***

A few weeks later, Sam was on a solo patrol at the northern border. He came across various small prey that he tried to catch along the way, yet somehow they kept alluding him. Am I losing my touch? Or can I just not concentrate because of that cougar’s warning? He licked his lips in frustration and repressed a groan as yet another quail escaped him. 

To make things worse, started to drizzle. The wind blew through Sam’s wet fur, and he shivered. Looks like we’re having an early fall this year. 

He decided to call it a day and go home, ignoring the rich prey scents drifting his way which were now slowly being washed away by the rain. 

When he arrived back at the rendezvous, to his confusion, Lynn was absent. Only a wet Daniel was dozing in the clearing.

Sam tilted his head and walked up to the elderly wolf. “Daniel. Daniel. Wake up.”

“Hmmmmm. Not asleep. Just resting. What is it?” 

“It’s Lynn. Where is she?”

“I don’t know, she said she wanted to stretch her legs.”

“That’s not very much like her.”

Daniel made a noncommittal grunt. “She said she was feeling restless and just needed to go out for a bit, and that she wanted to find some herbs to strengthen me. Not a big deal.”

It is a big deal when there’re rogue wolves in the area! Sam kept his mouth firmly shut to prevent himself saying this aloud, as he knew he couldn’t tell Daniel no matter how much he wanted to. 

“I need to find her!” 

Not waiting for a response from the elderly wolf, Sam dashed into the rain, which was gradually turning into a firm downpour. His fur grew soaked and the wind howled. 

“Lynn!” Sam called. Stress clawed at him. His hackles raised. “Lynn! Where are you?” He tried again to find one of the faintest traces of her scent, but the pouring rain had washed away all of them. All he knew now was that Lynn had gone in this direction, but that was all.

He slowed down to a trot and tried to find Lynn based on sight and hearing instead, feeling hindered by his lack of scenting abilities. “Lynn!” 

A furry lump rested in the mud a tree length away. Sam’s eyes widened and his tail raised in alarm.

In front of him, at the southern border, laid the soaked body of Lynn. She was covered in  bloody bite-marks and scratches. Lynn’s remaining eye was staring into nothing with a mix of fury and fear. Her mouth was wide open in a forever-snarl. Her throat had been torn to rags and drying blood soaked the ground.

Sam just stared,, horrified, his own body tense. A mix of fear, grief and panic went through him all at once. Sam’s heart pounded and his breaths came short and shallow. 

They got her. He didn’t have to catch a scent to know who had done this. The rogue pack was much closer than he’d anticipated, and now Lynn had paid the price. The message they had sent by leaving Lynn’s body here was obvious: get out or you’re next.

Sam repressed a sob as he briefly touched his nose to her muzzle, hoping that somehow he’d still feel her breath. But she was still. Lynn was dead. 

Memories of losing his brothers came back to him, and Sam suddenly couldn’t hold in the emotions any longer. He raised his muzzle to the sky and let out a deep and drawn-out howl of grief. He stood there for what was quite a while, simply howling and letting out all of his emotions to the sky. He half-expected there to be a response, from Daniel or the rival wolves or anyone else. But none came.

Sobbing, Sam finally lowered his head again and stared at Lynn’s broken body. As if losing his best friend hadn’t been bad enough, Sam knew he’d now have to take the next step: He’d have to tell Daniel.

He grabbed Lynn’s body by the scruff, gently as to not further damage her already-fragile neck. He raised her and started to carefully drag her body, which was already growing stiff.

It was a quiet walk back, one which felt like it lasted forever. The only sounds that could be heard were the endless downpour and Sam’s own sobs. Finally, he arrived at some bushes in front of the clearing, not sure what to do next. If he were to just drag Lynn’s body into the rendezvous site, he knew that Daniel would be even more upset. Perhaps trying to break the news gently would be the best option.

He placed Lynn’s corpse under some bushes so it wouldn’t get any more wet, closing her eyes and mouth as best as he could. It looked like Lynn was asleep. I’m so sorry…

He took a deep breath and  trudged into the clearing. Daniel had curled up beneath a tree at the edge, but its sparse canopy wasn’t keeping him dry. Daniel looked up, confused. 

