Ancient Wolves - Prophecy of the Ruins

Since I didn’t have the best sleep on the cramped sofa last night, I took the chance to take a nap. Sadly that also got interrupted by weird sounds around the house. I didn’t even get to sleep for an hour. Couldn’t I get at least a bit of a break?

Was this another trick from the Vindictoria pack to get me outside? I haltered on the stairway, waiting for the sound to appear again, when a crashing sound from the garden made me shriek. My heart raced, and my sweaty hands slid down the handrail. I wiped them off on my sweatpants and walked to the backdoor, glancing through the glass window to see what had happened.

My wolf paced back and forth in my mind, feeling uneasy, not helping me to stay calm, either.

“Wait a second,” I muttered, unlocked the door, and stared down at the small fluffy pup. “Svea?!”

She barked once, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. I picked her up and took her inside, quickly closing the door behind us again.

“What are you doing here? Weren’t you in the car with the others?”

Another bark echoed through the house as I placed her down on the sofa, taking out my phone and calling Gunnar. He picked up after the first ringing. “Did something happen?”

“Well, not exactly, but did you check if everyone is in the car with you?”

“What do you mean?”

There was a murmur in the background for a moment before I heard. “Svea isn’t here!” from the back of the car.

“Yes, Svea is here with me,” I said. “But I’m surprised that she is. I saw her jumping into the car with you.”

“She always sleeps in a fort of blankets in the backseat. I don’t know, but she must have sneaked out somehow,” Gunnar said.

“The door was open for a while. Maybe she got out when I put the last things into the trunk. I can’t believe that I forgot one of my children,” Tyra added.

I patted Svea’s head as she looked at me with almost a mischievous expression. “You have a lot to think about, same with Gunnar, so I don’t blame you. Besides, you are going to be back soon, anyway. I’m sure things will be fine. We are going to stay inside and watch a movie or something.”

“We are almost home, and I already told Cedric to gather everyone, so we can speak to them. I also reached Jelto, and he is going to come over later, too,” Gunnar said.

I felt a lot lighter hearing that. Besides Cedric and Joseline, Jelto was the only one I believed would fight for me because he liked me. The others most likely will feel forced to do so. “I will see you later, then. Have a safe trip.”

“See you,” he answered, and the phone call ended.

Svea placed her head on my leg, staring at me with her big puppy eyes.

I laughed. “You don’t have to look at me like this. We both know you did something you shouldn’t have. It’s not so safe here.”

She moved closer to me, pressing her body against mine. I wish I wouldn’t feel so comforted by her, but just having someone else here with me made me feel better. Even if my anxiety was skyrocketing because Svea was in immense danger now.

“Would you like to watch a movie?”

Svea jumped up and nodded.

“Okay, let me grab some snacks, and then we can choose a movie to watch,” I said and exited the kitchen. As I came back with snacks and something to drink for both of us, I received five messages back to back. My stomach dropped. I knew whatever I would see there wouldn’t be good. I placed the things on the table and grabbed my phone with shaking hands.

I stared at the unknown number, hovering over the notification as if a bomb would go off when I opened it. I took a deep breath and pressed it, my heart stopping when I saw a photo of George lying on the floor, unconscious. His nose looked swollen and dried blood covered his face and clothes.

I scrolled down to see the other messages, my chest tightening.

If you want to save your friend, you do what I tell you to do.

Meet me at the spot below and come alone. If you bring your friends, this human boy won’t see another day.

You better hurry. We all know how fragile those little humans are.

The last message was a map of the position they wanted me to go to. I felt nauseous, and the room started spinning. I dropped on the sofa, not being able to even think clearly.

They had George, and they would kill him if I wouldn’t rescue him. I had to do something. This was George, the man who saved me when I didn’t know what to do anymore. He was there when I felt so alone and when I didn’t see a reason to move on.

My wolf rebelled inside me, unwilling to risk her life for him.

“You don’t understand!” I screamed at her. “You weren’t there during that time.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. I hurt her, and I knew that. But this wasn’t something to be discussed. George might die if I didn’t react now, and he didn’t deserve that.

I looked at Svea next to me, her eyes wide and her small body shaking violently. I pulled her onto my lap and brushed my hand through her fur. She must feel my inner tumult.

