2. Lumi
Chapter 2
Lumi
“ W hat?” My heart stops as I look at my stone-faced father. There is no wavering in his eyes, no emotion. He’s clearly been considering this for a while. Tonight, he made his decision, and it’s final.
I still can’t believe I heard him correctly. This can’t be true. He’s never even hinted at wanting me and Kael to leave. Surely, he’s simply sending me to get help, to find a way to break the curse. He doesn’t really want me to leave and never return.
But my father doesn’t repeat himself. He ignores my question and starts heading back toward our house through the clearing. I follow, hot on his heels. I need a lot more answers from him as he opens and shuts the door to our small two-bedroom, two-bathroom cabin.
It has a small, rustic feel with large windows—designed to let as much of the nature surrounding us into our home. It doesn’t provide much protection against an outside attack.
But it’s home with its warm fireplace, basic oversized furniture, and modern appliances. It’s peaceful here despite the times we live in and the turmoil all around us.
The small cabin in the heart of the woods is one of five that were built after the curse took out most of our pack and we fled after the other packs continued to seek retribution against us. We are in the most remote part of northern Alaska where only a handful of packs live in the harsh conditions. Most prefer to live closer to civilization, where they can enjoy more human comforts.
Only three of the cabins are currently occupied. I’m afraid of how few will be left if Kael and I leave. There will be no more hope. Only the eldest will remain, and I doubt they will continue to put up much of a fight against the surrounding packs trying to take our land. The pack won’t survive until winter, which is the only time we have the advantage. Our pack has grown accustomed to the harsh winters, unlike the surrounding packs that prefer their luxuries and warm heat.
I throw the wooden door open and step inside after Father, determined to change his mind now that we aren’t in front of the rest of the pack.
“I’m not leaving.”
“You are.” He hunches over the kitchen counter. I can’t tell what he’s making, but he’s pulled several items out of the fridge, and his broad shoulders block my view.
“You need me! You need me here to help stop the curse. To help rebuild the pack. To—”
Father turns with a growl. “There is no pack left!”
His growl sends shivers down my body and forces me to stop and listen. He hasn’t used a growl like that on me in a long time. I’m not even sure I ever recall him getting this worked up around me. He’s always been a calm, gentle giant. He’s a firm leader who never needs to raise his voice or show his strength to get others to follow. He’s never even been questioned as alpha. No one has ever fought him for the title.
My mouth slams shut as if on its own accord. I don’t know if he gave an alpha command or just raised his voice so loud that my basic instinct is to snap it shut.
“There is nothing left for you here, Lumi. Nothing . And you have to accept that you will never get your wolf. Your heightened wolf eyesight isn’t enough to live in a pack, risking your life every day pretending you’ll someday be something else. By every indication, you are human…”
I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
“You’re not a wolf shifter. You’re not one of us. You’re human. And you will learn to live as a human.”
My eyes water as my mouth gapes open. But I’m not a human. It doesn’t matter that I’m only showing a single wolf strength. I’m more than a human. I’m…
Father looks down at me with a cold expression I’ve never felt from him before. This isn’t up for discussion.
He turns back around, and I’m left trying to figure out how to convince him. I need to talk to Kael. I need to talk to the others. They will be on my side. They’d never kick a member out of the pack. There would be a revolt.
Before I can speak, I see what Father was making. Four sandwiches sit on the counter in ziplock bags. He begins loading them into a backpack— my backpack.
I look around the living room behind me until I spot it—my packed duffel bag.
He really has put thought into this. There is nothing I can say that will change his mind.
He turns, holding my backpack out to me.
I take it.
“There’s all the cash I have on hand and enough food for you to survive the week. Take the car, take Kael, and head south. Leave Alaska. Go find a job. You’re smart. You could go to college or open your own business. There are credit cards in there. Use them to pay for everything. The pack and I will pay them off. Use them to start a new life, a better life.”
I shake my head, desperately trying to hold back the tears swelling in my eyes. A drop of sweat from my brow sinks down into my eyes, burning them and forcing the tears to finally fall.
Father doesn’t react. He doesn’t come and hold me like he used to when I was younger. He just stares at me with a dark shadow of indifference I’ve never seen before.
“Look,” he says, nodding toward the window behind me.
I turn and see Kael being bandaged by his aunt. As she wraps a large bandage around his upper chest, I see he has a nasty cut on his forehead as well.
“You almost got him killed tonight.”
