Last Chance to Love (A Howlers Extract)

[flying_wolf24]

Just to see what the people of SBF think of the new version on The Howlers. I have recently been reading the books, Linger and Shiver and that helped alot with this part. Enjoy!

Days past, followed slowly by what seemed like weeks, then more days. No life was seen in this deadly desert of a place. They slowly padded across First Pack territory. First Pack, as they were first known as, were the first wolves to live in the area, they moved into smaller groups after they battled to keep living in this territory. The place use to be a great forest but, after having years of 70 or more wolves padding around, it turned desert and nobody had crossed it since.
“Can you believe the first wolves lived here?” Magica asked Jardia.
“No, not really.” But it wasn’t Jardia that replied.
“Misti!” Magica yelled in surprise. Behind her were the brothers, the ones who had refused to cross the river to Autumn Pack.
“Hang on.” Jardia yapped. “Why should we trust you? You turned your backs on a prophecy and now you want to come back!?” Magica was horrified. Her own mate had just told her sister to leave.
“How dare you!” She growled at him. “She is my sister! She is staying!” Her words came out in a harsh tone.
“She is now the enemy! She is not allowed to come back! How dare you speak against me?” Then, he realised he had said too much. He tried to say sorry, but he couldn’t. He had spoken his own truth, and he could do nothing but let it pass by. Then Magica bit him. And it hurt. She bit him again, even worse than last time. And as she went in for a third bite she stopped. Jardia was wincing in pain, and she couldn’t do it.
“We should probably take him back with us.” Zidye exclaimed.
“No, we’ll leave him here to rot overnight, his is of no use.” Magica grimly replied.
“But, Magica.” Jardia whispered.
“But, nothing!” Magica growled back.
And the group left, they left Jardia in the cold, to rot and starve, to give up all the life he had left.
Last Chance to Love
Last Chance to Love {Jardia}
I lay awake the whole night. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn’t believe that she had left me. I was hoping that he was dreaming and that soon, I would awaken next to her. Warm. Dry. Safe.
But my fantasy was short-lived. As I went to roll onto my side, I remembered what she had done to me.
I could just see it in the moon light, but it was still there. It would take weeks to heal. I couldn’t wait weeks to eat. Frankly, I only had days.
Last Chance to Love {Magica}
“What have I done?” I was awake; I was groaning to myself in nothing more than a whisper. I was lost in the world I had known every place in once. And then I bit it. I bit him. I bit the one I loved. I loved him. I loved Jardia. Once. And once I hated him. But now he is gone. Now I love him again. What was wrong with me? What is wrong with me? The bedding smelled of him once, the smell that was once normal. Now I wanted to smell it again. I wanted him.
I could feel it. I could feel it. But what was it? Was it real? Or did I just imagine it? I felt it again. What was it? I wanted to know, so badly. And I wanted it to be real. Then I realized what it was. Now I didn’t want it. “He’s gone!” I wanted to cry out. “And now more than one of us needs him more than ever!”
Last Chance to Love {Misti}
I heard Magica cry out. I didn’t really. But I heard it. Not a call that everyone could hear. But a silent plea for help. And only I could make sense of it. Why did he have to make it so much harder? I now knew that he had to come back. There was more than once living thing that needed him. Now I knew what was wrong. I ran to her. She was lying awkwardly on one side.
“Misti?” she asked.
“Yes. It’s me. Everything will be alright.” I promised her.
“No. Don’t lie to me Mist. This makes everything worse! Four times as bad in fact. Maybe twice as bad, or three times. Maybe more. But it’s worse now!”
“Your pups will be just fine! They have the whole pack! And we never had a father. We didn’t even have a mother for most of our lives.”
“Yes, but at least we knew who they were! I met father once. My pups will simply grow up, not knowing if they have one! And it was so hard for Zoro and me! We were lost! We were lost in a forest that everybody else knew how to get out of!”
“Yes, but Magica. I’ll help you to help them out of that forest this time.”
Last Chance to Love {Zidye}
I turned over to my right, were Misti was. But she wasn’t there anymore. She had left only moments before, and she had gone to Magica’s den. Sisters like to comfort each other. Right? I was happy to be back with my real family, my brother, my mate, the wolves of the prophecy. I felt so free and happy. I felt invincible. Then I heard Magica cry out. Not really, but I could hear it. So I got up out of the nest and padded across the clearing to the den where they were.
“Misti?” I asked. “Magica.”
“In here!” Misti called from the end den.
“Who’s that?” Magica asked her sister.
“It’s Zidye.” Misti told her.
“He can come in.” Magica replied sadly.
“Can I help with anything?” I asked Misti.
“She needs comfort right now, do you mind getting some fresh moss from beside the river?”
“Of course I can.” I promised.
After a collected a large pile of moss, I made my way back.
“Whoa!” Misti exclaimed. “Are you sure you left enough for the rest of the pack?” I nodded. There was plenty down there; this didn’t even make a dent. I placed it near Magica’s bed and rested my head on the side. She wasn’t in pain, but she wasn’t alright.
“What’s wrong? Is she sick?”
“Worse.” Magica replied.
Then I recognised the scent. The smell that Misti had. The smell of life. And then I realised why it was such a burden. Jardia was gone. How could he say something like that to Misti after this? Maybe he thought Magica would just take it as nothing but a burr in her pelt. And now she was left to drown in burrs. Drowning. And she was almost dead, covered in a burden.