too.” I glanced at my brother, my younger brother by just that of a year and few months. I no longer needed an empath ability to know he was hiding something from me, his body language said it all. Ears back, nose pointe down, fur was flat on the top of his head.

“I’ve cried every single day you have been taken, Ember.” Elea in my head was intently listening, as was I. His words were genuine, and I hoped he continued to tell us the truth.

“You were my best friend, you kept my secrets, you wanted me as your Beta, we had it all. I couldn’t imagine living my life without you. You are my sister and you protected me even when I deserved to get punished. Like the time I broke mom’s favorite succulent plant?” I laughed, remembering Dante throwing a ball and it ricocheted off the table and right in the kitchen window ledge.

“Yeah, I remember. I opened the window and told mom a blue jay flew in and knocked it over.” I snorted as I shook my fur.

“We still got caught, but you tried to help me out.” Dad could figure out a lie in a second. He had trained his ears to catch lies through heart beats and both of our hearts raced wildly as we repeated the story. There was no way out of it, you just can’t lie to an alpha.

“Anyway, it was the day before Mom’s birthday and you always made these cards and colored these pretty drawings. I didn’t have anything.” Dante’s head lowered. “I wanted to give Mom something equally as amazing as your drawing so I made a deal with someone to help get me the perfect present.” I looked at Dante, whose Wolf began to whimper uncontrollably.

“Ember, I’m the reason you got taken from us.”

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