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Featuring: Ranna, Shenandoah & Alar.

The battle had been so bloody.

The grey she-wolf had watched it from a distance, hidden in the boughs of a tree. She recognized a great many faces, but they moved in a blur to her, nothing but background noise. Although she had cast her gaze over the battlefield a few times, watching the Valerian rebels and the Valerian monarchy tearing one another apart, her eyes would always return to train intently on the King.

Alar did not enter the battlefield. The coward that he was, he simply stood on the fringes and watched the others sacrifice their bodies on his behalf. Ranna did not care for these wolves, but seeing Alar’s indifference toward them only served to fuel her fire. He was every bit as cruel as her mother had told her. He wanted power, but he would not fight for it. He would only manipulate others into fighting for him, allow any number of them to die in order to achieve his goals. And Shenandoah… she was the only other wolf that Ranna’s eyes had lingered on. It had taken all of her self control not to enter the battlefield when the little Queen screamed in pain, her face painted with her own violent red blood. She should not have had to suffer this way for Alar; for the wolf that looked on coldly while his little princess endured such agony.

When Shenandoah fled, Ranna ached to follow, but she held her position. She could not allow anything to cloud her judgment; this could be the moment she had been waiting for. Everything she had dreamed of since she was a young pup, everything she had worked toward was suddenly within her reach. So she watched Shen flee, then returned her gaze to Alar.

It was with annoyance that Ranna noted Alar’s forces seemed to be pushing the rebels back. Surely not? Surely he would not win this fight? The arrival of reinforcements quashed what little power Alar had left. Ranna did not know the wolves who rushed in, or the proud male that led them, but it seemed the Valerians did. As Alar moved, so did she, following his path like a specter and watching with baited breath as he wrestled with the former ruler of Vale. For a sickening moment it seemed like this male would take her prize and extinguish Alar’s life, but the slippery snake managed to evade death once more.

Alar fled, injured, and Ranna followed. Finally. This was her moment. She would finish Alar once and for all.

Shenandoah kept pace at Alar’s side, “It’s alright, Alar, just a little further… we have to get to safety…” Shenandoah looked around, her green eyes wide. If Faust sent wolves after them to finish them off then they would barely stand a chance. Shen herself was dizzy with her whole world a blur, knowledge that Alar’s life rested in her paws the only thing that made her force herself to keep a level head. He needed her. And she would be here for him, just like he was always there for her.

As more time passed, so too did the pain fade out of his body, pulling back like a tide going out. It’s not that it hurt any less; rather Alar was starting to grow tolerant to the pain that continually surged through his body. Each step was excruciating, and every time his body caved Shen was always there to catch him, brushing her tongue against his cheek to ensure he stayed awake, keeping him focused on their objective: fleeing Vale.

“It’s alright, Alar, just a little further… we have to get to safety…”

The coca wolf’s words were lost on him. Everything was lost on him. Even the landscape was lost on him; strobing in and out of focus all around him. Yet, with Shen by his side, the bearded wolf managed to drag on, barely clinging to life.

How did he allow himself to be reduced to such a state? Alar’s body flooded with anguish. He had many enemies now; more than ever before. Who would come to finish him off? Roan, Hidde, Vale, Vektren… Renier? Would Faust turn on his word? It was only a matter of time. There was a target on his back, and now he was more vulnerable than ever.

Through the trees she moved, all too at home in the shadows. Her footsteps were careful and quiet, navigating the maze that was the autumn forest floor with the ease of a well seasoned tracker. This was the moment she had been training for her entire life; this was everything she was and everything she had. Alar might have worried about how many enemies he had made when he lost his precious war, but he could never have known that he had been a target long before that. That she had been following him and his flock for years, that she had been sitting patiently with the little Queen and watching his movements from across the territory. Listening to every story Shenandoah had to offer about her King and savior, because it would help her to end his life.

It turned her stomach to see the care with Shenandoah handled the half-dead wolf, leading him in desperation to safety. Ranna’s lips curled in silence, a snarl that never was, nothing more than the baring of her sharp and dangerous teeth at the thought. Through it all Shen still supported the monster. She needed to see who he truly was, needed to be free of his lies. If only Ranna had been able to tell her the truth, if only she knew what he had done. What he was responsible for.

It was not hard to follow them further, pushing away from Vale and deeper into forests in their attempts to hide. The stench of blood could be scented from miles around, dripping now and then from the wounds upon his neck and body, a trail of breadcrumbs for any lucky hunter. But this prey was already hunted, long before the blood had started to flow.

Ranna stumbled out from the shadows, her face arranged into a perfect picture of concern and fear. She did not want to hurt Shenandoah unless she had to, so she moved forward breathlessly, her eyes wide. “Shenandoah, quickly, behind you!” She warned the young Queen of an attacker that was not truly there, the young wolf’s concentration breaking from Alar just long enough for Ranna to strike.

Finally she leapt, like a snake uncoiling and darting venomous teeth toward its enemy. Her expression melted away, replaced by the focus and fury of an efficient killer; a wronged daughter who had waited too long for revenge. She burst through the trees, her snarl hissing through the forest as she hurtled into Alar’s side with every inch of her strength and power. All the suppressed energy and pain went into her strike, to topple him to the ground. His shoulders hit the floor and Ranna stood over him, pausing only for a moment to smile down at her prey. Finally.

“Hello Daddy,” She hissed sarcastically, her eyes wide and her heart pounding with adrenaline.

She opened her jaws wide, ready to close around his already well-wounded throat.

Shenandoah whirled around in a panic as a voice, filled with fear, split the area, warning her of coming danger. While Shenandoah immediately recognized the voice of Ranna, it was the attacker she was looking for, dark green eyes searching frantically as she stood ready to defend. Perhaps, after everything that had happened already, Shen would have been wise to expected Ranna’s insincerity as well. But Shenandoah wasn’t known for her wisdom. And for that she was still distracted as Ranna darted forward, knocking Alar to the ground.

Shenandoah turned to look at Ranna,”hey!” Adrenaline pounding once again, fury mounting, Shenandoah flew at the female, using her large bulk to send them both tumbling off the injured male. She stood in front of Ranna now, standing between her and Alar, her tail raised and her long fangs bared. ”What’s wrong with you?” she snarled. What a stupid question. What was wrong with her, was that she was a liar, a snake, just like every other Valerian. Just like everyone but Bellamy. The truly wrong one is you, Shen. Stupid, gullible Shen. Cannot see treachery under your own nose, in your OWN FRIENDS.

