"Where did she get those scars on her arms?" Dusky's eyes softened as she stared into the fire. The other wolves from her own pack that were scattered around the blaze remained silent, as the Lunar Pack five glanced around, watching the other pack's heads fall as they too contemplated the flames in their midst. Blue and Toboe were the closest to Dusky, and the youngest wolf's face was openly worried as he watched the young she-wolf's eyes glaze over, their usually happy, gentle light hidden behind a cold, solid mask he had not seen in the girl before.
"We didn't always live here. Me and Haru, we used to have a home you know, away from here, out in the country where it was warm and green. It was just us and Gen and Alam, our mom and dad. It was a small den, right beside a river, underneath an overhang. You had to know it was there or you'd never find it. We were peaceful, only eating when we were hungry, never going after the easy meals like cattle or sheep. We went into town a lot more than most wolves; I don't think anyone knew what we really were, or even suspected. But … accidents happen …." Dusky's voice had grown soft, and even Toboe was having some trouble hearing her next words beneath the winds whipping around the dilapidated building. The Shadow wolves had heard the story enough times they knew exactly what their young leader was going to say next.
"She didn't mean to get seen. It was spring, and the deer were fat and happy after the winter's pickings. It was a beautiful day, and she was happy taking her time after hunting. She hadn't scattered her kill yet, and she just started dozing in the sun patches. She didn't hear them until they'd already seen her, and by then her illusioning just scared them into actually firing. She didn't suffer, we think … the hunters knew what they were doing, even as startled as they were. She went quick; too quick for Dad.
He'd been teaching us herbs, Haru's thing more than mine, but the second she fell he knew. He shoved us back into the den, told us not to move, and vanished. The only clue we ever got was a howl, sometime later, and that was when Haru changed. She used to laugh, smile, play, but once they … left … she suddenly became like she is now. I just went along with it, became the quiet counter-balance to her coldness. "
The fire suddenly blazed as a stray draft worked its way through the meager insulation, stoking the flames with its own fresh oxygen. By now, many of the two packs' members had dropped their human illusions, and the room was varied between human forms and true. The shadows danced over the walls and the somber faces of the wolves gathered within. Even the Lunar Pack was overcome with the weight of grief the young she-wolf's story carried within it. Toboe's throat moved with a silent whimper that Dusky acknowledged with a flutter of her lips in what might have been a smile. The red-brown wolf lay with his head on his paws, facing the fire. Dusky was still in her human form, with knees curled up and wrapped about with her slender pale arms. The young male impulsively turned his head, resting his snout in the girl's lap, which made her stretch her legs to keep from smothering him. Unconsciously she began stroking his fur, causing the amber eyes to close in contentment as she continued with her history.
"We didn't leave the den, but we didn't hunt in our old haunts. Haru made sure we ranged farther than the humans would think, keeping them from guessing it was us, and we almost never brought down big game; rabbits, birds, anything small that wouldn't be missed or noticed. But somehow, no matter how careful we were, it still wasn't enough."
This time Toboe audibly whined when Dusky paused, raising his head and gazing up into her eyes. Years of telling the tale had not entirely wiped the horror-struck grimace from the girl's face as she recounted the blackest part of her sister's life. "They still found us. We ran, faster and further than we ever had, for any reason. But they had trucks, and they followed. I was smaller than Haruka, and she shoved me into a briar patch before leading them away. They … caught her. They were so sure there were others, a pack they hadn't yet found, and they were determined to get it out of her. I didn't see, didn't have to see to know, but I heard …" her thin frame shuddered involuntarily, and Toboe quickly curled his body around her back, trying to comfort her against the memories.
"They beat her with metal whips, all down her back and across her arms and legs. It hurt so bad, Haru couldn't control her illusion; she kept fading in and out of both forms. It only made them angry, so angry they tied her four legs to the back of four trucks and took turns driving first one than another. Her howls hurt me so badly I couldn't move, couldn't even think straight until I couldn't stand it. I screamed. Fortunately, I was in true form, so it came out like a massive howl, louder than what they thought one wolf could make on its own. They thought their torturing just that one wolf had brought out the others, so they cut Haru free and jumped in their machines.
"They nearly crushed me heading in the direction of my echo, careless fools. I heard one of them call to the others that once the pack was decimated they'd come back for the one they'd caught first. They were so sure they were going to get rid of every last one of 'us'. I always wondered what they thought when they returned the next morning, only to find bits of fur and pools of blood where they'd left a tortured wolf. As soon as the sound of the trucks had faded, I forced myself to go find Haru. I couldn't breathe for the smell of her bleeding to death, and she was too weak to illusion. I dragged her unconscious body until I reached a homestead. They had a motorcycle; it was the first thing I had ever stolen. Somehow I hot-wired the machine, tied her to the seat, and never looked back."