by K. T. Tomb
The scent of humans and recently used acrid-smelling machines overpowered him, very nearly drowning out the scent of what was one his beloved forest. He heard a movement on the far end of the clearing, and determined right away that another human walked nearby, several of them, by the scents. He didn’t know what to do, other than hide in the scant underbrush. But he didn’t want to hide. They had taken his home away, after he had spent so much time trying to get back. They had endangered his family. He still didn’t know if his pack had all made it to safety.
Shadow darted out of the underbrush, running across the cleared expanse at full speed. As he approached the humans, his anger took over. He began to snarl and bark. This was his territory and they needed to leave right away. He barked with a fierceness as he had never felt before, maybe because he was back in his own territory.
The humans looked surprised and scurried backward. One of them climbed up the side of a heavy machine and the other jumped out of the way of Shadow’s bared teeth. He didn’t want to bite them, as he imagined the taste of human flesh wouldn’t be something he wanted to experience.
But he had already been in one fight today and if it came to that, bite he would. His fur stood out all around him and he spun around, trying to get to both of the humans who evaded him. A male human hand landed on the scruff of his neck. Not this again.
As his feet were lifted off the ground, he twisted his body around, his teeth snapping and legs flailing, desperate for escape. He had come too far to be taken by the humans again.
The sound of another dog met his ears. More barking and snarling, not his own. He lost some sense of what was happening when he was dropped back to the dusty ground. He shook his head and turned, only to see Ula, hackles raised and teeth bared, standing at the foot of the human who had grabbed Shadow.
Get to the tree line! she said, sending him a message with her mind.
He didn’t hesitate to do so, with her running close at his heels. They didn’t stop until they reached the lake at the bottom of the mountains, quite clear of the humans.
“What are you even doing here?” he said, spinning to greet his friend with gratitude and surprise.
“I thought about what Red said,” Ula said after catching her breath. “He had once been an Alpha, but he wasn’t anymore. I had my time as Alpha. They needed me for that span of time. But leadership was not for me. I left Goldie in charge to start their new pack. There are plenty of dogs in the city. They’ll find each other.”
“But...” Shadow said.
“Do you want me to go back to them?” Ula asked with a small spark in her eye.
“No!” Shadow insisted. “Of course not!” He caught his excitement and attempted to reel it in. “That is... if you want to come along, you can. If we find the wolves, I just don’t know what they’ll say about you. We might have to fight.”
Ula simply laughed, crinkled her nose and nudged him with her shoulder. “Come on, Shadow. Let’s go find your family. That is the first thing. We’ll worry about the rest later.”
They walked along the side of the lake, both of them stopping to drink from the fresh, cool water, fed by the melted mountain snow. It was the sweetest water that Shadow ever tasted—the taste of home. The pine trees jutted up to the sky, creating a covering of green surrounding them. The air grew cooler as they increased in altitude while climbing the mountains.
He didn’t know how long it had been since he had been to the forest. He felt sad that the grove and the old farm had been taken over and changed by the humans. He wondered if there was anyone, anywhere who could stop them. At least, they would be safe up in the steep slopes and in the rocks. They continued walking. Soon, they began to see snow here and there, just in the shade. The sun still had enough warmth to melt the rest of it.
“There’s another cave close by,” Shadow explained. “Sometimes, they use it during the humans’ hunting season. I have never been there, but I have seen it in the mind link of my Alpha.”
“Is that what happened to us in the shelter?” Ula asked. “A mind link?”
“I think so,” Shadow said. “Before you, I had only ever felt it with the pack. Did you have something like that with Goldie and the others?”
“I think so, but to a small degree,” she said. “It’s different with you, though. Stronger.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Shadow said. “I wonder why that is.”
“I don’t know, but I like it,” Ula said.
“So do I.”
They walked in silence for a little while. They soon came around the bend to a clearing. Beyond the clearing, Shadow saw the entrance to the mountain cave. The sun hung low in the sky, but had not yet reached the tree line. He wondered if the pack might be out hunting.
They approached the edge of the clearing, a wide expanse reaching to the cavernous mouth. In the shadows of the cave, he couldn’t tell if there was movement, but he walked forward, letting out a short howl. A formal greeting.
Ula waited at the edge of the clearing just opposite the cave. Shadow neared the mouth, emitting another short howl. Still no response. Shadow turned and eyed the edge of the tree line around the clearing. Nothing. He sat down and lifted his nose. Suddenly, a familiar scent greeted his senses.
“Shadow!” Snow’s voice rang out across the clearing from the pine trees. He saw her white silhouette bounding out of the shadows. Overcome with joy, he leaped into a full run toward his sister. They met in the middle and pounced on one another, rolling with happiness in a tangle of legs and tails. When they came back to their feet, both laughing and howling and leaping about, he saw that Snow had grown. She now looked like an adult wolf, with broad shoulders and a streamlined bone structure. Her eyes gleamed with a golden hue, much different from the youthful blue they all had the last time they were together.
“Where are the others?” he asked.
