Calliope's Wolf - Book 1

Calliope races to the west. She stops for no one, waits for no one. Mind links are coming at her left and right, but she doesn’t respond to any.

Kill them, she repeats over and over to herself and Giizis. There can be no escape for them.

No matter how badly she wants to be where Theo is, she can only run so fast. Her large size slows her down in the woods. Warriors from her pack and nearby packs push themselves to catch up to her. In all, over 100 wolves were running to Theo.

Abigail ran alongside Calliope, keeping a close eye on her. Rayne stayed home, coordinating messengers to go out to all the packs. Everyone must be informed of Theo’s death. Any pack that didn’t border the outer territories was to send their warriors out. All other warriors were to go to the borders to watch... to wait.

Calliope, Abigail called out to her through mind link, but there was no response. What if they are still there? Do we fight them?

Kill them, Calliope answered curtly.

Abigail whimpered to herself. Calliope wasn’t one to resort to violence; she hated killing people. But they broke her; killing Theo broke her.

Within a few hours, they were on the edge of the clearing. Giizis stopped, quickly taking a moment to smell the air. She listened but couldn’t hear anything. Her warriors ran off to the left and a group to the right.

Where are they going? Calliope asked Abigail.

I sent them to circle the perimeter of the meadow, Abigail answered. It’s best we know if another ambush is waiting or not.

Giizis watched as both groups went around in a circle. Both returned, neither seeing anything in the woods. She ran out to the meadow and stopped when she found Theo. He was back in his human form, his head several feet away from his body. Giizis shifted, allowing Calliope to touch him one last time.

Calliope sank to her knees. She could feel the ground was wet beneath her. The air smelled of mud and iron. But she still couldn’t see. Everything was black. Her hands trembled as she reached out but only found grass.

She gasped as someone took her wrist.

“It’s me,” Abigail whispered. She gently pulled Calliope until she touched Theo.

Calliope ran her hands up to his shoulders and down his arm. She gripped his hand and lifted it to her face. The smell of orange blossoms and pomegranates was fading. She sniffed as she started to cry.

“It wasn’t my death, was it?” She whispered to his corpse. “It was your death all along.”

“My Great Luna,” Abigail said gently as she squatted beside her. “Did you see where the ambush came from?”

Calliope nodded. She gave the palm of his hand one last kiss. She stepped back and shifted. She looked down; it was blood she was sitting in. His blood? Definitely. But there were others mixed in, too. She looked around the meadow.

They came from the north, south, and southeast. Calliope answered through her tears.

Abigail nodded and yelled out for warriors to group up. She sent groups of 25 in the three directions indicated by Calliope. The rest remained to gather up the bodies. Giizis joined the group that went north.

Do you want to stay to burn the bodies? Abigail asked.

No.

Calliope didn’t want to look at his body again; didn’t want to step in his blood anymore.

Let me know when it’s done, Calliope instructed Abigail.

Giizis sniffed the air and the ground as she walked north. She saw dried mud on the trees and up in the branches. She growled. They must have sat up in the limbs, waiting. The warriors continued north, but a smell caught Giizis’ attention. She broke off and went west.

Giizis smells something, Calliope relayed to Abigail. She is taking me west now.

Abigail redirected some of the warriors to Calliope. She wanted to join her, to keep an eye on her. But first, Theo and the others needed to be burned. The dead rogues and sun wolves could rot above the ground.

Giizis stopped at the edge of a swamp. There are holes from where the mud was dug from. She sniffs the air. There is the faint scent of smoke that she could detect over the stench of the swamp. She looked around. She couldn’t see anything over the thick fog. Giizis stepped into the water and approached the smell of smoke.

We are in the swamp! Calliope called out to Abigail. There is a faint smell of smoke. You better send more warriors my way! If there are rogues or sun wolves here, Giizis will not wait for backup!

More warriors are diverted towards Calliope. They catch up to her right as she spots an island. From shore, this island was hidden in the fog. No one could tell that they were there. She saw wolves and people moving about, packing things up.

Giizis growls as she moves faster in the thick swamp. She charges and kills the first wolf within her reach. She hears a howl, but Calliope is unable to determine if it is one of hers or not. Giizis went into a frenzy.

