Asher's Point of View

"Did you catch that howl?" I asked Dad as we walked along the border of our property. "It didn't sound like the typical Silver Moon ones."

Dad's face darkened like storm clouds. His hand automatically touched the blade at his waist. "All Blackwood howls sound identical to me. Like death threats."

The morning air was still filled with the reverberation of something beautiful and untamed. My wolf had longed to answer that summons so desperately it hurt. I didn't know why.

"Maybe they were just greeting the morning," I said quietly. "Not everything has to be war."

Dad had slowed down so I was going to collide into him. His yellow flash of eyes for an instant meant that his wolf was close to the surface. When Dad's wolf came out, it hurt people.

"Not everything is about war?"

His voice was lethal and quiet. "Try telling that to my father, who died with Blackwood claws in his throat."

I'd heard it a thousand times, but it only became more difficult to hear. The old pain in Dad's eyes pained my chest. Certain days I questioned whether he'd forgotten how to feel anything but rage.

"I know what they did to Grandpa was wrong," I told him. "But it was fifty years ago. Perhaps it's time to try something new."

The backhand came so fast, I didn't see it. Dad cracked my lip with his knuckles and sent me reeling backward. Blood ran down my chin, and I tasted it, but I was too afraid to wipe it off.

"Different?" Dad's voice was a bellow. "You want to be different with the wolves who killed your grandfather?"

"I'd like to try not to die in a useless war." The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "This vendetta has been burning for a hundred years, Dad. When does it end?"

Dad slapped his hand on my shirt and pulled me into him. His breath was hot in my face, and his eyes were completely wolf yellow. "It ends when all the Blackwoods are dead and in their graves."

"What if there's another way?"

"There is no other way!" Dad shoved me back. "The only good Blackwood is a dead Blackwood. Keep that in your mind when you're Alpha, or you'll not be Alpha for long."

He walked away toward the pack house, leaving me standing on the border by myself. I touched my split lip and tasted blood. Dad's way of teaching always hurt.

The wind passed by with that peculiar scent again, the one that makes my wolf stir uncomfortably inside me. It was from high in the mountains where the Silver Moon Pack lived. Wild and sweet and familiar.

I strolled along the boundary trail to my favorite spot, a boulder outcropping that stared up at Blackwood territory. The mountains rose up like giants' teeth against the blue expanse, beautiful and fatal. Somewhere up there, the next Alpha of our enemies was probably being trained to kill me.

My phone beeped as a text came through from my sister Maya. "Dad's wandering around the house breaking things. What did you do now?"

I wrote, "Asked the wrong questions."

"You need to stop pushing him. He's not going to change his mind about the feud."

Maya was probably right, but I couldn't help it. When I saw Dad's hatred consume him a little bit more each time I saw him, I yearned for another way. The anger was killing him on the inside.

Another howl drifted down from the mountains, soft and melancholy. I recognized this one as the same wolf from before. My wolf whimpered and fought against my control, wanting to howl back.

I let him go.

My howl sailed out over the valley, carrying all the desolation I stored in my heart. As it started to echo away, the mountains grew still like they were holding their breath. The birds stopped singing.

Then came a return call from above. Not angry or threatening like the usual Silver Moon howls. This one was. curious. Like whatever was in the air was questioning me too.

My heart started pounding for no reason. I'd never reacted like this around enemy wolves before. Usually they howled and made me angry or scared. This one made me feel something I couldn't place.

"Asher!" Dad's shout carried down the street from the direction of our house. "Get back here right now!"

I rolled my eyes and walked back toward home. Dad was going to chew me out about howling on Blackwood property. He said it gave away our positions and made us look weak.

I couldn't shake the answering howl from my thoughts, though. There had been something there that called to my wolf. Something that had felt like recognition.

My house was situated in the center of the valley, with our pack members' houses all over. Red rock and timber, built to last for generations. It should have been home but only seemed like a prison lately.

