Greykin Mountain

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The moment Jackson got back to the ruin, the Etas keeping watch from the top of the walls hurried down, and one of them howled quietly to alert the rest of the pack.

          A flurry of questions was thrown at them—where were Lalo and Aiyana, why did they look so terrified, where was the moose, why was Cleo limping, and why did Tokala look like he'd been fighting—and when they got into the courtyard, the rest of the pack came running, and panic and confusion fell over them heavier than the snow.

          Jackson panted and trembled, searching the crowd for Damon. All he wanted to do now was run into his arms and become ensnared in the safety of his embrace. But when he saw Damon come out from the cellar and hurry over, he was convinced that comforting hugs were going to have to wait.

          But Damon hurried across the courtyard and through the crowd as they made way for him, and instead of running to Tokala to get answers, the Alpha came straight to Jackson, and when Damon reached him, he adorned a relieved expression and nuzzled the side of Jackson's muzzle.

          "Are you okay?" the white wolf asked him.

          "Y-yeah," he replied, trying to calm his racing heart and shivering body. The wound on his leg throbbed, but he didn't want to panic Damon about it—since he hadn't turned into a cadejo, he felt there was no need to worry. After all, it wasn't the first cadejo bite he'd survived, and that really must be because of his demon blood, just as Ridge had told him.

          But Damon looked down at his wound as though he already knew it was there. He could probably smell the blood. "What happened?"

          Jackson glanced around to ensure no one might hear, but everyone was there. "I, uh...the moose nicked me with its antler. I'll be fine, though."

          "Chief," Tokala then said.

          Damon turned to face him. "What the hell happened?"

          "We were dragging the moose back when this storm hit," the orange wolf explained, and he was evidently trying to calm down, but the panic in his eyes wasn't withering. "And this thing just...came out of nowhere."

          "Thing?" Aysel asked before Damon could as she shoved through the crowd to stand close to the Alpha.

          "It looked like a cadejo at first, but this thing was huge. It was bigger than any cadejo I've seen, and it looked...different."

          "Different how?" came Elias' voice. The black wolf stood among the crowd, who gradually fell silent to listen to their conversation.

          "It...I—"

          "It could stand on its back legs," Jackson answered, seeing that Tokala was struggling. "Well, not stand, exactly. It sort of pushed itself up onto its back legs."

          Tokala nodded. "It was too strong for me to take on, too. We had to run."

          "We didn't have to!" Cleo called, pushing away Lance and Bly, who were trying to see to her injured leg. "You just let that thing take Aiyana!"

          "She...she's gone?" Dustu uttered as a distressed frown struck his face.

          Tokala looked at him. "I'm sorry, we—"

          "You just left her! We could have—"

          "Enough!" Damon shouted.

          Everyone fell silent, but Cleo kept a hostile glare on Tokala, and Dustu slowly sunk down to the ground as tears trickled down his furred face.