On the Horizon

On the Horizon
“There she is!” Cora sung out as I entered the kitchen and made a beeline for the table full of food. “Load a plate up, we’re eating outside!”

I shot my sister-in-law a smile and began piling food onto my plate, following her outside where the rest of the family were on the incredible terrace that looks over the ocean.

It was my favourite spot in the pack house, and when I wasn't down on the beach - I was often sitting here looking out at the ocean.

I took a seat beside Reed, who was wolfing down food like he’d never been fed in his life. The twins certainly had healthy appetites and I knew that poor Cora would have to keep the kitchen well stocked over the coming years.

“Everyone else should be here soo-“ Sawyer stopped mid-sentence and a look of confusion flittered across his face, but he recovered quickly and shot Cora a quick look who nodded at their silent conversation.

“Kids, why don’t you go and take your new toys up to your rooms and get ready for the party.” She sung out and the four pups who excitedly launched into conversation about party details as they got up and raced back inside.

“What’s going on?” I asked through a mouthful of bacon, looking between Cora and Sawyer.

“There’s a ship heading towards us.” Sawyer stated, as he got up from the table and walked over to the edge of the terrace.

“Were we not supposed to be getting any shipments today?” Cora asked, following him over and putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I made sure there was nothing coming in because of the party.” He replied bluntly, as I continued to look between them.

“Do you think it’s Kallik and Monroe?” Cora whispered, and Sawyer shook his head as if she’d said too much in front of me.

“They’ve summoned you twic-“ Cora began to add but Sawyer gently shushed her.

“What’s going on?” I asked suspiciously. I was always included in pack affairs, and had been since I was younger, and I didn’t like how out of the loop I was feeling, along with the tension that was currently hanging around us.

“It’s nothing to worry about, just some unwanted visitors.” Sawyer replied quickly as he turned around with a smile, before stalking back inside.

Cora mouthed “Sorry” towards me and followed him in, leaving me to stare at the mysterious ship coming towards us.

Kallik and Monroe were the sons of the Alpha of the Runswick Pack, who lived on land that was only two hours by ship from our ports.

We’d been trading with them for as long as I could remember, and I’d only met the twins once when I was younger at a trade meeting with my Father.

Their ancestors used to be a part of the Leeside Pack, however the Beta at the time grew ambitious and wanted to seek bigger land to take control of. Long story short, he set off on a boat with a crew, and never returned - finding the land that he wanted across the ocean and settled down, creating his own pack.

I’d heard rumours and stories of amazing concrete cities, huge buildings and amazing technology - that they currently traded with us. In return we traded native plants and fruits, as well as logging from our land so they could continue to build ships and structures as they continued to grow.

They were the reason why we had cars, but in the last year or two, Sawyer, Malachi, Landon and Braydon had begun discussing bringing more across and trading even more in return.

I personally loved how close to our roots and history that we still were, but Sawyer saw an opportunity to bring more money through the ports because of it. I couldn’t really argue with his logic though, since it would be great for Leeside and really elevated our pack’s status. It would also make Leeside incredibly wealthy, and right now - the salt from the ocean was really affecting our buildings as they started to show their age, so we needed it.

No one important ever came across the ocean though, especially since with our history there was still a bit of tension. They thought we were living in the dark ages, and we thought that they had lost their true selves and my good old gut feelings are telling me that something not good is about to happen.

Footsteps rang out from inside, getting closer and closer, and I whipped my head up to see Aurelia step outside.

“Hey.” She smiled and I leaped up from my seat to give her a hug.

She squeezed me tightly and it was exactly what I needed.

“I miss him too.” She whispered and I nodded, not trusting myself not to cry.

Aurelia was the only one who didn’t treat me like I was fragile or look at me with pity. She had always been a big sister to me and I was grateful that I got to see her this week.

“Where are the others?” I asked, taking a step back.

“They’re already in party mode! Coming?” She chuckled and offered me her arm.

I glanced over my shoulder at the ocean as we walked inside, but the ship was no longer in view… which means it had probably already docked with our mystery visitors.