01| BLAZE.

ONE WEEK EARLIER:

As the dead leaves billow around my paws, they caress me with affection while I stand tall at the edge of the cliff with my head tipped back. 

Mist blankets the horizon like smoke contaminating the climate. 

This place right here, on the edge of the cliff that looks down at the river is my safe haven. A secret place I come to when I need to escape the pack; when things become too unbearable to face head-on.

For some unknown reason, I feel a connection to the Earth. But as I continue to gaze up at the moon, I cannot ignore the surge of heat that thrums through my veins and weaves through the dark fur across my spine.

But that sensation quickly vanishes, just as promptly as it appeared when the sound of Lily screaming tears through the still night. 

It threatens to burst every blood vessel in the branches of my pounding heart.

I wish I could take your pain away, my dear strong sister…

Her torment and agony are undeniable as it travels with the wind, and it takes everything within me not to unleash the beast that is begging to be set free.

“No…, please, no…” I hear her whisper weakly back at the pack house. “We can try again… just give me one final chance, please...” Her voice cracks and my paws sink further into the moist soil.

Once her screaming stopped, I thought I would be relieved, but the sounds that followed soon after were just as worse and heart-wrenching. 

The suffering that saturates Lily’s sobs confirms that she didn’t give birth to the female she was hoping for; a female who would’ve been our saving grace.

My lips pull back into a deathly snarl at the sound of a twig breaking behind me.

 I came up here to be alone.

Away from everyone, from the noise and chaos, and yet, someone has willingly followed me here; someone with a death wish.

“It’s another boy,” Saffron, my best friend, and appointed future beta, informs me through our mind link.

I let my guard down upon hearing his voice.

“I heard,” I reply as I continue to look out into the horizon with the filthy sensation of reality licking my fur.

The birth of my nephew marks a significant event: the anniversary of ninety-eight males born into our pack without a single female.

“Then you will also know that the Light Oracle has informed Lily and our Alpha that she is unfit to bear another child. She barely survived this one.”

I refrain from informing Saffron that I already know this. Because that will mean I’ll have to explain how I know it and I cannot explain something that I’ve been trying to figure out for the past five months when Lily first came to me after she found out she was with offspring again.

As Lily stood before me, rubbing her swelling belly with hope brimming her eyes, she grinned from ear to ear. I was happy for her; I was always happy for her when she would break the big news to me. I love her sons as if they are my own.

But I couldn’t drown out the soft voice I’d never heard before chanting in my head.

“She is one step closer to being your pack’s demise…”

As the months passed, the voice grew louder and louder.

Slowly, I pivot to face Saffron, “She has given us eight strong males to help lead our pack. Of course, her body cannot handle another birth.” I say with annoyance, which isn’t directed solely toward him. “Let me guess, Alpha Azra has already left to find someone worthy and strong enough to bear his female offspring?”

Saffron lowers his head and I can sense the wrath vibrating off him in waves. It has been over thirty years since our pack was blessed with a female offspring, which also happened to be Lily, my older sister. The pressure and responsibility had fallen on her shoulders to ensure she could conceive and gift our pack with healthy and fertile female pups.

I hated this for her. After every failed birth, Lily would hide in her room and concentrate on healing, so she can try again. But there is only so much her body can take; only so much disappointment she can yield.

As Luna of Alpha Azra, Lily took her position extremely seriously. She knew she wasn't fated to be with him, and a piece of her heart died each time she gave birth to a healthy male. 

However, she was willing to sacrifice her life in the hopes that the Moon Goddess would take pity on her and grant her a healthy female pup.

And it drives me fucking wild that my brother-in-law, Alpha Azra can leave Lily after every failed birth to go and search for his fated mate whom he believes is the answer to our prayers. Now that Lily can no longer give birth, our pack is a dying breed.

 Our pack line is cursed, and Alpha Azra refuses to acknowledge the truth prophesied by our Light Oracles. Time is running out, and we now only have two more shots where a female must be born, or all hope is lost.

Once the Hundredth male is born, our demise will be set and stone.

“He has, and our Alpha didn’t bother to stay long enough to name his son.” Saffron’s voice enters my mind in a murderous growl. “In saying that, your father is looking for you, Blaze. It is why I am here.”

My father, Hunter, is Alpha Azra’s Beta and when our Alpha leaves for his month-long quest, my father relies on me and Saffron to help control the borders by the eastern river.

“I’m not going back tonight, Saffron. As the future Alpha of our pack, I need to leave and try to find the Moon witch that has cursed our pack.”

The future of my pack rests upon my shoulders too, and I need to do this, not only for myself or my pack but to give my nephews a future that they are entitled to; a future with their mates

“And what will you do when you find this Moon witch, Blaze?”

“I will make her break the curse or rip her heart out with the hopes that the curse will be lifted,” I reply firmly

“How do we know whether the curse is real or not?”

“It’s real, Saffron,” I growl, knowing the majority of my pack refuses to believe in the curse. “There hasn’t been a single female born, and I believe the Light Oracle. A curse formed from heartbreak is severe and now that the Alpha the witch loved is dead, the curse should be lifted. But it’s not, and we are still suffering.”

“I understand everything that you are saying, but what if the Light Oracle is wrong? A wolf and Moon witch? It’s unheard of, and they are our sworn enemies.”

“You dare question our Light Oracle?!” I slowly advance toward Saffron, who is close as a brother to me.

“Never, Blaze. You know I will walk to the ends of the Earth with you engulfed in flames, but-”

“We don’t have time to think otherwise.” I turn away from him and look up at the moon as she sits high in the sky in all her splendor. “There is a hospital for shifters nine states over that is calling me. I don’t know how to describe the connection, but it’s growing, and I need to leave… tonight.”

“Then I will come with you.”

“I cannot ask you to follow me, Saffron.”

I cannot be responsible for his death if it shall come knocking on our doors. Especially when I am walking into this mission blindly.

“Then don’t. You are the future Alpha of our pack and, naturally, I will go wherever you go.”

“I’d feel a lot better if you’d stay and watch over Lily for me instead.”

“Lily will be fine. She has your mother and father with her, and she is surrounded by guards. If we are going to do this, we need to leave now before your father sends one of his high-ranked guards after us.”

I turn my head in the direction of the pack house, closing my eyes, and I focus on the sounds vibrating through the woods. “Run,” I snarl, “Father has sent Roman, and he is hot on our tracks…”

Roman is my father’s best-trained tracker. He is a double threat because not only is he the best tracker, but he also happens to be my father’s most favourable warrior to get things done.

Roman also has his serpent shield activated; one bite from him will knock us out cold for days on end, and we won’t be able to fulfill our mission.

“Roman? He could have sent anyone but him!” Saffron snaps as he pushes off the ground and leaps over the cliff that is out of our hunting territory.