The Unseeing Eye: Shaila’s Story

          Shaila measured the anger behind her sister’s eyes. Remus was glaring swords and daggers at the leaders of Alaska’s wolf packs. They did likewise, glowering back with all the anger and anxiety and impatience simmering beneath the surface ever since the foreboding news of the nearby hunter. Rage and tension filled the cavern in a hot bubble that Shaila feared would burst into a brawl.

          All things considered, the meeting was going rather well.

          As Remus’s advisor, Shaila could have warned Remus of the inevitable outcome of this meeting. But Remus rarely listened unless it was an answer to a question she herself had asked, and so for the sake of peace and her own dignity, Shaila didn’t speak. But she still thought. And right now she was thinking this meeting could come to no good end.

          “The moon is completing its circle in a few days,” Swift was growling, “How long will it take for the humans to put away their guns and stop hunting us?”

          “Like I told you, it’ll take time,” Remus said hotly.

          “Well, it had better not take too much longer,” Everest snorted, “All my hunting game is disappearing from the valley!”

          “Well, it’s not technically yours anymore,” Silver Arrow added quietly.

          Everest bared his teeth in a forced smile. “Wonderful! Someone who finally sees my point!” He whirled on Remus. “And it shall never be mine again unless something is done about it!”

          “Oh, yeah? And what do you think I should do?” Remus cried, “Oh, that’s right. I can’t ask you because I’m the head of this whole operation, and the only one who ever makes any decisions around here!”

          “Well, if you need to kick someone out, the first ones to go should be Cyan and his little family,” Jaydor told Everest, “You can see Luna’s ready to pop out a litter any second! That’s more wolves, and more food to feed them. Besides, how can you even call that a pack?”

          “One more crack like that, and you’ll get a crack right over the head,” Cyan said in a low voice.

          Jaydor raised his lip in a snarl, but Silver Arrow pushed between them. “Seriously, what are we going to do?”

          “You all seemed to go along with Remus’s plan before,” Flint interjected, “Why don’t you agree with it now?”

          “ENOUGH!”

          Everyone turned to see Iceberg glaring around at them all. His paw crept up to his head, and he rubbed his temple. “Congratulations. You have once again succeeded in giving me a headache with your worthless arguing.” His paw dropped to the ground, and he looked at them with complete seriousness. “I’ve heard enough to conclude that there is nothing to do but wait, as Remus told you when we first agreed on this plan.”

          Remus nodded with a quick jerk of her head.

          “However,” Iceberg continued, “We can be ready for when the end of this comes. Remus, do we have anyone posted to watch the hunter that attacked your brother and Kestra?”

          “…Yes,” Remus said, “We have two scouts posted on the mountain.”

          “And are there any more packs that are still not here?”

          “The last third of the White Storm pack,” Remus told him, “They should be arriving today. Shade is watching for them.”

          Iceberg slapped the cave floor. “So there you have it. All we have to do is learn how to live with each other until this is finished. Good, done, dismissed.”

          A gray female wolf came running into the cave. “Cyan!” she gasped.

          “Crystal!” Jaydor said indignantly.

          “Crystal!” Cyan cried. He padded over to her. “Easy, easy. What’s the matter?”

          “It’s Destiny!” she panted, “Something’s wrong!”

          Cyan froze. “No,” he mumbled, “It’s too soon.” He was off like a shot, with Crystal right at his heels.

          Jaydor threw Everest a what-did-I-tell-you? look. Everest sighed heavily, and followed Crystal.

          Shaila’s head buzzed, and she clutched it in pain. Geez, what a riot. Now she knew why the pack leaders hadn’t come together for a few hundred years. Anyone listening to them had to wait a few generations to work up the courage to bring them together again.

          Flint came up beside Remus. “Well, that went as well as it could have gone.” He kissed Shaila on the head, and she gratefully leaned onto his strong frame.

          “Shut up, Dad,” Remus said wearily. Her tired eyes flicked to her sister, and Shaila braced herself for more orders. “Shaila, how long has Shade been on watch?”

          Shaila cleared her throat. She hadn’t had the chance to speak for at least an hour now. “Since dawn.”

