Appalachian Mountains At Night Novels & Stories

Allissa The scorch was days cold. The trail from the shelf was sky, and the sky kept its secrets. We were behind, and the mountain made sure we knew it. But the compass pulled north, steady as ever, and that night, at the fire below the cliff, the smallest member of the party fought sleep like his mate fights blankets, sitting bolt upright with his eyes burning holes in the dark, because the rope behind his ribs did not stop pulling for anything as weak as exhaustion.

I make a quick trip deeper into the woods and work out the kinks in my legs. When I come back, I steal a sip of Nia’s whiskey to warm my chest. She stirs in silence. I set the glass on the frosted ground and shove my hands up my jacket sleeves to warm my fingers. It’s a new moon, and the smattering of late November stars fade as we get closer to sunrise. Beyond the fire, black walnut trees loom high overhead, punctuating the stillness of the night with a jarring thump each time the wind knocks an overripe nut free from its moorings.

Sometimes, the most lethal move an alpha could execute was convincing his hunter that the trap had snapped on an empty cage. The descent back down the mountain pass occurred under a canopy of midnight black. Down in the basin, hundreds of iron lanterns began to twinkle through the rain-shrouded windows as Northstar settled into its evening routine. Thick columns of white woodsmoke drifted from the stone chimneys of the pack houses. The entire valley projected an illusion of absolute peace. It was a lie.

Akio glanced at him from the rear view mirror. Alex nodded and continued to bounce his legs, although he slowed it down as he became aware of it so as not to wake Ciara. He brought out his phone, checked the time, then he lifted his head, and his mouth fell open. In the not so far distance, jagged mountains stood. These were no ordinary mountains, though, they were snow-capped, with misty fog swirling around them. It took his breath away as he gazed at them. "Wow!" Was all he was able to manage.

The First City didn't sleep like the valley did. In the Blackwood estate, night was a time of heavy silence and locked doors. But here, in the heart of the Northern Range, the night was alive. The bioluminescent flora that clung to the quartz walls pulsed with a soft, rhythmic indigo, and the wind through the high mountain passes sounded like the breathing of a giant.

He explained. Embarrassment had my cheeks heating. “Right. I apologize, I’m still recovering from everything.” “Don’t mention it. You have every right to be protective of the ones you love.” Lyra countered with ease. She swiped a few of the papers off the table and slid them over to our side. One was a map of the country with two clear dots stationed almost a thousand miles apart. “There are two hidden Lycan camps. The biggest is Maine, and the smaller is Virginia. You’ll notice both are deep within the Appalachian Mountains.”

The view from the top of the building was spectacular, especially at night. The green, sparkling silhouette of the Silver Legacy Casino, as well as the red ambience of the two Harrah's towers, highlighted a sea of twinkling lights, glitter, and flickering star-like facades. In the distance, the mountains loomed, though they were almost impossible to make out without using night vision. Nevertheless, they were there, standing watch, their menacing beauty a cautionary reminder that looks can be deceiving.

Just gripped my shoulder once, briefly, before stepping back. "Bring him home," he said. "I will." Marcus led us out. Then Sera. Then Nyx. Then me. Darius fell into step beside me as Crescent Moon disappeared behind the tree line. Neither of us spoke. The first hour was silence. We moved fast. Forest floor soft underfoot. No moon yet — it would rise later, around three in the morning, giving us a window of true darkness to approach the mountain unseen. I focused on breathing. On moving quietly. On saving energy for what waited at the end of this road.

So, with that, I shook my heavy black coat and stood as I quickly began loping towards the Green Mountain pack boundary. I knew that the Green Mountain pack bordered the Freeland. The way the lines worked, first, was my pack, the Crescent Moon pack which was the farthest north and most secluded into the mountains, then, nearest Morgantown, was Alpha Alexander Cook’s pack, the Monongahela River pack, which bordered the human city and the Freeland. Opposite the Freeland, you had Evan James and the Green Mountain pack. By car, the trip was only a couple of hours winding on the mountain roads, however running cross country, it would take nearly the entire day, even for an Alpha just because the

Camilla’s memories Morning broke with a thin red gash of light along the crests of the mountaintops. Owls finally dared to close their eyes, and bats cautiously folded their wings. The night horrors and prowling beasts of the forest abandoned their hunts to drag bloodied carcasses back to their lairs. In the west, a handful of lingering stars still shone.