Secrets of the Wolves (40 page)

“I believe I am what you’re looking for,” he said.

“Who are you?” I asked quickly, before the cold I knew was coming sealed my jaws.

“I am the one they dream of.”

“Indru?” I asked.

He inclined his head. “I am Indru,” he said, as if he were an ordinary wolf introducing himself to an equal. I felt my cold ears flattening against my head. “This is my friend, Hzralzu,” he said, inclining his head toward the raven.

“But he is in both worlds,” Tlitoo said. “How can he be?”

“How can you be?” Indru responded. “You have much to learn, Nejakilakin, but now is not the time. There is something this youngwolf must see, and you know she cannot stay here. Come along.”

He turned and walked into the woods surrounding the Stone Circle. There was nothing to do but follow.

He stopped and sat in a copse of trees. When we caught up with him he lay down on his belly. “Come here beside me, Kaala,” he said. Something in his manner made me want to trust him. I lay down next to him and followed his gaze. My nose was cooling, and I flinched, dreading the cold I knew would creep over the rest of me.

We were looking down on a snowy mountaintop. It was just below us, no farther away than the human homesite was from the bushes we hid behind to watch them. There was no such mountain anywhere near the Stone Circle, and I had to remind myself that this was not a real place. There were more than twenty wolves on the flat plain atop the mountain.

I recognized Indru, standing upon a rock above the other wolves, though his eyes were an ordinary pale yellow and his ears were as solid as mine. I looked in confusion at the spiritwolf Indru lying next to me, his silver gaze intent on the wolves below. I didn’t see how it could be possible that he could be in both places at once. There was a lot about the Inejalun I didn’t understand.

Tlitoo pulled on my ear. It was so cold I barely felt it.

“Watch, wolflet. It’s why we’re here.”

The Indru standing on the rock on the mountaintop was listening to one of the other wolves.

“It won’t work,” the large pale-coated male was saying. “We tried to help the humans, but all they do is attack us. It’s not possible to help them.”

“It has to be possible,” the Indru standing on the rock said. “We have made a promise. And if we do not keep it, none of us will live.”

“We tried,” a stern-voiced female said. She was nearly as large as Indru. ‘They tried to make us obey their every whim. They killed Savdra when she ate from the prey she brought down herself!”

“If you allow them to feel that they are in control, they are easy to handle,” a small, soft-voiced male said.

“Then we’re no better than slaves,” the pale-furred male said. “That is not acceptable.”

A lithe, wiry female leapt up to stand beside Indru. She pressed against him in a way that made me think she must be his mate. The spirit Indru beside me whined softly.

“We have noticed something,” the female said. “Some of us are better able to be with the humans than others. Some of us fight with the humans, and some do not.”

“So?” I heard a wolf say. I couldn’t tell which of the many wolves on the mountaintop had spoken.

“So we must split the pack,” Indru said. “Some of us to stay with the humans and some to shun them.”

The cold had reached my lungs, and I coughed hard. The spirit Indru looked over at me in concern.

“There’s not much time. Come away.”

He led us back to the Stone Circle, where I stood shivering. For some reason I wasn’t quite as cold as I had been the last time I was at the Inejalun. That time I was so frozen I couldn’t even shake. I thought it must have something to do with Indru.

“Do you understand what you have seen?” he asked.

“I think so,” I said through clacking teeth. I tried to hide my disappointment. I hadn’t learned much.

Hzralzu raised his wings at me. “You do
not
understand, babywolf,” he said.

Insulted, I glared at him. I had not been a babywolf for moons. Tlitoo pulled my tail as Hzralzu cackled a laugh. Then the ancient raven grew serious, and he spoke again.

I felt even more let down. Every wolf in the valley knew that by now. But Hzralzu had gotten it wrong.

“It’s the Greatwolves, not the smallwolves, who’ve always been responsible for watching humankind,” I said, shivering.

“No, Kaala,” Indru said, “it is not.”

He let that sink in. Let me understand it.

“It’s us?” I said at last. “No, it can’t be.”

“What do you know about the origins of the Greatwolves, youngwolf?” he asked me.

