Ch. 05

TIA POV I woke up with a jolt. A searing hot pain ripped through my chest, and I found myself screaming in agony. I lost my balance because of it, high up in my tree. Crashing hard to the ground and folding into the fetal position. “Meadow!” I cried out in panic as my vision blurred from my tears, and my small fist clenched my chest in burning pain. I’m sorry, little one. I blocked it as long as I could. Meadow whimpered; she, too, was in pulsating sharp pains. It was our pack bond being ripped away from us. Why? My body convulsed in uncontrolled pain, unlike anything that I have ever felt before. “Meadow, what’s happening?” There was panic mixed in with the pain, pinching my voice. The pack, it’s gone. I am sorry, Tia. Meadow whimpered at the loss of hundreds of innocent wolves. I was stunned, momentarily forgetting the agonizing churning in my belly from the hollowness of my pack link. “Someone attacked us? Why didn’t I feel it sooner?” I blocked the pain from you. I needed you to stay hidden, so I forced you into a deeper sleep with the help of our Goddess. You needed to be protected from this. A shimmer wolf must reside here, Tia. Meadow’s voice answered my question, but not the pain in my chest at the reality of what had happened. I didn’t like most people here and didn’t care to meet the rest, but they were my pack. Yes, if given the choice, I would be a lone wolf living somewhere in the forest with a beautifully decorated cabin, but this was still my home. We didn’t get along, but this was my family. “Why would this happen, Meadow? Why now?” I whimpered as the tears pushed forth. They learned that there was no shimmer wolf within the pack. In their eyes, the goddess no longer protected this land. In their minds, it became fair to attack and try to seize. Meadow explained matter-of-factly. “But we are a shimmer wolf!” I growled in frustration. We are, but no one else knows this. Meadow responded. I pushed myself to my feet. “This is all my fault, then!” The guilt began to seep in. Don’t you dare take this burden! We did what we had to. The Goddess needed us to stay in hiding until the time to reveal ourselves was presented. Your parents were too vocal and trusted valuable information with the wrong people. They did this through their own careless tongues. Rest assured, little one. The offensive pack that committed this crime shall be punished in due time. We must first take care of our end of things as the sole Alpha survivor. Meadows' tone turned serious, and I knew what she meant. We had to go back to the pack, gather the bodies and perform the last rites to send them off to meet the Moon Mother. This is our responsibility now. I forced my steps towards the packhouse with a heavy heart and cemented feet. I passed the rows of smouldering, burning rubble of family homes as I made my way. The attackers left the packhouse intact. Why? I wasn’t certain, but perhaps they planned to come back. They plan to claim this territory just as soon as the Council conducts the investigation. We must get to work before we gain an audience, little one. I let Meadow’s words sink in as I took in my chaotic surroundings. There was no way that our neighbouring packs, packs we are supposedly allied with, hadn’t noticed the smoke from the burnt ruins of hundreds of houses in the air. Where were the resources sent out to defend us? Where were our allies? One is a traitor, the others are unsure what to do. Your parents made many mistakes, I’m afraid. Again, Meadow’s words sent a shiver down my body. I thought of all those times I ached to tell my family the truth, in hopes that they might let me in, that my mother might hold me as mothers do with their pups. My father may tell me the words I craved to hear my entire life, ‘I am proud of you, pup!’ So many times, I wanted to tell them I was the shimmer wolf they needed to keep our hold strong, but Meadow always held me back. I understood now. If they had known, little one, they would have told the wrong person. It would not have changed all of this; you would have been taken away. “But why? Shimmer wolves are meant to stay and lead the pack. I would have replaced Luna, and my chosen mate would have taken the spot as Alpha over Simon's false claims.” I was too confused by it all. Your father did not put stock in the legends of the Shimmer wolf. They haven’t been seen in decades, and your grandmother was the last known to be born here. Your mother did not inherit the Shimmer wolf genes. Sensing that you would be too weak to be granted one, they figured that since Simon and Hilary did not receive a blessed wolf, they presumed the legend was over. “But if I told them about you—” I started. They still would have gone through with the original plans. They have already decided you were too weak and unnecessary. You would have been sold off and sent away for a bigger price if you told them about me. Your father was determined to have Simon step in as Alpha because he could control Simon completely. This land must always have your family bloodline leading it, but Shimmer wolves, regardless of whether titled as Alpha or Luna, will always hold the true power over the land and pack. If you told them about me, your father would have found another way to get rid of us. I hated that I knew Meadow was right. No matter what I did, I would always be viewed as a spare in my family's eyes. “So, what do we do now? We can’t stay here; we are alone and vulnerable now.” I could feel defeat and self-pity rising within me. Now, we gather the families and send them back to our Moon Mother. She is waiting for their wolf spirits to return. It is our duty to make sure we perform the last rites before we head out, little one. I wanted to whine. I wanted to cry. I wanted to be that icy brat I was notoriously known as, but I also knew that Meadow was right. It was time for us to shed the facade and get to work. We were responsible for this pack and ourselves, and it wasn’t the time to feel sorry for ourselves. It was time to be strong and brave. I pushed forward and walked to the front of the packhouse. There they were. My family. They were all lined up, execution style. That was what they were. They were executed. This was no sanctioned attack; this was calculated and planned. Someone had waited until nightfall, entered the pack unnoticed and lined the families up outside their homes. Executing them as though they were war criminals. There was no honour in this act. Electricity coursed through my body; I knew it was Meadow. As blessed shimmer wolves, we were special, and seeing this display stirred an unrealized energy in us. It is our connection to our Moon Mother, little one. She is angry at what was left to be seen. I looked around as Meadow explained. It was a senseless crime committed on sacred ground. Not many knew the origin story of the Cherry Ridge pack or why the Goddess blessed it. I did. I loved books; the rarer they were, the more enthralled I was with devouring every word within the pages. Which, if anyone cared to pay attention, was also another tell-tale trait of a blessed wolf. Blessed wolves were always history seekers at heart. They thrived on knowledge, as the link from them to the Goddess drove them to understand more about our kind and the connection to our Moon Mother. Cherry Ridge was one of the first blessed wolf packs established. It was formed on the land where the Goddess rested for three days on her travels around the globe, creating her wolf packs. Initially, the Goddess took many forms to interact with her young creations. This pack was special because it was here that Selene, the Moon Mother's purest human form, met her first true mortal love. He was a mortal shepherd, and although forbidden, their love was written in the stars. Together they had three children in secret, and only one was wolfen. The first of the shimmer wolves reminds him of his lover watching over him from above. A fur coat as thick and black as the midnight sky, with the blanket of shimmering stars flickering under the moonlight. The same sky under which they met and fell in love. As a shepherd, he was a gentle man who cared for his flock of livestock. Because of this, Selene protected the land surrounding his cabin in the woods. Should anyone choose to harm the mortal she loved the most, a curse would befall their entire family and pack bloodline. This is also why the Cherry Ridge pack was never involved in wars or territory disputes. It was against the pack's nature to do so. It was also because of this forbidden love that Shimmer wolves could not be assigned true mates; they always knew who their hearts belonged to. They didn’t need the bond to lead them to it—a testament to how Selene and her mortal Shepherd found one another without the bond. Over time, more shimmer wolves were born. Her shepherd had long since faded away with the passage of time and age. Still, the shimmering wolves around the globe reminded her every night with their powerful howls and glow under the moonlight that she was loved and was protecting the livestock that her first love had spent his life caring for.