New Territory Read Free

that one would never submit," he commented. He looked around, but the she-wolf had fled.
     

 
     
    Keva listened with horror at the edge of the woods, until the snarls of the wolf fight were over. Her pack stood or sat nearby, also listening and anxious, waiting for Mira to return. Finally, Mira walked out of the woods, unharmed. She looked at Brayden and said, "We must speak." He bowed his head slightly and followed her to the other edge of the clearing. Whatever Mira said, it had an awful effect. He snarled wildly, and trotted back to the rest of the pack. Mira lay down and waited on the other side of the clearing, her stance tense and quivering. "Keva," the alpha barked, "Go speak to Mira. Everyone else, come with me." Keva traversed the clearing slowly, watching sadly as the rest of her pack disappeared into the forest. Something was terribly wrong. "Mother," she said, as she walked up to stand before the old she-wolf.
     
    The she wolf lifted her head from where she lay on the ground, looking up at Keva with her age-darkened eyes. “Keva, a rogue lycan was just killed. He was tracking me, trying to catch me away from the pack. He is—was—your sire.” Keva’s eyes reflected great shock, and her fur rose along her spine. Mira heaved a great sigh. “The lycan , a rogue named Brann, was driven out by his pack when he murdered an entire human family out of rage. I was in the woods with my mate, and my mate was set upon by the rogue. Poor Goren was no match for the…the rogue. I was in heat at the time…something you will experience soon for yourself. The… lycan ,” snarled the old wolf, “forced himself upon me…and you are the result. He… he tied me up in a cave, but Ailene found me before he returned, and we ran far away.” Keva simply sat there, unable to respond. That she was the product of such a horrendous action—between different species, no less—threw her into a careening wave of doubt and disbelief. She shuddered, and could not force herself to meet her mother’s eyes. Her mother licked her nose. “None of this is your fault, Keva. I had hoped that since you did not change, that you were a true wolf; that you had not inherited your sire’s curse. But now that you have met your werewolf lifemate in the wolf dream, I know that you are not. You are half lycan and half true wolf. Thus, you must go with your lifemate and leave this pack.” Keva yelped with shock and jumped up. “No! How can I leave you? I am still a wolf; I have no way to change my form. I will simply remain a true wolf and live out my life with the pack!”  She began to grow angry and desperate. Few young wolves survived, if cast out from their pack too soon. She may be considered an adult, but she knew the risks. Her family was going to abandon her to these…these cursed humans.
     
    Mira did not respond to Keva’s anger, merely lowering her head. “I am sorry, Keva. I had hoped and prayed that you were a true wolf, but things must change now. Know that the pack will not forget you, but we cannot speak to you anymore. It is not our way to speak with lycans .” Keva watched in shock, paralyzed by indecision, as her mother stood and began to walk away into the woods. Soon, she was gone, and Keva stared at the space in the trees where Mira had disappeared. Something inside her seemed to break. The hard reality hit her like the hoof of a bull moose, knocking the air from her lungs. She caught up a deep breath, lifted her nose, and howled her despair to the unforgiving blue sky.
     

 
     
    Cian’s pointed ears twitched as the sonorous howls of despair echoed through the woods around them. Fearing that something was terribly wrong, he burst into the clearing, where a single female wolf was howling her despair to the skies. As he bolted into the clearing, followed closely by Cian, she stopped suddenly and stared at them.  Leaping up, she leaped to the flat top of a large boulder and gazed down at the two male lycans. Cian