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Salt lake Mountain

Where the Wolves Play

By Mikayla Decker Published 2 years ago 11 min read
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“Hacoda get down from that tree, we have a pack run we are late for.” I yell at my irresponsible brother. Of course he is still youthful and wild, I am not surprised to find him climbing trees in his free time. I am surprised to find he isn’t jumping up and down with barely contained excitement as the other children his age are prone to tonight. The children his age, who would find their wolves this yearly run. He climbs down hastily and I have to chastise him for his complete lack of regard and respect for gravity. “Nema it’s fine, leave me alone. I will not fall.”

I stop and stare at him as he picks a few pine needles out of his hair and grumpily frowns at the forest floor. He seems very on edge and no excitement lights his eyes. He kicks a stick glumly off into the gathering shadows. I suspect I know why he isn’t excited for this night's run under the moon with the pack. “You’re afraid you won’t get a wolf form aren’t you?” He ignored me and started walking towards the pack’s clearing where we all met for this run. I speed up to catch his arm and once I have it, I pull him to a stop and wait for his eyes to meet mine. “Why are you afraid of that happening? You hail from a long line of wolves. The chances of a wolf not coming to you and being your joined half is slim to none.” He rolls his eyes and mumbles so low that if I didn’t have my wolf helping my hearing, I may not have heard what he’d said. “Jimma said I wasn’t worthy of one. That I was too dumb for a wolf to want me.”

“The problem is Hacoda, the gathering of wolves and the picking is mostly random as far as we can tell. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason behind who gets a wolf and who doesn’t. The best thing you can do is just wait and see. I can say this though if it was based off of deserving, you would be my first pick. Okay?” He sighs and some of that tension drains out of him. He gives me a small smile, thanks me, and then promptly runs off in the direction of the clearing. I smile at him, even though he can be very overly annoying, he does have the ability to be cute as well. The thing is, I am worried for him too. There is no way to tell whether he would get a wolf or not at the choosing run tonight. The mother or moon chooses who gets a wolf.

As I step through the clearing I see Jace standing overlooking the youths gathered, readying for the run. Clothes started coming off as the elder wolves gathered and readied themselves for their run. As the wolf chosen change into their form, the clothes will shred, hence why they come off. There usually isn’t any modesty in the pack, how can there be when our way of life demands the nature of our beasts be shown? Either way, I can’t help the blush that creeps along my neckline at the sight of his chiseled gleaming brown chest. The moon seemed to glide along his muscles and they went taunt under my gaze. I dragged my eyes up to his, already knowing he was watching me just as intently.

I could hear his growl from across the clearing and my legs tightened together in response. The pack all thought we would become mates when I received my wolf, however the day came and went and still no ink. When a mate is chosen by the moon, the lucky pair gets black ink tattoos to show other males and females they are claimed, as if the scent wasn’t enough to tell others they are taken. Jace had dark short spiked hair and brown eyes to go with the alpha look. When I was chosen during the run to get a wolf, it became very clear that my other half was a dominant female. This fact made it all the more surprising that I was not paired with Jace.

I snapped my gaze away from him and start to head in the direction of my mother. For my brother’s sake, I am really hoping he does get a wolf. Most parents would be very disappointed, mine however are the alpha and luna of the pack and very well may kill their children that did not get a wolf. Harsh as it is, they would simply claim it was to better the pack. “It would not do to have, inferior filth alive to carry on the family line, if there was no wolf in the bloodline. Hacota is good, considering our parents weren’t really in the equation, he turned out kind and gentle. Of course I had a hand in that, from a young age I could tell he wasn’t corrupted. I made sure he was taken to a different pack a little deeper in the mountains, to be raised.

It was hard for me to grow up with my mother, without any help from anyone else and no other siblings to take her full attention off me. It was worth it, though, to know my brother was allowed to be just a kid and to keep some level of goodness in him. If my father had gotten ahold of him he would have turned out just as merciless and cruel. I couldn’t let it happen, so I brought him to a different pack and begged them to take him and they agreed; everyone got something out of it. That pack wanted members and I promised to transfer packs on my eighteenth birthday. That would be tomorrow. I haven’t even told my parents just yet, Hacota will be going with to finally be safe away from my abusive relatives.

I was kinda praying to the moon, that Jace was my mate. If he was then I would not be held to my bargain, but since no mate bond, I will have to uphold my side of the bargain. Not that my arm had to be twisted all that much, Once Hocata’s scent caught their noses when his wolf surfaced and it became known he was of a different pack, they’d want to kill him. Yeah this night was a very high strung night. When my parents found out their heir was off gallivanting with their “enemy” instead of learning to be an alpha like they thought he was doing all this time. Learning to hunt, and lead, so they didn’t have to be bothered to teach those things to him. They hastily agreed and never asked what the other pack wanted in exchange for these nice services for their heir. No they likely thought they did this for them out of the kindness in their hearts, or the fear.