          Remus smiled. “Go switch with him. He needs a break.”

          Shaila couldn’t stop herself from raising her eyebrows. He needed a break? They were the ones who needed a break, from his attitude and dark jokes. But she hugged Flint one last time, and he bumped his nose against her cheek and said, “Go on. And tell him I need to talk with him.”

          Shaila nodded, and padded out of the chamber. She dreaded talking to Shade, if he even talked to her at all. The brother who had gone out on the tundra alone with his girlfriend was not the same brother who had come back. He was sullen and moody, and his mind was filled with darkness. Full with pain.

          “Oh, and Shaila?”

          Shaila backpedaled and poked her head into the cave.

          Remus’s grin was both mournful and lecherous. “Good luck.”

          Shaila found Shade sitting at the mouth of the Eagle Pass pack cave. He was staring dejectedly off into the distance, his face saddened and his eyes misted. Shaila crept forward softly so he wouldn’t be startled.

          He was anyway, whirling around with sharp teeth bared.

          Shaila took one quick step back and held up a paw defensively. “It’s only me.”

          “Oh. Yeah.” He turned back around and sat down. “So? What are you doing here?”

          Shaila settled herself next to him. “Remus says I can take over your duties now.”

          Shade snorted. “Remus. Does she ever stop telling everyone what to do?”

          Shaila decided to proceed delicately. “So you don’t want to stop working?”

          He shrugged angrily. “It gives me something to do. And gets me away from wolves asking annoying questions…like you.”

          Shaila forced herself to brush that comment aside. “Dad wants to talk to you.”

          Shade pretended to scan the empty horizon. “Your point?”

          Shaila finally decided this was going nowhere. “Fine.” She glanced at the scenery that Shade seemed so intent on studying, and then leaned back to study him. The mellow afternoon light shining around him made his profile seem like a solid black silhouette from which only his golden eyes glowed, pinched into a piercing glare.

          Shaila had been told she had a special talent of being able to see past emotional defenses to the real reason behind wolves’ distress. Some had pointed to the red spot of fur on her white forehead and called it her third eye, saying she used it to do this seeing. Shaila wasn’t so sure about the stories, but she did know this: tired anger radiated from Shade like heat. He was tired of being angry, but he didn’t know any other way to mourn for Kestra. Guilt was fueling that anger, and so he tortured himself inside, thinking he didn’t deserve to make it stop.

          Shaila watched his face. “You miss her, huh?”

          Shade’s frown deepened, but he didn’t look at her. “Miss who?”

          She pushed his paw gently. “You know who.” When she got no response, she dared to say the forbidden word: “Kestra…”

          Shade hunched his shoulders at the name, and Shaila saw him struggle with himself. Finally he took a deep breath, and turned his head until he was staring fiercely at his sister. “Shaila, why are you doing this?”

          “I’m trying to bring you out from under your dark little thundercloud,” Shaila cried, “You’re giving us all grief, Dirt. Mom and Dad are worried, Remus has enough to think about already, and I want you to stop hating yourself for this. It’s done; Kestra’s gone. You can’t change the past, but you can control how you deal with it. And right now you’re not doing anyone any favors, including yourself.”

          “Shaila.”

          She looked up. Shade was staring off into the distance again, but this time his eyes were hard and empty. She went quiet.

          “Shaila, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But unless you can bring back the dead, you can’t help me.”

          Their conversation was interrupted by a panicked yell. “Help!”

          Shaila looked up to see the rest of the White Storm pack and their Eagle Pass guide stampeding towards them. She and Shade leapt to their feet, and Shade ran out to meet the thundering pack.

          “What happened?” he shouted.

          “Lynx!” the guide yelled, “One of the elders collapsed at the edge of the forest, and a lynx came out of nowhere and attacked him! He has to see a Healer!”

          Shaila’s sharp eyes spied a beaten and bloodied wolf being carried across two wolves’ backs at the center of the mob. Behind them leaked a dark trail of blood which was trampled into the snow by a hundred paws.

          Shade skidded back to the cave entrance and pushed each wolf through. “Go, go, go! Is the lynx gone?” he asked the guide.