“They came in the time of Lydda,” I said. “She tried to bring wolf and humankind together, and at first it worked. But the humans and wolves fought, so the Greatwolves came to take over the promise. Because smallwolves are too strongly drawn to the humans. It’s why Milsindra says I’ll fail, why her followers say it’s wrong for me to be with the humans.”

The old raven gurgled rudely and spat a bug at me. Tlitoo warbled.

“It’s another lie, isn’t it?” I said.

“It’s the secret the Greatwolves have protected for generations, a secret they have killed for,” the spiritwolf Indru said. “I saw that some wolves in my pack were less likely to fight with the humans, and chose them to be the humans’ guardians. Those who were quick to battle were entrusted with keeping safe the freedom of wolfkind. They promised to stay away from humankind. It happened that the larger wolves of my pack were the ones who fought the most and were the ones who were to stay away. They bred among themselves and grew larger than any other wolves. Then they took what was not theirs to have.”

The old raven peered at me, as if waiting for me to say something. It made a strange sort of sense. I could see why Milsindra would do anything to protect that secret. Then I realized what it meant. If we were the ones meant to be with the humans, then the Greatwolves had no authority over us. No right to tell us what to do. And no right to say what happened with the humans. Once the packs in the valley heard about this, they would know I was right about the humans.

I tried to speak, but whatever Indru was doing to keep the cold at bay was no longer working. My muzzle was icy. I forced it open.

“Why do they keep watching what happened?” I managed to ask.

“I’ve wondered that myself,” Indru said. “I have heard many of them say that I was mistaken, that I chose the wrong wolves to guard the humans, and they watch the past to justify that belief. And I think they bear a great guilt for what they did, and are trying to find a way to assuage it. Some, however, have begun to believe that it might be time to return responsibility for the humans to those who were first meant to bear it. Their leader, Zorindru, believes this. As do the two who watch over your pack. It is why they saved you when you were born, Kaala. But they have always been conflicted. They do not wish their kind to die out, or to be useless.”

My muzzle was now frozen shut, and it was beginning to get difficult to breathe.
Why can’t they come here to the Inejalun?
I wanted to ask.
Why do they want the Nejakilakin?
But I could no longer get any words out. I looked at Tlitoo, trying to get him to understand what I wanted to ask, but he just blinked at me in concern.

“She is cold,” he said to Indru. “We must leave.”

Indru touched his nose to my face, and warmth flowed through me.

“Take her,” he said to Tlitoo.

Tlitoo flew to me and pressed against me.

The flapping of wings filled my ears, and I fell into darkness. An instant later I was lying next to Kivdru in the dreamsage patch. I was wonderfully warm and full of energy. Somehow Indru had taken away the ill effects of the Inejalun. I felt as if I’d woken from a long midday nap, and my heart pounded at what I’d learned. We were the ones who were supposed to be with the humans. It could make all the difference. I whuffed in excitement.

“Quiet, wolflet,” Tlitoo hissed.

But it was too late. Kivdru rolled over and blinked open his eyes. I froze. Tlitoo hopped agilely out of Kivdru’s sight. The Greatwolf looked at me, and the skin between his eyes creased into a frown.

“What are you doing here?” he murmured. “Are you a dream?”

He placed a great paw upon my back, pressing me into the dirt. He sniffed at me. I held as still as I could, trying not to breathe. He sniffed and sniffed. When he raised his muzzle, his nose was covered in uijin.

“Nothing,” he said, his breath heavy with the scent of dream-sage. “No one here. Why do you haunt my dreams, troublesome littlewolf? It will not help you. We cannot let you live.”

He lifted his paw, which was now also covered in the uijin, and tucked it under his chest. He sighed, and his eyes closed slowly. I waited until I was sure he was fully asleep, and then crept backward away from him. As soon as I was half a wolflength from him, I bolted.

