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Just Don’t Die
Last Updated:
2024-12-21 19:33:54Related chapters
Alpha of Smoke Drawn In
*Chet*I know that my cousins and younger brother will chastise me the moment we step away from the beautiful girl in the shop, and I am not wrong. Hell, they started the moment she looked in my direction, shouting out their rude thoughts in a language I was thankful she doesn’t understand.We head outside, and it’s my brother, Mowanza, who is the first to make a snide remark, speaking in our native Shaconage tongue. “She was pretty, but she won’t make it fifty miles.”I turn and glare at him. “Watch it, Mo.” I am in no mood to put up with his nonsense at the moment as I go over my conversation with the girl again and again. Why do people take such stupid risks? Why would guides act so foolishly?“Yeah, Mo,” our cousin, Howahkan agrees, but I know he is about to switch sides. “Don’t speak ill of the dead.”I turn and give Kan a playful shove, making him laugh. He is two years older than me at twenty-three and has always been thin as a rail until about a year ago when he finally starte
Last Updated : 2024-12-22Alpha of Smoke Ashes to Ashes
*Isabella*October, 1885Acrid smoke singes my nostrils. My lids heavy, I blink, trying to open my eyes. Even as slits, they burn from the gray cloud all around me. Faint sizzling crackles in my ears. The fire is close, so near I can feel the lick of flames devouring the ends of my fur.The breeze carries shouts, screams, and howls of both the terrorized and the taunting variety. I struggle not only to regain my vision, but to remember what happened before the incessant pain that radiates up my left side sent me careening into darkness.It all comes flying back to me with a force strong enough to topple the most formidable warrior. Shock from the memories so vividly displayed in my mind has my eyes flying open wide. I scan through the wall of smoke, looking for any signs of hope. Is anyone else alive?The wind ripples what’s left of the prairie grass on the edge of the forest, ash and fury whipping around the destruction before me. Bare feet flash by, followed by bloodied paws. I mana
Last Updated : 2024-12-21Alpha of Smoke Stay East, Young Woman
*Isabella*March, 1885“It’s an irrational decision.” My pa lowers his mug to the table, setting it down slowly where others would slam it in frustration. His black mustache has a waxy sheen in the light of the fireplace to his right, the left side of his face cast in shadow. Next to him, my ma shifts in her chair, her fingers knit together on the dining room table. I know that expression on her face, the one she wears when she wants to speak but knows my pa is handling the situation by himself. Any word from her would be cast aside by the other men in the room. My uncle, my ma’s brother, sits with his arms folded over his chest. Our neighbor, Mr. Casper, narrows his eyes, unhappy with my pa’s assertion but not sure how to respond. My older brother and my aunt also occupy chairs around our dining room table.“It’s the only decision that makes sense,” Uncle Tim replies. He has always been the sort to speak before he thinks. Now is no exception. When he is out of sorts, he’s likely to m
Last Updated : 2024-12-21Alpha of Smoke The First to Go
*Isabella*“Do you think we’re really staying?” Alice whispers next to me in the dark. “Or will Uncle Tim talk Pa into taking us west?”I let out a sigh and readjust on the bed we share. Across the room, I can hear Robert’s breaths and know he’s still awake. He used to share that bed with Joseph before our older brother became too sophisticated to sleep upstairs with us youngins. He sleeps on the cot next to the table now. Our parents’ bedroom is the only other room upstairs. I know they are lying awake now, too, talking about what happened.“We ain’t going,” I tell Alice. She lets out a sigh, and I know she’s glad to hear that I don’t think we’ll be leaving the only home either of us has ever known. “You won’t have to say goodbye to your friends any time soon.”“Good.” She yawns and rolls over, and I know it’s all settled in her little mind. So easy. So simple. We will stay, and that is that.Robert shifts, too, and I have to wonder if he’s not thinking similar thoughts to the ones c
Last Updated : 2024-12-21Alpha of Smoke Traveling Party
*Isabella*Dust rises up off the road, clogging our lungs and coating our tongues. Even though we’re walking on the raised sidewalk that runs along the outside of the shops to keep our boots out of the horse muck, it hasn’t rained much yet this spring, and the grit in my eyes is proof we are due a nice thunderstorm.“Where are we going, Ma?” Alice whines, darting forward toward our mother so quickly she near pulls my shoulder out of its socket. Keeping a good grip on her hand, I tug her back. “Sis said we aren’t going west.”“That was before.” Ma’s words are clipped. She doesn’t even turn her head to look at us. “We’re just going to listen.”On my other side, Robert huffs under his breath but says nothing. I wish I hadn’t promised them anything last night. I’d felt defeated myself and thought there was little chance of us ever leaving this place only to have everything turned on its head when our cousin was killed.“We’re doin’ more than that.” Joseph, who is a good four feet behind u
Last Updated : 2024-12-21
Latest chapter
Alpha of Smoke Drawn In
