Chapter 53 The Frozen Path

Chapter 53 The Frozen Path
The wind at the base of the Silent Range did not blow. It bit. It was a sharp, freezing force that went right through the thickest fur and the heaviest coats.

Kieran lay on a bed of dry pine needles inside the cave. His shoulder was wrapped in clean white cloth, but the red stain was already soaking through. He tried to sit up, and the world spun. Dark spots danced in front of his eyes.

"Don't," Lila said. She was sitting beside him, crushing herbs in a small stone bowl. "You lost too much blood. If you open that wound again, I can't stop the leak."

"The pack," Kieran rasped. His throat felt like he had swallowed sand. "Are they eating?"

"Ronan found a deer," Lila said. She didn't look at him. Her hands were shaking as she worked.

"Kael and the other warriors are taking turns watching the entrance. They are scared, Kieran.
They’ve never seen a Bone-Wolf before. They think the mountain is haunted."

"It is haunted," Kieran said. He looked at the ceiling of the cave. "We haunt it. We woke it up."

Lila stopped crushing the herbs. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the white tooth she had found in the dirt. It was cold. So cold it made her fingers feel numb. The violet glow inside the bone was pulsing, timed perfectly with her own heartbeat.

"What is that?" Kieran asked. He tried to reach for it, but his arm wouldn't move.

"It fell from the beast," Lila whispered. "When you hit it with the gold light, this was all that was left. I can hear it, Kieran. It’s not a sound. It’s a feeling. It’s telling me to go higher. Into the peaks."

"Throw it away," Kieran ordered. His voice was weak, but his eyes were hard. "That thing is a curse, Lila. We have enough problems."

Lila looked at the tooth. She knew he was right.

It felt evil. It felt like death. But she also felt a strange pull. For the first time since she was sixteen, her wolf wasn't just stirring it was pacing. The brown wolf inside her was growling at the violet light in the bone.

"I can't," Lila said. She put the tooth back in her pocket. "It’s connected to me now. If I throw it away, I think I’ll lose a piece of myself."

Outside, the sun was high, but it provided no heat. Kael stood at the mouth of the cave, his nose twitching. He was scanning the valley they had just left.

"Ronan!" Kael barked.

Ronan ran over, his breath misting in the air. "What is it? Rogues?"

"No," Kael said, pointing up.

High above the treeline, a small, silver dot was hovering. It didn't move like a bird. It stayed perfectly still, its metallic skin glinting in the light.

"A drone," Ronan hissed. "The SOC. They found the river crossing."

"They’re too high for us to reach," Kael said, his claws sliding out. "They’re just watching.

Waiting for us to move into the open."

"If they see the pack move up the mountain, they’ll call in the gunships," Ronan said. He looked back into the dark cave where Kieran was resting. "We’re trapped. We can't go back, and if we go up, we die."

Kieran heard them. He ignored Lila’s protests and rolled off the pine needles. He hit the floor hard, his breath catching in a silent scream. He crawled to the cave wall and used the stone to pull himself up.

He staggered to the entrance. He looked like a ghost—pale, bloody, and thin.

"Alpha, you should be lying down," Kael said, but there was no mockery in his voice. There was only worry.

"The drone is looking for heat," Kieran said. He leaned his head against the cold cave wall. "It’s looking for two hundred wolves huddled together. It’s looking for a campfire."

"We didn't light a fire," Ronan said.

"Our bodies are the fire," Kieran said. "A wolf's body runs hot. To a drone, we look like a giant glowing target."

Kieran looked at the steep, rocky cliffs above them. There was a narrow path that led behind a waterfall of ice. It was dangerous. It was thin.

"We split up," Kieran said.

"No," Ronan said. "We stick together. That’s the pack law."

"The pack law is for when we have a home," Kieran said. He looked at Kael. "Kael, take fifty of the strongest warriors. Go East. Run fast and stay in the trees. Make as much noise as you can. Scrape the trees. Leave tracks."

Kael frowned. "You want us to be the bait?"

"I want you to be a ghost," Kieran said. "Lead them away from the caves. The drone will follow the largest heat signature. While they chase you, the rest of us move behind the ice falls. We’ll meet at the Iron Peak in three days."

Kael looked at Kieran. He saw the man’s human shoulder dripping blood. He saw the exhaustion in his eyes. He realised Kieran was willing to let himself be left behind with the weak and the slow to give the warriors a chance to lead the enemy away.

"We’ll meet you at the peak," Kael said. He slammed his fist against his chest. "I'll make sure they don't see a single pup."

As the sun began to drop, Kael and the warriors vanished into the East. They moved like shadows, purposely snapping branches and howling into the wind.

Above, the silver drone tilted its wings and began to follow the noise.

Kieran watched it go. He felt his legs give out, and he slid down the cave wall. Lila caught him before his head hit the stone.

"You're a fool," she whispered, but she was smiling.

"I'm a human," Kieran said, his eyes closing. "Humans have to be smart because we aren't strong."

As the rest of the pack began to move silently toward the ice falls, Lila felt the tooth in her pocket grow warm again. The violet light was stronger now.

She looked up at the Iron Peak. It was hidden in clouds and lightning.

Something was up there. Something that had been waiting for a Thorne Queen to return. And for the first time, Lila wasn't afraid. She was hungry.