This betrayal would hit Shen hard as she thought of it, reflecting on all the time she and Ranna had shared together, and the empathy and affection that Shen thought was mutual, but was probably just an intricate web of lies, all lies... had she even really been injured? No, she was bleeding! That couldn’t have been a lie… then where had it gone wrong?

But Shenandoah was yet again about to lose one of the only things in the world she had left. After coming so close to survival, she was not letting this slip away. “Don’t think I won’t rip your throat out, you scrap of filth,” she snapped.

Ranna’s voice came out of nowhere, and before he could rise his head to see what was going on the grey she-wolf barreled into him with a terrible intensity, sending new shocks of pain surging through his body. The impact had forced him to the dirt, knocking the wind out of him. An acute, sickly cough snaked up his throat and for a moment it felt as though it would rip through what little was left of it. Alar struggled to open his eyes as Ranna towered over him. There was no fear this time. Rather, he felt quite numb; confused even. Had a Valerian returned to finish him off so soon? The scent was similar to damp, rotting foliage. One he did not recognize.

“Hello Daddy.”

Daddy?

His clouded gaze cleared, and for a moment there was clarity. But as soon as he saw the peeled-back lips and glistening fangs, so too did the blur of Shen’s form come rushing to his aid, knocking her off and saving him once again. What… What on earth was going on? Who was she? Why was she here?

Alar gritted his teeth as he groaned, sliding into his side. It was a struggle. He could barely lift his own weight, yet the sudden rush of adrenaline allowed his body to do things he could not do just moments before. Peering through squinted, hazy eyes, Alar studied her as well as his jumbled mind afforded him, desperate for answers… but he found nothing.

“W—who are you?”

She should not have paused. She should not have spoken. Had she used those few seconds to engage her teeth and not her voice, she would have killed him. He would be gone, snuffed out like a candle, finished. But before her teeth could snap around his neck, Shenandoah flew at her, a powerful force against her scarred shoulder. Ranna was thrown to the side, snarling furiously at the wolf she had come closest to calling a friend. No! She would not lose Alar now, not when she was so close, not when she had prepared and planned for so long.

Almost as quickly as she hit the ground, she was back on her feet, facing Shenandoah with her teeth bared and her fur bristling. Filth? A sharp laugh escaped her jaws, ringing harshly in her ears. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” She sneered back. The insult did not move her. She knew she was not a model citizen; but then, she’d never had much of an example to follow. Only Alar, the father who left her behind to die. She eyed him with disgust as she spoke again. “Filth breeds filth.”

Behind Shenandoah’s protection, Alar was crumbling, trying helplessly to raise his head to look at her. This was the closest she had been to him since she was a tiny newborn. Her memories of him were few and far between. She could not remember any time that he had shown her affection, but at first she had idolised him, desperate to speak to the ravens the way he did. Quick to practice her proud walk in the den, imitating her father and his cunning confidence. Desperate to follow in his footsteps, to make him proud.

But then he had ran away, without so much as a look over his shoulder, no worry for the poor defenseless family he left behind.

There was no glimmer of recognition in his eyes; Ranna should have known he would not remember her. What could she possibly have meant to him anyway? He had fled and sentenced her to death. Even though she had dreamt of killing him her whole life, she could not help but be hurt by the blank look in his eyes, reminding her how truly alone she was. She wondered how he could have forgotten his own children, in the same way you might forget to run an errand or pass on a message.

Ranna had been doomed from the start; dead or forgotten. Those had been her only options. Somehow it felt like this path was more painful than death would have been.

Who are you?

The grey she wolf raised her head and stood tall, although she was not proud of what she was about to admit. Her eyes found his, and her muscles trembled, desperate to leap and attack once more. If only Shenandoah was not in her path. “I am your daughter. The daughter you left to die.”

Her head turned back to Shenandoah, conflicted. She would not hesitate to kill Alar, to persecute him for his crimes. But Shenandoah was a victim, just like she was. She needed to see what kind of wolf she was sheltering, what kind of wolf she was trying to lay her life down for. Ranna’s snarl faded as she addressed the Valerian Queen - or, once was - a fire in her gaze.

“He is filth Shenandoah, he is a liar and a killer. When he fled my home pack he left me and my family behind. The Alpha gave the order to execute us, and Alar did nothing! I stood in the blood of my two brothers, mere puppies, while he ran to save his own hide! And now look at him - he doesn’t even remember me!” Her breath came hot and heavy, the memories and the pain rushing forward, turning her blood into flames.

“He is responsible for the deaths of my family - he must pay for his crimes!”

“My daughter?”

The revelation made Alar’s pulse quicken, yet his face remained stone cold, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of a reaction that she no doubt desired. He did not recognize her, but by telling from her youth, the color of her fur—he could only guess, jumbled as his mind was. Alar narrowed his eyes. Could it be? After all this time?

There was no denying it. She was his.

Ahh that’s right… Lilja. Her mother, if memory served. The Alpha of their pack had graciously offered his beta to Alar as a reward for helping him rise to power. She was young and beautiful sure, but it mattered little to him. He didn’t lust after her in the same way he did Lilith. The union with Lilja was nothing more than a means to an end; a tool to solidify his position in the Alpha’s council, and what better way to make use of her than to sire a litter? It had worked well for him before, after all.

Vaguely, he remembered the pitiful cries of the pups that shared their den. Lilja was enthralled by them, while he, on the other hand, remained apathetic; too busy with the growing tensions within the pack to take much notice. Soon the Alpha grew mad with paranoia; fearful that Alar intended to usurp his throne. Once he ordered for Alar’s execution, the bearded wolf didn’t hesitate to run.

“The Alpha gave the order to execute us, and Alar did nothing!”

Better them than me, he thought. He managed to escape by the skin of his teeth as it was. To turn back for them would have been foolish—if not suicidal.

As Ranna went on, Alar’s eyes glistened with amusement. He could sense the turmoil stirring within her. Ignorant fool. Did she honestly believe she could manipulate the trust he had instilled in Shenandoah that easily? He eyed—no… dared her to continue.

“She’s lying to you, Shen.”

It was all he needed to say.

Shenandoah stood firm as conversation went on between Alar and Ranna, her exhaustion forgotten once again as her adrenaline coursed through her. Would this end in a fight? She didn’t know how much longer she could stay standing. ‘You have to. You HAVE to.’ She had made it this far. She was not going to lose everything to this treacherous she-wolf. This she-wolf whose very presence was her fault.

His daughter? Shenandoah didn’t know what to make of that. She turned her head slightly, to see Alar out of her peripheral vision while still keeping focused on Ranna. They did sort of look similar, with their gray fur with the pale tufts on their throats. But what did that mean? Well, it didn’t matter what it meant! What mattered was that Ranna wanted to kill Alar. And that was not going to happen.