Dad crossed his arms on the porch. His lip was still curled, so I knew I was due for another lecture about pack loyalty and family honor.

"You howled at the enemy," he stated. Not a question. An accusation.

"I howled at the morning. Same as I do every day."

"Don't lie to me, boy. I heard what I heard." Dad advanced a step. "You responded to a Blackwood call. Why?"

I didn't know how to make him understand the pull I'd experienced. The way my wolf had insisted that we respond to that lonely sound. Dad would never experience the hungers like that.

"It was just instinct," I said. "My wolf needed to howl."

"Your wolf needs to learn good instincts." Dad's eyes narrowed. "The Blackwoods aren't our friends, Asher. They're not lonely or misunderstood or any other sentimental thing you may be thinking."

"I know that."

"Do you?" Because from where I was standing, it seemed like you were forgetting who the enemy was. Dad caught my shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Let me remind you."

He dragged me to the pack meeting hall where rusty old swords were on the walls. Swords and spears with blood centuries old. Dad stopped before a glass case where fabric was ripped.

"Your grandfather's shirt," Dad whispered. "The only thing left of him when the Blackwoods finished."

The shirt was splattered with old blood and full of holes created by teeth and claws. I'd seen it a hundred times, but it still sickened me. A man had been killed while wearing that shirt.

"This is what they do to us," Dad continued. "This is what they'll do to you if you let your guard down for a second."

I looked at the torn shirt and tried to feel the rage Dad had wanted me to feel. But all my brain could think about was the lonely howl and the way it had caused my wolf to hum.

"The Harvest Moon Festival is next week," Dad declared unexpectedly. "All the packs will come, including the Blackwoods."

My heart leaped. "Are we really going?"

"Old law requires it. But you stay away from them, Asher. Don't even look in their direction." Dad's fingers pressed deeper into my shoulder. "Promise me."

"I promise."

But even while I said it, I knew I wasn't telling the truth. Something was pulling me towards that festival, something I couldn't resist or defeat. The same something that had made me howl back at the mountains.

Dad released me and turned and went away, but I was still fixed on Grandpa's bloodied shirt. Questioning whether hatred was all that our families could pass on. Questioning whether somewhere in those mountains a Blackwood wolf was doing the same.

The wind shifted again, and with it was that wonderful wild scent. This one more pungent, as if whoever it was it belonged to was also taking up the thought of me. My wolf was fidgety, counting down until the festival.

Seven more days until I met my adversary in person. Seven more days to unravel why my wolf was singing with lust instead of howling for blood.

Something had me believing those seven days would turn everything around.

Riley's Point of View

"Sit with me, child." I passed by the kitchen window and heard Grandma Elena call out. "We need to talk."

Her silver hair was braided with wildflowers when I sat down with her at the old wooden table. The herbs she was brewing into tea perfumed the air with secrets and moonlight. My wolf stirred restlessly at the scent.

"Is this about my Alpha trials?" I inquired, sitting down in the chair across from her. "Because Dad already gave the lecture on not taking pity."

Grandma Elena gazed into my face as if she were reading a book in her wan eyes. She'd always been able to read more than anyone else. I'd wondered in the past if she knew what I was thinking before I did.

She whispered, "This is about the festival," "Riley, things change with the Harvest Moon. Significant changes that impact generations.

There were unexplainable butterflies in my stomach. "What kind of changes?"

"The kind that question all that you think you know about yourself." Grandma Elena filled two teacups. "The kind that causes you to choose between duty and destiny."

The tea tasted of wild berries and moonlight. Her words gave me shivers but warmed me from the inside out. Riddles irritated me, especially if they made my wolf pace nervously.

"I'm afraid of you, Grandma. What's happening at the festival?"

"I'm not sure, actually. I see shadows on the moon instead of clear images. She reached across the table and took my hand. "Granddaughter, I sense a decision coming. One which will forever alter our family.

