Prologue

Two figures growled in the shadows.  The rising harvest-moon cast long shadows in the forest.  In the faint shine, eyes glowed. 

"What do you mean?" a she-wolf growled.

"It's getting darker," the male sighed.

"Of course!  It's the night!"

"No, I mean it's always gray, dark and cloudy."

"Oh, well, couldn't it be an eclipse or something?"

"No.  Everything is so quiet and still.  And it wouldn't have been like this for this long."

"What do the others think?  Do they know?" she whimpered.

"No and we can't show our fear.  They'll be confused and upset!" he insisted.

"What time of the year is it? Leaf-fall."

"Leaf-fall, yes, but it's ending.  All we have to do is not give a crap about it until we know for sure, and not to worry the others."

"All right.  You know best at this time."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, well yes!  Comfort.  I don't want to worry, you know...  the cubs."

"Don't worry, everything will be alright.  I love you, Clara."

"I love you too, Blizzard."

The alpha male gave his mate a swift lick and walked into the direction of the moon.

Chapter one

Cold, thin air

"Hey, mama!  Look!  There's fishies in the water!"

"Tess, get off of there, now!" Clara growled at her daughter.

Tess slowly walked on the frozen river.  It swayed underneath her weight.

"Mama?" She whimpered.

"It's alright, little one.  You are very light."

"But the ice is fragile!"

"And you are delicate, dear.  It's alright.  Just go slow."

Tess took two slow steps, and a crack went through the ice.  Her white figure went through and she sunk with a yelp.

"Oh, crap!" Blizzard growled.  He ran, his muscles cramping in the cold, thin air.

"Blizzard, no!  You're weight will just go through the ice!  You'll both be killed!"

"Oh, my lord!  You're talking nonsense.  You're just standing there!  What are we going to do?  Just stand here like freezing seal?  I'm going to get our child!"

"Wait, my love!  Please!"

"Holy...!"

Blizzard's white body went through the ice and he was gone, along with his beloved daughter.  Left alone in the cold air,  wind whipped Clara's fur and a few heartbeats later, everything went silent, other then a low growl of thunder in the distance, and snow started blowing in the thin air.

* * * *

Clara ran in endless rain.  Her paws were soaked in blood, and mud lapped at her belly.  A mudhole sucked her in.  She tried to bark for help but mud just filled her mouth.  She tried to claw her way back up the trench, but just felt mud oozing through her paws.  She just gave up, but just before she did, a voice whispered to her.

"Blackness is to come.  The forest is to be lost.  A storm has awaken.  You will have no way out."

She looked up, alert.  What did this mean?  She tried to find the voice, her mind full of questions.  She clawed, but still no way to get out.

"You will have no way out."

Pain pierced her back, and her tense body went limp.

"No way out."

Clara's eyes quickly flew open, and the faintest bit of sunlight shone through the trees.

* * * *

Tess snuggled close to her mother's side.  Her belly was warm and full of milk.  Her tail flapped in her face from the cold, whipping wind.  The helpless bundle of fur started to doze off from the stroking of her mother's tongue.  Blizzard was on the other side of his daughter, tuffs of fur hard and frozen.

"Daddy?  I'm c-cold."

"I know, sweetheart.  Hang in there," Blizzard insisted.

"We have to find shelter," Clara commanded.

"I'll take her."

"No!  I'm too cold!" Tess squeaked.

"Tess, you must be strong like your mother!"

"Aren't you strong too, Daddy?"

Blizzard just stared at little Tess, and picked her up by the scruff.  She curled up as much as she could to keep warm.

"Blizz, do you think you can make it back to the camp?  It's not that far."

"I think so.  What about her?"  His eyes shifted downward towards Tess's dangling body.

"She should.  We could get into the trees.  They'll block the wind."

A few fox-lengths away was a forest of birch trees.  The two treded along the frozen path.  Tess breathed deep breaths.  She was cold and tired and giving up.

  * * * *

"I had a dream."

"When?"

"Last night."

"What about?"

"I was running in mud,"

"... and?"

"I got sucked in, and there was a prophecy."

"Saying?"

Clara told her sister about the voice.

Night Shade and her patrol had come out to look for the three.  They had been missing for four days.

"I was worried sick for my little niece," Night Shade whimpered.   She looked over to see little Tess, lying on her father's back.

"I know.  That poor little baby just made it." Clara sighed.

Night Shade trotted over and licked Tess on the head.  She opened her eyes slowly and gave out a little yawn.

"Auntie Night Shade!" Tess squeaked.

"Hey, darling."

"I had the best adventure of my life!"

"I know.  Your mother told me all about it."

"When I was swimming with the fishies, I was scared," she whimpered.

"I know.  You're okay."

Tess hopped over to her father.

"Daddy?  When I asked you if you were strong, why did you just stare at me?"

Blizzard stifled a sigh. 

"Ugh, I can't..."

"Can't what?"

"Can't...  tell you."

"Why?"

"No means no, Tess."

"But?..."

"No buts," Blizzard growled. "That's enough!"

Tess hung her head and watched her father run into the forest.

Clara looked over and shook her head.

"He can't tell her.  Not just yet"

Blizzard ran on the crisp snow, flames in his eyes.  He sighed and shook away the feeling.  The moon rose, and the snow sparkled.

Chapter 2

The Storm

"Gotcha!"

Big white paws slammed into the body of a magpie.  The ground sparkled with dew.  The she-wolf picked her prey up with long, sharp teeth.  Her chest fur was shaggy and long, and her coat glistend in the sunlight.  Her legs were long, and built with muscle.  Her eyes sparkled with triumph.  It was Tess.

"Good catch!" her mother called.

Tess's father lay sleeping. 

"How come he never watches me, Mom?"

"Look at you!  He's probably jealous."

"No!  I mean, last winter I asked him about his strength.  He has always seemed a little grumpy since."

"He's not ready to tell you."

"But!"

"No arguing, Tess."

Tess got up and walked towards her father.

"Father, can I talk to you?"

Blizzard let out a big yawn.

The two trotted over to the shade of trees.

"Tell me what you have to say!" Tess snarled.

"What?"

"You know!  Tell me."

He stifled a sigh.

"No."

"Dad, don't you understand?" Tess growled. "There is a seed, okay? Then you plant it.  Then, you have this growing piece of life, and then this gorgeous flower.  But, I'm still growing.  There is still a whole lotta world for me to discover.  I'm growing to new things, so you don't have to hide anything from me," she choked.

She looked at her father for a few heartbeats.

"Let me grow more, Daddy.  Please."

Blizzard sighed.  He looked down at his paws.

"My daughter.  You are right.  I should never have snapped at you.  I...," he whimpered.  "I was a weak, young wolf.  Our former leader, Brooke, said that we were having a lot of problems because of me.  She was going to send me off, but your mother," he looked over to his mate, who had joined the conversation, "your mother protested for me to stay.  She was deputy at the time of course, and Brooke understood her love for me.  I fell in deep love with her, and we have never been apart since."  He looked at his mate with love in his eyes.

Tess whimpered.

"That's so...  beautiful," she whispered.

Her mom gave her father a lick, and Clara jumped majesticly up onto Wolf Rock.

"My dear pack..."  She looked into the distant mountains.  "Oh my..." She whispered.

Tess followed her mother's gaze and saw the black clouds in the distance. 

"Holy crap..." She growled.

Lightning flashed and thunder yowled.  The first drops of rain told the pack that the prophecy had come true.  The blackest of storms had come...

To be continued....