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Chapter 13: As the Flowers Wilt/A Great Day for Freedom

This chapter is shorter than normal, but it contains a backdoor pilot chapter for a series which will take place throughout this story called "In Shades of Grey."

The shadows of the trees around them grew long as the waning light was slowly beaten back by the encroaching darkness. Night was on the approach and the moon was now preparing to take control of the sky.

In the wake of the fading day, the fourteen shuffled through the thickening woods, and they all shared the will to stay close together. The last thing that they wanted now was to get separated. They had lost enough to the war as it was, and there was not one amongst them who wished to lose anybody else, because now they were all each other had left. Friendships grew stronger, and even enemies or strangers quickly became allies in the wake of the war; it was just sad, as they all realized, that it took bloodshed to bring them all together.

There was a halt from the front of the group as Eve and Amina paused to make an announcement and all eyes fell upon them.

"We'll rest here for the night," Eve informed, "then come daybreak, we'll move on."

The group released a simultaneous sigh of relief. Finally they would get to rest their aching paws. They had been walking all day with little rest between the long miles, and even still, rest was not granted to all between these legs of their adventure. Each time they stopped, three different alphas were selected to fan out and hunt, but in all of the four hunts they had attempted, so far they had only scrounged up enough food to feed the pups.

But right now, those who had not eaten were too tired to take heed to their stomachs. All they desired right now was to allow their tired eyes to close and see what realm they would venture into when sleep finally overcame them.

Eve kept a watchful eye on the group and systematically counted just to be sure that they still had everybody, but was pulled away from her task when she was addressed by her mother.

"Eve?" Amina called, which caused the former Western leader to turn to her.

"Yes?" she asked.

"You should go lie down," her mother advised, "we've had a long day. It's time to get some rest."

Eve hesitated, because she felt as though somebody should stay and watch over the group.

"But, shouldn't we have a night watch?" she asked in a fashion that expressed her concern.

Amina chuckled and shook her head.

"Everything will be alright," she assured as she placed a paw on her daughter's shoulder, "you've done enough."

Eve nodded and turned away then followed her mother to the far side of the designated sleeping area. Silence carried the two of them on their way and once they had arrived at the place where they wished to bed down for the night, they separated, though they did not go their separate ways. Wordlessly the two sat across from each other and averted their eyes to the ground.

"Quite a day we've had," Eve began distantly in an attempt to stave off the awkward silence that threatened to thicken the air.

Amina nodded.

"Yup," she replied as she allowed her eyes to meet her daughter's, "everything is moving along nicely, considering that we don't even really have a place to go."

Eve lowered her eyes to her paws for a moment then lifted them again as she spoke.

"We'll figure it out," she replied in a tone that betrayed the uncertainty that she tried so desperately to hide from the group, "more likely than not, we'll just merge with another pack somewhere."

Amina nodded in reply.

"Yeah, I just hope that they take kindly to strangers," she mused, "you never know with our kind."

Eve took her turn to nod then allowed her eyes to migrate to the ground to her right.

A silence ensued as the two sat across from one another, one which seemed to drone on forever until finally Eve cast it away with a sigh.

"When did the innocence die?" she asked wistfully, which caused Amina to turn to her, "when was it that we allowed our lives to get so chaotic and out of control?"

Amina sighed as she contemplated her daughter's words.

"To be completely honest, I think that we were all born as sinners into a dying world," she answered, inquisitively, "chaos, fear and uncertainty have been all we've ever known, so we grew up learning how to content ourselves with simply standing aside and watching our own existence unwind around us."

Eve felt a twinge of anger flicker to life inside of her.

"Yeah, and just as soon as light dares to even make an attempt to be birthed into existence in the void it is quickly snubbed out," she seethed bitterly, "just like what happened to my daughter." She then sighed as her anger subsided. "And just like what happened to my husband."

Amina sighed inwardly and rose to her paws then moved over to her daughter's side then sat and gently placed her paw atop of hers.

"Baby I know it's hard right now," she began, "it's been hard for all of us since everything happened, but the worst of it is behind us."

Eve shook her head slowly as she allowed her ears to fold flat against the top of her skull.

"No," she replied as she felt a lump begin to swell up inside of her throat, "the worst part is knowing that all of this death has been and will be for nothing- and that will always remain with us, no matter how much time goes by."

Amina watched as a tear snaked through the fur on her daughter's cheek and wiped it away with her tongue.

"You're right," she agreed, "the memories and the pain we feel right now are things that will never go away, not completely anyway, but you must believe me when I tell you that her death was not meaningless."

Eve lifted her teary eyes to her mother with a sniff.

"I believe that this was Kate's way of opening our eyes," she continued, "she saw that what we were doing was wrong and she spoke out against it, but when she spoke, nobody listened, so she did what she had to in order to finally get our attention. She gave her life so that she could make sure we never made the same mistake again." A pause. "It's just sad how the dead often speak louder than the living."