“That wasn’t my fault—”
“Enough.” He silences me once again. “I know you care about the boy. He hasn’t gotten his wolf either and likely never will—you can both live as humans. You can both escape this tortured fate. Take him and leave.”
I wipe my tears, looking at Kael. He does deserve better than this. He deserves so much more. I don’t want to sacrifice everything—my family, my life, my pack—for him. But I can help him get out if he wants.
“No,” I finally break free enough of the alpha command he has on me to speak.
Father ignores my outburst and picks up my duffel bag on the floor. He carries it outside to the Jeep parked at the side of the cabin. There’s just one road that leads back here, and it isn’t well-kept. Our Jeep usually gets stuck multiple times on the drive into the closest town.
After putting my duffel bag into the back of the Jeep, he walks over to Kael. I notice Kael’s uncle carrying his bags to the back of the Jeep next.
I stare into each pack member’s face. Not one of them speaks up on our behalf. No one is on our side, and everyone agrees we should leave.
“Go south. Go to the border. Go somewhere warm,” Kael’s uncle says to him.
Kael looks at him with a wide stare, and I know he can’t believe what Theron is saying either. Then Kael looks to me.
“I’m trusting my daughter in your hands. Take care of her,” Father says to Kael.
I frown. I don’t need anyone to take care of me, especially not Kael.
There’s a low growl from the woods, followed by several howls. It’s our only warning before wolves jump through the lining of the forest and into the clearing where we’ve made our homes.
The wolf shifters of our pack, who still possess the ability to shift, begin to take their wolf form. Fur and claws and muscles begin appearing from where human skin and bones just were. But it takes our pack too long. The intruders have already shifted and are attacking—their claws slice through skin mid-shift.
No!
I have to do something. I can’t let them take the last of my family and pack.
Father doesn’t give me a chance. He knows me well enough to know that I will stay and fight—even if it means certain death.
“Run! Run away, take the Jeep and drive until you run out of gas, then get another tank and drive some more. Live as humans, be happy, and never return,” he says, giving an alpha command that I feel deep in my bones. “Both of you.” He says, commanding Kael as well.
We both run to the Jeep. I jump into the driver’s side as Kael jumps into the passenger’s. Before I can think of what I’m doing, my foot is pressed all the way down on the gas, and we’re driving full speed away from the carnage, away from my home.
We don’t speak as the clearing turns to woods. The Jeep bounces roughly over dried mud and small fallen branches on the road.
All I can think about is my pack—my father, Kael’s aunt and uncle, Akela, Tavian, and Aire. How many are left? Did any of them survive? And who was the wolf pack that attacked us? Most likely, the Nightshade or Frostbite packs. Both live near us and have made it their mission to end our pack in hopes that it ends the curse.
We drive through the night until the Jeep is almost out of gas before I finally stop. I’m out of breath, and my heart is racing rapidly. I turn to Kael, who hasn’t blinked in a while. He seems to be in shock.
“Are you okay?”
He nods.
And then I feel it—I can breathe again. I look over at Kael as he sucks in big lungfuls of air. The magic my father used on us suddenly disappeared—the alpha command gone.
“Does it mean…?” I ask, but I can’t finish my sentence out loud. Does it mean that my father was killed?
Kael shakes his head. “With how weak our pack is, the command probably just wore off the further away we drove.”
“What now? We could go back,” I say, blinking back my tears, trying to remain strong. He’s not dead. He’s not dead. He’s not dead. None of them are.
He shakes his head. “What good would that do? We can’t help the pack, and your father would just command us to leave again.”
I nod and swallow the lump in my throat. Anxiety races through my chest. I need to know if they’re still alive, but going back would only devastate me. I’d either realize they are all dead or have my own father banish me all over again.
I yawn, and my heightened eyesight begins to strain as I stare out at the endless road. It’s after four in the morning, and neither of us has slept. We need to find a hotel to regroup before driving onward in the morning.
Where will we go? And are we really going to forget about the pack and live as humans?
No.
I can’t.
I can’t just leave and forget about them.
Kael can if he wants to, but I can’t.
Kael notices the shift in me. “Tell me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking that I will drop you off wherever you want to go, but I’m not going to live as a human. I’m not giving up on my family. I’m going to find the Moonlight pack. The Moonlight wolves and Wintermoon wolves were what caused the curse. My best guess is that someone from both packs is the way to break the curse.”
He looks at me in shock, wide-eyed.
“I’m going to find them, and I’m going to break the curse.”