Authors: Samantha McGivern
“Get on with it!” Warclaw growled.
“Touchy, touchy. I know that you have protection on Winter and I also know that you are considering using Wren to also protect her. Wren has told me this himself. He told me whilst we were training yesterday.” Waya smiled when Warclaw cursed. “Oh dear, has ones plan gone down the rat hole?” Waya laughed at his misfortune.
“Very funny Waya. But I also know what you are planning, so two can play this game. I know that you plan on killing Winter and soon from what my source says.” Warclaw chuckled. “And you won’t be able to get at her Waya. I know that you will be coming one day to kill her to make me weaker but I will be waiting for that day.” To Warclaw’s surprise Waya started laughing. “I know that you have put protection on her and that you know what I am planning to do. But you only know the outline of it. You don’t even know half of it Warclaw. Your time will come and be prepared for when it does,” Waya paused before carrying on “because it will strike you down so hard and fast that you won’t know what happened.” Waya’s voice had turned cold and as he growled at Warclaw, he showed his white teeth. Warclaw growled at Waya, baring his own white teeth. “Well then, all I can say is bring it on!”
As Waya walked past Warclaw, he chuckled and quietly spoke into Warclaw’s ear. “You will regret saying that Warclaw, for it won’t be I that strikes her down...” Waya paused and thought whether it would be pleasurable or not to tell Warclaw, but decided against it and walked off back through the arched trees. And as he did so Waya laughed.
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Warclaw walked up to the edge of the lake and stared down at his reflection, and thought about what he had just said. Realising that he had just caused more harm than good, Warclaw wished that he had kept his mouth shut. Looking down at his reflection, he could see small ripples form in the lake. Warclaw could feel the light patter of water droplets on his back. Looking up at the sky, he could see that the sky had covered over with cloud and that it was going to rain. He looked back down at the lake and watched as more and more droplets fell into the lake. Warclaw could feel his fur getting wetter and wetter with the rain but he didn’t care. He had thrown him and his Luna into the deep end, from which he knew that it would be hard to get back from. Realising that he had now sealed Winter’s fate, he thought back to the last remark that Waya had made. Warclaw thought ‘What did he mean that it wouldn’t be him that would strike her down?’ Warclaw was puzzled. And when he was in the lowest of lows, the air would always shift beside him, as it did at this moment in time. Looking up from the water, Warclaw looked across to Winter and smiled. “I can always count on you being here when I am down, can’t I?” Winter chuckled.
“Of course Warclaw, I always know when you are down. And it is my job as your mate to be beside you whenever you hit your lows. So, what’s getting you low? Don’t tell me it’s this business with Waya...” Winter paused and suddenly realised why Warclaw was moping. Winter could’ve sworn she heard a ‘ping’ in her head when she realised. “It is, isn’t it? Warclaw will you stop fretting. I will be fine. You have enough wolves protecting me from Waya, so why are you worrying? Or is there something that you haven’t told me? Warclaw?” Winter asked. Warclaw had remained silent throughout all of these questions, which was unusual for him. Whilst looking down at the water again, Warclaw had sighed. “Earlier today, Wayna ran into me and I asked what was wrong etc. and he said that Waya had been chasing him.” Warclaw looked back up to Winter before carrying on “Wayna gave me a message from Waya and that was to meet him at the lake by the arched trees. I did so around an hour ago and there we talked. Well Waya doing the majority of it anyway.
“I had learned that he knows about the protection I have put you under. He also knows that I know what he is planning, but according to him we only know the outline of it. We don’t know the full picture.” Warclaw sighed. “He also knows what we know. Waya knows that I have asked Wren to protect you. Before you ask,” Warclaw said noticing Winter’s confusion “he knows from Wren. Wren has told him whilst they were training this morning. I don’t know whether this is how he plans on getting Waya to talk and befriend him, but it’s making me nervous and I don’t like it. There’s something else Winter...” Warclaw paused, with the look of concern taking a hold of his face. “And what’s that?” Winter asked.
