Three empty graves. Three families crying in a somberly snowy blur. Murder. Loss. Hate.
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, just outside of the kingdom's borders, lay a secret funeral of an untold loss. Three people sent to the grave for the hunters' benefit and the kingdom's prosper.
"I can't take this anymore," mumbled a voice through the sobs. The owner of the voice, Jake Pierce, walked sullenly into the cave where he lived. Yes, he lived in a cave, but he had no other choice. After a while, it seemed more like a home, but it would never be the same as a real one.
Jake didn't mind, for he was one to accept things. He never had a sad frown and made sure no one else did either. He was obnoxious and cracked jokes and laughed and did everything it took to make people do the same things. In his conditions, that was a very hard thing to do. Especially in times like these.
He knew better than to joke at a funeral. He knew better to keep quiet and somber. He knew better because he has accompanied many funerals, as awful as it is. Yes, Jake was loving and did not hate most things, but one thing he despised in this world was the people who murdered Jake's kind. The hunters.
Jake wanted it to stop, but the people of the kingdom blame them for all of their deaths, and no one was going to change their minds. However, Jake still wanted to try.
"Son? Why are you not mourning with the people?" he heard his father asked hoarsely. His shadow danced along the rough walls of the cave, made by the light reflecting off the blinding snow.
Jake turned to face his father regrettably. He has wanted to go out into the Banished Lands since young, and that yearn has never stopped. Every year, he asks again and again until he is given permission to do so. And every year, the permission to do so is denied.
"I can't take this anymore," Jake repeated, "Dad, we can't be living like this!"
"Living like what exactly? What else do you expect us to do?" his father argued. They both had tempers not to be messed with.
"I don't know! Not hide, fight maybe? No one can take this freezing snow anymore! No one wants to starve to death for fear of being killed! No one wants to attend funerals once or twice a month because of stupid murderous men who want to eat us and sell our skin for money!" Jake argued back, "No one wants to be killed for being accused of something we didn't do! Dad, they think we are 'just animals'. Can we not show our true selves, and, I don't know, tell them to lay off the killing sprees?"
"Jake, it is not that simple and you know it," his father scolded.
"Then let me go out there! Let me go inside the borders as a scout. I will go as a human and pretend to be one of them-"
"Son-"
"And! And I could maybe convince them to appreciate wolves. Maybe, just maybe, they could have some sympathy-"
"Jake-"
"Maybe they won't, but I can still try! I could even take a team out there, if it's really that dangerous! Dad, I want to go to the Banished Lands. I want to try for peace and-"
"Jake Robert Pierce!" his father boomed, " Many times I have said no to this, and many times I will say it again! We can not have anyone risking their lives for peace! No one in that kingdom will have sympathy for the beasts they claim us to be! No one will trust-"
"A werewolf?" Jake finished, knowing what he was going to say, " No one would believe us, you're right. Do you know why? Because they don't even know we exist!"
"And do you realize what would happen if we revealed ourselves? Nothing but evil! Son, they kill their own kind! They will not have regrets for killing off what they've been killing off for years! They will just grow stronger with arms! Knowledge is deadly, Jake. A deadly thing indeed."
"But it's also a strength! We could live in actual houses, Dad!"
"Not if we are refugees!" his father shot, "And you, of all people, I am not allowing to go out there!"
"Why not?!" Jake yelled back. His father grabbed his hand and dragged Jake out of the cave. He pointed to a small girl crying at the legs of her mother. Jake recognized this child as the daughter of one of the deceased.
"That's why," his father growled quietly, "I will not lose you like I lost my parents. You and your mother will not be harmed as long as I'm alive." His father then trudged through the snow, back to the ceremony to mourn.
Jake sighed, knowing the argument was over, and decided to walk over to the little girl.
Jake knew the story of how his grandparents died. The story was supposed to strike fear in him, but it only encouraged him to end all of this. To do good.
"Hey there," Jake said softly to the little girl, getting her attention and bending down to her level. The girl's dirty face made her look tan. She looked like a Native American with her silky, long black hair and her warm brown eyes. She was clutching a small doll made out of sticks, leaves, and rocks that were bound together with twine. Tear streaks ran down her face and dropped into the snow in silence.
"C-Can," she stuttered softly, her voice as fragile as the wind that carried it, " Can you bring my daddy back?" Silence. Jake's heart broke at the question. He wasn't going to break this small pup's heart with his answer. He wouldn't dare.
"I-I don't know," he said softly, "But I will make sure this won't happen ever again, okay?"
"Okay," the girl whispered, but gave a gratitude-filled look with her eyes. He sat up.
And so Jake was now set. If he was going to die, he was going to be the last. He marched back to his cave with a determined gait and wrote a note on the wall with some chalk that scouts had returned with one day.
"I can't take this anymore. I'm going. I'm sorry."