Shenandoah didn’t believe Ranna’s words, deaf to the emotion and anguish clear in them, because her own experiences told her differently about Alar. She knew Alar. Alar never ran. He was noble and courageous, he stood at her side and did everything he could to protect her during her reign, and he supported her emotionally too through the death of her parents and through the betrayals of all her friends and families. And last of all, he had nearly died for her. He had selflessly challenged Faust, willing to die, and very nearly dying, as he tried to protect her.

Shen let out a low growl, swishing her tail in response to Alar. ‘I know,’ the gesture said, but still hearing his words assuaged her. She didn’t know if Ranna had the wrong wolf here, or if this had been a misunderstanding, or if Ranna truly was the deceitful snake she was turning out to be, but Shenandoah was not up for playing peacemaker. Ranna was here for blood. Shen would make sure that the only blood Ranna got was her own. “You are the criminal, Ranna,” Shenandoah said to her, her voice low and cold as the north wind, “and you will never have him. Not while I live.” The banished Queen shifted her weight as she braced herself to defend. Her gaze was fixed on Ranna’s deep mahogany eyes, exhausted but resolute, and challenging.

She’s lying to you, Shen.

Five simple words were all it took to sway the former royalty. Five simple words, and Shenandoah was lowering her head and bracing her body defensively. Ranna saw the glimmer in Alar’s eyes; snake. She’d known it all along and now he proved it. He did not care about her at all, and Ranna although had had a very long time to come to terms with that idea, it didn’t stop the pain. Burnt amber eyes flickered between him and his shield, conflict rattling through her chest, blood pounding furiously around her body.

He did not care about Shenandoah either, but the young wolf could not see it. She was blind to the poison in his eyes. Even when half dead he was still more cunning and more intelligent than the wolf he had under his spell. He valued Shen now only for her strength and protection, for her guidance when he was about to meet his maker. As soon as she had served her purpose, he would cast her aside like all the others.

“He’s fooling you Shenandoah, and you are too weak to see it,” Ranna spat venomously, lifting her head high and standing tall, her teeth bared. “When you have served your purpose in saving his life, he will be done with you. You are no longer a Queen - you have nothing, you are nothing.”

The words would fall on deaf ears. She knew it as soon as they left her tongue. Something was stirring in her chest; she was not sure of the feeling or how to comprehend it. She was hesitant to hurt Shenandoah. The thought confused her, because nothing and no-one had ever stayed her paws. “If he left his flesh and blood to be slaughtered, what do you really think he will do to you?” She snarled, taking one step forward, her frustration clear. How could she be so blind to his deception? For Ranna it was as clear as day. He was the deadly nightshade that lingered in the forest hoping someone might mistake it for some harmless plant, and she was the unwitting victim. Alar was a special brand of poison and he had infected Shen so deeply that she would put her life on the line to defend him.

Her life was worth so much more than his. Alar did not deserve the years he had already lived, never mind the years that lay ahead.

The images of her lifeless brothers, the pooling blood encircling her paw… they served to strengthen her resolve. Ranna snarled once more, a new fury rushing through her. If Shenandoah would not listen then she must fall. It did not matter how many lives were given to repay the lives of her family, as long as in the end, Alar took his last long breath. She was not a fighter, she was not as big or indeed as heavy as her opponent, but she had not already exhausted her stamina like Shenandoah had. She would get to Alar and she would kill him, or die trying.

Ranna raced toward Shenandoah, her eyes finally void of conflict or emotion - her face expressionless. The face of a killer.

Ranna’s voice had been a trusted voice, a welcomed voice, the voice of a confidant and a friend. But now it spoke with such venom, such condemnation at her. Despite the situation that faced them, just the history that they shared made it very hard. Ranna thought she was weak. Ranna thought she was nothing? And perhaps even worse was that Shen knew that Ranna wasn’t lying, given the evidence that proved it to be true. Because she was nothing. She had lost this war, she had lead this pack to disaster, and now she was fated to a life forever on the run. And just like she had said in her confrontation with Kimber, she said to herself now, just to keep her sanity, to assuage her confusion on why a wolf she had once loved, she did love, would act this way. This isn’t your Ranna. Your Ranna never existed. Your Ranna is a lie. Shen glared back at her. “Alar will stand by me, as he always has for my whole life. As my father trusted him to do!” Whenever she had doubts, reminding herself of her father always helped harden her resolve.

Ranna was going to attack. Shen couldn’t feel much less ready for that. If it were just her life on the line, she would have quietly succumbed to such a fate. She was just so tired, so wounded inside and out, so ready to give in. But it was Alar who she was defending, and his presence that forced her to keep fighting.

The gray she-wolf sprang and Shenandoah met her with fangs flashing, letting out a snarl as the foe, quick as a snake, easily dodged Shen’s assault and sank her jaws into her foreleg. Shenandoah yanked backward with a yelp, and then she surged forward, using her mass to her advantage. The smaller Ranna fell beneath her and Shenandoah wasted no time in clamping her jaws on Ranna’s throat and squeezing hard.

Her eyes shut as tight at her jaws as she felt the gray she-wolf’s throat close under the pressure, her air cut off. ‘At least we’re not alone,’ Shenandoah had said, the sun streaming brightly into the little den Ranna had called home. ‘No. We are not alone,‘ Ranna had answered, her gaze and smile as true as the sun that rises each morning. The world had seemed dark to Shen then, but now that day felt like some sweet, faraway dream. How could she have known it could get so much worse. ‘What went wrong? When did it ALL go wrong??‘

The two wolves met in the air. Shen was larger and stronger, so quickly Ranna dipped her body at the last moment and allowed her sharp fangs to find her opponents foreleg. It was bittersweet, a bite Ranna had not wanted to bite, the copper taste of blood on her tongue nothing in comparison to the joy that her own father’s blood would have brought. Her eyes were listless and empty as she bit down, her heart was not in this battle. All she wanted was Alar. Why did this stupid girl have to try and stand in the way? Why her, of all wolves in the world?

Quickly Shenandoah surged, using her size to her advantage. In a matter of moments Ranna was on the ground, her back pressed against the soil. It was over so quickly. The snarl in her throat faded into a haunting and pitiful whimper as for the first time, fear rippled through her body and bled into her eyes. Eyes, that opened wide and could do nothing but stare into Shenandoah’s beautiful Spring green, speckled with fury and creased with bloodlust. Eyes that began to weep, searching desperately in Shenandoah’s gaze for the wolf within who could have seen the truth.