          “Yes,” he replied, “The pack fought it off. I need to tell Remus about this!”

          “No,” Shade said, “Make sure the pack gets to the valley. I’ll tell my sister myself.” He looked over his shoulder. “Shaila!”

          “What?” she asked.

          “Try and cover up the trail they left,” he said, and he and the guide disappeared into the cave.

          “What?!” Shaila cried, “But-! I-!” She sighed heavily in exasperation, and resignedly padded out to note the damage done.

          The blood ran on for as far as she could see, and it was smashed with the snow into a nauseating light red. An involuntary shudder skittered down her spine, and she prayed the wolf would be all right. She also prayed Shade and Remus could speak to each other without it becoming a verbal showdown of insults and harsh words. Even with all the blood staining the snow, Shaila sadly had to admit to herself that the former was more likely than the latter.

          She sighed again and muttered aloud, “What am I supposed to do about this?” She tried moving the spattered snow around until it was somewhat less red and wiping it down with her tail, but it soon became clear it would take a snowfall to completely hide the mess.

          Shaila followed the trail to the forest, when her nerves suddenly were on edge. Her gaze darted among the trees, but there was no one there. She shivered, and resumed her work, the quiet beating down on her ears. How long had it been since she had been alone? ‘You’re overreacting,’ she told herself, ‘You’re not used to it being quiet anymore.’ Still, something didn’t feel quite right.

          At a wail from the wind Shaila spun around. Flecks of metal shot through her blood. Again she searched her surroundings, but she found nothing. Thoughts of the hunter made her scalp prickle. She had to get back to Eagle Pass, out of danger. She jumped lightly out of the blood-riddled snow and took a step forward.

          Iron jaws clamped around her paw. She leaped back with a strangled yelp, but the trap dragged its teeth through her skin, pulling her ankle out of joint. Pain choked up on her leg and shot through her in electric flashes. Panic flooded her mind as she frantically pulled to get away, but the teeth dug in deeper with every tug. Her breaths came faster as she tried to comprehend the surprise and the danger.

          Shock rolled up from her leg to crash through the rest of her body. Her ankle throbbed, and Shaila forced herself to freeze, even as panic flew like flames through her mind. She gasped in air, and then bent down to examine the trap. Its metal jaws had sunk deep into her leg. Her white paw was spattered with her own scarlet blood, and she had to force herself to keep her wits even as the sight and smell made her mind and stomach swirl. She tried tugging at the trap itself with her teeth, but all it gave her was a sore mouth.

          She looked around, half-expecting to see some kind of predator lurking behind the trees. When would the others start searching for her? When would they even notice she was missing? How many would be brave enough to risk leaving Eagle Pass? Her hope dimmed as she considered anyone who could possibly save her. Shade – well, Shade had his helpful bursts, but would he care enough to go look for her? Especially if he got into one of his moods. Remus was almost always too busy with the pack leaders’ problems and her own issues to note Shaila’s opinions, never mind her presence. Flint, Aleu, Quicksilver, and Linder would risk anything for her, but she rarely saw them anymore. It could be nightfall before they noticed her absence. Shaila grew cold at the realization that she was stuck.

          Suddenly she was hit by a blast of pure terror, and frantically she began biting, scratching, scrabbling, and pulling at the trap with all her strength. Pain slashed up her leg, but through the agony screamed the thought that blocked her ears to her own whines and whimpers: ‘I have to get free! Have to be free! Free-!’

          The blue-gray sky darkened as the sun slowly rolled towards the west. Shadows stretched to finger the east, and a chill spun through the air on the frigid breath of the north wind.

          Panting, exhausted, Shaila slumped down onto the ground in helpless defeat. Her paw was cut and bruised and wet with blood, and her ankle twinged with dull pain. She had to give up.

          Footsteps crunched softly through the frost, and Shaila sat up. Before her crouched the likes of a nightmare she had only seen once before: a hunter.

          Her whole body trembled. Her first instinct was to try and run, but her legs wouldn’t listen. She could only watch, petrified, as the hunter’s hand reached out towards her. She felt a sharp pain at the base of her neck, and she threw herself back against the trees.

