Chapter Text
A thin grey mist covered the ground, swirling across the underbrush and between the trees of lower Shay mountain. The scant bit of early sunrise peeking over Shay mountain did nothing to help it dissipate. On a ridge more than halfway down the mountain, a white wolf methodically paced back and forth. Only pausing its movements to peer down towards the small town of Blacksburg. Standing motionless, its keen eyes dart back and forth followed by a slight head tilt as if listening for something. Not finding what it was looking for, it resumes pacing for another interval of time before stopping again. Repeating the pattern again and again, it continues waiting patiently while the rising sun finally begins to clear away the mist.
Chapter One
“Alright. Alright boys! Hold on, mama’s comin’!”
Her three dogs paced in front of the kitchen door, whining and bumping into each other like blind children. Their urgency to get outside was to be expected. It had been rained nonstop for over 24 hours, trapping them indoors and making them miserable. Even Brielle had cabin fever at this point. There are only so many hours a day that an outdoors girl like herself can read and surf the internet before the need to be outside, putting her body to work, starts to overtake her. It was odd weather for this early in the fall and she hoped it was not an indicator of another severe winter coming. Shoving the bit of her piece of toast into her mouth, she stood to stretch and used the hall mirror to secure her deep mahogany hair into a long braided ponytail. Catching the faint smile on her face in the reflection, she allowed herself a moment to remember the look on her husband’s face when he saw her with long hair for the first time.
Standing at the gate with all the other waiting families, Brielle had butterflies doing acrobatics in her stomach. She had worn her hair shoulder length from the day she met Devin to the day he got called up . It took a ll morning for her to decide if she sh ould wear it up or down to pick him up. After deciding to wear it down, now she wondered if he would recognize her at all . What if he doesn’t like it, she wondered. As he came through the terminal gate , his eyes zeroed in on her immediately. Over the throng of squealing children and crying family members , his smile spread wider and wider as he weaved his way through to get to her. Standing toe to toe, her highly composed Marine of a husband was reduced to a boyish, grinning mess by the 1 0 months of hair growth she’d hidden from him.
She gave a subdued smile to her reflection. It was one of her favorite memories of him. When he deployed again, he jokingly made her promise not to cut it all off before he got back. He never made it home. Now with four years passed since his death and it still hung at her waist - dark, thick and wavy - a quiet reminder of her loss. Before more memories could catch hold and punish her for the rest of the day, she pushed them away and turned back to the kitchen.
She could see the faint morning light beginning to show thru the kitchen windows, as she tugged on her coat and slipped the strap of her rifle over her shoulder. Before opening the side door she took care to stand out of the way. Just as she anticipated, her loving charges broke into utter chaos, tumbling over each other down the steps into the yard. Their rush to get out into the changing light of early dawn was hilarious to watch. Her “precious pups”, as she called them, were full-grown dogs now. Two beautiful male Rhodesian Ridgebacks took the lead - brothers from the same litter, named Jojo and Trapper. While their playmate Brix, a perfectly gorgeous male German Shepherd/ Doberman mix, gave chase. She expected them to go for the fence line but after a few minutes of silly romping, they changed course for the shed.
Grinning, she called out, “Oh, you’re really ready to run!”
As usual, Jojo responded as if he understood every word his human spoke. Skidding to a stop in front of the roll-up door he let out a howl. In response, she held up her keys and gave them a jingle, so they’d all know she got the message. While she unlocked the door, Brix could barely contain himself, yipping and twirling, while she rolled out her bright blue Polaris four-wheeler ATV. As soon as she started the engine, all three dogs took off for the far gate that let them off the property to their favorite trail up Shay Mountain. Letting out a spirited whoop herself, she gunned the engine finding joy in letting the sharp chilly air whip her face.
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Trevor could hear an engine revving somewhere in the distance – the roar breaking through the fog in his head. They’re coming for me. My cousins are here, he thought. He blinked repeatedly, trying to get his eyes to focus. He couldn’t stop shivering. He didn’t know how long he’d been lying there. All he knew was that he was freezing. His head was killing him and pain was sending signals to his brain from all over his body.
“I have to get up,” he told himself, but it was as if each of his limbs were weighed down by anchors. Trying again to ignore his body’s protest, he strained to roll over onto his side. His sharp cry punctuated the still air as the sharp pain in his right foot rushed his senses, surging up so swiftly that it produced a wave of nausea. He lay there alternating between holding his breath and breathing deeply, waiting for it to subside. Exhausted from the wasted attempt at movement, the need to close his eyes was becoming greater. As his lids began to close, he sensed them again.
They were there – above him, to his right. His eyes were bouncing in and out of focus but he was certain that they were the same three wolves. The odd trio sat together on the edge of the ridge, watching him. His mind lumbered through snippets of stories told to him by his parents and the elders about the many spirits that protected or punished on this mountain, and the animal forms they’d take. Like many of his clan, he knew those stories were true and at this moment he felt no real alarm. Still, he didn’t know whether to have hope or dread their nearness. Why are you here this time?
He resisted the fog rising to cloud his mind again. His brain, slogged in a different direction, alerting him to the fact that the life-saving sound of that engine, the one that sounded so close before, was gone. His heart sank. Glancing around again, he saw that the trio of wolves were also gone. Surrounded once again by quiet, he surrendered to the demand of the darkness and let his eyelids drop closed.