Chapter 18
Mariah
The sound of a gunshot cracked through the mountain air like thunder.
I froze mid-step. The echo rolled across the valley, bouncing between ridges, fading into the sky. For a long heartbeat, I stood perfectly still, my hand gripping the knife at my belt, my pulse pounding in my throat.
The forest went quiet after that—too quiet. The wind stopped, even the birds fell silent.
It could have been anything. A hunter. A trap. A wolf patrol. Something else… Maybe even…
Varek.
I hoped, by some miracle, he was alright…
My heart twisted, my throat tightening with hope and fear. I turned back toward the sound, scanning the trees, but there was nothing but the whisper of pine needles and the faint hiss of raindrops dripping from the branches.
“Keep moving,” I whispered to myself. “You can’t afford to stop.”
But as the day bled toward dusk, the exhaustion began to set in. My muscles ached, my injuries burned, and the adrenaline that had kept me going finally began to fade. I needed rest. Shelter. Food. Warmth.
I found a small clearing tucked between boulders, the ground soft with moss and pine needles. The smell of rabbit was faint but fresh. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since morning.
I sighed and began stripping off my clothes, folding them neatly on a dry patch of earth. The cold air bit at my skin, but the mark on my shoulder pulsed warm beneath it, steady as a heartbeat.
“Alright, wolf,” I muttered. “Let’s see if you’ve learned anything.”
The shift came easier this time. It started in my chest, a pulse of heat that rippled outward until every muscle trembled and every bone cracked and realigned. My skin prickled, then split into fur. The air filled with the sound of my own breathing.
When my shift was done, the world looked different. Clearer. More alive.
I could smell the forest in layers starting with pine sap, damp stone, the faint sweetness of rain, and there, beneath it all, the warm musk of rabbit.
I lowered myself, muscles coiling, and followed the scent. My paws sank into the soft ground, silent as a shadow.
The rabbit was feeding near a fallen log, its nose twitching as it nibbled at the wet grass. I crept closer, every nerve alive with anticipation, the thrill of the hunt buzzing through me. When it lifted its head, ears flicking, I pounced.
The kill was quick. Clean.
Warm blood filled my mouth. I ate enough to appease the gnawing in my gut, then licked my muzzle clean before turning back toward where I’d left my clothes.
I found them easily and shifted back, skin slick with sweat, muscles trembling from the change. My breath came in soft, uneven bursts as I pulled my clothes back on. The wolf in me wanted to curl up right there under the trees, but the human part of me knew better. I needed shelter.
Not far off, I found a cave, a narrow slit in the rock, almost invisible until I brushed aside a curtain of ivy. Inside, it opened just enough for me to move, the air cool but dry. A small bend near the back made it perfect for hiding, shielding it from the wind and prying eyes.
I made my way inside and sank down to the ground.
The rock was cold against my back, but it felt safe.
Solid. I should have gotten up and made a fire, but I was too tired to stand.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared at the mouth of the cave.
The sky outside was turning violet, the first stars blinking through the dusk.
For a moment, I let myself pretend that maybe Varek was alive. That maybe he was still out there, following my trail, close by. The idea comforted me.
I don’t remember closing my eyes.
When I woke, there was light.
A warm, flickering glow.
My eyes snapped open, and for a heartbeat, I didn’t understand what I was seeing.
A small fire burned near the mouth of the cave. The scent of smoke mingled with pine and rain. And sitting on a rock across from it, broad shoulders lit in gold, head bowed slightly as he turned something over in his hands… was Varek.
My breath caught.
He looked wrecked. His shirt was torn, streaked with dirt and blood. His hair hung damp against his face. But his eyes—when he lifted them to me—were the same silver I had come to love, bright and alive.
“Hello there, little wolf,” he said softly, a hint of a smile ghosting across his bruised mouth.
I sat up too fast, my heart pounding. “You—how—”
He raised a hand, quieting me. “I told you I’d catch up.”
And somehow, even through the ache in my chest, the fear, and the exhaustion, I couldn’t help but smile.
For a long moment, I just stared at him through the firelight, half afraid he was a dream the mountain had conjured to keep me from losing my mind.
The orange glow threw light across the planes of his face, catching on the streaks of dirt and the drying blood that ran like war paint down his cheek.
He looked like he had crawled out of hell—and maybe he had.
