Wolves of Black Pine (The Wolfkin Saga Book 1)

by SJ Himes

  *Hurry, Caius. I must stop them.* Gray Shadow stepped clear of the trees, and forced his will out into the clearing, tearing at the air between him and the humans attacking his family. Steam boiled into existence as the air heated, and the wind stopped, as a solid wall of energy ripped towards the humans standing over the wolves on the ground, weapons firing. A wall of super-heated air crashed into the humans near the large vehicle, and several screamed, skin blistering, clothing smoking, weapons suddenly too hot to handle. The energy required to do this was extraordinary, and Gray Shadow shuddered at the effort, pulling back his will for another strike. Spirit fire was dangerous, and the level of destruction it could reap was staggering. He could force all the air out of the clearing instead, but that would suffocate his kin as surely as the humans. As long as his family stayed down, any one of them still alive would be safe from the burning wall of air.

  *Stay down! Change if you can, and run!* Gray Shadow flung out to his kin, and hoped some were still alive or awake enough to hear him. He sent a new wave of spirit fire towards the humans, forcing his body and mind to keep supplying the energy to sustain the new blast. If not for Luca being too near, Gray Shadow was desperate enough to draw more power from the life forms around him, but that would affect the cub as well.

  Luca clung to his back, sobbing as more humans cleared the front of the strange vehicle and tried to assist the stricken men on the ground. One of them saw him where he stood, and yelled, pointing in his direction. Bullets whizzed past his head, and Gray Shadow ducked, pulling back among the heavy tree branches. Luca cried out, and Gray Shadow smelled the fresh scent of hot blood. He looked over his shoulder, to see a line of blood running from Luca’s torso.

  His grandson was hit, shot by one of the humans. He dropped the new attack, and pulled his will and power back, changing his intent. He assessed Luca in an instant, the bullet lodged in his small shoulder, his tiny form falling into shock. *Caius, Kane. Hurry, please.*

  It was as if the forest was alive with howls and roars of challenge, wolves streaming through the trees from the north, the departing clans all alerted to the ambush at the gates. Gray Shadow turned to run north, to seek safety and help in the sheer numbers running his way, but a spat of bullets ripped past his muzzle, halting him. He heard the high-pitched whine of dirt bikes, and saw through the leaves several humans on bikes aiming in his direction. The humans on the bikes fired again, and he was forced to slide down the small hill, paws scrambling for purchase.

  *Shaman! We are close, we smell the humans. Almost there!* It was Kane, his deep mindvoice usually comforting, calm even in his hard lope to push faster through the trees. Gray Shadow sensed how close the alpha was, but he had trouble on his heels now, and couldn’t wait for help.

  *Not close enough! Luca’s been hit, and I’m being chased by humans on dirt bikes. I’m heading west towards the river.* Gray Shadow sprinted, and Luca nearly spilled from his back. Gray Shadow whipped out a tendril of power, and forced Luca’s tiny body to his back, keeping his injured grandson from falling.

  * At the gates.* Caius called, and Gray Shadow heard the unspoken sob of grief and pain in the Alpha’s voice, a fleeting image of his daughter Marla collapsed on the bloody road, frozen mid-Change. *Kane, Burke, help Gray Shadow.*

  Gray Shadow let the voices fade out, maintaining only enough of the link to lead the alphas after him through the trees, the mind link a far surer method of tracking than scent or sound. His focus was bent on the forest floor before him, and the fading life on his back. He used his power to augment his faltering body, fueling his muscles, forcing himself to move faster than he was usually capable. The burning air attacks left him weakened, having had no time to prepare for the strenuous spells.

  Luca was succumbing, bleeding fast and his light dimming. Gray Shadow raced as fast as he could through the trees, the horrible buzzing whine of the bikes and the sharp bursts of gunfire close behind him. He needed to lose the humans, or he was going to lose Luca. The cub was seriously injured, and Gray Shadow couldn’t heal him and maintain this headlong pace at the same time.

  The sweet scent of fresh water was ahead, the river rushing madly down from the hills, and hopefully he could get across before the bikes caught up to him. If he couldn’t, then the boulders along the river would have to do as cover. Gray Shadow spared a fraction of speed to send Luca a rush of his own life energy, bolstering the cub’s heartbeat, trying to slow the blood loss. He couldn’t do much, and he was losing ground to the mechanical monsters chomping at his tail.