I charged up the hill, wincing at the pain in the paw I’d sliced on the rock. I reached the top of the cliff and pelted down the other side of Wolf Killer. I felt better than I had since Yllin’s death. Indru had taken away all my fatigue, and once Ruuqo and Rissa knew the truth about the promise, they could convince Sonnen and the others that I was not unlucky. They might even join with the Stone Peaks in openly defying the Greatwolves. But even if they didn’t, we had proven that we could hunt the aurochs with humans, and with the help of our pack and others we would be able to continue to do so, even without the Lin tribe. If Frandra and Jandru kept their word, I could set things right in the valley and then go find my mother. I ran through the territory as Tlitoo soared and dipped above my head.

I
ran all the way back to Fallen Tree, but it was past darkfall when I arrived, and I was panting so hard I couldn’t speak for a moment. Every wolf in the pack, except for Trevegg, who was still at NiaLi’s, was waiting for me. Ruuqo stood atop a rounded rock. Rissa stood just below him in front of the rock. Minn and Werrna were just to their left. Ázzuen and Marra darted to me.

“What took you so long?” Ázzuen demanded. “We told them about Borlla and that we were looking for the Greatwolf ceremony. Ruuqo and Rissa have spoken to Sonnen, but wouldn’t tell us anything until you got here.” Then he noticed the expression on my face. “You found it?”

“I found it,” I said, “at Wolf Killer Hill. I found out what they didn’t want us to know.”

“What did you find out?” Rissa asked. I thought she would scold me for being late, but her voice was kind, her tail waving. I was grateful that Marra and Ázzuen had brought the pack news of Borlla. It had evidently put them in a good mood.

I looked at my packmates, wondering if I should tell them what had really happened—that I had met Indru and seen into the past. I told myself that it would take too long, that I didn’t have time to answer all the questions they would have. I quickly greeted the leaderwolves, Werrna, and Minn. Then I stood back to look up at Ruuqo. Tlitoo, quorking softly to himself, settled next to Ruuqo on the watch rock.

“The ritual was over, but I overheard the Greatwolves talking,” I told them, ignoring the stab of guilt that lying to my packmates brought on. “It’s not the Greatwolves who are meant to watch over humankind. It’s us. It has been all along.” As quickly as I could, I told them as much as I could about what I’d learned, without betraying the fact that I was able to see things no wolf should be able to see.

“Sonnen and Tree Line will have to side with us now,” I said. “Maybe Pirra will, too.”

I stopped, breathless, waiting for their response. I had waited since I was a smallpup to hear Ruuqo say that I was not an unlucky wolf. Since the day I’d pulled TaLi from the river, I’d wanted my pack to know that I was not drelshik for being with the humans. Now they would see that being with the humans had been the right thing to do and that having me in the pack was not a weakness, but a strength. I looked from Ruuqo to Rissa expectantly.

“Come over here, all of you,” Ruuqo said to us.

Marra and Ázzuen came to join me at the foot of the watch rock. Rissa leapt up to stand beside Ruuqo, knocking Tlitoo off the rock. The raven grumbled and took flight, landing on the fallen spruce that split the gathering place in two.

“We have spoken to Sonnen again,” Ruuqo said, “and we have come to a decision. We have decided to join him.”

Join him in what?
I thought, confused. We were the ones who were supposed to get Sonnen to join us now. We had information about the Greatwolves that every wolf in the valley would want.

“Milsindra and Kivdru have indeed extended their offer to us,” Rissa said. “They came here themselves to tell us. And we have accepted.”

I just blinked at them for several moments. Hadn’t they heard what I’d told them?

“But we don’t need to anymore,” I said. “The Greatwolves have been lying to us. Again. We’re the ones who are supposed to be with the humans. The Greatwolves stole Borlla and kept her for five moons! We just have to tell the other packs.”

Rissa smiled. “We’re glad Borlla is safe. And I wish the Greatwolves had not taken her. Milsindra explained to us that the Greatwolves need our blood to keep their line healthy. It is part of the agreement we have made with them.”

Ruuqo and Rissa had made an agreement with Milsindra? I was shocked into silence. Ázzuen, fortunately, was not.

“What agreement?” he asked.

“We will support them in their battle for the Greatwolf council and will give them a pup every few years—as other packs will—so that their bloodline does not die out. We will have no more contact with the humans. In return, we will live—and our pups will live. The Greatwolves have promised they can bring back the prey, and they will help us eat until then.”