Ranna knew she had been as much of a fool as Shenandoah had. She had been more honest with the Valerian Queen than she had been with any other wolf before - even more honest than she had been with Oruz, to whom she had given her body. But she had weaved her truth so closely with her lies that, when push came to shove, Shenandoah could not see the difference. She did not know how much she truly knew, how much of the true Ranna she had seen in the moments they had shared. The grey she-wolf had never shared her pain with another before she had shared it with Shenandoah, and now she was to pay the ultimate price for showing a glimmer of her soul to another.

Betrayal. Of course. Wasn’t it always? She should have known better. What part of herself she had given to Shenandoah would have seemed small, microscopic, but to Ranna it was earth shattering. Ranna, the wolf who hid every fibre of her being behind a cunning and violent film in order to avoid being seen for how truly vulnerable she was. Shenandoah… had peeked behind that curtain. It was a monumental feat, unheard of.

Ranna, for all her evil, had only ever resolved to protect this little wolf from Alar’s poison. She had failed, and Alar would live, and she would be his slave until she too was hollowed out by him, emptied of everything she was and spoon fed bitterness and misery. A product of what had come before, molded by someone else, her destiny chosen for her. Ranna had wanted to save Shenandoah from… from becoming Ranna. And now, it was fitting, that she would be the one to end it all. In extinguishing Ranna’s life she would surely become her, this senseless murder her first step along that same road that Ranna had begun all those years ago, when she gazed at the blood of her brothers upon her own tiny paw.

She struggled. Of course she struggled. She did not want to die, not here. Not now. Not under the soulless glare of her only friends eyes. But the struggling made it worse. With each convulsion her breath hitched, the air that escaped her throat finding no way back in, the release only serving to make Shenandoah’s grip that much tighter. Suffocating. Dark specks of black began to infiltrate the pools of green above her, but they were not in the Queen’s eyes; no, they were flooding Ranna’s own. Ticking like fleas, one by one across her gaze.

She had not forgotten Alar. Although it took all she had, her swiveled her eyes to find him. The look of emptiness she found made her chest tight. She wished more than anything that he would die too, die of his wounds, be found by another enemy. That she would meet him in the Underworld, to chase him forever around the depths of hell, just because it was the only life that she had ever known. The only thing she knew how to do. She looked back to Shenandoah instead, although it was no less painful.

In the creeping darkness Ranna remembered it too. The words they had shared in Vale. It felt like a long time ago since then. We are not alone.

It was perhaps the only thing she could hold onto; that even in her last moment, she was not alone.

The emptiness overwhelmed her at last, and she fell limp. She went willingly into unconsciousness, where the torment of betrayal would hurt her no longer, and where she hoped, more than anything in this life or the next, that she would see her family again.

The world was such a swirl of pain and confusion and anguish that Shenandoah hardly noticed when Ranna’s body finally went limp beneath her, and the last of her heart-wrenching whimpers died in her throat as the world was silenced. But when the stillness finally did reach Shenan’s awareness, she released Ranna immediately, staring down at her, at what she had done, with fur bristling.

Ordering a wolf dead, something Shen had done several times, was a horrible thing. But to do it with her own fangs? It was... this was… was it different? It was different… but it wasn’t. Would it have been any better if it was another wolf’s jaws who had strangled her friend? No… the result was the same, a wolf dead because of her will. The only difference now was that, for the very first time, she had actually done it. Ranna lay slain before her, the breeze ruffling her coat, all that moved as the quiet fell over them. In Ranna she saw Brunhilda, Rhaegan, Enzo, Loki, Keme, Finarel, Kyros, Faust… Kimber. Every wolf she had ever wanted dead, but failed. But not this time. This time, finally, she had managed it. This was a victory, a triumph, or a relief if nothing else. But it wasn’t. She tried to picture Faust’s body at her paws, something that was objectively good. But whether her mind imagined Faust, or let her see the truth of Ranna’s demise at her jaws, she didn’t feel anything like that. Just sad, and empty. Hopeless even. Ranna had been a friend once, a good friend, who had given her companionship, understanding, a kinship between like souls in like situations, a relationship like few Shenandoah had ever experienced before. And almost all of the others had been friends once as well. Even Faust had been a friend of her mother’s. Why was this happening? What was wrong with them? What was going on that she couldn’t see?

‘It’s alright, Shen, you had to do it,’ she assured herself. She nodded slowly in agreement as she studied her work. Until she noticed it, something so unexpected that Shenan recoiled a few steps. ‘She’s still breathing!’ She wasn’t dead after all! Despite the darkness creeping into her soul her initial reaction was still a desperately glad sort of liberation. Oh what a relief, what a-

‘Finish her.’ Shen blinked in confusion at her mind’s own urging, ‘if she lives she will follow you again, she will find you again. She’ll kill you and Alar.’ Yes… she would. Shen had seen the cold ambition in Ranna’s eyes. She would not give up. It had to be done or else it could cost them their lives. Kill or be killed. It’s that simple.

Shenandoah crept forward again, staring down at her motionless victim. At Ranna. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, her head bowing as she prepared to bury her fangs into Ranna’s throat, once and for all. ‘For the good left in the world this must be done,’ her mind soothed. She had obtained these unusually long fangs from her father, fangs long and sharp as daggers. This was what they were for.

In the end she could not do it, despite logic telling her otherwise. She didn’t know why, but for some reason her mind blamed her mother, as if her dead siblings’ survival would have made some difference. Maybe then she wouldn’t have gravitated to Ranna in the first place. She wouldn’t have loved her like she had loved her now.

She turned, walking to Alar’s side while favoring her injured foreleg. “Come on, Alar… we have to move quickly,” she urged, leading her companion onward. She glanced over her shoulder one last time, her gaze forlorn as it rested on the small gray shape of Ranna, motionless and alone on the ground. A hollow sadness made her chest ache as she looked at her, and then she turned to the journey ahead. She had never felt such confliction before. Knowing she hadn’t killed Ranna was a good thing, already in that moment when she had believed the she-wolf to be dead by her fangs she had felt some tiny light flicker out within her. But now the light remained, and some faint but deep and prevailing moral compass was commending her for her restraint, for her instinct to preserve the life. Though was it her moral compass? Or was it that she couldn’t yet accept the truth about Ranna, a tiny part of her hoping that all this was some huge misunderstanding? Whatever her underlying motivations…. She still couldn’t push away that same soft voice in her mind. ‘You have ruined us.’

Alar watched as Ranna’s eyes desperately sought after his own in spite of Shen’s jaws wrapped firmly around her throat. There was a fire in her gaze; a fragile, kindling flame. But like a newborn pup it would need to be nurtured and cared for if it ever hoped to consume the forest. Alar smiled at her slyly. So much untapped hidden potential, he thought to himself. What a pity to be smothered before it had a chance to breath.

