Into the Woods
“Collin,” Brittani said, surprising me with her gentleness, “we have the best of the pack on the trail for your brother. You’re an untrained, in-between werewolf.”
“No, no, hang on,” Collin said quickly, jumping the last of the stairs and coming eagerly into the living room. “I’ve just- listen. I’ve been in my room, and I’ve been practicing.”
I exchanged a puzzled look with both Ivy and Brittani. “”Practicing what?” I asked.
“Smelling,” Collin said. “Tracking.”
“You’re eleven years old,” Brittani said. “I’m sorry, Collin, but you’re not going to smell better than the Alpha.”
“No, listen!” Collin held up Dylan’s shirt. “You don’t understand. This isn't just some random kid.” Collin looked me dead in the eyes, and I felt his desperation pouring out of him. “This is my brother- my twin. We have done literally everything together. I was born with him. I know what he smells like, probably better than my own smell. We’ve been practicing at school,” Collin added, before we could stop him. “The others would go and hide, and I could always find Dylan first. He- his scent, it’s stronger than literally anyone else. I can smell him for longer, and from further away.”
I looked at Brittani, but she just hesitated this time, uncertain.
“We could always call Aegis and ask,” Ivy suggested. “A lead's a lead. If he comes down, we can have the pack at our backs while we search.”
“Good idea,” I agreed, already pulling my cell phone out. I barely needed a reason to want to call Aegis.
In spite of this, however, the phone just rang and rang, until it went to voicemail. I frowned, dialed him again, and still, no answer. Stay calm, a tiny voice at the back of my mind whispered as the fear tightened in my gut.
“Shoot,” Ivy said suddenly, smacking her forehead. “And I was the one who told you. They’re out deep in the woods. They’ve got no signal.”
“I can find him, Mom,” Collin pleaded. “Please. Please, I know I can find him.”
No one said anything. I looked out the window, at the slowly fading light of late afternoon, and I knew the clock was ticking. It was cold; the nights would be unbearable already. If the kids had crossed over water, any one of them could be wet, and that could spell disaster overnight... especially if the wet one was only five years old.
Stay calm. You have to stay calm.
“Damn,” I heard Ivy hiss, before she stood up and whipped out her walkie talkie. “I knew I should have forced one of those stupid FBI goons to take one of our 'podunk' walkie talkies. Maybe I can reach someone else.” She ducked out onto the front porch to make calls.
“I hate that this is starting to sound like a good idea,” Brittani said, her face in her hands. “It’s getting late, Sylvia. We have to do something.”
“Lucy is only five,” Collin said to me, and I could hear the utter desperation in his voice. “Please, Mom. Let me try. I can’t just do nothing.”
“Let’s see if Ivy gets a hold of anyone,” I said.
It felt like hours until Ivy came back in, but the look on her face was grim.
“I think Merv must have left the precinct and gone back out to search,” she said. “No one is answering. We’ve got no backup, and there’s interference on FBI channels. Whatever they're doing, I can't reach them.”
I looked at Brittani in total disbelief; her expression mirrored mine.
“You’re telling me,” she said slowly, “that we have three werewolf packs out there looking for our kids PLUS the FBI, and somehow we can’t reach... anyone?”
“No one,” Ivy said. “It’s... definitely not ideal.”
“Shit,” I hissed. “Damn!”
“Mom,” Collin said, grabbing my shoulder. “Please. Please let me try.”
Silence fell on all of us. Everyone was holding their breath; somehow, both the Sheriff of Werewolf Hollow and the wife of the Pack Omega- someone who currently outranked me, feelings for Aegis or no- were waiting for my answer. Like standing on a tightrope, like staring into a yawning abyss, teetering back and forth, what was the best answer-
Stay. Calm.
“Let’s go,” I said, standing up.
“Aegis is going to be pissed,” Ivy muttered, though she was already moving for her coat.
“Better to apologize later than ask for permission,” I said, quoting Aegis himself. “Come on.”
----
We taped a piece of paper explaining our absence to the door, then retreated to the backyard. Collin stood there, half-werewolf, breathing in his brother's scent from his jacket. He handed it to me, and I watched him close his eyes, breathing deeply in the backyard.
"He's got the Alpha trait," Brittani said softly beside me.
Ivy looked at her sharply, but I just shook my head surreptitiously.
It was easy to see, in the light of the setting sun. Collin was standing there, and for a second, I could see my boy as he could someday be: tall, proud, a leader. He was breathing in the air, his eyes closed, expression more serious than I had ever seen it. When he opened his eyes, they seemed more animal than human.
"They went over here," he said, leading the way to a back corner.
A memory came back to me, far too late to be of use: a loose board in the fence, one that Ivy and I had used countless times to sneak out when my parents weren't looking. They'd never gotten it fixed.
Of course they didn't, a small voice said nastily. They were killed.