“It won’t be Waya that... erm...” Warclaw gulped. He hated saying this. “That kills you. At the end before he left he said to me that it won’t be him that will ‘strike’ you down.”
“Did he say who?” Winter asked, interrupting Warclaw.
“No he didn’t. Once he had said that he walked off. I think he enjoys the fact that we are panicking over it and the terror it is causing us. Also he said that it will be when I am least expecting it. We are going to have to be extra careful now Winter. If we do not know his entire plan then how can I protect you and make sure that his stupid plan doesn’t happen?” Warclaw looked back down to the water and carried on watching the rain drops form ripples in the water. It amused him that a small droplet could cause bigger and bigger affects even after it had disappeared. “Warclaw, we can only do so much.”
Warclaw sighed. “I know Winter.”
“If this is what I am on this earth for, then so be it. What else can we do? You cannot be with me always. And I think Wren is just trying to befriend Waya in order to get him to talk. I cannot see him betraying us after all we have done for him.” Winter sighed. “We are going to have to just take each day as it comes, Warclaw. There is nothing else we can do except that. If we go to try to protect me with even more wolves, then there is more chance that he is going to get some-wolf to do his dirty work. There is no way out of this Warclaw. As he said to you, it won’t be him that ‘strikes’ me down. It will be some-wolf else. So we are going to have to minimise the amount of wolves around me and hope that that helps.” Warclaw kept looking down into the ripples in the water. Getting up, Winter started to walk away back towards Wilda and Welt. “Winter.” Warclaw said quietly.
“Yes Warclaw?” Winter said turning around to face Warclaw.
“Thank you for listening. I know that this is hard for you, as it is your own life we are talking about but thank you.” Looking at Winter, Warclaw smiled and nodded his head, before turning his head back to the lake and looking out to the horizon. Winter slowly walked away with the other two wolves by her side, leaving Warclaw looking out to the horizon.
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The sky had become dark with black rain clouds. The sun had since disappeared behind the clouds and the wind had gotten up, blowing more harshly against the leaves in the trees. The trees creaked and cracked in the harsh wind. Leaves started to litter the ground, making the ground become green. As clouds crashed together in the sky, it caused loud bangs and flashes of lightening. The bolts of lightning, lightened up the dark sky.
The once smooth lake became unsettled and the ripples hit the land harshly. It created marks in the dirt from where it had hit the land. There was not song from the birds that sat in the trees. There was not a bird in sight in the sky. The sky was full of clouds and there were sudden bolts of lightning that flashed in the darkening sky. There were more and more ripples in the lake, as more and more rain fell from the havens. More clashes of thunder from the sky above. The wolves ran in search of places where they would be sheltered from the worst of the storm. The rain slowly got heavier and heavier until it thrashed down upon the earth. Each of the wolves coats were getting more and more drenched, until eventually, the water dripped down off of the coats and onto the already drenched ground.
Soon it became night and the weather did not change. The thunder still crashed in the sky and there were still flashes of lightning in the darkened sky. The stars that had shinned so brightly the night before couldn’t be seen in this harsh weather. The thunder storm had taken over the day and the night. The wind was still harsh against the trees, making them scream as they hit the ground with a thud. Leaves still scattered the ground with the wind hitting the branches so hard. They tumbled to the ground whilst being assaulted by the harsh wind.
Winter and Warclaw were sat in their cave looking out to the storm that had arrived that day. Warclaw felt like this proved that last night was going to be the last night that was going to as peaceful as it was. There was not going to be another night like that for a long time to come. Winter felt the same, but she wondered whom it would be that would strike her down. If it was not Waya than whom could it be? There was no-wolf in the pack that she knew off that would be willing to go to the lengths of killing their Luna. She suddenly remembered the other night when Wren had been outside of the cave, watching her and Warclaw sleep. Winter wondered whose side he was really on. Looking across to Warclaw, she smiled remembering all the good times that they had had together. Feeling eyes upon him, Warclaw looked to Winter whom he saw smiling. Smiling back, he heard another clash of thunder and another sudden bright light flash in the sky. Warclaw looked back to the entrance of the cave and saw Wilda standing there, slowly getting drenched from the rain. “Wilda come in here, in the dry. We don’t mind, do we Winter?”