  *I’m almost there, Shaman. Keep running, I’m coming!* Kane urged him, and Gray Shadow caught his scent on the wind, over the stench of exhaust and humans. He heard a flicker of grief from Caius, the Alpha now hard on his heir’s heels, and Gray Shadow trembled with grief of his own, for it must mean more were dead than living at the gates for the Alpha to leave the site of the ambush.

  *At the river, just before the waterfall. Hiding in the rocks. There are three bikes, five humans on my trail. Armed with semiautomatics. I need to heal Luca.* Gray Shadow darted among the large boulders that lined the bank of the river, where the bikes could not follow. Several towered high above him, and there were nooks and crannies where he may be able to hide. He raced over a flat stretch, claws marking the granite, the noise of the bikes dying out as the humans stumbled from their bikes, looking for him and Luca.

  Gray Shadow ducked behind a large boulder, the river rushing wildly mere feet from him, and he hunkered down, letting Luca gently spill from his back. He could heal in either wolf or man shape, and if he stayed wolf, he’d have a better chance of attacking the humans if the alphas didn’t make it in time. Luca was pale, and his heartbeat weak. Blood covered his torso, dark red and pungent in the damp air.

  *Luca? Hold on cub, I’ll help you. Keep breathing.* Gray Shadow rolled Luca to his back, hidden by the boulder, and put a paw over the wound, sending his awareness down into the tiny cub’s body. He found the bullet, and the shattered shoulder blade where it was lodged. He focused, ignoring the approaching footsteps and the harsh breathing of the pursuing humans. It helped Luca was his kin; the connection between them was easy to forge. He urged Luca’s body to obey him, and using the muscles that would one day warp and twist to initiate the Change, Gray Shadow forced them to slowly expel the bullet. This was similar to what Alphas could do when they forced a Change on a werewolf, whether it be to wolf or man. He couldn’t force a full Change, he could merely lead the muscles to respond to the spiritual pull of the Change itself, and localized it to the wound. It was hard, harder than it should be, and the effort drained the shaman further. He caught the scent of something pernicious, and growled softly.

  *Caius…Kane. The humans are using silver laced bullets.*

  *I can smell them, and you. Almost there. Stay hidden.* Kane told him, the alpha near enough now that Gray Shadow smelled him in return, and heard the hard panting breaths of a predator fast approaching. He could smell Caius and another alpha, farther out from Kane but coming in fast, their scents strong on the milling winds. He continued to ignore the humans, his focus totally on the cub.

  The bullet popped free from the flesh, and rolled to the rocks. Gray Shadow was able now to pour everything he had into the cub, the silver’s influence over the injury gone, and the wound knit and the bones shifted. Gray Shadow merely helped along the cub’s natural ability to heal, replenishing his blood supply, his young heart beating stronger, the tempo sure and certain.

  Luca’s eyes fluttered open, and Gray Shadow licked his little face in relief. He huddled over the cub, and just in time, as a human whirled around the edge of the boulder, aiming a shotgun at Gray Shadow’s head. The shaman froze, lips pulling back in a soundless snarl,keeping himself between the gun and the cub now awake beneath him. The human tugged a radio free from his jacket, and clicked it on.

  “Team Leader to Base, I’ve got the shaman. He’s got the runt, to
o.” The human gazed at them with steely, emotionless eyes, and his finger stroked the trigger of the shotgun as he held it aimed at the shaman’s head. “Bring a tranq gun to the river, north of the falls.”

  Gray Shadow felt more than heard the silent approach of Kane. He knew the alpha was there when the sharp scent of fresh human blood was carried on the damp river breeze. The man holding the gun on him didn’t react, unaware that his compatriots were being silently culled amidst the maze of boulders.

  “Understood, sir. On my way with tranquilizers and restraints. Secondary exit plan in place, primary vehicle disabled,” came the reply over the radio, and Gray Shadow’s eyes narrowed. The ambush was starting to sound like a military or private mercenary job, and this explained why the humans would chase him and Luca through the woods with hundreds of wolfkind minutes away and closing in fast.