*Chet*I know that my cousins and younger brother will chastise me the moment we step away from the beautiful girl in the shop, and I am not wrong. Hell, they started the moment she looked in my direction, shouting out their rude thoughts in a language I was thankful she doesn’t understand.We head outside, and it’s my brother, Mowanza, who is the first to make a snide remark, speaking in our native Shaconage tongue. “She was pretty, but she won’t make it fifty miles.”I turn and glare at him. “Watch it, Mo.” I am in no mood to put up with his nonsense at the moment as I go over my conversation with the girl again and again. Why do people take such stupid risks? Why would guides act so foolishly?“Yeah, Mo,” our cousin, Howahkan agrees, but I know he is about to switch sides. “Don’t speak ill of the dead.”I turn and give Kan a playful shove, making him laugh. He is two years older than me at twenty-three and has always been thin as a rail until about a year ago when he finally starte
Alpha of Smoke Just Don’t Die
*Isabella*The bell on the door rings above me as I push through the opening to the general store, dragging Robert and Alice along. Normally, they’d want to come in here. Ma gave me two dimes to buy them licorice, but they’re so worked up about what we’re missing at the meeting, it takes the scent of sweets wafting from the front counter to remind them that they actually get a treat. “Go on,” I tell them, giving them a little shove. “Go pick out somethin’ that’ll last you.”Both of them take off running, nearly toppling a display of jars of lard on top of a barrel. I swear under my breath, but they make it through without causing a disaster. Shaking my head, I follow them to the front counter where Mrs. Nancy Williams greets them with a chuckle. She’s better natured than most or else she’d have ‘em both by the ear.Her husband, Mr. Bernard Williams, isn’t so nice. Thankfully, he’s busy. I hear his voice across the store and step around the lard display to see him standing over by wher
Alpha of Smoke Traveling Party
*Isabella*Dust rises up off the road, clogging our lungs and coating our tongues. Even though we’re walking on the raised sidewalk that runs along the outside of the shops to keep our boots out of the horse muck, it hasn’t rained much yet this spring, and the grit in my eyes is proof we are due a nice thunderstorm.“Where are we going, Ma?” Alice whines, darting forward toward our mother so quickly she near pulls my shoulder out of its socket. Keeping a good grip on her hand, I tug her back. “Sis said we aren’t going west.”“That was before.” Ma’s words are clipped. She doesn’t even turn her head to look at us. “We’re just going to listen.”On my other side, Robert huffs under his breath but says nothing. I wish I hadn’t promised them anything last night. I’d felt defeated myself and thought there was little chance of us ever leaving this place only to have everything turned on its head when our cousin was killed.“We’re doin’ more than that.” Joseph, who is a good four feet behind u
Alpha of Smoke The First to Go
*Isabella*“Do you think we’re really staying?” Alice whispers next to me in the dark. “Or will Uncle Tim talk Pa into taking us west?”I let out a sigh and readjust on the bed we share. Across the room, I can hear Robert’s breaths and know he’s still awake. He used to share that bed with Joseph before our older brother became too sophisticated to sleep upstairs with us youngins. He sleeps on the cot next to the table now. Our parents’ bedroom is the only other room upstairs. I know they are lying awake now, too, talking about what happened.“We ain’t going,” I tell Alice. She lets out a sigh, and I know she’s glad to hear that I don’t think we’ll be leaving the only home either of us has ever known. “You won’t have to say goodbye to your friends any time soon.”“Good.” She yawns and rolls over, and I know it’s all settled in her little mind. So easy. So simple. We will stay, and that is that.Robert shifts, too, and I have to wonder if he’s not thinking similar thoughts to the ones c
Alpha of Smoke Stay East, Young Woman
*Isabella*March, 1885“It’s an irrational decision.” My pa lowers his mug to the table, setting it down slowly where others would slam it in frustration. His black mustache has a waxy sheen in the light of the fireplace to his right, the left side of his face cast in shadow. Next to him, my ma shifts in her chair, her fingers knit together on the dining room table. I know that expression on her face, the one she wears when she wants to speak but knows my pa is handling the situation by himself. Any word from her would be cast aside by the other men in the room. My uncle, my ma’s brother, sits with his arms folded over his chest. Our neighbor, Mr. Casper, narrows his eyes, unhappy with my pa’s assertion but not sure how to respond. My older brother and my aunt also occupy chairs around our dining room table.“It’s the only decision that makes sense,” Uncle Tim replies. He has always been the sort to speak before he thinks. Now is no exception. When he is out of sorts, he’s likely to m
Alpha of Smoke Ashes to Ashes
*Isabella*October, 1885Acrid smoke singes my nostrils. My lids heavy, I blink, trying to open my eyes. Even as slits, they burn from the gray cloud all around me. Faint sizzling crackles in my ears. The fire is close, so near I can feel the lick of flames devouring the ends of my fur.The breeze carries shouts, screams, and howls of both the terrorized and the taunting variety. I struggle not only to regain my vision, but to remember what happened before the incessant pain that radiates up my left side sent me careening into darkness.It all comes flying back to me with a force strong enough to topple the most formidable warrior. Shock from the memories so vividly displayed in my mind has my eyes flying open wide. I scan through the wall of smoke, looking for any signs of hope. Is anyone else alive?The wind ripples what’s left of the prairie grass on the edge of the forest, ash and fury whipping around the destruction before me. Bare feet flash by, followed by bloodied paws. I mana
