Children of Night and Snow

28. Into The Mountains

"What are those?" I asked looking at Devan, who was currently putting a set of extra clothes as well as some first aid stuff into a strange looking leather backpack.

"They are our wolf backpacks," Demi explained as she put a plate with some eggs and bacon in front of me. "You put them on when they are loose and when you shift, they sit perfectly on your back. It's how we carry supplies with us during hunts, just in case we need to shift back into human form. You can borrow mine today," she added, pointing at her backpack hanging on the hanger by the door.

"That's really cool," I commented, doing the best to eat my breakfast as fast as possible, so that I could get ready as well. Today was December 19th, two days until Winter Solstice. Winds were now at their coldest and the skies were at their darkest. It would be a long while before we would see even a hint of daylight again. I tried to not think about it as I began to get ready for my first hunt. There was enough on my mind as it was. I was nervous about leaving Duskfall for the first time since I came here almost half a year ago. It was also the first time I went out to hunt, to intentionally kill something so we could eat. And then there was the fact it would only be Nolan, Devan and me for the next two days, somewhere in the freezing wilderness. I wasn't sure I was ready to do this, but Devan left no room for argument when he said I would be going, because I needed to start applying my training into real life.

"Okay, good luck! We'll see you on Solstice morning," Lucia hugged me at the door, shielding my now naked body from everyone. I still felt uncomfortable with the nudity, doing my training shifts only under a blanket, but there was no escaping it now. I admired everyone else for being so comfortable with themselves to not worry about it. I was also thankful that they didn't comment on my hesitance too much aside from occasional jokes from Connor or Nolan. And that they treated this like the most casual thing. Still, in my mind, all I could think of were the comments, the jokes and the laughs of people at school, when Shane sent my nudes to everyone. I remembered the degrading messages and comments on social media.

While I was happy that I didn't have to read them anymore, I did miss the tool. I wished I could log on and let people know that I was alive and doing okay now. Would they even care, though? I used to think I was popular once, loved even. Girls wanted to be me, guys wanted to be with me. I had it all, I was the best. But then Colin left me for Lilian and things changed. I still heard Lana's words from that Summer Solstice day in my head. I was the mean girl, the one they only put up with because of Colin. Why would they miss me now? Maybe it was better I could no longer see my messages, maybe I was better off not knowing what my legacy in the Moonvalley was. I no longer was that girl anyway. A lot has changed. I changed.

There was still a bit of a dull ache lingering in my bones after the shift, but it was so insignificant I barely noticed as I took on my wolf form, my borrowed leather backpack on my now massive shoulders. I was still nowhere near the size of the two giants in front of me, but that changed nothing about the fact that my wolf pretty much doubled in size since I started my training. We walked through the gates of Duskfall in silence, two brown wolves by my sides, Nolan to the right, Devan to the left. And in front of us? Only mountains covered in layers of ice and snow, towering over the town we just left behind as well as other settlements barely visible as flickers of light in distance and the Frozen Wastes beyond. It was now only us, utter darkness and icy, unforgiving wind howling in my ears.

"We have about three hours to reach the cave, we should do that first since it seems like we'll get hit by the storm tonight," Devan spoke in our minds. A storm. I've only seen one here so far and it was nothing like the ones I was used to at home. There was no lightning and heavy rain that would clear the hot dry air. It wasn't a welcome reprieve from the summer heat. No, here a storm meant snowstorm. It meant incredibly strong icy winds, a lot of snow and avalanche risks. If humans got stuck in a storm like this, they were pretty much dead. Werewolves were far better equipped for the conditions. Our body heat was much higher, we had supernatural speed, strength and stamina on our side as well as significantly heightened senses. Still, my first hunt being in a storm was a terrifying prospect.

"Freya, move it!" I heard Devan's order in my mind bringing me back from my thoughts. Him and Nolan were now quite a bit ahead of me. Uneasiness gripped me as I increased my speed and caught up with them.

"Are we close?" I asked both of them through the mind link. The World around us remained the same inhospitable wasteland as we climbed further and further into the mountains for hours now, not stopping for anything. I was grateful for my training now, even if the exhaustion began to slowly creep up on me. If it weren't for my increased size as well as body heat and heightened senses, I wouldn't stand a chance here. It made me realize how lucky I was that they took me in, that Devan and Nolan and now even Connor were willing to train and teach me. If it weren't for them, I would never survive here.

"Yeah, just another half an hour or so. Are you doing okay?" Nolan replied, looking at me, clearly checking how I was doing. The news that we were close cheered me up. I really didn't want to tell them I was already tired. Especially since they looked as fresh and ready as they did when we left.

"I'm alright," I sent back a response as we began climbing a particularly steep part of a mountain. There were points where we had to use our claws to grab onto the ice in order to push ourselves up, yet another thing I couldn't imagine doing a few months ago. Training I went through was one thing, but actually testing all this stuff out here in the real conditions, showed me just how much of our abilities we practically lost during our evolution in Summerlands. Well, not lost, it just lied dormant within us along with our wolves. We didn't need it.

The climate was too warm for us to have our werewolf body heat, sun almost never set, so we didn't have enhanced vision in the dark, there were no icy mountains to climb, so we had no use for steel hard, massive and deadly sharp claws. We didn't need size or canines for self-defense either. We became lazy, harmless. If I now returned home, I would have been impossible for the clan to handle should I choose to attack. The thought of that made me chuckle inside. The resentful, vengeful side of me which has been quiet for so long woke up and found this quite ironic.

Finally, we climbed up the steep slope and found ourselves on relatively even ground of a small clearing surrounded by black frozen rock and thick forest. The wind was picking up on speed but aside from that, there was no sign of life anywhere. On our way up here we at least saw occasional bird fly by or a rabbit or a deer running away from us, but right now there was nothing. The silence was a haunting sign, a clear warning to take immediate shelter before the storm hit. We had mere minutes left to hide.