It was almost overwhelming, watching the landscape drop away below her as she sailed over the peak of the mountain and spiraled down into the wide sky beyond. For once, the day was fine and mostly clear, and she could see the blue sky above, tinted with the ruddy red of the setting sun to the west. At least, she thought it was the west. Who knew, in this ridiculous place? Where the hellwasshe? Not on Earth, that much had become clear. If there was a place like this on Earth, she’d have heard of it by now. How she’d gotten here… well, that was something she was beginning to give up on figuring out.
She flew higher and higher, pushing herself, feeling the air thin around her. It felt so good to be out here by herself, surrounded by nothing but sky… she could feel her mind clearing already, feel herself getting more perspective on all of this. Below her, the landscape rolled out. The tallest peak, the hollow mountain… and beyond it, a handful of smaller ones. The river, rolling down towards a great lake. And the forest, covering everything like a thick green blanket. Was Seth down there somewhere, she wondered? If she simply dove down, down, down, following her heart, and landed somewhere in those trees… was there a chance she’d find him?
Her gaze strayed beyond the forest, now, to the strange gray Fog that surrounded the area like an ocean. The stories she’d heard about it sent a shiver down her spine. It made sense that she couldn’t remember what had happened to her before she’d awoken out there, surrounded by Fog, completely disoriented and convinced she was dreaming. If what they said about the Fog was true—that immersion in it had a mind-altering effect—then that would explain why she couldn’t remember anything between her old life and this new one. Of course, that didn’t explain how she’d made the jump in the first place.
She flew towards the edge of the valley, curious about what the Fog might look like at this altitude—was it possible she could fly out above it? But when the clear air around her began to give way to gray tendrils of mist, she felt an immediate impulse to turn back. Heart beating hard, she winged her way rapidly away from the edge of the Fog, an old expression of her father’s springing to mind. It was as though someone had walked over her grave.
Lana found her way back to the mountain and winged her way down to the Plateau, some wild hope that Seth might be there dying immediately when she found it completely empty. Heaving a sigh, she settled onto the edge of the flat expanse of rock, digging her talons into the stone. The truth was, she didn’twantto leave the mountain. She wanted to be Queen. She’d spent her whole life running from this prophecy… now she was here, she wanted to see it through for once in her life.
But that wasn’t all she wanted, was it? She tucked her wings closely against her side as the chill of the night crept in, thinking of her empty bed with something very much like grief gnawing at her belly. She wanted to be Queen… but she also wanted Seth. And if she was honest, she wanted more than just the secret rendezvous they’d been sharing. As much as she loved sharing a bed with him, she wanted more than that. She wanted him by her side all the time. And she had a feeling that he wanted that, too.
But she couldn’t have both, could she? Her subjects would never accept a Queen who was in love with a wolf… and she couldn’t be with Seth if her role as Queen was going to keep them apart like this. As much as she hated it… she knew that one way or the other, she was going to need to make a choice.
And by running away, Seth might just have made that choice for her.
Chapter 14 - Seth
It took them less than a day to get home. It would have been quicker than that if they’d set off running straight away… but before they shifted, Seth held up a hand to stop them. Once they were wolf-shaped, he knew, they’d be sharing each other’s minds. And that wasn’t the way he wanted them to find out the truth about his relationship with Lana.
He’d been dreading telling them about it. He should have known that his fears were misplaced. None of them were angry, none of them seemed to feel he’d betrayed them—even Elza, whose reaction he’d feared the most, had simply shrugged her shoulders, a clouded expression on her face. Thinking of her lost mate, he assumed, a pang of sympathy twisting his stomach. Somehow, he felt like he understood her a little better after what he’d been through these last few weeks. Ridiculous, of course. Elza had lost her soulmate. That was nothing like… whatever his relationship with Lana had been.
“I want you to know—I don’t intend to let this affect my diplomatic position,” he said before they shifted. “Whatever I felt for her has nothing to do with the political situation.”
“We know,” Victor said simply. “We trust you, Seth. You’re our leader. That doesn’t change.”
He meant it, too. Once they’d transformed, he could feel his pack’s minds gathering closely around him … and there was nothing but support there for him. Fresh determination to do what was best for them surged through him as they ran through the forest, heading home. First things first, they’d get back to the pack. It had been too long since he’d had his whole family around him. Once he’d heard from them, he’d be able to think clearly about what needed to happen next.