          Then everything began to unravel. Her vision began to cloud, and the image of the hunter drained away along with her fear. Fog swirled over every thought, every feeling inside her brain, and Shaila felt her eyes close and her head hit the ground as the darkness swallowed her whole.

          Gold strands of sunlight seared through Shaila’s eyelids to make circles of yellow light behind her eyes. She moaned groggily, but then memory made her eyes snap open and her brain switch on in horror. She jerked her head up and took in her surroundings.

          She was in the forest, that much was certain. Pine and maple trees reached high above her head until only a patch of gray sky remained between their topmost branches. The hunter from last night’s living nightmare sat a few feet away calmly stoking a small fire. She stiffened, her heart pounding in her ears.

          His gaze met hers, and suddenly she saw behind the eyes of the greatest predator known to her kind.

          Shaila leapt up and started to run for her life, but she came crashing down onto her sore paw with a yelp. She whined in fear and in pain, but then her eyes were glued to her torn paw. It was free of the trap, but bound in thick white cloths that surrounded her paw in warmth and security. She sniffed at it, and almost retched. The hunter’s scent was all over it. What had he done to her last night? Why hadn’t he just shot her right away? She remembered the hard prick that started beneath her skin. Was that what had made her sleep? Her unbound paw searched for the wound the strange pricking had left, but then it found rope.

          She tugged at it, and realized she was tied to a tree like a dog on a leash. She was trapped again.

          A single tear slid down her cheek.

          She whirled around in desperation and started chewing on the rope, but her mouth responded with an ache that convinced her the rope was not made of threads but hard metal. She spat into the dirt, and then flung herself back against the tree.

          The hunter was standing over her with a smile she thought looked malicious and distrustful. “Easy now,” he said, “You’re going to be all right.” He hesitated, and then slowly extended his hand.

          Instinct flared up inside Shaila, and with a wild-eyed stare she nipped him on the fingers.

          “Ow!” He jerked back his hand into a cupped palm, and then chuckled softly. “That was my own fault. You’re not tame, not like my dogs. You’re wild. But maybe you can help me yet.” He grinned hard at her, and Shaila felt herself quiver all over. What was he talking about? And he had…dogs?

          A shrill whistle from his lips brought three mutts running from the underbrush to his side, panting and wagging their tails and licking his hands and coat. At first Shaila thought they were huskies, but on closer inspection she noticed their ears drooped like a hound’s, and their fur was slightly thinner than a dog of northern breeding’s should be. She watched them warily, and one by one their brown eyes fastened on her, weighing her up against them.

          “You four get acquainted,” the hunter said, “You be careful, though. This one’s a nervous wreck.” He tapped his bitten fingers, shook his head, and trudged away.

          Shaila looked around with wide eyes at the three canines staring at her. She backed up as far as the short rope would let her and pressed herself against the trees. Her heart pounded inside her ears.

          One of the dogs, a dark gray and white male, let out a short laugh. “This is the big bad wolf? I’ve eaten things that looked scarier.”

          “Well, we do know you’ll eat anything,” the white female said drily. She sniffed Shaila’s scent carefully.

          The male raised his eyebrows at her. “What is this, amateur hour?” But then his tone softened, and he looked sympathetically into Shaila’s face. “Hey, don’t be scared of us. We’re off-duty now, we won’t hurt you. My name’s Bullet.”

          “Oh, yeah, that ought to make her feel a lot better,” the female commented.

          Bullet shrugged. “It’s only because I’m fast.” He turned and shot around the clearing within a few seconds, and came back with his head and tail raised high. “Fast as a bullet, get it?”

          “Fast, yes,” grunted the old, steel gray male curled up on the ground, “But about as deadly as a half-inch paper cut. Now stop running around like a chicken with a bad haircut!”

          “Huh?” Bullet and the female stared at each other in perplexity. Even in her situation, a smile darted across Shaila’s face at the mixed-up sayings.

          Bullet saw it, and he grinned. “See? Nothing to be scared of. That’s Moody Blue. Even though he’s old and mangy and completely mixed up in the head, he’s actually a pretty good hunter.”