And then it was done. Shen stepped away from the body and Alar’s smile fell. He looked to her as if considering her potential as well. When the reinforcements came he had fled with the intention of abandoning everything, including the young she-wolf. After all, what use would he have for her now that Vale was no longer his to play with? Alar’s mind went to work. After his encounter with Faust and now this, their future soon became abundantly clear. Shen had proved her loyalty time and time again. Even in the face of Ranna’s accusations, she still remained steadfast. Why be rid of someone so useful?

There was a biting wind in the air. It wouldn’t be long before the first snows came. There was no doubt that with his injuries it was going to be a long and tough winter.

“Come on, Alar… we have to move quickly.”

Vaguely he was aware of the pain throbbing through his body as Shen helped him to his paws. He needed her, reluctant to admit it as he was. Not only would she prevent him from starving, but with the incredible strength inherited from her father coupled with the determination to protect him she would prove to be a reliable bodyguard.

Alar’s eyes silently brushed passed his daughter, unconscious. Had he been alone there was no doubt he wouldn’t have escaped Vale alive. There was a moment; a small passing moment, but in that moment Alar was, for once, truly thankful for Shenandoah

Skin by SimplySilent

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Featuring: Ranna, Shenandoah & Alar.

The battle had been so bloody.

The grey she-wolf had watched it from a distance, hidden in the boughs of a tree. She recognized a great many faces, but they moved in a blur to her, nothing but background noise. Although she had cast her gaze over the battlefield a few times, watching the Valerian rebels and the Valerian monarchy tearing one another apart, her eyes would always return to train intently on the King.

Alar did not enter the battlefield. The coward that he was, he simply stood on the fringes and watched the others sacrifice their bodies on his behalf. Ranna did not care for these wolves, but seeing Alar’s indifference toward them only served to fuel her fire. He was every bit as cruel as her mother had told her. He wanted power, but he would not fight for it. He would only manipulate others into fighting for him, allow any number of them to die in order to achieve his goals. And Shenandoah… she was the only other wolf that Ranna’s eyes had lingered on. It had taken all of her self control not to enter the battlefield when the little Queen screamed in pain, her face painted with her own violent red blood. She should not have had to suffer this way for Alar; for the wolf that looked on coldly while his little princess endured such agony.

When Shenandoah fled, Ranna ached to follow, but she held her position. She could not allow anything to cloud her judgment; this could be the moment she had been waiting for. Everything she had dreamed of since she was a young pup, everything she had worked toward was suddenly within her reach. So she watched Shen flee, then returned her gaze to Alar.

It was with annoyance that Ranna noted Alar’s forces seemed to be pushing the rebels back. Surely not? Surely he would not win this fight? The arrival of reinforcements quashed what little power Alar had left. Ranna did not know the wolves who rushed in, or the proud male that led them, but it seemed the Valerians did. As Alar moved, so did she, following his path like a specter and watching with baited breath as he wrestled with the former ruler of Vale. For a sickening moment it seemed like this male would take her prize and extinguish Alar’s life, but the slippery snake managed to evade death once more.

Alar fled, injured, and Ranna followed. Finally. This was her moment. She would finish Alar once and for all.

Shenandoah kept pace at Alar’s side, “It’s alright, Alar, just a little further… we have to get to safety…” Shenandoah looked around, her green eyes wide. If Faust sent wolves after them to finish them off then they would barely stand a chance. Shen herself was dizzy with her whole world a blur, knowledge that Alar’s life rested in her paws the only thing that made her force herself to keep a level head. He needed her. And she would be here for him, just like he was always there for her.

As more time passed, so too did the pain fade out of his body, pulling back like a tide going out. It’s not that it hurt any less; rather Alar was starting to grow tolerant to the pain that continually surged through his body. Each step was excruciating, and every time his body caved Shen was always there to catch him, brushing her tongue against his cheek to ensure he stayed awake, keeping him focused on their objective: fleeing Vale.

“It’s alright, Alar, just a little further… we have to get to safety…”

The coca wolf’s words were lost on him. Everything was lost on him. Even the landscape was lost on him; strobing in and out of focus all around him. Yet, with Shen by his side, the bearded wolf managed to drag on, barely clinging to life.

How did he allow himself to be reduced to such a state? Alar’s body flooded with anguish. He had many enemies now; more than ever before. Who would come to finish him off? Roan, Hidde, Vale, Vektren… Renier? Would Faust turn on his word? It was only a matter of time. There was a target on his back, and now he was more vulnerable than ever.

Through the trees she moved, all too at home in the shadows. Her footsteps were careful and quiet, navigating the maze that was the autumn forest floor with the ease of a well seasoned tracker. This was the moment she had been training for her entire life; this was everything she was and everything she had. Alar might have worried about how many enemies he had made when he lost his precious war, but he could never have known that he had been a target long before that. That she had been following him and his flock for years, that she had been sitting patiently with the little Queen and watching his movements from across the territory. Listening to every story Shenandoah had to offer about her King and savior, because it would help her to end his life.

It turned her stomach to see the care with Shenandoah handled the half-dead wolf, leading him in desperation to safety. Ranna’s lips curled in silence, a snarl that never was, nothing more than the baring of her sharp and dangerous teeth at the thought. Through it all Shen still supported the monster. She needed to see who he truly was, needed to be free of his lies. If only Ranna had been able to tell her the truth, if only she knew what he had done. What he was responsible for.

It was not hard to follow them further, pushing away from Vale and deeper into forests in their attempts to hide. The stench of blood could be scented from miles around, dripping now and then from the wounds upon his neck and body, a trail of breadcrumbs for any lucky hunter. But this prey was already hunted, long before the blood had started to flow.

Ranna stumbled out from the shadows, her face arranged into a perfect picture of concern and fear. She did not want to hurt Shenandoah unless she had to, so she moved forward breathlessly, her eyes wide. “Shenandoah, quickly, behind you!” She warned the young Queen of an attacker that was not truly there, the young wolf’s concentration breaking from Alar just long enough for Ranna to strike.

Finally she leapt, like a snake uncoiling and darting venomous teeth toward its enemy. Her expression melted away, replaced by the focus and fury of an efficient killer; a wronged daughter who had waited too long for revenge. She burst through the trees, her snarl hissing through the forest as she hurtled into Alar’s side with every inch of her strength and power. All the suppressed energy and pain went into her strike, to topple him to the ground. His shoulders hit the floor and Ranna stood over him, pausing only for a moment to smile down at her prey. Finally.

