Chapter 120: My Mate's Arrow

The wolf in the gray coat stopped at the edge of the circle and turned around and I saw his face.

He was not the archivist's man. He was younger and he had a thin face and a shaved head and he had a bow in his hands and a quiver on his back and he was the Gamma of the north.

The older Corrigan boy had a bow too.

They stood on either side of the clearing with their bows up and the light of the circle on their faces and the whole of the east field was behind me in the trees.

“Alpha,” the older Corrigan boy said. “Put down the axe.”

I looked at the axe in my hand. I did not remember picking it up.

“You put down the bow,” I said.

“I am not going to put down the bow,” he said. “I am the Gamma of the north and I have an order from the eleven Alphas. The Luna is to be taken alive and the cursed wolf is to be taken dead and the circle is to be held until the Alphas of the north arrive.”

“The Alphas of the north are in this territory,” Halloran said from the middle of the circle. “I am one of them.”

The Corrigan boy looked at him.

“You are a traitor,” he said.

“I am a traitor,” Halloran said. “And I am standing in the circle and the circle is open and the Luna is behind you and your bow is pointed at the wrong wolf.”

The boy turned.

And then there was a sound from the trees.

It was a bowstring and it was not the boy's and it was not the Gamma's. It came from the trees on the west side of the clearing and the arrow went across the circle and it went into the Gamma's shoulder and he went down.

The boy turned and loosed his arrow into the trees.

And then there was a second sound.

It was a howl. It came from the east field and it was not one wolf. It was two hundred wolves and they came into the trees and the whole of the clearing was full of them.

The Gamma got up off the ground with the arrow in his shoulder and he drew his bow again and he aimed it at the middle of the circle.

He aimed it at Halloran.

And then he turned and aimed it at the trees and loosed it.

The arrow went into the trees and there was a sound and a wolf came out of the trees with the arrow in its side.

It was Elias.

He was in wolf form and he was not supposed to be in wolf form. He had a knife in his side and his side was wrapped and he had changed anyway. He came out of the trees with the arrow in his ribs and he went down in the moss.

“Elias,” I said.

The Gamma drew another arrow.

I ran.

I ran across the clearing with the axe in my hand and the light of the circle on my face and the Gamma turned and put the arrow into the bow and I was already on him.

I do not remember the axe.

I remember the light and the sound and the Gamma going down in the moss and the bow going out of his hands. I remember standing over him with the axe in my hands and the whole of the clearing silent.

And then I remember the Corrigan boy on the other side of the clearing with his bow up and his face white.

“Put it down,” I said.

He put it down.

The clearing was full of wolves and the light of the circle was on all of them and the Gamma of the north was on the ground at my feet and he was not moving.

And then Halloran came out of the circle.

He came across the moss with the piece of the boundary stone in his hand and he knelt down beside the Gamma and put his hand on his chest and held it there.

“He is alive,” he said. “He is bleeding and he is alive.”

I stood over them with the axe in my hands.

“Then he is going to live to answer for the arrow,” I said.

And then a wolf came out of the trees with a paper in his hand.

It was the captain of the northern company and he had a bandage on his shoulder and he was out of breath.

“Alpha,” he said. “The Alphas of the north have arrived. They are on the ridge road and they have a herald and they have a white flag.”

I turned around.

“How many?” I said.

“Eleven,” he said. “Eleven Alphas and forty wolves and a herald. And the herald has a paper that says the Alphas of the north have come to hear the claim of blood in the circle.”

The clearing was silent.

“Then they have come to the right place,” I said.

I put the axe down and went to Elias.

He was in the moss with the arrow in his ribs and his eyes closed and his breath going shallow.

“Elias,” I said.

He opened his eyes.

“Wren,” he said. “You killed the Gamma.”

“I did.”

“The Council is going to call it a blood debt.”

“I know.”

“And the Alphas of the north are on the ridge road.”

“I know that too.” I put my hand on his face. “And you are going to lie here and let Maeve pull an arrow out of your ribs and you are not going to change and you are not going to run and you are not going to do anything until I come back.”

He looked at me.

“Where are you going?” he said.

“I am going to meet the Alphas of the north,” I said. “In the square. With the whole of the Luna’s line behind me and the ledger in my hand and the circle open in the trees.”

I stood up.

“Dale,” I said.

Dale came out of the trees with a cut on his face and his shirt torn.

“Alpha,” he said.

“Get the pack into the square. Get the whole of the Luna’s line into the square and get the northern company into the square and get the captain and the Gamma and the Corrigan boy into the square.” I looked at him. “And get Halloran.”

“And the circle?”

“The circle stays open,” I said. “The circle stays open and the stones stay in it and the light stays up until the full moon.”

I turned and walked out of the trees.

The east field was full of wolves. The Luna’s line was standing in the stubble with their rifles and their axes and their fence posts and the northern company was standing in the middle of them with their hands up and their rifles on the ground.

And the whole of the north field was full of trucks and the ridge road was full of wolves and the eleven Alphas of the north were coming down it with a white flag.

I walked across the field to the square with the whole of the pack behind me.

The eleven Alphas of the north came into the square at dawn with their herald in front of them and their forty wolves behind them and they stopped in the middle of the square and looked at the whole of the Luna’s line.

The herald unrolled a paper.

“The Alphas of the north have come,” he said. “They have come to hear the claim of blood and to rule on the curse and the land and the whole of it.” He looked at me. “And they have come to rule on the blood debt of the Alpha of the Palouse Ridge pack, who has killed the Gamma of the north in the circle.”

The square was silent.

“The Gamma of the north is alive,” I said.

“The Gamma of the north is alive,” the herald said. “And you put an axe in him in the circle and the Council calls it a blood debt and the Council will have its answer.”

I stood in the middle of the square.

“Then the Council will have its answer at the full moon,” I said. “In the circle. With the whole of the territory watching.”