“Blue and Chase are hunting, but they’ll be back soon. They know, of course, that you are back. We smelled you.”
Just as Snow promised, his two brothers appeared side by side, leaping through the pine trees toward their returned long-lost brother. As they approached, Shadow was struck once more by how much they all had matured. Blue had kept the eye color that matched his name, but they both looked like adult wolves. Much like he had greeted Snow, the three leaped, tumbled and rolled in the snowy meadow. Wolfish laughter rang out over the trees. The siblings walked back to the cave, shoulder to shoulder. Shadow noticed that he was the smallest canine there.
“Where are Mother and Alpha?” Shadow asked. “I am very much looking forward to telling everyone about what has happened to me while I was away. And there is something else I would like to tell you all.”
A silence fell over the group.
“What has happened?” Shadow asked.
Snow spoke first. “Our numbers have changed since you were with us last. When you disappeared, Mother was in deep mourning. Alpha demanded that anyone who knew anything come forward. No one knew anything, until one day, Cass came to them and confessed that she had seen you go to the place of the wall, the place where the old farm used to be. The forbidden place. The Alpha and Mother were so angry with her for not telling them sooner. Especially with the history between the two of them.”
“What history?” Shadow asked. “What are you talking about?”
“To be the Alpha’s mate,” Snow continued. “A long time ago, before Alpha took over the pack, Cass was trying to catch his eye, to become the Alpha’s mate when he ascended. But our father chose Mother over her. I don’t think Cass ever got over it. They made peace but never truly became anything other than amicable pack mates, getting along for the sake of keeping the peace.”
“I think I remember,” Shadow said. “They were never true friends, were they?”
“No,” Snow said. “The problem arose as more humans came into the territory. Cass claimed she felt responsible for your absence. She felt that if she had come to the pack when she first found out you had been
playing as a puppy at the place by the wall and had seen a human, then we could have all moved up the mountain as we are now.”
“She knew?” He digested this information.
“She wanted to try to find you, and despite the Alpha advising strongly against it, she returned to the farm site. She taunted the humans, to the extent that they finally came after her. On that day, though, Mother had gone after her, trying to finally confront her to make peace. Alpha had decided to let another step into his place, and Mother wanted to tell her first before it was announced to the others.”
“Father is not the Alpha now?” Shadow was in shock.
“No,” Snow said. “He’s not.”
“I don’t understand. What happened?” Shadow asked, but he feared he already knew.
“Our Mother,” Snow said somberly. “She was felled by a hunter.”
Sadness jolted through him. Suddenly, he understood the power of the sticks that made loud cracking sounds… the guns. “Mother is gone,” he said softly, trying to accept the bad news.
“Yes, she is gone. Alpha wanted to move us up the mountain after what happened to her, but Cass remained inconsolable. She insisted that the pack stay in the same place, in case you returned. She wanted to try to clear her conscience, too. It was only days ago that the message came from the bird. The city bird that you sent to tell us to leave.”
“You got my message,” Shadow said with relief.
“Your message saved our lives. We left the area just as the humans came in and took down the trees with great heavy machines. But...” Snow dropped her eyes, unwilling to go on.
Blue took over the story. “When we came to the mountain cave, Father stepped down as the Alpha. With Mother’s death, and your disappearance, all of the Alpha wolf power has gone out of him, he says.”
“But... who is the new Alpha?” Shadow asked.
“I am.” The voice of Storm came suddenly behind them. Cass stood at his side, but lowered her eyes when Shadow met her with his questioning gaze. Thunder trotted out of the woods and stood on the other side of Storm. The two had always hunted together. Today had been no different.
Shadow realized that Cass had finally gotten her wish. She had found her way to become the Alpha’s mate after all. Storm spoke again. “Welcome back, Shadow.”
“Thank you.” Shadow lowered his head as a show that he recognized Storm as the new Alpha. “May I speak with Cass alone, please?”
Cass stepped forward as the other pack members stepped back to give them a circle of privacy.
“I am so sorry about your mother,” Cass began.
Shadow shook his head to silence her. “I have been among the humans,” he said. “Their ways are strange and unpredictable. They don’t exist in a way that makes sense to us. I have come to believe that the human that took me thought he was somehow saving me. Likewise, he didn’t understand that Mother was not a threat to him. It was not your fault what happened to her, or to me. You are not responsible for any of it.”
Cass kept her gaze even until he said this last part. Then, she cast her eyes downward.
“No,” said Shadow, lowering his eyes as well. “It is I who must defer to you.” He bowed to show his recognition of her as his Alpha female.
She touched him with her nose.
“Thank you,” she whispered before stepping back to stand beside Storm.
“There is one more thing.” Shadow turned back to the edge of the forest where he knew Ula waited. “I have a guest.”
The others turned toward where he looked.
“Actually,” Shadow continued, “she’s more than a guest. She’s coming to stay with us. To join the pack.”
“A city dog?” Chase said. “With us?”