“Hello Daddy,” She hissed sarcastically, her eyes wide and her heart pounding with adrenaline.

She opened her jaws wide, ready to close around his already well-wounded throat.

Shenandoah whirled around in a panic as a voice, filled with fear, split the area, warning her of coming danger. While Shenandoah immediately recognized the voice of Ranna, it was the attacker she was looking for, dark green eyes searching frantically as she stood ready to defend. Perhaps, after everything that had happened already, Shen would have been wise to expected Ranna’s insincerity as well. But Shenandoah wasn’t known for her wisdom. And for that she was still distracted as Ranna darted forward, knocking Alar to the ground.

Shenandoah turned to look at Ranna,”hey!” Adrenaline pounding once again, fury mounting, Shenandoah flew at the female, using her large bulk to send them both tumbling off the injured male. She stood in front of Ranna now, standing between her and Alar, her tail raised and her long fangs bared. ”What’s wrong with you?” she snarled. What a stupid question. What was wrong with her, was that she was a liar, a snake, just like every other Valerian. Just like everyone but Bellamy. The truly wrong one is you, Shen. Stupid, gullible Shen. Cannot see treachery under your own nose, in your OWN FRIENDS.

This betrayal would hit Shen hard as she thought of it, reflecting on all the time she and Ranna had shared together, and the empathy and affection that Shen thought was mutual, but was probably just an intricate web of lies, all lies... had she even really been injured? No, she was bleeding! That couldn’t have been a lie… then where had it gone wrong?

But Shenandoah was yet again about to lose one of the only things in the world she had left. After coming so close to survival, she was not letting this slip away. “Don’t think I won’t rip your throat out, you scrap of filth,” she snapped.

Ranna’s voice came out of nowhere, and before he could rise his head to see what was going on the grey she-wolf barreled into him with a terrible intensity, sending new shocks of pain surging through his body. The impact had forced him to the dirt, knocking the wind out of him. An acute, sickly cough snaked up his throat and for a moment it felt as though it would rip through what little was left of it. Alar struggled to open his eyes as Ranna towered over him. There was no fear this time. Rather, he felt quite numb; confused even. Had a Valerian returned to finish him off so soon? The scent was similar to damp, rotting foliage. One he did not recognize.

“Hello Daddy.”

Daddy?

His clouded gaze cleared, and for a moment there was clarity. But as soon as he saw the peeled-back lips and glistening fangs, so too did the blur of Shen’s form come rushing to his aid, knocking her off and saving him once again. What… What on earth was going on? Who was she? Why was she here?

Alar gritted his teeth as he groaned, sliding into his side. It was a struggle. He could barely lift his own weight, yet the sudden rush of adrenaline allowed his body to do things he could not do just moments before. Peering through squinted, hazy eyes, Alar studied her as well as his jumbled mind afforded him, desperate for answers… but he found nothing.

“W—who are you?”

She should not have paused. She should not have spoken. Had she used those few seconds to engage her teeth and not her voice, she would have killed him. He would be gone, snuffed out like a candle, finished. But before her teeth could snap around his neck, Shenandoah flew at her, a powerful force against her scarred shoulder. Ranna was thrown to the side, snarling furiously at the wolf she had come closest to calling a friend. No! She would not lose Alar now, not when she was so close, not when she had prepared and planned for so long.

Almost as quickly as she hit the ground, she was back on her feet, facing Shenandoah with her teeth bared and her fur bristling. Filth? A sharp laugh escaped her jaws, ringing harshly in her ears. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” She sneered back. The insult did not move her. She knew she was not a model citizen; but then, she’d never had much of an example to follow. Only Alar, the father who left her behind to die. She eyed him with disgust as she spoke again. “Filth breeds filth.”

Behind Shenandoah’s protection, Alar was crumbling, trying helplessly to raise his head to look at her. This was the closest she had been to him since she was a tiny newborn. Her memories of him were few and far between. She could not remember any time that he had shown her affection, but at first she had idolised him, desperate to speak to the ravens the way he did. Quick to practice her proud walk in the den, imitating her father and his cunning confidence. Desperate to follow in his footsteps, to make him proud.

But then he had ran away, without so much as a look over his shoulder, no worry for the poor defenseless family he left behind.

There was no glimmer of recognition in his eyes; Ranna should have known he would not remember her. What could she possibly have meant to him anyway? He had fled and sentenced her to death. Even though she had dreamt of killing him her whole life, she could not help but be hurt by the blank look in his eyes, reminding her how truly alone she was. She wondered how he could have forgotten his own children, in the same way you might forget to run an errand or pass on a message.

Ranna had been doomed from the start; dead or forgotten. Those had been her only options. Somehow it felt like this path was more painful than death would have been.

Who are you?

The grey she wolf raised her head and stood tall, although she was not proud of what she was about to admit. Her eyes found his, and her muscles trembled, desperate to leap and attack once more. If only Shenandoah was not in her path. “I am your daughter. The daughter you left to die.”

Her head turned back to Shenandoah, conflicted. She would not hesitate to kill Alar, to persecute him for his crimes. But Shenandoah was a victim, just like she was. She needed to see what kind of wolf she was sheltering, what kind of wolf she was trying to lay her life down for. Ranna’s snarl faded as she addressed the Valerian Queen - or, once was - a fire in her gaze.

“He is filth Shenandoah, he is a liar and a killer. When he fled my home pack he left me and my family behind. The Alpha gave the order to execute us, and Alar did nothing! I stood in the blood of my two brothers, mere puppies, while he ran to save his own hide! And now look at him - he doesn’t even remember me!” Her breath came hot and heavy, the memories and the pain rushing forward, turning her blood into flames.

“He is responsible for the deaths of my family - he must pay for his crimes!”

“My daughter?”

The revelation made Alar’s pulse quicken, yet his face remained stone cold, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of a reaction that she no doubt desired. He did not recognize her, but by telling from her youth, the color of her fur—he could only guess, jumbled as his mind was. Alar narrowed his eyes. Could it be? After all this time?

There was no denying it. She was his.

Ahh that’s right… Lilja. Her mother, if memory served. The Alpha of their pack had graciously offered his beta to Alar as a reward for helping him rise to power. She was young and beautiful sure, but it mattered little to him. He didn’t lust after her in the same way he did Lilith. The union with Lilja was nothing more than a means to an end; a tool to solidify his position in the Alpha’s council, and what better way to make use of her than to sire a litter? It had worked well for him before, after all.

