Wolves of Secrets 3: Family Values

Heresy

Skylor fidgeted lightly as she, Garmadon, and the pack's lead healer Mystake sat at Kataru's bedside. In the early hours of that morning, the cub was found in the cubs' tent pale and very feverish. He had been rushed to the Mystake's tent to try and help him. Mystake said that the stress caused by Akita's leaving had helped weaken his immune system. That paired with the elements of the wild and his young age, caused Kataru to contract a terrible disease, possibly an infection.

She couldn't help but think that this was all her fault.

If she had only been more attentive, and not wallowing in her doubts and self-pity about how she was leading the pack. Skylor flinched as Kataur whimpered softly, no doubt his fever spiking. She softly took his scalding hand in her own, gently rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. She would never forget the sheer lifelessness Kataru displayed as they tried to awaken the boy. She had honestly thought he was dead until he released a weak, shaky breath.

It may have been weak and shallow, but to Skylor it was the greatest sound she had ever heard.

As they moved him to the healer's tent, some of the other cubs mentioned he looked a little tired and pale as they were all settling in for the night. The disease must have gotten worse as they all slept. Not to mention the raging infection that must have set in sometime during the night. Skylor looked back to Mystake, hoping she had come up with a way to fix this mess and help him. The red-haired girl was a skilled leader and hunter, but she was no pack healer.

Mystake was one of the oldest members of the wild pack and she was their best healer.

She had a wrinkled face with bushy gray eyebrows and gray hair tied in a low bun. She was wearing a dirty, torn, white T-shirt with a gray zippered sweater that was broken with white and red dots. She wore torn-up gray pants on her legs, with the right leg torn off just under the knee. As all three of them tended to Kataru's sickness, they all failed to notice they were being watched from the tent's opening. The strong smell of Mystake's herbs and potions successfully hid the onlooker's scent.

"He's burning up." The healer frowned as she wrung out the cold, wet cloth before she placed it back onto the cub's sweltering forehead.

"It's dark of the moon tonight." Skylor dismissed as she gathered more blankets.

"But he's never been this bad before," Garmadon argued and Skylor sighed.

"I'll bring him more water, and meat." She said and got up to leave, but Garmadon stopped her.

"It's Souls Night; no one eats anything, it's the code." He said a look of fear and worry on his face. He may not believe in Souls Night like the others of the wild pack, but he knew that if she kept going against these ancient traditions like this it could be the end of her. Breaking the rules of Souls Night might just be the straw that broke the camel's back. Who knows what the pack would do to her if she lost her title of Alpha.

"Yes, but this boy needs food." She insisted and left the healer's tent. She headed for the tent where they stored their food and came out with a small bowl that was filled with rabbit and deer meat. As she started walking back to the healer's tent, she saw that Acronix and Krux were standing beside a large tree a few feet from the tent. They were surrounded by all the cubs and a few other older werewolves. She recognized the formation as a storytelling circle. At first, she thought the twins were trying to distract the cubs, but she was quickly proved wrong.

"Long, long ago, the Gods commanded that living werewolves should have all the animals of the Earth to eat, except on Souls Night," Acronix explained to the group, before turning to face Skylor, but he didn't address her directly. "But the leader was a headstrong, stubborn creature; on the night of the long moon she gorged herself on succulent flesh, she had defied the Gods and no harm had come to her!"