Nature is not a place to visit 10

Chapter 10
*“It all starts with a tiny, stupid idea.”*
*Richie Norton*
All twenty-seven of us left in the dead of night.
I gave one last lingering hug to my brother, let some of the pack members hug me goodbye and tell me how proud they were, and then we left.
Marcus had us transform into our wolf forms, our supplies securely attached to our backs as we traveled. There was no
point in staying human, not when we were fastest on four legs.
We were silent as we ran. Usually when I transformed for patrols or training, everyone was laughing and joking around.
That wasn’t the case tonight – the forest air felt heavy and thick with tension, as if most of us were trying to come to
terms with the craziness we were about to commit.
I tried not to think about how terrible our odds were, how well-trained and vicious the Blood Moons were, or the fact
that they’d have the home-court advantage.
*Maybe they can put it on my tombstone. It’ll read: Stupid Girl Who Should’ve Just Stayed Home & Eaten Cheetos.*
*But knowing Hudson, he’ll put something cheesy and sentimental on there, but maybe the people who visit my grave
should know just how stupid and impulsive I was in the last hours before my death*.
As we ran with Marcus leading the group, I noticed Rae’s dark brown wolf sidle up next to mine. Her wolf was larger than
mine, leaner and more agile, but unmistakably Rae.
As her fur brushed against mine, her eyes flickered to mine momentarily.
She said nothing – not that she really could in wolf form – but this felt like as close to an apology as I was going to get
from her right now. Given how much Rae hated swallowing her pride and apologizing, it was more of a gesture than it
might seem. Perhaps, when this was all over and we’d both made it out alive, we could have an actual conversation.
*I’d hold a grudge if I wasn’t heading toward my death – literally. I don’t want to spend what little time I might have left
angry at my best friend, especially over something said in the heat of the moment.*
In response, I pushed against her flank playfully as if to say, *it’s okay.*
I could see the relief in her eyes when she looked away from me, and for the rest of the run, she didn’t leave my side.
🌔🌕🌖
It’s funny – I’d never realized that time could move lightning quick and agonizingly slow. We ran through the night with
the silence of our paws hitting the forest floor and anxiety seeping through the air like water. To pass the time, I kept my
mind on the good stuff – memories of Hudson, of Rae, of my parents.
For some reason, my mind strayed to one particular memory: the memory of my mom reading me the story of the Moon
God each night before bed. Over the years, I’d slowly lost the ability to clearly picture my mother’s face in my mind. I
could no longer remember the way she used to part her hair or if her nose was hooked like mine. I had to rely on pictures
to refresh my memory.
But I never forgot her voice. Even to this day, I could clearly hear the soothing timbre as she explained how one day, maybe even in my lifetime, the Moon God would come back. That his mate would pull him from his eternal slumber and
save the werewolf world from crumbling.
I knew it was just a stupid story, but for some reason, thinking about it brought me comfort.
I continued to replay that story in my brain as the light of dawn bled through the sky.
*We’ve reached the halfway point*, Marcus’ voice rang through the mind link and pulled me from my thoughts. It was
good timing too – the exhaustion from running all night was starting to catch up with me.
*There’s a clearing just up ahead where we’ll camp out. Go ahead and shift back,* he continued.
There was little shyness as we all found trees and bushes to shift behind, quickly slipping on our clothes. We’d all seen
each other naked a thousand times, although I definitely *didn’t* blush when I caught a glimpse of Luke’s ass right
before he pulled on a pair of shorts.
*Yeah, definitely not.*
I slipped into a pair of track pants that allowed for easy movement and one of Hudson’s sweaters that I was practically
swimming in. Rae stuck to my side the whole time, even as we all congregated around Marcus. Fully clothed, of course.
It didn’t take us long to reach the clearing that Marcus had spoken about. “Go ahead and start unpacking supplies,” Marcus ordered, “I know we’ve all been running tonight and we’re all tired, but we need to set up camp first, run a few
patrols to make sure the area is as secure as it seems. After that, we’ll eat and run through the plan.”
“And then we’ll get to sleep?” Luke asked. He looked just as exhausted as I felt.
Marcus nodded. “Of course. We’ll sleep through the rest of the day, pray to the Moon God tonight and run through the
night again. If it all goes smoothly, we’ll be attacking at first light.” None of the exhausted faces in the clearing looked
like they wanted to argue, and Marcus began dishing out who’d run patrols first and who’d set up camp.
Both Rae and I ended up helping set up camp, and there were no complaints from me. As tired as I was, I was probably
better off setting up a tent than I was patrolling the border of the clearing for signs of danger.
It wasn’t until Marcus had joined the patrols and was out of earshot that Rae decided to be chatty. “I can’t believe he wants us to attack at dawn,” Rae hissed to me quietly as we unraveled a tarp. “Setting up camp and sleeping through the
day is a waste of time if you ask me. We’re better off running through the rest of the day and attacking at midnight. We’ll
catch them off guard.”
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*Man, if I had a dollar for every time that Rae had a problem with Marcus’ plan, I’d probably have enough cash to rent an
apartment in the city for Hudson and me.*
“We’re all exhausted, Rae,” I said, “And we’re about to walk into a fight that’s already not looking good for us. I think we’re gonna need a little extra rest.”
She scoffed but didn’t say anything to refute my argument.
“If you’re that convinced, you should take it up with Marcus,” I added.
“Yeah, right,” she muttered, “Marcus isn’t listening to anyone but himself. The guy has been in a few battles, and
suddenly, he knows everything.”
“That’s more battles than we’ve been to,” I replied. Rae may have been fired up, but right now, all I wanted was to get at
least three hours of sleep before someone clawed my face off.
“And all this stuff about praying to the Moon God,” Rae continued as if she hadn’t even heard me, “Just another time waster.” Rae continued to mutter to herself as we finished setting up the tarp.
“Rae,” I finally said, “I know you want revenge, but barreling headfirst into a fight is –”
“I do want revenge,” she cut me off with narrowed eyes, “And I thought you did too. I thought that’s why you were here.
I thought you’d finally seen reason, that you wanted to avenge your parents.”
“I do want to avenge my parents.”
*I’m here for you*, I wanted to say but I didn’t. It’s not as if that would get through to her. If anything, Rae would
probably only be offended at the thought that I’d come to protect her.
“And I’m avenging mine,” Rae said, “It’s what they’d want, it’s what they deserve.”
She turned back to her task as if the discussion was over, but I quietly added, “Maybe it’s what they deserve, but it’s not what they’d want. If my parents were here, they’d want me to live in peace, not die for revenge.”
I saw Rae stiffen at my words, but she didn’t say anything and we continued to work in silence