Vaguely, he remembered the pitiful cries of the pups that shared their den. Lilja was enthralled by them, while he, on the other hand, remained apathetic; too busy with the growing tensions within the pack to take much notice. Soon the Alpha grew mad with paranoia; fearful that Alar intended to usurp his throne. Once he ordered for Alar’s execution, the bearded wolf didn’t hesitate to run.

“The Alpha gave the order to execute us, and Alar did nothing!”

Better them than me, he thought. He managed to escape by the skin of his teeth as it was. To turn back for them would have been foolish—if not suicidal.

As Ranna went on, Alar’s eyes glistened with amusement. He could sense the turmoil stirring within her. Ignorant fool. Did she honestly believe she could manipulate the trust he had instilled in Shenandoah that easily? He eyed—no… dared her to continue.

“She’s lying to you, Shen.”

It was all he needed to say.

Shenandoah stood firm as conversation went on between Alar and Ranna, her exhaustion forgotten once again as her adrenaline coursed through her. Would this end in a fight? She didn’t know how much longer she could stay standing. ‘You have to. You HAVE to.’ She had made it this far. She was not going to lose everything to this treacherous she-wolf. This she-wolf whose very presence was her fault.

His daughter? Shenandoah didn’t know what to make of that. She turned her head slightly, to see Alar out of her peripheral vision while still keeping focused on Ranna. They did sort of look similar, with their gray fur with the pale tufts on their throats. But what did that mean? Well, it didn’t matter what it meant! What mattered was that Ranna wanted to kill Alar. And that was not going to happen.

Shenandoah didn’t believe Ranna’s words, deaf to the emotion and anguish clear in them, because her own experiences told her differently about Alar. She knew Alar. Alar never ran. He was noble and courageous, he stood at her side and did everything he could to protect her during her reign, and he supported her emotionally too through the death of her parents and through the betrayals of all her friends and families. And last of all, he had nearly died for her. He had selflessly challenged Faust, willing to die, and very nearly dying, as he tried to protect her.

Shen let out a low growl, swishing her tail in response to Alar. ‘I know,’ the gesture said, but still hearing his words assuaged her. She didn’t know if Ranna had the wrong wolf here, or if this had been a misunderstanding, or if Ranna truly was the deceitful snake she was turning out to be, but Shenandoah was not up for playing peacemaker. Ranna was here for blood. Shen would make sure that the only blood Ranna got was her own. “You are the criminal, Ranna,” Shenandoah said to her, her voice low and cold as the north wind, “and you will never have him. Not while I live.” The banished Queen shifted her weight as she braced herself to defend. Her gaze was fixed on Ranna’s deep mahogany eyes, exhausted but resolute, and challenging.

She’s lying to you, Shen.

Five simple words were all it took to sway the former royalty. Five simple words, and Shenandoah was lowering her head and bracing her body defensively. Ranna saw the glimmer in Alar’s eyes; snake. She’d known it all along and now he proved it. He did not care about her at all, and Ranna although had had a very long time to come to terms with that idea, it didn’t stop the pain. Burnt amber eyes flickered between him and his shield, conflict rattling through her chest, blood pounding furiously around her body.

He did not care about Shenandoah either, but the young wolf could not see it. She was blind to the poison in his eyes. Even when half dead he was still more cunning and more intelligent than the wolf he had under his spell. He valued Shen now only for her strength and protection, for her guidance when he was about to meet his maker. As soon as she had served her purpose, he would cast her aside like all the others.

“He’s fooling you Shenandoah, and you are too weak to see it,” Ranna spat venomously, lifting her head high and standing tall, her teeth bared. “When you have served your purpose in saving his life, he will be done with you. You are no longer a Queen - you have nothing, you are nothing.”

The words would fall on deaf ears. She knew it as soon as they left her tongue. Something was stirring in her chest; she was not sure of the feeling or how to comprehend it. She was hesitant to hurt Shenandoah. The thought confused her, because nothing and no-one had ever stayed her paws. “If he left his flesh and blood to be slaughtered, what do you really think he will do to you?” She snarled, taking one step forward, her frustration clear. How could she be so blind to his deception? For Ranna it was as clear as day. He was the deadly nightshade that lingered in the forest hoping someone might mistake it for some harmless plant, and she was the unwitting victim. Alar was a special brand of poison and he had infected Shen so deeply that she would put her life on the line to defend him.

Her life was worth so much more than his. Alar did not deserve the years he had already lived, never mind the years that lay ahead.

The images of her lifeless brothers, the pooling blood encircling her paw… they served to strengthen her resolve. Ranna snarled once more, a new fury rushing through her. If Shenandoah would not listen then she must fall. It did not matter how many lives were given to repay the lives of her family, as long as in the end, Alar took his last long breath. She was not a fighter, she was not as big or indeed as heavy as her opponent, but she had not already exhausted her stamina like Shenandoah had. She would get to Alar and she would kill him, or die trying.

Ranna raced toward Shenandoah, her eyes finally void of conflict or emotion - her face expressionless. The face of a killer.

Ranna’s voice had been a trusted voice, a welcomed voice, the voice of a confidant and a friend. But now it spoke with such venom, such condemnation at her. Despite the situation that faced them, just the history that they shared made it very hard. Ranna thought she was weak. Ranna thought she was nothing? And perhaps even worse was that Shen knew that Ranna wasn’t lying, given the evidence that proved it to be true. Because she was nothing. She had lost this war, she had lead this pack to disaster, and now she was fated to a life forever on the run. And just like she had said in her confrontation with Kimber, she said to herself now, just to keep her sanity, to assuage her confusion on why a wolf she had once loved, she did love, would act this way. This isn’t your Ranna. Your Ranna never existed. Your Ranna is a lie. Shen glared back at her. “Alar will stand by me, as he always has for my whole life. As my father trusted him to do!” Whenever she had doubts, reminding herself of her father always helped harden her resolve.

Ranna was going to attack. Shen couldn’t feel much less ready for that. If it were just her life on the line, she would have quietly succumbed to such a fate. She was just so tired, so wounded inside and out, so ready to give in. But it was Alar who she was defending, and his presence that forced her to keep fighting.

The gray she-wolf sprang and Shenandoah met her with fangs flashing, letting out a snarl as the foe, quick as a snake, easily dodged Shen’s assault and sank her jaws into her foreleg. Shenandoah yanked backward with a yelp, and then she surged forward, using her mass to her advantage. The smaller Ranna fell beneath her and Shenandoah wasted no time in clamping her jaws on Ranna’s throat and squeezing hard.