Eve closed her eyes tightly as she fought back the tears which stung them.

"And what of my husband?" she asked in a voice that was strained by another clench in her throat, "and the others?"

Amina wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders and pulled her in close.

"It's very difficult to have a revolution without staining the fields red," she replied.

"But it's not a revolution," Eve argued as she pulled away, "it's vengeance."

"It is only vengeance for now," Amina agreed, then offered the part of her mind which possessed her dissenting opinion, "but if they allow enough time to pass they will realize the real reasons why they were fighting and will search for a better way to resolve the issue so that the lives of those whom they hold dear will no longer be the factors that decide who was right and who was wrong."

"But how many more lives will it cost?" Eve choked, "how many more of us must die to change what should have never been made law in the first place?"

Amina sighed and lowered her head.

"Only time will tell," she replied, "but I have the greatest faith that they will be able to see past this time of war and do what they all know to be the right thing."

Eve nodded slowly. She found a sense of comfort in her mother's words, but in the back of her mind, doubt still remained to pull at her forethought.

"I know they will," she concurred, though it seemed as though she was trying to convince herself that she agreed more so than her mother, "after all, I know who my husband truly is, even if he lost touch with that. I know that he will find himself again."

Amina smiled softly and rose to her paws.

"Yes," she agreed, "I know he will."

Eve allowed a vague smile to tug on the corners of her mouth and rose to her paws as well.

"I love you, mom," she said as she stepped forward and wrapped her neck around her mother's.

Amina smiled and returned the embrace.

"I love you, too," she replied.

For a matter of about thirty seconds, the two remained in the embrace before Amina lifted her muzzle off of her daughter's shoulder.

"Now go on and get some sleep," she said as she pulled away, "we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

In Shades of Grey

Chapter 1: Metamorphosis

Giving a damn is for suckers.

She figured that out the hard way after What'sHisName betrayed her. So now she decided that she did not care for anybody but herself, because caring for others only led to heartbreak, and she was not going to subject herself to that ever again.

She would rather die.

Such bitter thoughts, precipitated by a heart which was plagued by anguish, transformed her into a creature of bitterness and spite and destroyed all of that inside of her which was pure.

He never loved her. Nobody ever did. The dream in which she lived was over. Now it was time to grow up and face reality. And what a reality she faced.

Because she was forced to grow up in a matter of a day, the omega had died, but the alpha which would have replaced it never existed inside of her, so all that was left was a killer.

But she did not kill for thrills. After all, killing, while incredibly fun, was a business. She killed to eat, and she killed to survive, though occasionally it seemed as though she killed to be killed herself.

There was nothing crafty about her hunts. There were no stunts, there was no strategy, nor plan. She would simply choose a place somewhere along her journey away from the West to lie in wait for her next victim to approach and charge head on with no regard for her safety or care for the risk of personal injury. If she succeeded then she got to eat, but if she failed, she would either go hungry or would have been killed, and all of her problems would be over forever.

Either way it worked, she would be getting exactly what she wanted.

This time, luck was in her favor, and she walked through the dimming woods with a belly full of warm deer meat, away from the remains of the little fawn which now lied scattered about the clearing in which she had caught it. She briefly thought about What'sHisName as she moved the fur over her eye once more, and was grateful that he at least taught her the key to depth perception while hunting before he screwed her over, but quickly erased him from her forethought as a happy tune began to play in her head. She found this tune to be pleasant, so she began to whistle softly to herself as she plodded along her way. She then realized that she still had blood on her lips, so she licked it slowly. Never before had she had such an appreciation for the taste, but now, as she lapped it from her lips, it was like a refreshing desert, and she couldn't get enough.

She found that she was rather enjoying this lifestyle, and found herself wondering why she had not done it sooner. After all, this wasn't so hard. She could have been doing this ever since she was but a pup.

But then again...

Had she left sooner, she would likely not have experienced the metamorphosis which allowed her to survive as she was now. Had she left sooner, she would have left on mutual terms and would still possess all of the adolescent fears which her recent loss had destroyed. She would still be afraid of sleeping alone; she would still be squeamish in the presence of blood, and she would still be a victim of that ludicrous turtle obsession, but the succulent flesh which lied beneath the shell of her first meal broke her of such affinities and thus gave her the confidence she needed to explore new grounds and hunt larger prey.

Looking back, she would never regret her decision to leave, because now that she was freed from the prison which she used to call home, she was free for the first time to do as her heart desired, and the world, vast and wonderful, was hers to explore. And she figured that she should thank What'sHisName for at least presenting her with such an opportunity, but after proper recognition was given where it was due, she resolved to never think of him again, and once she again allowed his memory to fade from her mind, the smile returned to her lips and the song played once more in her head. She closed her eyes and began to hum softly as her step became lighter. Then, almost on a dime, her troubles faded from thought and she disappeared into the undergrowth of the forest.