She jumped from one wolf to the next, to the next. It didn’t matter if they were in their human form or not. If they were alive, she quickly ended their life. Many of those that she attacked, she removed their heads. If Theo died without his, then they would too.

Calliope felt the anger build in her with each kill. And her rage seeped into Giizis. Even her own warriors kept far from her sight, lest they be mistaken for an enemy.

The smell of blood was all that Calliope could sense. She watched as Giizis ripped into the stomachs of those in human form. Ripping out their guts. Their screams filled her ears like music.

Kill them all, she kept repeating to Giizis. She was more than happy to oblige.

Calliope took notice of the lack of weapons that they had. Either they didn’t have many here, or they had taken them away already.

Great Luna! A warrior called out to her. Giizis stopped and looked at the group of horrified wolves behind her.

No one is to live; kill them all! Everyone here must pay for Theo’s death! That is an order! She commanded them. No matter their feelings towards the violence, they couldn’t go against her command.

The wolves ran around in the areas that Calliope had already decimated. They looked for anyone who was hiding or anyone who somehow survived her attacks.

Before long, the small island in the swamp was full of blood, screams, and terror. The once white wolf was covered in mud and blood. With every bite, every swing, the energy radiated from her. With every person she killed, her anger only intensified.

The feralness of Calliope’s Wolf was now being seen by all those beneath her. She had let go of her inhibitions about what Giizis was doing. She no longer felt sick or disgusted with death. No... death only fueled her.

Only when the screams stopped did Giizis stop her rampage. She looked around, ignoring her wolves. She went up to every dead body. She moved the heads of the dead, looking at their faces. Calliope was trying to see if she could see the man who swung the sword and dealt the killing blow. For almost an hour, she searched and doubled back, checking again. She didn’t see the man who killed Theo.

Abigail finally made it to the island and stood in the center, stunned by what all Calliope had done. As she looked at her friend, tears went down her cheeks. This wasn’t the Calliope she had grown up with. This wasn’t the woman whom she served. This was a monster, a feral beast.

You killed everyone, Abigail said over mind link.

Giizis growled and walked over to Abigail. She wouldn’t attack her, but she didn’t like her questioning her Great Luna.

Yes, that was my command to everyone, Calliope answered angrily.

You could have at least left one breathing so we could question them!

They ambushed with tons of silver weapons. Look around! Do you see much silver here? There are a lot more out there.

Which is why we needed someone to question, Abigail retorted. Giizis growled, but Abigail didn’t back down. My Great Luna, you let the rage within you forget thought and reason. This is not what Theo would have wanted! This is not who you are.

Calliope sat back in her wolf’s mind, listening to Abigail’s words. She looked down at her hands. In her wolf’s mind, she could still see. But she felt blind even here. She was blinded with rage.

I-I don’t know what came over me, Calliope says as she looks around, actually looking at the damage she caused.

Grief is a powerful emotion. It leads to anger, rage, and misery. Abigail replied as she stepped up to touch Giizis’ neck.

How many of our people died? Calliope asked after a moment of shock.

Only two died on this island.

Calliope nodded to herself. If she had a destiny after Theo, she didn’t know what it could have been. It couldn’t have been this, killing everything and everyone without care.

“Let’s go home,” Abigail said aloud. She looked around at the warriors. She saw their faces, their eyes. They were scared of their Great Luna. “Return to your packs. Let the word spread of the Great Alpha’s death. Let them know of the massacre here. Let the word spread so it’ll bring fear into those who seek to destroy us!”

None of the wolves howled and cheered at this small victory of theirs. They dispersed, making their way back home. Only those who belonged to Calliope’s pack remained. They shifted to their human forms and surrounded Giizis. They closed in and embraced her.

Everyone here was related to Theo, all descended from his seven siblings. Everyone felt the pain she felt, the sadness and grief. Though she was not related to them by blood, she was their aunt to them. She had been there for each of their births, all their milestones and celebrations. Giizis leaned into the hug, relaxing in their comfort.

Several of them started to howl, which caused everyone else to join in. Giizis was the last to howl. Her howl reached farther, the sad sound extending for over a hundred miles.