  The humans were after shamans. And since shamans rarely left the clans, the humans came to the clans.

  “Check with our contact, make sure the beasts aren’t onto our escape route,” the man with the gun ordered over the radio, and Gray Shadow grumbled at the implications.

  Contact? A human spy in the park? Or a traitor in the clan?

  “Play nice, dog, and I won’t put you down. You so much as twitch, I’ll blow your brains out across the rocks and drown the runt in the river,” the human whispered, somehow sensing the rising wave of blood-red anger in Gray Shadow’s heart. The shaman tensed, muscles coiling. Luca shivered with fear under his grandfather, tiny hands clutching at his forelegs. The cub was awake and listening, and Gray Shadow sensed the boy’s fears as his grandson instinctively reached out with his mind, trying to initiate a link, searching for reassurance. He responded without thought himself, and bolstered the boy’s connection to his mind, stilling the cub, so as not to draw attention to himself.

  *Keep the human focused on you, Shaman. If I take him now he may fire, and he’s too close to you for him to miss.* Kane’s mental whisper sent relief rushing through Gray Shadow, and he saw the hint of a black wraith moving over the light grey stones behind the human. Kane was huge, larger than the black bears found in the northern reaches of the untouched forests, and he stalked the man who held the gun unwavering on the shaman and his grandson. *When I tell you to, pull a witchy trick and make him look away.*

  Witch trick was an old term used to describe the conjuring of illusions, and Gray Shadow hoped he had the strength left to do so. He must; Luca needed him, and he refused to fail the cub. Gray Shadow kept still, eyes locked with the human, and sent his will and focus out to a spot near the trees. He gathered the light and forced the air particles to collect, shaping them to his will and guiding the shapes with a deft touch. It went slowly as his strength faded and waned. He must do this, and he tried again, wishing for the first time in his long years to be younger, his endurance not what it once was in the twilight of his life.

  He knew the illusion was ready when the power drain was steady; all he needed now was Kane’s word to unleash it. He didn’t have long to wait, as Kane was a black blur of movement behind the human as he flowed the last distance between them. *Now, Shaman!*

  Gray Shadow loosed the illusion, and two werewolves tumbled from the trees onto the rocks, snarling and roaring at the armed human. He saw the fake wolves approaching, and jerked, the gun wavering between Gray Shadow and the rapidly approaching illusions, eyes wide in shock and indecision. Kane leapt as the human made up his mind, seeming to realize the wolves weren’t real, and he brought the weapon to bear on Gray Shadow. The shaman was deafened by the shotgun’s blast as the gun fired. The stench of gunpowder and blood flooded his sensitive nose, and he heard screaming and snarling.

  “Grandpa!” Luca was screaming at him, and Gray Shadow tried to move, to comfort the cub. He staggered on his feet, and his vision blurred. Something was wrong.

  Gray Shadow blinked, and his feet refused to move. He felt cold, and he couldn’t hear the river anymore. Just his heartbeat, loud in his ears, an offbeat sound that grew weaker and weaker.

  Gray Shadow collapsed to the rocks, Luca at his side, wailing. The shotgun fired again; once, twice, the discharge of each shot oddly enough something he could hear. He saw a blur of black as Kane and the human fought, blood running from Kane’s shoulder and hip. The human stumbled backwards, and Kane lunged for him again.

  *Shaman! I’m here, hold on old friend, don’t let go…..* It was Caius, at last. Gray Shadow tried to respond to his Alpha, but his mind couldn’t remember how to form the words. He was growing cold, the sun warmed rocks under him not enough to hold back the creeping chill. He realized in a corner of his mind that he was dying, and that there was a hole in his chest from the shotgun’s blast.

  He saw a blur of colors, and he watched, detached from his body, as Caius and another alpha breached the trees, leading more wolves. The human man was dying, bleeding out from his ravaged throat, the shotgun useless, clattering to the stones. The human fell backwards, his feet tangling with the shaman’s body. The dying man fell towards the rushing white water below him, and Gray Shadow tried to howl in terror as the dying man’s fingers caught Luca. The cub and the shaman’s murderer toppled off the rocks, and the last thing Gray Shadow heard was Kane’s cry of anguish as the alpha plunged into the river after the cub.