“What was all that ruckus about? You sound upset.” He raised a brow and his milky-white eye seemed to stare directly into Sam. His nose twitched. “ I don’t smell  Lynn with you.”

Sam bowed his head, not sure where to begin. “Daniel, I…I’m so sorry. But Lynn won’t be coming back.”

Daniel frowned. “What are you blabbering about? Of course she will. She just went out to get herbs. I told you—.”

“No. She’s g-gone.” Sam’s voice broke a little. “She’s dead.”

Daniel shook his head. “How do you know that? If you couldn’t find her—”.”

Hesitating no longer, Sam retraced his steps and carefully grabbed Lynn’s body, dragging it into the clearing. Tears poured down his face alongside the rain. He laid her down gently in front of Daniel.

“I’m sorry. I got there too late.” 

Daniel leaned forward and sniffed Lynn’s body. “Lynn, is that you?” He crawled forward slightly and prodded her body with a paw. “Lynn? It is you.”

When Lynn’s body didn’t move under his touch, Daniel’s ears pinned back. “Lynn! Lynn! Can you hear me? Why aren’t you moving?” He started to prod at her body again, every jab firmer than the last. “Wake up! Lynn! LYNN! Wake up! Wake up!”

Sam ‘s heart sunk  further than it already had. He knew that Daniel had to find out the hard truth in his own way. 

“LYNN! Wake up! DAMMIT, wake up! I order you to wake up!” Tears streamed down Daniel’s face. He finally turned his head in Sam’s direction and stopped trying to rouse his daughter. “What happened?”

“She died in a fight,” Sam said gently, his voice cracking again. “Feel her body.. A rogue pack tore out her throat.”

“But...that can’t be! We’re safe here! Far away from the Clan!”

Sam shook his head. “I’ve heard talk of a pack of rogues who are attacking other animals and chasing them from their territories. Lynn must’ve fallen victim to them. I think they placed her body so front and center on the territory border to warn us to move out. Maybe we’ll be next.”

Daniel was only half-listening by now. Crying profusely, he buried his muzzle into Lynn’s bloodstained chest fur. “She can’t be gone! She just can’t be!” he managed to exclaim between sobs. 

Sam simply sat down and waited, giving Daniel the time to process it all. Daniel tried to wake up Lynn a few more times, but then finally seemed to realize she was really gone. He raised his head and tried to howl in his grief, but his voice was too hoarse and he instead broke down into a bout of coughs and sobs.

***

By the time the rain had finally dissipated, Sam had given Lynn a burial. Daniel had simply laid at the near her grave, not saying a word during the whole ordeal. Instead, Sam had said some kind words for his lost friend. When he tried to encourage Daniel to do the same, the old wolf refused. He seemed to be in a daze, hardly processing what was going on.

They sat in silence at Lynn’s grave for a while until night fell. By that time, Sam knew what he had to do next.

“Daniel…” His voice came out hoarse. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Daniel. We have to go.”

No response from the old wolf. His blind gaze simply stared ahead of him.

“I know this is a terrible thing to have to go through,” the brown wolf said gently, “and I’ll miss Lynn forever. But we’re no longer safe in this territory. The enemy could be here any moment. If we don’t move on soon, we’ll be their next targets for sure.”

“I can’t.” Daniel’s response was curt and flat.

“I know you’re old, and that walking hurts for you, but Daniel, we have to try. Lynn would never  forgive me if I let anything happen to you. I’ll attempt to carry you when I can.”

Daniel, straining with effort and pain, finally managed to heave himself to a sitting position. This was the first time Sam had seen him upright in ages. 

The old wolf shook his head. “No. I’m not leaving Lynn.”

“She’s dead, Daniel.”

“I owe it to her to stay. I don’t deserve to move on without her.” He bowed his head in grief. His voice broke. “I never told her… And I’ll never forgive myself.”

Sam raised his brow. “Told her what?”

The humped wolf closed his remaining eye. “It was me. I killed her father.”