“No I don’t mind. Come on in. It’s a lot dryer in here than out there.” Winter smiled as she watched Wilda walk in. “Thank you Alpha, Luna. All the places of shelter from this storm have been taken up. There was no space left anywhere. I hope you don’t mind if Welt joins us? The pair of us couldn’t find anywhere.” Wilda asked, unsure of how the Alpha and Luna would react. “Sure bring him in. We need to keep every-wolf dry from this storm; it’s going to get a lot worse than this.” Warclaw smiled at Wilda, before watching her retrieve Welt. They both nodded at Warclaw and Winter before going and sitting to one side of the cave.
As Warclaw had predicted, the storm got worse. There was the moaning of trees as they snapped in the harsh wind and came crashing down to the sodden ground. The wind battered against the leaves in the trees, making many of them fall to the ground, which made the ground at least an inch deep in leaves. The sky was still dark with rain clouds and flashes of lightening still sparked across the sky. Thunder still dominated the skies, making loud crashing noises as they collided with one another. Soon each shelter that the wolves were in was becoming destroyed by the harsh wind and the falling of branches and trees. Knowing that Wilda and Welt had been let into the Alpha’s and Luna’s cave, every-wolf soon gathered there trying to stay dry from this horrible storm. This was certainly going to be a restless night.
Chapter 16: Leading a Double life
Morning had come and the storm that had lasted throughout the day and night had finally come to stop. It had ceased with its harsh manner. The wind was a lot calmer and had become a gentle breeze that softly blew the leaves across the ground. Birds were now singing their merry morning songs in the fresh calm air and some even soared high in the bright blue sky. There were a few fluffy white clouds in the sky, compared with the darker meaner clouds that covered the sky last night.
There were many trees littering the floor from the night before. The trees looked bare from all the leaves that had fallen in the vicious wind. Many of the shelters that the wolves had used to cover themselves from the storm had been obliterated from the falling trees and branches. Many of the wolves that had used those shelters had become trapped underneath them. After the storm had started to destroy many of the shelters, the majority of the wolves had gone to the cave where the Alpha and Luna were.
Soon the wolves that were in the cave started to come out onto the beaten land. Two wolves lead the mass of wolves. Warclaw and Winter lead the group out onto the beaten land of theirs. Winter looked around and saw the mess that the storm had caused. Looking across at Warclaw, Winter sighed. “Well at least we’re safe. We better check around the other shelters just in case any of them didn’t manage to get out of their shelters before the wind started breaking down the trees around them.” Warclaw nodded in agreement and turned round to face the rest of the pack. “We need to go and search each of the shelters. We will split you into four groups. The first group will go to the north side of the den and look around there. The second group will go to the east side of the den and look there. The third group will go to the south of the den and look around there. When you guys go there, also check by the lake just in case any of them went there. The final group will go to the west side of the den. Check around the edge of the forest and the beach as well. For all of the groups if there is any damage where you cannot access anywhere then let Winter or myself know. If there is any trapped wolves in the shelters then dig them out or try your best to, if you cannot get them out then send for me or Winter. Has every-wolf got that?”
“Yes Alpha.” The whole pack shouted in unison. Warclaw and Winter then went about splitting the group into four, making sure that they had all different types of wolves in them. They made sure that the groups had trackers, diggers, fighters and runners. Warclaw then spoke up “Now you have been put into your groups, you may leave.” Slowly each of the four groups left the area of the cave and went searching for other wolves. When the groups had left, Winter turned around to Warclaw. “And what are we going to do?”
“We are going to talk about what we are going to do about Waya and this whole predicament. It will be easier to talk about it now whilst there is no-wolf here.” Warclaw sighed. “I know it’s the last thing you want to talk about Winter, but what choice do we have?”