How was I supposed to save George if Svea was here? I couldn’t sacrifice Svea’s safety to save George. But could I sacrifice him?

I fumbled with my phone, calling Gunnar again. This time, it took a little longer before he picked up.

“Yes? Mia? Is everything okay?” He asked breathlessly.

“They have George,” I said, my voice breaking. “And they will kill him if I won’t go there to meet them.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean they have, George?”

I swallowed hard, trying to stay calm, but I couldn’t help feeling annoyed by his question. “They sent me a photo of him, and they are somewhere in the old industrial area, around twenty minutes from here. They wrote if I didn’t go there, they would kill him. And I was supposed to go alone.”

“You are not going there!”

I ground my teeth. “Of course not! I can’t leave Svea here unattended now, can I? But we can’t let him die there, Gunnar!”

There was a long silence on the other end. “I have a group of people who want to join me. We are currently packing a few things, and we will be back soon. I know you want to save him, and I also think we have to, but it’s too risky to go there alone.”

“He might be dead before you get here,” I whispered, feeling tears swelling up in my eyes. “It might take too long.”

“I know, but we will come back as fast as we can. Send me the address of the location. A few of the pack members are going to take their motorcycles, and they will be there faster than me. At least they can observe the area. Just protect Svea for now. Focus on the things you can do right now, and protecting George is not one of those things. Believe me, he wouldn’t want you to go there to risk your life for him. He loves you, and he wouldn’t want you to die.”

Tears rolled down my cheeks, dropping on Svea’s fur. “I don’t know what to do if he dies because of me. He is only in this situation because he met me.”

“No, he is in this situation because the Vindictoria pack is crazy. Don’t worry. He will be okay. You will be okay. Listen to me, Mia. You are strong, and he is strong, too. We are going to save him.”

I nodded, even if I knew he wouldn’t be able to see it. “Come back safely.”

“We will. Stay inside and contact me if the situation changes.”

“I will,” I said and hung up the phone, more tears streaming down my face.

I felt like such a failure. Even though I was the alpha here, I couldn’t protect anyone. Everyone just got hurt because of me.

Svea leaned up, licking the tears off my face. I chuckled and hugged her. “Thank you. This must be very scary for you, too. I’m sorry that I’m not so brave right now. But I will protect you.”

She pressed her body against mine. She trusted me, and I had to do everything in my power to keep her safe. George might not deserve to die, and I want to get him out of there, but it was out of my power right now. I knew that. All I could hope for was that Gunnar and the others would arrive before they would get tired of waiting.

To distract us both, I started the first children’s movie I could find in the library. I didn’t even look at the name, just started it. To my relief, Svea seemed to be interested in it, her eyes glued to the screen.

I stared at my phone, hoping that I wouldn’t receive another message, instead I heard cars stopping in the driveway and doors opening and closing loudly. I sucked in a breath and a shiver ran down my spine. This couldn’t be Gunnar. We stopped our call around thirty minutes ago. He couldn’t be here already. I turned off the television and grabbed Svea, making her yelp in surprise. I pulled open the cabinet and put her inside, placing the small bowl of water next to her and pressing a cushion inside, too. She stared at me with wide eyes, and my heart broke just seeing her this scared. “Listen to me, Svea. Stay inside here. Don’t get out, don’t make a sound. Whatever you hear, stay here, okay? Only come out when someone from the pack is here to let you out. Do you understand?”

She nodded as she pressed her body into the cushion. A loud banging on the front door startled me, my heart racing. “Everything will be okay. Just promise me you will stay here.”

Svea nodded again, retreating even further into the cabinet. I patted her head and closed the cabinet door, pushing it close firmly.

I rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the largest knife I could find, and hid behind the door in the living room. The front door slammed open, and it sounded as if pieces of it crashed to the floor. I wasn’t sure what they used to break it open with, but I was certain it was done for.

Several footsteps echoed through the house, and I pressed a hand over my mouth to silence my breaths.

“There is no use in hiding! We are going to find you!” A man called, his voice dark.

I swallowed hard, feeling sweat running down my back as I heard them wander around the house, and someone went up the stairs, too. I tightened my grip around the knife, counting the seconds in my head, hoping they might give up and leave, but then the ringtone of my phone echoed through the house, and my heart dropped.

They will find me now. I just knew it.