          “I’m sorry, did you want a word of thanks or a slug in the gut?” Moody Blue asked sarcastically, “I’m confused.”

          “Bullet!” the female exclaimed disapprovingly. “Do you really think she wants to hear anything about hunting? Don’t listen to anything he says,” she told Shaila, “He’s the most conceited airhead you’ll ever meet. Sometimes I’m surprised he doesn’t just up and float away.” She smiled with genuine warmth. “My name’s Angel.”

          “Don’t read anything into it, though,” Bullet said, “If she had been a boy, Jake was going to name her Demon.”

          Angel glared at him. Bullet shrugged and raised his eyebrows as if daring her to deny the truth.

          By this time Shaila had managed to calm herself, even though her heart still thudded quickly against the inside of her chest. Her curiosity had grown, too, listening to their banter, and so she gathered her courage and said softly, “Why is your owner keeping me here?”

          “It speaks!” Moody Blue muttered gruffly.

          Bullet flashed her a quick grin. “Who, Jake? Uh…” He and Angel exchanged glances, an action that didn’t escape Shaila’s notice. “…I don’t know.”

          For the first time there was an awkward silence between the group. Shaila felt herself grow hot and then cold, cold as ice. There was something they weren’t telling her, and it made the fire in her bones flare at the thought of running free from this place where her future was uncertain.

          “You probably want to know how you got here,” Angel said suddenly with a dry chuckle, “Who wouldn’t? Well, Jake was going to take us hunting (sorry) last night, but then it started to snow. Now, Jake hadn’t seen game for the past few days, and the snow would make all the scents cold, anyway. So he gave us the night off.”

          Snow. Relief coursed through Shaila in a welcome stream. The trail of blood was covered; the others were safe. That was all that mattered.

          “So Jake decided to go out and check his traps,” Angel continued, “And he came back carrying you. He bandaged your paw, tied you to that tree, and told us to leave you alone until you woke up. And he must have tranquilized you or something because you were knocked out. You didn’t even flinch when he tightened the bandages around your paw.”

          “I don’t know why he’s keeping you here, or why he didn’t just let you go,” Bullet said. He ignored Angel’s warning glance. He jerked his head towards Jake, who sat carving something by the small fire. “I mean, we have enough furs…”

          Suddenly Shaila’s blood froze over. On the hunter’s back, its red-brown hairs capturing the firelight and glinting gold at the very tips, was Kestra’s pelt.

          The acids in Shaila’s stomach churned wildly, and a sour taste gathered at the back of her mouth. The world began to blacken and spin, and she closed her eyes. The awful realization bit at her brain: this was the hunter who had killed her brother’s love. These were the dogs who had seen it all.

          “Whoa, are you okay?” Bullet said.

          Shaila shuddered and opened her eyes. Bullet and Angel looked worried, but right now she didn’t feel she could trust their concern. “Yeah,” she said quietly. She sighed, and remembered Shade telling her about Kestra’s last day. “Isn’t there one more of you?” she asked wearily.

          Bullet brightened. “Yeah. Teke! We grew up like brothers. Well, almost; we had the same mother, but he had a different father.”

          Angel smiled at Shaila’s surprised expression. “Jake did some experimenting with breeding. He wanted the ideal hunting dog for Alaskan weather, so he got us. Husky-hounds, he calls us. Nose and ears of a hound, fur and strength of a Siberian husky. The perfect hunting dog.” She wrinkled her muzzle. “How did you know about Teke?”

          Shaila lay down and rested her head on her paws. “Oh, nothing. Just a guess.”

          “Poor devil. He ran off a few weeks ago,” Bullet said, shaking his head, “I guess the hunting life just wasn’t for him.” Then he grinned, and his tail thrashed the air. “Boy, do I have some wild stories about him. Want to hear some?”

          Shaila gave a half-hearted tug at the rope, and sighed and looked back up at him. “Well, it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere.”

          Red auroras chased each other through the black night sky. Shaila watched them through the peephole the top branches created with their falling leaves. Fear and weariness rubbed her heart raw, and with the world’s weight on it she remembered her home near Nome, and her sister Ruska who had bolted at the sound of a gunshot, and the grandmother who loved the Northern Lights.