“She saved my life. And then, I saved hers. Ula, you can come out now,” Shadow called out. The black and white dog stepped out of the shadows. She was nervous in the presence of the wild wolves. However, she bravely stepped forward and now came to stand next to Shadow. “Everyone, this is Ula. She survived the worst imaginable treatment at the hands of humans, who used her to train their most aggressive dogs to fight each other for sport. In self-defense, she had to kill one of them, a much bigger dog, or she would have died. And yesterday, she and I and two other dogs triumphed over a rival pack on the city streets. She was their Alpha and she is worthy of our pack.”
There were murmurs of respect for her triumph and bravery.
She lowered her gaze to all of them, and turned her forehead to Storm. “It’s nice to meet all of you. I have heard so much about you. Thank you for your kind welcome.”
Chase, Snow and Blue all circled her in a greeting, giving her an impromptu once-over. She rolled over on her back to show respect and when they finally let her up, they yipped a welcome. She wagged her tail low and yipped back in a wolf-like way. Shadow was so proud of Ula. So proud. She was very adaptable.
Shadow opened his mind, and allowed them to see Ula as he had seen her earlier that day. The image had flowed into the minds of Shadow’s siblings. All at once, they gasped at seeing the fierceness present in the little dog, who was no bigger than their adopted brother. Within seconds, they all expressed a genuine welcome to her.
They all returned to the cave. The pack had brought pieces of the most recent kill back to give to their elderly Father, who had stayed behind. He expressed his happiness at Shadow’s return and welcomed him. He smiled when he met Ula and nodded toward Shadow with approval. At last, the pack was together again. And Shadow had a companion who had proven herself in the city and had helped him return to the wilderness.
Storm bumped shoulders with Shadow and said, “Your watch, Little Wolf. That is what we will call you now.” And Storm went to the back of the cave out of the wind and lay down with Cass and the others.
It brought him great happiness to be re-named Little Wolf by the new Alpha, and to be entrusted with such an important pack duty as the watch.
As night fell, he lay wide awake in the clearing, just in front of the cave. He was shocked and sad that Mother Wolf was gone and that Father, now with a muzzle that had gone completely white with age, had given up his Alpha position to Storm. How much time had passed since he had left and returned, he didn’t know, but it must have been a long time because now, all of his siblings were adults, as he was. Of course, he was also shocked that the pack had had to leave their home of many generations and migrate to the high country where game was scarcer and they would have to compete for food with bears and cougars.
With the humans and the way they spread themselves far and wide, he knew that it was just a matter of time before the pack would have to find even more remote territory, perhaps even above the tree line, which presented its own problems with longer, harsher winters, less camouflage and even sparser hunting. And perhaps, they might have to fight other migrating wolf packs if their territories overlapped.
Nothing stays the same, he thought. No matter how much you want it to, it moves with the seasons and becomes something new. Something more challenging. The only constant was his siblings, but someday, they, too, would give way to the younger ones who would take their places. As would he. And perhaps, he would someday be the one with the white muzzle, waiting for food and for news to be brought to him by one of his offspring. But not too soon, he hoped. He had a lot of catching up to do with the wolf pack. Many hunts to hunt. Many howls to howl.
Alert, he lay with swiveling ears and nostrils pointed into the wind. With Ula sleeping peacefully at his side, Little Wolf watched as, one by one, the stars appeared in the indigo night sky...
The End
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THE TEMPEST
A novel by
K.T. TOMB
The Tempest
Published by K.T. Tomb
Copyright © 2014 by K.T. Tomb
All rights reserved.
The Tempest
Prologue
La Isla Samsara,
Somewhere in the Caribb
ean
The tiny island of Samsara sat alone in the Caribbean Sea, as though the ocean surrounding it could engulf it if it wanted to; especially if a decent storm were to brew in the region.
The fifteen-story resort hotel sat alone on the tiny white-beached island, with a swarm of construction workers making their way around the building, performing their various tasks. Massive waves crashed along the sandy shores, pulling the sand into the ocean as they retreated. The island was small and remote, perfect for an ultra luxurious hotel project such as this but barely enough room for the small airfield they were constructing. After three years of complicated work the hotel was finally nearing completion but was still in the detailed stage of finishing touches. Construction workers filled the structure; on the ground and on scaffolding as furnishings and fittings arrived by cargo plane and ship to complete the end designs of the interior decorators.
Suddenly a scream pierced through the chaotic construction noise, followed by a loud thump.
Work ceased as the men dropped their tools and ran to the spot where the scream and thump came from. In front of the hotel’s main entrance, a body lay spread out on the ground at an awkward angle. Blood poured from the back of the man’s head and formed a gruesome pool on the perfect travertine tiles. It was a portly man of average height, dressed in blue jeans, white t-shirt and an orange ‘CAUTION’ vest—the standard “uniform” of the construction crew. The workers studying the grisly scene looked up at the top of the 15-story building, squinting their eyes and shielding them from the searing sunlight, trying to put a location on where he had fallen from. They buzzed and speculated over the reason behind the fall.