He was about to sign his name underneath when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jake whipped around, frightened, only to face his beautiful, caring mother. Her blond hair spilled in curls like waterfalls and her skinny pale fingers grasped his shoulder firmly with hidden strength. His mother's intimidating, icy blue eyes bore into his identical ones.
"Jake?" she questioned. She glanced between Jake, the note, and the chalk in his hand. Jake grew antsy at her gaze, shuffling his feet at being caught. She suddenly then smirked and shook her head.
"I knew your father was being too naive with this," she chucked, "Seems I was right."
Jake inwardly snorted. Mom is always right.
"You can't just tell a nineteen-year-old to not go somewhere. Especially a nineteen-year-old wolf with an outgoing personality like yours. It was only a matter of time," she continued.
"Mom-"
"Oh don't mind me," she said, turning her back to him and walking over to her makeshift chair, "It's your decision to make, son. I'll tell him that I saw nothing."
"But... soulmates can't lie to each other..." Jake trailed off, amazed that his mom was allowing him to go on with this.
"Then you better start going, shouldn't you?" she said, picking a small bone off the floor and twirling it in her fingers. Jake smiled brightly and when up to hug her.
"Thanks mom," he smiled.
"Of course, but can you do something? For my sake?" she asked, petting his hair. Jake pulled away.
"What is it that you want me to do?" he asked. She smiled softly.
"Hear my words of wisdom," she commanded," A chair can not be broken by being fixed. Though, chair can be fixed by being broken. Calm yourself in times of need, and always remember-"
"Don't hold your head higher than your heart," they said together. Jake smiled.
"I know Mom," he said, rolling his eyes, "You've been reciting that same stuff since I was little. Care to tell me what it means now?"
"You will find out when the time comes," she smiled, "Now go. He will be here soon." Jake nodded and walked out of the cave freely, the feeling of euphoria was creeping up on his pounding heart. However, before stepping out of the cave, he turned to his mother once more.
"Mom?" he asked. She smiled sweetly.
"Yes, Jake?" she questioned.
"I-I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she said. He smiled, turned, took a deep breath, and then stepped a foot out of the cave, making a crunching sound in the snow. Jake looked down at his foot, realizing this could be the last time he steps out of this cave he calls home. He looked at the bare woods before him, then back at his foot. Should he go?
His eyes flicker to the crying little girl. He scanned the faces of the pack. All of them were downcast and most had tears. They were all crying for a dead friend, a dead family member. In a small pack, you know everybody. Jake also knew those who died.
No.
He will go.
For the sake of his pack, he will die for justice.
He took a deep breath and kept walking to the edge of the woods. The trees were a surprisingly stark gray, and past them was a forbidding and fearsome darkness.
"How long is it going to take you to leave?" came a hurt voice behind him. Jake turned to see his best friend, David, standing behind him with a sad look on his face. David was different than all of the rest of the typical werewolves. He had a lanky frame and was as pale as the moon, and, as far as Jake knew, had only one friend. He wasn't as confident and usually hid behind Jake's back at times, but Jake was fine with that. For his height and species, he was unusually shy and distant, like a tall child.
"Did your father finally let you go?" he asked, quietly. Jake looked down and twiddled his fingers.
"Uh, no," he answered, scratching the back of his neck, "Actually, I'm going without permission." David's grey eyes widened.
"You are going without permission from the Alpha?" he asked in awe.
"I don't care, okay? If I can stop this from happening again, I will. Not even the Alpha will change my mind," Jake said seriously.
"Okay, I get it. Just-Just promise me one thing," David said, his sensitive feelings allowing a few tears well up in his eyes. Jake thought David was brave because of this. All of the other boys were scared of crying because it shows weakness, but David wore his feelings on his face as if he was proud of them.
"What's that?" Jake asked.
"Just d-don't die," he breathed. Jake hesitated. How could he promise that? How could he be sure of his safety? He looked at David with those pleading eyes, and then to his father in the distance.
"I-I promise," he said. David nodded, then smiled.
"'Til the king is dead?" David joked holding a hand up. Jake smiled at their childhood joke. They used to play as if they were kings of the monstrous, evil werewolf-killing kingdom, and the other would raid the pretend kingdom with their army of pretend wolves. Whoever was raiding the kingdom would shout 'Fight 'til the king is dead! ' Later on, the phrase stuck and became their secret code. Jacob clasped his hand happily to David's.
"'Til the king is dead!" he agreed. They chuckled together, but unfortunately the chuckle died when reality hit. Jake might never see David again.
"Well," Jake closed, backing away, "Bye...David." Jake cleared his throat.
"Bye, best friend," David smiled, " Go change the world." Jake nodded, then turned back to the woods.
No stopping now.
He changed into his wolf form, ripping his clothes in the process, and ran into the darkness. He didn't realize that in that moment, his life would change forever.
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