It was dark when they reached their destination, the moon glinting occasionally through thick cloud cover. Seth could tell something was wrong. He could feel it in the air, in the quiet, solemn vibe on the trail, by the way that every house was shut and locked, not a single light on in the windows. Late as it was, he had consensus from his packmates—the whole pack would want to hear from him at once. So he sent his lieutenants off to rouse the pack, and bring them to what the pack had always called—without much ceremony—the Meeting Place.
The Meeting Place was a simple, natural structure that had proven useful over the years. Centuries ago, according to the pack’s collective memory, a great rainstorm had uncovered a peculiar cave-like formation in a nearby cliff. The cave had a wide, broad mouth that stood open to the air. It extended back into the rock—but instead of traveling downwards, as most caves did, this one seemed to travel upwards, towards the very top of the cliff. The slanted floor was striated, forming ledges wide enough for wolves to settle on in either of their forms, and the great stone roof above them extended out far enough to shade a place at the mouth of the cave from wind or weather. After a little bit of work clearing out the dust and dirt that had accumulated, the cave was perfect for large group meetings. Standing at the cave mouth, a wolf’s voice was easily heard even by those sitting up at the very back, bouncing and echoing from the stone roof without the need to shout or strain to be heard.
It was here that Seth summoned his pack, to tell them the story of what he and his patrol had experienced over the last few weeks.
It had always made him nervous as a child, going along to meetings and watching his mother and father address their pack from the mouth of the cave. There was something so eerie about knowing that the whole pack was sitting in there, watching, listening, aware of your every mistake. He’d grown out of that anxiety as he’d come of age, thankfully, but he felt a slight stirring of it now, as his sleepy pack slowly assembled. They were glad to see him—he lost count of how many of them hurried forward to embrace him before taking their seats in the cave—but he could tell something was weighing on their minds, and he was grateful when his mother and father appeared.
“Welcome home, son,” his father said, clapping him firmly on the shoulder. “Glad you’re safe.”
“Bad news, I’m afraid,” his mother said without preamble. She’d always been the more direct one of the pair. “Two more wolves missing.”
His heart sank. He’d been hoping against hope that the disappearances might have stopped, at least for a few days… but that explained the somber atmosphere, at least. Seth thanked them both, took a deep breath as they took their seats, then waited for silence before launching into his address. With his pack’s watchful eyes on him, he told the whole story, from leaving the trails to save the injured dragon, to their decision to return her to her people, to their uncomfortable stay with the dragons in their cavern. There was a low murmur at that particular aspect—they’d heard some part of it from the wolves who’d come back ahead of Seth and the others, but they’d clearly been waiting on the story in its entirety.
“I’d like to hear your questions now,” Seth said, having wrapped up the story as best as he could. He’d left out the more intimate details of his relationship with Lana, something that hadn’t been lost on Victor, Josef, or Elza, sitting close to the front of the cave… but he knew from their expressions that they didn’t consider it a wrongful omission. “This affects us all.”
“This new Queen,” an old wolf called from the front row, rising to his feet to speak loudly enough for the whole pack to hear. “Will she cause us trouble?”
“No more than her predecessors,” Seth replied firmly. “My hopes that she might be a friend to us were sadly misplaced, but I don’t think she’ll lead them to outright hostility. We’re no better or worse off than before.”
There was a murmur at that. Had he been too harsh in his assessment? The truth was, he really did hope that Lana’s leadership might bring about more peace between dragons and wolves… but he was also well aware that his feelings about her were beyond compromised. Better to lean hard into the more pessimistic interpretation. It wouldn’t hurt to be pleasantly surprised.
“The dragons said they had disappearances too. Were they telling the truth?”
“I’ve been wondering that myself.” Seth sighed. “I can’t imagine why they’d lie about something like that. And their refusal to provide any more information about it tells me it embarrasses them… which tells me it’s likely the truth. What that means for us is that it’s unlikely dragons are responsible for our own disappearances. Not impossible,” he added, his eyes flicking up to meet Elza’s. “But unlikely.”
“What do we do?” A third wolf stood up, and the despair in her voice was mirrored in her face. He recognized Grecia as the mother of one of the first young wolves who’d gone missing on patrol. Murmurs of sympathy and agreement went up among the gathering. “We can’t keep losing wolves to the Fog like this.”
Seth frowned. “To the Fog?”
Grecia nodded impatiently. “Every disappearance took place on the outermost trails, Alpha. If it isn’t dragons, it’s Fog. Monstrosities or madness or something else entirely, but that’s the common factor.”