The kitchen was warm, but her fingertips were cold. I rubbed them gently, trying to get her to just say whatever it was. My head hurt from all this beating around the bush.

"What if I make the wrong choice?" I said.

"There is simply a list of decisions; there is not a right or wrong decision. Some decisions, however, are more difficult to walk than others. Grandma Elena's eyes widened. "Sometimes the heart knows things the mind will not accept.""

The front door closed before I could catch a glimpse of what she was about to do. "I'm back!" Jake's voice called out. Although he did sound strange. I was dubious about how they seemed happy.

"Where has that boy been?" Grandmother Elena said under her breath. "He's been disappearing every day this week."

I had also noticed. Jake would disappear after breakfast and only return in time for dinner. He just shrugged and spoke of something else whenever anyone asked him where he had been. He was not the sort of person who kept secrets.

"Maybe he got himself a girlfriend," I suggested. "He has been acting very dreamy."

"Hmm." Grandma Elena didn't sound so certain. "People do crazy things when they're in love. Recklesshings.

With pine needles covering his clothing and his sandy hair dishevelled, Jake stood in the kitchen doorway. I hadn't seen him smile that broadly in months. He was having a good time doing whatever he'd been doing.

Grandma Elena, hello. Riley, hello. He took an apple from the bowl on the counter. "What are you two discussing?"

"The festival," I muttered, observing his reaction. "Are you excited about it?"

Jake's smile hesitated for a second. He looked at me and then at Grandma Elena and back again. Yeah, sure. It'll be okay.

"Dad says all the packs will be there, even Red Canyon.", I said it casually. "He wants me to stay away from them altogether."

Jake said, "That's probably a good idea," but his voice was tense. "No point in going out of your way to find trouble."

Grandma Elena was also keeping a close eye on Jake with her piercing eyes. She knew something, too, I could tell. Normally, the first one to utter something negative about the Steeles, Jake was apprehensive about the topic today.

"Jake, sweetie, where have you been hanging out during the days?" Grandma Elena gently asked. "Your mother is worried."

"Running just along the trails. Getting prepared for the party. To avoid more questions, Jake took a large bite of the apple. "I should go shower."

Before either of us being able to say anything else, he quickly exited the kitchen. I turned to glance at Grandma Elena across the table. Something was clearly incorrect.".

As I talked, "He's lying," "Jake doesn't do hours of trails daily. He detests exercising.

"That boy is concealing something big." Grandma Elena took a reflective sip of tea. "I can smell it on him."

Jake had been smelling different lately, now that she brought it up. Like fresh air, like pine trees, but like something else also that I couldn't place. Something which, rather than warning my wolf, made him interested.

"Should I follow him tomorrow?" I asked. "See what he's really doing?"

"No, child. When the time comes, some secrets are told. Grandma Elena put her cup down. "But at the festival, beware. People will do what they never would have dreamed under the full moon."

I shuddered. "You're really scared of something, aren't you?"

"Riley, I know you fret about decisions. I know you fret about hearts desiring the wrong things. She looked at me with weary eyes. "I fear history repeating itself."

"What do you mean, history repeating itself?"

Grandma Elena simply shook her head and occupied herself with removing the tea cups. It's not my place to tell some stories. At least not yet.

I recognised that look, but I wanted to press her for information. There was nothing that would get Grandma Elena to talk when she did not want to talk. Still, as I returned to my bedroom, I had her words ringing in my head.

Decisions have repercussions on generations yet to come. Hearts that desire things that they ought not. History is repeating itself.

What was it in my family's history that she feared would occur once more?

I sat on my bed and gazed at the ceiling while I pondered Grandma Elena's warnings and Jake's odd behaviour. With six days to go before the festival, nerves were on edge.

My best friend Sarah sent me a text message, and my phone buzzed. "I am so excited about the festival! Maybe I'll finally meet my soul mate."

I typed to reply, "Maybe we both will." But I felt a pang in my chest of fear even as I wrote it.

