When the Red Wolf Hunts (The Red Wolf Trilogy Book 2) Page 15

  Nodding, I turn my head back to the lake—which sparkles in the early-morning light pooling off of the soon-to-rise sun—and consider it only for a moment before I say, Let’s go.

  We start forward—me at the lead, the wolves right behind, our footsteps varied, but our pace all the same. As we walk, slowly but surely advancing from the thicket of trees and into the open space before us, I find my heartbeat quickening, like a hummingbird beating its wings to sustain flight. This panic—born of dread, and sustained by apprehension—causes me to breathe heavily, in through my nose and out my mouth. I have to keep telling myself that everything is going to be okay.

  Just remember, I think, what your mother taught you.

  One, two, three, she would have said, while coaxing me through the panic attack. One, two, three.

  One, two, three, I then think. One, two, three.

  The thoughts, troublesome as they happen to be, are fueled by the inherent need for speed. However—I know that, with the pups being so young, and Celestina apparently so far along, that we cannot force the pack to run. For that reason, we walk slowly, effortlessly, and along the curve around the lake.

  For now, there is no cause for alarm.

  Soon, though, people will begin to awaken. Roads will be more widely used. The lake, too, may even become active, as upon boats people will ride out to fish.

  Don’t panic, I think. Everything’s going to be okay.

  For now, we are safe. For that, I cannot begin to think otherwise.

  Guide us, Mother Wolf, I pray. Guide us through Texas to Louisiana.

  I turn my head to look at Jackson—who looks at me with his golden amber eyes—and nod as we continue to make our way forward.

  The sun is beginning to rise.

  The birds are beginning to sing.

  Fish jump as bugs come out to serenade the day.

  While we walk—maneuvering just close enough to the water’s edge to feel the humidity being dispersed from the lake’s surface—I find myself imagining what life could have been like had I not become the wolf.

  This would’ve never happened, I think. They would’ve been safe. Secure. Sheltered.

  But for how long? Jackson’s family, and especially his grandmother, had come to relocate them anyway. My presence in this ordeal had only furthered that agenda. So, one could say, I had actually helped this along.

  The only problem? People are dead. And it’s all because of me.

  Me.

  Who sought vengeance. Who took into her body the Dark Wolf. Who, without regard for human lives, had taken, only to receive something in kind.

  Walking here, along this shoreline, through the rising dawn of not only a new day, but a new existence, I find myself repenting for everything I’ve ever done.

  For writing that paper—

  For starting that war—

  For igniting those flames—

  For snuffing them out.

  Could tears escape from my eyes, they would. Instead, they merely water, because wolves do not cry.

  Though it feels as though we have been walking forever, the great canopy that rises up above us makes my heart stutter in anticipation.

  I turn my head to face Justin and ask, Is this it?

  And he can only reply with, Yes. This is it.

  Louisiana.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The humidity seems to instantly change the moment we enter the state of Louisiana. Had I been in my human form, I imagine that I would’ve felt it immediately. But since I’m not, I can only taste the heat in the air, and listen to the cicadas as they sing in the trees.

  So, I say, turning to face Justin—who, with his head held proudly, looks on at the woodlands before us. What do we do now?

  That is up to the wolves, he says, turning to face Celestina and Alabaster, who make their way forward tentatively, and on anxious feet.

  I turn my head to face the proud alpha and his mate, only to find myself swelling with pride.

  This is… Celestina begins.

  Awe-inspiring, Alabaster replies.

  I don’t know how easy it will be to live here, I offer as I draw forward to stand beside them, and I don’t know what kind of dangers you’ll face in the meantime.

  There are dangers everywhere, wolf-child, the alpha says. It’s just up the wolf to avoid them.

  I understand. I straighten my posture as he turns his head to look into my eyes, and find myself trembling internally. Is there anything we can do to help you?

  I do not believe so, Alabaster replies. You have done enough for our people. Surely there is nothing more than you can offer?

  I… don’t think there is, I say, and lower my head.

  The wolf comes to stand before me.

  I lift my head. Look into his eyes. See, in their deep brown depths, a passion I have known but never truly seen.

  In but a moment, the wolf is pressing his head against mine. Thank you, he says once more, for everything.

  I feel ashamed.

  For what?

  For driving you to this.

  If it were not for your actions, we may not have had to come here, yes. But if it were not for your actions, we may have also been destroyed.

  Do not fear what has happened in the past, Celestina offers. Now is your time to shine.

  As the wolves draw away from me, Bernard, Justin and Jackson, I find myself trembling not in fear, but anguish.

  To think that, after all this time, and after all this hardship, that I have been able to change someone’s world, is mind-boggling.

  When Celestina and Alabaster move to make their way into the woods, I find my heart at a loss.

  Oaklynn, Jackson says, stepping forward to stand at my side.

  Yeah? I ask.

  I’m proud of you.

  Thank you.

  We should go, Bernard says. We have a long journey home.

  Yeah, I then say, and close my eyes. We do.

  Though the three men turn and begin to retrace their steps quite easily, I find myself standing in the threshold of two states—one physical, and another spiritual.

  Now, I realize, it is my time to heal.

  And though I realize it will take some time, I know for a fact anything is possible.

  The story concludes in

  When the Red Wolf Sings

  Coming mid-2020

  Want to be notified about its release?

  Then click or tap here to subscribe to his mailing list

  Did you enjoy this book?

  Consider leaving a one-sentence review where you purchased or downloaded it!

  Want to see more like it?

  Visit the author online at KodyBoye.com or turn to his “Other YA Novels by Kody Boye” page in this book

  About the Author

  Though he was born and raised in Southeastern Idaho, Kody Boye has lived in the state of Texas since 2010. His first short story, [A] Prom Queen's Revenge,was published at the age of fourteen. He has since gone on to publish numerous works of fiction, including the young-adult novels When They Came, The Beautiful Ones, The Midnight Spell and ALT CONTROL ENTER, as well as fiction for adults. He currently lives and writes in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

  You can visit him online at

  www.kodyboye.com

  Other YA Novels by Kody boye

  Kody Boye has multiple young-adult books and series across many genres available for purchase! If you like young people who fight against monstrous creatures, corrupt governments, alien beings, and more, consider checking out some of his other works. Simply click or tap on the banners below!

  In the world of The Beautiful Ones, beauty is a currency, and to have it means you can be granted freedom from poverty, at the cost of your free will. For Kelendra Byron, she will soon find that her beauty holds a price—one she may not be willing to pay.

  In Dagana: The Last Mermaid, one young woman’s life in inexplicably changed as her parents are viciously murdered by something at sea.
<
br />   In Kingsman Online, a young woman by the name of Sophia Garza longs to save her terminally-ill mother. To do that, she enters a gaming competition with a prize of a lifetime, only to become trapped in the very game she loves to play.

  In The Plague Bloom, follow a young woman as she and her people journey to a promised land atop the backs of their massive Guardians—not only to escape the monstrous Fallen that lurk in the lands below, but to forge a new future.

  In The Red Wolf trilogy, a young woman must come to terms with a young man’s strange past, and his even stranger abilities, as the wolves of East Texas return to the small town of Red Wolf.

  Scarlet Jane had it all. Until her mother was murdered by a monster. Now, she must either learn to hunt the renegade supernaturals that haunt her world, or forget everything forever.

  For best friends Christy and Adam—a witch and a gay young man—life hasn’t been easy. To remedy this, Christy casts a love spell to try and bring Adam’s true love. But has she brought Adam’s first boyfriend to Trinity Springs, or a monster?

  When They Came, humanity thought They were their salvation. But six years later, aliens still rule the planet Earth—and one young woman is about to change history.