Wolf at Heart

Chapter Twenty Nine: Sun's Chosen

I sat, numb, on my bed as the boys argued around me. Or rather, Dakota was arguing while Ash was attempting to calmly find his way out of this situation.

"Why would you do something like that, Melody?!" Dakota nearly shouted and I averted my eyes from his furious look. "We could've lost a valuable ally!"

"Leave her alone, Dakota. Let her be for now," Ash stated seriously, still glancing at me cautiously. "Can't you see that she's still trying to cope? She needs time."

But Dakota wasn't having any of it and kept lecturing me. He wasn't the same boy I'd met weeks ago. This new person was rougher, quick-tempered, and aggravated easily.

I wasn't sure if I liked this new version of him.

Then again, we'd all changed some. The burden of the world was resting on our shoulders. If that didn't make a person different then I didn't know what would.

Ash had patiently explained to Erin what was going on after I'd apologized a million times. He'd understood completely and had promised to keep it a secret unless necessary. Knowing I'd needed some time alone, he'd left to go spin a story for our parents to believe.

Dakota was still running his mouth but by now I'd learned to tune him out. That is until he grabbed me by my shoulders and things got messy.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Dakota exclaimed.

"Get off her," Ash said, shoving him away, his tone low and dangerous. "Leave. Her. Alone."

I opened my mouth to intervene but Dakota got there first, sneering. "Oh so now you're trying to control me? What am I, a puppet? While you two were off at the garden, I was ambushed by Predators. And what were you doing? Crying yourself out in the woods."

Feeling an immeasurable amount of hurt, I shut my mouth, letting Ash speak for me.

"We were, as a matter of fact, also ambushed. Dakota, you need to focus on the mission here. Arguing over matters like this won't help."

Smirking, Dakota fell back onto his trusty reasoning: doubt. "How do we even know you're telling the truth about 'saving the world?' You could be lying about everything. Everything!"

"You think I'm lying about this?" Ash replied, summoning a miniature tornado that danced on his palm. "This should be all the proof you need."

"Right, just because you can do that little trick?"

This was getting out of hand.

I'd had enough and stood so that I had their attention. "Dakota, do you hear yourself? Honestly, what happened to you? If you're not going to help then you can stay behind. You can get out and go back to the Lupine or stay and help my family. Or just go off on your own. You have your choices, but I'm not going to put up with these kinds of fights."

Both boys stared until Dakota muttered under his breath as he walked out, "I'll stay with you two. For now."

When he slammed the door closed I turned back to Ash, letting my uncertainty show. "Do you think I said that too harshly? Going out at him like that..."

Ash let me lean on his shoulder while he thoughts. "You had to. You had to draw the line somewhere. And, Mel, you have to realize that Dakota isn't the same boy you met before. I wasn't there all the time, but I saw him changed from the camp. Just let go and accept how he is now."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

Happening to look out the window, I caught a glimpse of the blank sky. An empty sky. No, no, no.