The Blood That Calls

We walked for hours without stopping. The woods thickened around us, the canopy of leaves growing dense enough to block out most of the sun. Finn slept in my arms, wrapped in the old, worn blanket, his breath coming in soft, slow puffs against my chest.

 My entire body ached, but I didn't dare slow down. Renn led the pack, with Elara bringing up the rear; we were spread out but close together. No one spoke. Our footsteps on the wet leaves and the snapping of branches were the only sounds for hours.

 Lena fell in step with me after a while. Her limp was worse today, but she didn't complain. She looked down at Finn with a soft smile. "He's asleep now. That's a good thing."

 "He's exhausted. We all are."

 Lena hesitated. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That shift last night… it wasn't right, Liora. I've helped deliver lots of babies, and none of them have ever done anything like that."

 I looked down at Finn's peaceful face. "I know. Gage said something about the first born of the Hales, born a thousand years ago… he shifted as soon as he was born. Became a great seer."

 Lena's eyes widened. "Gage told you that?"

 "He did, just after Finn shifted back. He called it a curse."

 Lena shook her head. "It's not a curse. It's a gift. A rare and precious gift, but a dangerous one." She glanced around to make sure we were alone. "My old pack knew of it. The seer line. It's a bloodline that's very rare. Only passed from the mother. Your birth parents must have had it too, and the Hales knew, which is why they were so careful about you. They were scared of what you might become."

 A chill ran down my spine. "They whipped me. They made sure I didn't get too far."

 Lena's voice softened again. "They were right to be afraid. The last baby to be born with this gift was a boy named Elias, born a thousand years ago. He had the sight so strongly he could see entire battles before they happened. He saved his pack from a war that should have killed them all, but the cost was tremendous. Each vision drained his life away and he was hunted by every other pack because they were terrified of what he knew."

 She reached out and gently stroked Finn's cheek. "Your son carries that bloodline. When we became bound, the connection snapped, making his gift even stronger, that is why he shifted when he did and why the Shadow Pack could smell him. They can smell that kind of power and they want him, and all of us, for themselves, so that they may use his visions in their war."

 I swallowed hard. "So they're hunting us. Because of me."

 "Because of the both of you," Lena whispered. "Your blood awakened the latent abilities in Finn but you are the only one who will know how to control his gift. You are the one who has to protect him."

 I glanced at the pack walking ahead of us, Kira and Renn in deep conversation, Gage limping along beside Marcus, his knife clutched tightly in his hand, the children walking ahead with their father. All of them were here with me because I hadn't been able to stand being alone anymore.

 "I won't let them take him," I vowed, my voice quiet but firm. "No matter what."

 Lena smiled sadly. "I know you won't. But the power has already woken and the visions will become more frequent. You have to be prepared."

 We walked in silence for a while, the woods pressing in on us, the forest feeling heavier and more alert. Finn stirred in my arms and let out another soft whimper. I rocked him gently and began to hum the lullaby I always sang him.

 The howls from last night still echoed in my mind. The Shadow Pack was no ordinary foe. They were hunters of power and their pack hunted those with rare bloodlines such as mine, or Finn's, so that they might use their victims as weapons. They had done it before, Lena told me. They would do it again.

 I looked at the path before us. We were heading east, further into the wilds, but I knew that running would only get us so far. The power in my blood, the power in Finn, had already drawn them.

 And they were coming.