What if my partner wasn't from our pack? What if he wasn't even from a pack that we were allied with? I was ill with concern over the thought, but I couldn't let it go.

I dreamed that night I was wailing to some unseen person across a valley. A voice wailed back in the dream, lonely and sad but somehow, somehow familiar. My pillow was wet with tears I had no recollection of shedding when I awakened.

Jake left before breakfast the following morning. This time, I was determined to follow him, even though Grandma Elena warned me not to. I had to find out what was making him so secretive and jubilant.

I tracked his scent through the woods, staying back far enough that he wasn't aware of me. My stomach twisted with worry as his path led toward the border of our land. What was Jake doing near enemy territory?

At the edge of a new meadow, the scent ended. There was no sign of Jake, but I could hear voices shouting from the trees opposite me. Jake's was unmistakably one of them.

My blood ran cold as I heard the second voice.

It was a Red Canyon accent and young, and male.

Asher's Perspective

 "Asher, please.  You have to go to the festival.  As I walked towards the kitchen, Maya grabbed my arm.  "Promise me you'll be there."

I stood there and gazed at my small sister's face.  She was chomping on her lower lip the way she always did when she was keeping something a secret, and her brown eyes were fixed on me with concern.  Maya never demanded anything of me.

"I'm coming, of course.  Dad already mentioned that the entire pack would have to leave.  I scowled at her strange antics.  "Why are you so anxious about it?"

"I'm not worried.  I just. I want you there, okay?" Maya clung to my arm harder.

"Promise me you won't leave early or go find a hiding spot in the woods like you always do."

Maya was too accustomed to me.  I always did my best to miss pack meetings when I could.  For my preference, there is too much strutting around and brawling.  But her current expression tightened my chest with worry.

"What's wrong, Maya?  You're being odd.".

"Nothing is happening.  I just need my brother to accompany me to the festival.  Her smile attempt was tense.  "This evening is going to be significant.  amazingly gigantic.".

Connor had arrived without knocking before I could question her on what she was saying.  As my Beta, he did this all the time, but today he was doing it differently.  He smiled too much, as usual.

"Hey, both of you.  You're discussing the festival?  As if he owned the mansion, Connor flopped into a chair.  

"I'm looking forward to it.  It will be. interesting."

I couldn't interpret the expression Maya bestowed upon him.  I was left out of the silent discussion they appeared to be having.  Left out, my wolf growled in agitation.

"Connor, any idea why Maya's being so weird about this?" I asked.

"I'm not being weird!"  Maya talked too loudly.  "I just have the impression that this year's festival will be special.  That's all.".

Taking a seat in his chair, Connor gazed at us both.  "Asher, I actually did have a question for you.  Who from the Silver Moon packs is attending the festival, do you know?

The question was a surprise.  Why should I know?  And why should you care?

"Just wondering.  I've heard that their Alpha of the future is here.  Connor's eyes assumed a strange look.  "Blackwood, Riley.  Ever see her?

The title made my stomach curdle at an odd angle.  Although I'd never known there was such a thing as a Blackwood wolf, my wolf began pacing agitatedly upon hearing the name spoken aloud.  As if he somehow recognized it.

"No, I never saw her before.  And I don't want to."  The lie was simple, but it seemed awkward.  "Why are you asking about enemy wolves?"

"You do know who your enemy is?  My dad was always saying that.  Connor's eyes never left his shrug.  "I'll bet she'll be searching for a husband at the festival."

Maya jumped up from her chair and made a strangled sound.  "I need to go.  Asher, I'll catch up with you later.  Remember my words about the festival.".

Before I could stop her, she had quickly left the room.  More bewildered than ever before, I stared after her.  While Maya had been odd the entire week, today was the worst.

Connor stated, "Your sister is concerned about something."

"Any idea what?"

"No, and it's killing me."  I sat down beside him.  "She always disappears throughout the day and comes back with an unknown smell.  like somewhere else."