Salt Lake pack is the biggest and strongest pack known in these parts, or so everyone believes. I’ve sworn to take this to my grave and I will-even under torture. There is a pack in the mountains, that is the fiercest I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of wolves live there in peace. That’s another concept I haven’t ever experienced- peace. No one fights there beyond what is necessary for rankes among the pack, or to keep those positions. If a wolf never desired to be higher than their positions, then there was never any fighting going on. The beauty of their homes are unmatched, I didn’t get to see their true numbers or much scenery, mostly in part, because the alpha that resides there has strictly forbidden outsiders. I think this is to avoid an others looking for weaknesses in his home and amongst his people. I can’t say I blame him, the world is so ugly, I’d want to protect my people as well to the best of my ability and if that means I had to keep it away from the world to protect it I would.

Our alpha, Blake lifts his arms to the sky and we all fall silent, including my thoughts. “Tis another great night to celebrate the coming of age for our youthful pups. Many of you will join ranks with your other half tonight and find your place among the pack. In the unfortunate event that you are not moon blessed, please stand to the side to avoid being dinner. In the morning I will meet with you to distribute your duties among the house. Happy running and good luck.” That’s another thing, in this pack if you do not have a wolf, you become ranked at the bottom, where you are treated like less than nothing.

The youth take off into sprints. The idea here is that by running under the moon and in the chill, it entices your wolf to surface from its slumber and come out to play. The first time is always a painful process, so the younger generations are assigned an elder wolf with them, to watch over them and protect them during the transition process. Most of the time it is a sibling who does this honor, every once in a while a parent will deign to participate with their child. Not our parents though, never our parents. We are not worthy. I heard Cota, bless his heart, this morning ask our father if he would be his elder, I winced at the sound of a slap. It took all afternoon convincing him to stop crying. I could really kill my parents for some of the shit, I was put through at Cota’s age, it’s the least I could do to give him a better life.

Even though him getting his wolf would point a beacon at what I had done to save him, I really need him to have his wolf- if only to give him more protection. The ones who dont end up being bonded with a wolf- tend to well, be eaten or hunted. The ones unlucky enough to stay are little more than slaves. I shake myself, my thoughts have been rampant these last few days. The moon is high, the air chilled, and my brother beside me, happiness and content seep into my breast. I can’t help the feral grin that comes to my lips and I look to see my brother beside me and he says, “I will get a wolf, I can feel him already. The moon and wildness is tugging on something inside me.” I nod and we lunge into a full on run. There is nothing short of the word ferocious beauty to the beast that lays dormant inside of us.

When let out, its- there are no words. It feels wonderful and free. As we run, I can smell Cota’s scent getting stronger as his wolf is indeed coming out a little at a time. I cast a fearful look, shit was about to get real, when his transformation was complete. Pine and mud fills my nose as Cota skids to a stop and hunches over in pain. Others not quite ready for their changes keep running and I stop with Cota. A small whimper comes from his crumpled form and I feel my stress tight face relax in sympathy for the poor thing. I remember my painful transition quite well. I kneel beside him to wait, when he falls to hi knees and starts panting painfully.

His pants turn to great gasps for air as his bones start to snap. He looks at the pack disappearing down the trail and his instincts to stay with the herd kick in. He tries to stand and join them, but fails as his knees pop. That does it and the pain has become too much for my little brave brother- he screams. I shudder and try not to cover my very wolf sensitive ears. It is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure, as I am forced to listen to his screams of pain. Fur sprouts along his realigned bones, his face elongates to that of a resemblance of a canine, I watch as his teeth lengthen and sharpen. I dont know what else to do for him, so I sing. I sing of his trials and the hardships of the mountains, I sing of two lovers lost in the woods, and I sing of a better place.

His screams start to quiet and he weakly looks at me from the ground. There's blood all around from when his bones had broken and sprayed the hot red everywhere, good thing we are far from any normal civilizations. I tell him to just lay still for a minute and let his body heal and recover. My ears pick up on other screams starting up further along the path. His wolf whines at their pain, and his that has just now finally abated. “You did very good Cota,” He wags his tail and gives me a wolf grin.

After a few minutes he stands and after a few wobbly steps, he is ready to run. It’s hilarious to watch him stubble about getting used to his new legs and running on four instead of two. I wonder if I looked that silly trying to get used to my new wolf body.

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