He sat still for a moment longer, letting the quiet stretch between us until I managed to find my voice.
“I had thought you might be dead,” I whispered.
Varek’s mouth curved faintly, something between a smile and a wince. “Almost.” He leaned forward, feeding a stick into the fire. “The thing in the tunnels, it wasn’t a wolf. It was one of mine. The Council turned Gareth into a creature that shouldn’t exist. Some sort of mutant bear… thing.”
Varek rubbed a hand over his face, eyes shadowed.
“He gave me a way out,” he said. “Crazed and poisoned, he somehow clung to the truth of himself. Tore half the mountain down to do it. Took the rest of the patrol with him. That whole section of tunnel’s gone now. I barely made it through before it sealed shut behind me.”
The fire crackled. Outside, the wind picked up, hissing through the narrow mouth of the cave.
“I found your trail not long after,” he continued. “You left enough to follow—plenty of footprints, your scent, a few drops of blood…”
I swallowed, just listening.
“Then I found the wolf who attacked you,” he said. His eyes lifted to mine, bright with emotion. “Dead.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. He kept going, his voice softer now.
“I saw the tracks where you shifted. You left wolf prints next to your own boots.”
He drew in a slow breath and let it out, the corners of his mouth twitching into something that almost looked like pride. “You’ve done more than just survive out here, Mariah. You’ve flourished.”
My throat went tight. The words shouldn’t have meant so much to me, but they did.
“I just… didn’t want to die,” I admitted quietly.
“That’s how it starts,” he said. “Survival. The rest comes later.”
He leaned back, gaze fixed on the flames. “I followed you to the cliff too. Saw what you did to the cougar. Smart work, using the terrain. Most wolves would’ve tried to match it for strength. You used your head.”
He fell quiet for a long moment, staring into the fire. The light danced across his eyes, turning them from silver to diamond.
“I’m proud of you,” he said finally, so quietly it almost vanished into the crackle of the wood.
My heart cracked at that because no one had ever said those words to me before. I felt tears burn at the edges of my eyes, and I looked away quickly, blinking hard.
“You shouldn’t be,” I said, forcing a shaky laugh. “You should be mad I left you. That I didn’t come back.”
“I told you to go,” he replied simply. “And you obeyed. For once.” A smirk decorated his expression.
I looked back at him, at the way his shoulders slumped now, at the exhaustion hiding behind the calm. “And you came after me anyway.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Couldn’t let you have all the fun.”
Despite everything, I laughed. It came out small and hoarse, but it felt good. He smiled, and my heart warmed.
For a while, neither of us spoke. The fire popped softly, and the night wind whistled at the cave mouth. Outside, the storm that had been crawling over the mountains was finally breaking apart, leaving nothing but the silence of nature. Darkness loomed beyond the cave mouth.
Varek glanced at me again. “We’ll rest here for a while longer,” he said. “At first light, we start moving again. The Resistance is only about a day’s walk now. You think you can make it?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I can.”
“Good.” He shifted his weight, grimacing.
Morning crept into the cave like a shy thing. Pale light slid across the stone, stirring dust into little constellations. The fire had burned down to red embers. I woke to the comforting sound of Varek’s breathing and the soft drip of water somewhere deeper in the rock.
He was already half-awake when I sat up. His eyes opened, clear and watchful in a heartbeat, and then softened when he saw me. “Hungry?”
“Always,” I said, voice rough.
He reached over and pulled his pack closer.
Rummaging inside, he pulled out jerky and handed me a strip.
We ate in comfortable silence, the kind that didn’t ask for anything and still felt like enough.
The salt steadied me. The warmth from the embers kissed my knees.
For a few minutes, the world forgot to be cruel.
When we were done, Varek doused the last glow of the fire with a careful splash from his canteen. “Time to get moving,” he said. “We can make good distance before the sun goes down if the mountains cooperate.”
We stepped out into the morning air. It was bright and clean, rife with the scent of pine and damp.
The storm had rinsed the world while we slept; the sky was an inverted bowl of polished blue, the peaks cutting clean against it.
We followed a narrow game trail through the trees, weaving between boulders furred with moss. Everything smelled new.
After an hour, the scent changed. Steam drifted across the path like a white ribbon, and the air picked up a mineral sweetness. I slowed without thinking, head tipped, breathing it in. “Do you smell that?”