          Footsteps behind her made her turn her head. It was Bullet, and he sat down next to her and stared oddly at her face. She gazed back without blinking, and after awhile he said, “You know, it’s kind of hard to get past those glowing eyes of yours.”

          Shaila looked up at the dancing auroras again. “Is that all you came over here for? To comment on my freakish wolf eyes?”

          He rubbed one paw around in the dirt. “No.” He seemed more subdued and calmer now than when she had first met him, she noticed. She could also tell something was bothering him. He appealed to her while following her gaze to the flowing red ribbons in the sky. “Listen, uh…what’s your name?”

          Shaila’s eyebrows lifted. But what did it matter if he knew her name? “Shaila,” she said softly.

          Bullet nodded. “Look, Shaila, I’m sorry my owner’s keeping you like this. I want to help you, but even if I could, I…”

          “Wouldn’t?” Shaila said.

          Bullet shrugged helplessly. “He’s my owner. I owe him everything…I wish you could understand that.”

          Suddenly Shaila was tired of all the secrecy. She spun around and glared at Bullet. “What is your hunter going to do to me, Bullet? I know you know, so stop pretending and just tell me!”

          Bullet looked stunned. Shaila was surprised, too. She couldn’t remember the last time she had openly gotten mad at someone. It felt…good.

          Bullet was stammering and stuttering up a storm. “Well, uh…well, I…I…He–”

          “Bullet!” Angel’s sharp voice cut through their conversation. Shaila saw her standing near the fire, her white fur backed by red-gold flames.

          Bullet looked at her, and then at Shaila, and quietly padded back over to the fire, his head and tail down.

          Shaila sighed in frustration, and tried one last time to slip out of the rope. It choked her and scraped her neck red, and so she lay down in angry defeat.

          In the distance she swore she heard a wolf howl, but she must have imagined it because none of the others stirred. She closed her suddenly misty eyes and willed herself to dream away this nightmare. The last thing she felt was the hunter’s heavy gaze on her as she gave herself up to sleep.

          In the earliest hour of morning Shaila’s eyes snapped open at a gentle shake from the hunter.

          “Easy now, girl,” Jake said softly, “You’re all right.”

          Shaila begged to differ. Her mind was fogged with sleep, her stomach groaned, and her bandaged paw throbbed beneath the white cloth. Then she noticed something that made her head jerk up and her eyes widen.

          There was no tugging on her neck, no scraping of rope against skin. There was still a weight around her neck, but the rope lay next to her in a frayed, straw-colored heap. The dying ray of hope inside her suddenly burst into a triumphant, shining sun. He had cut the rope! She was free!

          Shaila shot to her feet and bolted out of the clearing before her astounding fate could change. She ran faster than thought, faster than her heart, which was beating furiously as she dodged trees and sailed over bushes. Free, she was free at last!

          She crashed out of the forest, stopping only for a few heartbeats to get her bearings, and then charged across the snow and ran alongside the mountain until she reached Eagle Pass.

          Panting, she slowed her pace and trotted into the pack cave. “Mom?” she called, “Remus?” Her words echoed hollowly around the damp stone chamber, and she froze at an unfamiliar sound.

          Beep, beep echoed around the cave long after her words had died away. She carefully followed the sound with her ears, and then looked down.

          Around her neck, where she had thought the rest of the rope had been, was a thin black collar. On one side was a small, black plastic box, and on this box was a red light that blinked on and off in time with its beeping. In her rush to freedom she hadn’t noticed the noise until now.

          Shaila bit her lip as a wave of dizziness spun through her head. She had never seen a tracking collar before, but she knew this was a man-made device, and that humans were after wolves. Especially Jake.

          The awful realization nearly made her heart stop. She had led the humans right to the wolves!

To Be Continued in

The Last Lone Wolf: Ruska’s Story

          Aleu © Universal Studios

          Remus, Shade, Shaila, Ruska, Swift, Everest, Silver Arrow,     Jaydor, Cyan, Destiny, Flint, Iceberg, Crystal, Kestra, Quicksilver,        Linder, Bullet, Angel, Moody Blue, Teke, and Jake © redwolf03