That feeling of dread threatened to rear its ugly head, and I shoved it down with almost professional precision. Not now.
We all ducked with varying degrees of ease through the loose board in the fence, and Collin took off with steady strides, mouth slightly open as he tasted the chill air.
It felt like ages as we walked steadily out away from the town. Up towards the woods, into the treeline, deeper and deeper. The chill deepened as we walked and the sun became hidden behind branches and foliage; every crack in the leaves made us jump, and Ivy was leading up the rear now, a handgun primed and at the ready.
Collin continued on, his attention rapt. He stopped only twice, but it lasted no longer than a moment before he was off again. In this way, we found the river that the others had mentioned, but we had run into no one else.
"I was so sure we'd have found the others by now," Brittani said softly, rubbing her gloved hands together. She looked anxious and ill. "They're all over these woods."
"They must be combing in a different direction," Ivy commented.
Collin stopped at the river and paced along the bank, eyes intent. His hands clenched and unclenched as he tasted the smells in the air, and the seconds ticked agonizingly slowly into minutes.
"Collin," I said finally, when he'd said nothing. "Honey-"
"No." Collin shook his head, before crouching close to the ground. "He was here. I smell them. They... they doubled back. I think they wanted to go home."
"They didn't, though," Brittani said sharply.
"They were lost." Collin crouched closer to the water. "I can smell everyone here- that's why it's kind of hard. They're all fresher than Dylan, and Aegis... Aegis's smell is really strong." He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in, drawing huge, deep breaths of the cold air. "Yeah. They tried to follow the river back."
"But the river doesn't lead back to town," Ivy said sharply. "It curves away."
"Dylan didn't know that," Collin said. "Come on. I think I have them."
"Good boy," I whispered, before taking the lead behind him.
He continued on, this time a little more haltingly. He doubled back a few times, sniffed a tree once or twice. I was beginning to worry that we weren't on the trail... that he was following something wrong.
But then we found one of Lucy's gloves.
"Lu," I whispered, and suddenly, that wave of terror crashed over me. I snatched it up and cradled it; it was wet. I felt my whole body clench and tense; my breathing was threatening to come in short bursts. Hysteria threatened.
Stay. Calm!
"We have to keep moving," Ivy said, helping me back up. "Collin's on the trail."
"Lucy's wet," I whispered, squeezing the tiny glove. "She'll catch her death."
"Wait-" Collin stiffened, and he crouched down into the leaves. We watched him, frozen stiff, barely breathing between the three of us.
Collin swung his head back and forth, and I saw his ears flatten as the fur visible from under his jacket stood on end.
"I can smell something else," he hissed, turning to look at me. "Something else is here."
"What?" The three of us demanded.
"It's... it's hard to explain." Collin opened his mouth, tasting the air. "Like me, like werewolves, but... sour."
Brittani hissed. "The rogue. You're smelling the rogue werewolf."
I swore. "Collin, we have to hurry. Ivy?"
"I'm trying," Ivy said, her walkie talkie already in her hands, "but the trees are causing interference. These things aren't perfect; we're not big city cops."
Collin took off at a run, and we scrambled to keep up with him, breathing hard with thick clouds of hot air bursting in front of our faces. Ivy was repeatedly hailing whoever she could, but all she was getting was silence, or static.
We left the river, swinging away from both town and whatever source they'd been following to try to get home. We weren't doing a good job of hiding our presence in the woods; we were crashing through undergrowth, and Brittani tripped twice over a few roots and twigs.
A million things were running through my mind as we fought to keep Collin in sight. Eleven years ago, I'd been too late to the scene, just ten minutes too late, and my whole world had shattered. I'd rebuilt that world, piece by broken piece, and I was here, now, after all this time...
Had I made a mistake? I'd come back and thought being here would bring me healing, had felt closure... but was it worth the loss of two of my children? Would I be ten minutes too late again? Could I survive finding- finding-
NO, my mind screamed, and I poured that terror into my legs, willed myself to run faster after Collin.
And then we heard it.
"GO AWAY!"
"Leave us alone!"
"Mamaaaaaa! Mama!!!"
"They're not coming, Lucy! No one knows where we are! Stop screaming!"
But just as my heart soared, it imploded, because we burst into a sudden glade to find a terrifying scene.
The kids were holed up in a tiny, run-down shack that had been abandoned for God knew how long. A massive werewolf, nearly the size of Aegis, stood snarling and growling as it tore and ripped methodically at the structure, gouging deep lines in the surprisingly stout planks. Its clothes were ripped and torn and bloody, expression crazed, truly an image out of the old myths: a freshly turned, out of control, unguided werewolf.
We crashed in just as the creature smashed a claw through the planks, the children all screaming at the tops of their lungs. It caught hold and tore out Annie by her leg, screaming in terror.
I didn't think.
I didn't stop running.
I didn't slow down.
I ran full tilt and smashed straight into the side of that werewolf.