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They Believed Her, I Abandoned Them 7
The next morning, the space outside the Council hall was packed.Rebecca and Stefan stood at the front with a crowd of weeping families behind them.They held up hide banners covered in accusations and shouted, "Elara is vicious! She left them to die! She owes every parent here an explanation!""Her family is charged with guarding the border, yet she stood by and let packmates die. How could anyone be that vicious?"The onlookers murmured among themselves. Many who did not know the facts nodded along and regarded me with growing doubt.I stepped out of the crowd with a USB drive in my hand, my expression calm."Finished shouting? If you're finished, come and have a proper look."I signaled the elder beside me, and he opened the files in front of everyone.The recording from the day of the migration council played loudly and clearly throughout the hall."I warned you plainly that Blackwind Gorge was filled with poison fog and rogues. I told you, 'Enter without authorization, and every o
They Believed Her, I Abandoned Them 6
The High Priest's party searched the gorge for two full days before they found the young wolves near the cave, barely alive.By the time the rescuers reached Rebecca's group, the male bitten by the snake was already dead.Of the two males who had led the fight against the rogues, one had his right forepaw bitten off and would never hunt again.The other had suffered deep claw wounds to his skull and would endure headaches for the rest of his life.The other thirty-one had infected wounds, were suffering from poison-fog exposure, or were too starved to stand.The High Priest ordered the rescuers to administer herbs against the poison fog and venom, then carry all the survivors out of Blackwind Gorge on stretchers.The entire shortcut farce ended in disaster.Rebecca and Stefan, who had led the group, escaped serious injury and had only a few bloody scratches on their faces.The Council of Elders soon released a full account of what had happened and expressly forbade young wolves from en
They Believed Her, I Abandoned Them 5
"Come on, Eric. It's a bit of wind. Do you have to make a scene about it?"Rebecca curled her lip, and the rest went on singing and dancing around the fire.What they had all forgotten was that the weather in the gorge was notoriously unpredictable.Late the next night, the wind turned without warning.The thick poison fog that had gathered deep in the gorge began drifting slowly toward them with the wind.A few of the weaker she-wolves were the first to show symptoms.They woke before dawn feeling weak all over. They could not lift their limbs, and their chests felt as if heavy stones were pressing down on them.Rebecca put it down to a bad night's sleep and waved it off. "You're just tired from walking. Rest a bit and you'll be fine. Don't hold us up."She hurried everyone into packing up and insisted on pushing deeper into the gorge.The farther they went, the thicker the mist became, until everything around them faded to gray.Their blood-sense, already weakened by the unfavorable
They Believed Her, I Abandoned Them 4
The two parties split at the mouth of the gorge.Ours followed the old road our ancestors had worn in and migrated south by the book.The first day took us along the border forest track.The three Alphas took no chances.One scouted ahead, one directed from the middle, one held the rear.Every half mile, they left their own claw marks.The route was lined with safe water sources, sheltered rock ledges, and hunting spots that had been marked in advance.The healers with us checked everyone's condition every two hours.At midday, while we rested on a sheltered stone slope, the Alphas hunted down two fat mountain goats nearby.They roasted the goats over the fire until the fat sizzled, then served the meat to the rest of the group with warm, clean water.At night, we sheltered in a large natural cave. With guards rotating through the night, everyone slept soundly.The second day's route was longer, but the column maintained its steady pace and successfully skirted three low hollows where
They Believed Her, I Abandoned Them 3
Stefan stood at Rebecca's side with his brows drawn together and said bluntly, "Elara, we counted our supplies. We don't have enough vehicles for thirty-two wolves entering the gorge, and we're short on herbs for the fog. There are so few of you. Just give us the trucks. You won't need the herbs on the main road. Three packets are plenty for you. Anything more would be wasteful."When I did not answer, Rebecca stood beside Stefan clutching her hand-drawn map, her chin held high. "Relax. We're not taking them for nothing. Once we reach the south first and claim the richest river valley, we'll give you a strip of land along the edge."Watching the two of them play off each other, I almost laughed."The supplies were prepared for ten. There's no surplus to give you. Those herbs are our emergency reserve. With the moon phases this unpredictable, I won't trade my people's safety for a worthless strip of land."Rebecca's face darkened. She spun toward the entrance and shouted so the packmate
They Believed Her, I Abandoned Them 2
I rolled up the hide map and stood to leave.Two wolves hurried after me, a trace of awkwardness on their faces."Elara, we asked the elders about it privately.""Your route is the safest one.""We don't dare take the shortcut. We're afraid something might happen in the gorge.""We'd rather go with the main column. Is that all right?"I remembered those she-wolves.Last time they never joined in the shouting, and they weren't among the ones jeering at the altar.I was quiet for a while, then gave a small nod.Before long four more young wolves came looking for me, two males and two females, all of them known in the pack for being steady.Including me and the three Alphas, we numbered ten: a small but properly organized migration party.Across the stone hall, Rebecca braced her paws on the platform and counted heads.She had gathered thirty-two young wolves.Most were males who liked to show off, along with a few attention-seeking females. Nearly all were faces I recognized from the cro
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