Connor raised an eyebrow.  "Somewhere else like where?"

"I can't figure it out.  I don't know that smell.  I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on.  "Do you think she's in trouble?"

"Maya?  No, she is too smart for trouble.  Connor stooped over.  Talking about the festival, however, I think you should go.  And not just because your father issued the command.

"Why?"

"Because it's time you started thinking of finding a mate."  Connor's smile returned to its artificial appearance.  "You'll be Alpha someday.  You need a solid Luna by your side.".

I should have been thrilled at the prospect of finding a mate.  But lately, I've felt empty inside whenever anyone brings it up.  Like I was waiting for something particular that I couldn't identify.

"I'll meet my mate when the moon wants me to," I replied.  "I'm not going to rush things."

"What if the moon's already made the choice for you?" Connor's voice grew quiet.  "What if your mate is closer to you than you think?"

He'd spoken the words in a voice that sent shivers down my spine.  "What are you talking about?"

"Nothin'.  Talking to myself.  Connor jumped out of his chair.  "I should get going.  But, Asher?  Be careful at the festival.  Fate has a sense of humor that's wicked sometimes.".

Before I could even ask him what he meant, he also left.  People were speaking in code, it seemed, and I was left all alone in the kitchen.  Maya pleaded with me to go to the festival.  Connor had strange questions about Silver Moon wolves.

Maya texted me, and my phone buzzed.  "Never trust one person completely.  Not even ones that you feel like you know."

I gazed at the message until the letters became blurry.  What was my sister warning me about?  Why did it sound like a warning, and why?

I ran that day to relax.  I always thought better in the forest.  Even the heavily used paths seemed unusual today, though.  As if something was lurking in the darkness, staring at me.

I was where I usually am, looking out over Silver Moon land.  The strange scent was stronger today, but the mountains were just as they always were.  Wild and sweet, and it's calling me to my heart.

 I gave a soft howl before I even realized what I was doing.  Not angry or aggressive, just. lonely.  I had no idea why, but I had to hear that answering bark one more time.

The response came quicker than anticipated.  My wolf let out a howl of recognition.  The voice was closer today, but it was certainly the same voice as the other time.  As if the person had descended from the high mountains.

My heart began pounding.  I would get to see the Silver Moon Pack in person at the festival in five days.  Would I ever have the chance to figure out whose lovely, creepy voice that was?

I was excited and frightened at the idea.  If Dad found out that I desired one of the Blackwood wolves, he would kill me.  I was powerless to resist, however.

Dad was extremely positive at dinner that evening.  He was discussing the festival as if it were an opportunity to highlight the best of Red Canyon.  Maya just kept glancing at me apprehensively while she picked at her meal.

"The Silver Moon Pack thinks they're better than us," Dad said.  "But wait until they meet our young wolves.  Especially you, Asher.  You'll show them the face of a proper Alpha.

"What if I don't want to show off?"  I asked.  "What if I just want to attend the ceremony and then come back home?"

Dad's good humor disappeared.  "Boy, you'll maintain your responsibility to this pack.  That includes reminding everyone how powerful we are.

Maya shook her head a little and kicked me under the table.  I heeded the warning and said nothing.  But I couldn't ask any of the questions going through my mind.

I discovered Maya packing a small bag in her bedroom following dinner.  For a moment, she appeared much younger than twenty as she gazed up at me, her eyes filled with tears.

"Maya, let me know what is happening.  I am afraid of you."

"I'm not ready to tell you yet.  But it will all be different after the festival.  She brushed her tears off with the back of her hand.  "Just trust me, okay?"

"I always do."

"Even if I do something that's betrayal?"  I barely heard her voice because it was so low.

"Even if Dad never forgives me?"

My blood ran cold.  "Maya, what will you do?"

 She glanced at her backpack before turning and standing in front of me.  "I am going to put love before hate.

 even if it means ruining everything.".