  The River and the Wolf

  KANE HELD his breath as water submerged his head, soaking his thick fur, clogging his ears. He snapped his muzzle shut, and kicked hard for the surface, powerful strokes of his hind legs propelling his head clear. Everything was muffled under the water, and he flinched at the cacophony of its rush over granite boulders once his ears were free.

  *LUCA!* Kane called, hoping the cub could hear him, that he was old enough to respond. Most cubs could only hear and not reply to mind calls at his age, and he would have trouble finding the cub in the water without a link to his mind.

  Kane swam, bracing himself with outstretched paws as he was hurtled towards partially submerged rocks and trees. He strained his neck high, and caught the barest glimpse of solid black a few yards downstream. The human. He was floating, going with the current, and Kane knew he was dead, the final slash across his throat insuring the human hadn’t survived the plummet into the water. If the human was that close, then the cub may be as well.

  He pushed himself harder, and rounded a sharp bend just as he heard the change in the river’s roar. The water was rushing faster, its pull stronger, and there was a deafening rumble he could feel more than hear over the current around him. The waterfall.

  Here the river narrowed, the rapids frothing white, and the strength of it was extreme. It was bitterly cold, even in summer, the runoff from mountain springs and year round snow melt, and he was thankful for his dense coat even as it sought to drag him under, soaked through to his skin.

  Need to get out of the water, I can’t do anything if I’m trying not to drown myself, he thought, and he lunged at the first opportunity, claws scrabbling for purchase on a water-worn tree. His legs churned and he stumbled momentarily, shaking the water from his long black fur. He was running before the droplets could land, streaming along the bank in a blur and eyeing the human’s body as it bobbed in the current.

  *LUCA!* Kane couldn’t see the cub. He could only see the human, arms loose, legs floating heedlessly. There was no cub, and Kane’s heart sank, the possibility of the youngster already having drowned a very likely occurrence. His last glimpse of the cub had been the human’s fingers wrapped in the collar of his t-shirt when they fell, and Kane could only hope that death had maintained the grip on the cub.

  The falls were yards away, a drop of 50 feet that descended into a deep pool before the mountains separated the river into tributaries before combining again miles downstream. If the cub was still in the water, he could be swept away in any direction. Kane put on more speed, and ran to the cusp of the falls, lunging out onto a boulder, his teeth sinking into t
he boot of the human corpse, and he yanked hard. His claws sank deep, flaking the rock under him, and he managed to keep the human from being dragged over the falls.

  No! Kane’s heart broke. The human had lost his grip on the cub. Luca was downstream… over the falls.

  Kane dropped the body in disgust, and leapt from his perch over the falls, angled towards the bank. All four paws dug their claws deep into the nearly vertical shale cliff side, and he took the fastest route to the pool below without actually going over the falls into the water. He fell, claws ripping shale shards free from the earth, and he dug in just enough to narrowly avoid crashing into the rocks below. Kane let go a dozen feet above the boulders lining the deep basin at the foot of the falls, and twisted in the air like a cat, landing in a run on all fours. He raced to the water, eyes scanning, nose twitching, ears pricked, every sense on high alert, hoping to find some sign of the cub.

  *Caius. Haven’t found the cub yet. I’m not giving up.* He couldn’t tell if he was still close enough for his Alpha to hear him, yet he felt a tiny mental nudge, with a hint of his packmate Burke sending an affirmation he’d heard. Burke would tell Caius.

  The cub was wolfkin, for all that he was only a tiny thing, and he may yet live. Kane wouldn’t stop searching until he found Gray Shadow’s grandson, alive or dead. He couldn’t bear to think that the sweet, charming cub from the history lessons the night before might be gone, his light extinguished.

  LUCA CHOKED, air bubbling in his chest. It hurt, more than anything he’d ever felt before, and he coughed, only to have water rush back in his lungs. He was cold, and he couldn’t feel his hands or feet. He was so cold that his terror was out of reach, as if he wasn’t feeling it, his mind shrieking for his dad, his grandpa, all of his terror-filled cries an echo from outside his little body. The cold was creeping in, numbing his skin and muscles, and the water was a foul drink as it mixed with the contents of his stomach. He was flung hard against an object he never saw in the water, and sparks of white light exploded behind his eyes as pain bloomed on the back of his head.