Her eyes shut as tight at her jaws as she felt the gray she-wolf’s throat close under the pressure, her air cut off. ‘At least we’re not alone,’ Shenandoah had said, the sun streaming brightly into the little den Ranna had called home. ‘No. We are not alone,‘ Ranna had answered, her gaze and smile as true as the sun that rises each morning. The world had seemed dark to Shen then, but now that day felt like some sweet, faraway dream. How could she have known it could get so much worse. ‘What went wrong? When did it ALL go wrong??‘

The two wolves met in the air. Shen was larger and stronger, so quickly Ranna dipped her body at the last moment and allowed her sharp fangs to find her opponents foreleg. It was bittersweet, a bite Ranna had not wanted to bite, the copper taste of blood on her tongue nothing in comparison to the joy that her own father’s blood would have brought. Her eyes were listless and empty as she bit down, her heart was not in this battle. All she wanted was Alar. Why did this stupid girl have to try and stand in the way? Why her, of all wolves in the world?

Quickly Shenandoah surged, using her size to her advantage. In a matter of moments Ranna was on the ground, her back pressed against the soil. It was over so quickly. The snarl in her throat faded into a haunting and pitiful whimper as for the first time, fear rippled through her body and bled into her eyes. Eyes, that opened wide and could do nothing but stare into Shenandoah’s beautiful Spring green, speckled with fury and creased with bloodlust. Eyes that began to weep, searching desperately in Shenandoah’s gaze for the wolf within who could have seen the truth.

Ranna knew she had been as much of a fool as Shenandoah had. She had been more honest with the Valerian Queen than she had been with any other wolf before - even more honest than she had been with Oruz, to whom she had given her body. But she had weaved her truth so closely with her lies that, when push came to shove, Shenandoah could not see the difference. She did not know how much she truly knew, how much of the true Ranna she had seen in the moments they had shared. The grey she-wolf had never shared her pain with another before she had shared it with Shenandoah, and now she was to pay the ultimate price for showing a glimmer of her soul to another.

Betrayal. Of course. Wasn’t it always? She should have known better. What part of herself she had given to Shenandoah would have seemed small, microscopic, but to Ranna it was earth shattering. Ranna, the wolf who hid every fibre of her being behind a cunning and violent film in order to avoid being seen for how truly vulnerable she was. Shenandoah… had peeked behind that curtain. It was a monumental feat, unheard of.

Ranna, for all her evil, had only ever resolved to protect this little wolf from Alar’s poison. She had failed, and Alar would live, and she would be his slave until she too was hollowed out by him, emptied of everything she was and spoon fed bitterness and misery. A product of what had come before, molded by someone else, her destiny chosen for her. Ranna had wanted to save Shenandoah from… from becoming Ranna. And now, it was fitting, that she would be the one to end it all. In extinguishing Ranna’s life she would surely become her, this senseless murder her first step along that same road that Ranna had begun all those years ago, when she gazed at the blood of her brothers upon her own tiny paw.

She struggled. Of course she struggled. She did not want to die, not here. Not now. Not under the soulless glare of her only friends eyes. But the struggling made it worse. With each convulsion her breath hitched, the air that escaped her throat finding no way back in, the release only serving to make Shenandoah’s grip that much tighter. Suffocating. Dark specks of black began to infiltrate the pools of green above her, but they were not in the Queen’s eyes; no, they were flooding Ranna’s own. Ticking like fleas, one by one across her gaze.

She had not forgotten Alar. Although it took all she had, her swiveled her eyes to find him. The look of emptiness she found made her chest tight. She wished more than anything that he would die too, die of his wounds, be found by another enemy. That she would meet him in the Underworld, to chase him forever around the depths of hell, just because it was the only life that she had ever known. The only thing she knew how to do. She looked back to Shenandoah instead, although it was no less painful.

In the creeping darkness Ranna remembered it too. The words they had shared in Vale. It felt like a long time ago since then. We are not alone.

It was perhaps the only thing she could hold onto; that even in her last moment, she was not alone.

The emptiness overwhelmed her at last, and she fell limp. She went willingly into unconsciousness, where the torment of betrayal would hurt her no longer, and where she hoped, more than anything in this life or the next, that she would see her family again.

The world was such a swirl of pain and confusion and anguish that Shenandoah hardly noticed when Ranna’s body finally went limp beneath her, and the last of her heart-wrenching whimpers died in her throat as the world was silenced. But when the stillness finally did reach Shenan’s awareness, she released Ranna immediately, staring down at her, at what she had done, with fur bristling.

Ordering a wolf dead, something Shen had done several times, was a horrible thing. But to do it with her own fangs? It was... this was… was it different? It was different… but it wasn’t. Would it have been any better if it was another wolf’s jaws who had strangled her friend? No… the result was the same, a wolf dead because of her will. The only difference now was that, for the very first time, she had actually done it. Ranna lay slain before her, the breeze ruffling her coat, all that moved as the quiet fell over them. In Ranna she saw Brunhilda, Rhaegan, Enzo, Loki, Keme, Finarel, Kyros, Faust… Kimber. Every wolf she had ever wanted dead, but failed. But not this time. This time, finally, she had managed it. This was a victory, a triumph, or a relief if nothing else. But it wasn’t. She tried to picture Faust’s body at her paws, something that was objectively good. But whether her mind imagined Faust, or let her see the truth of Ranna’s demise at her jaws, she didn’t feel anything like that. Just sad, and empty. Hopeless even. Ranna had been a friend once, a good friend, who had given her companionship, understanding, a kinship between like souls in like situations, a relationship like few Shenandoah had ever experienced before. And almost all of the others had been friends once as well. Even Faust had been a friend of her mother’s. Why was this happening? What was wrong with them? What was going on that she couldn’t see?

‘It’s alright, Shen, you had to do it,’ she assured herself. She nodded slowly in agreement as she studied her work. Until she noticed it, something so unexpected that Shenan recoiled a few steps. ‘She’s still breathing!’ She wasn’t dead after all! Despite the darkness creeping into her soul her initial reaction was still a desperately glad sort of liberation. Oh what a relief, what a-

‘Finish her.’ Shen blinked in confusion at her mind’s own urging, ‘if she lives she will follow you again, she will find you again. She’ll kill you and Alar.’ Yes… she would. Shen had seen the cold ambition in Ranna’s eyes. She would not give up. It had to be done or else it could cost them their lives. Kill or be killed. It’s that simple.

Shenandoah crept forward again, staring down at her motionless victim. At Ranna. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, her head bowing as she prepared to bury her fangs into Ranna’s throat, once and for all. ‘For the good left in the world this must be done,’ her mind soothed. She had obtained these unusually long fangs from her father, fangs long and sharp as daggers. This was what they were for.

In the end she could not do it, despite logic telling her otherwise. She didn’t know why, but for some reason her mind blamed her mother, as if her dead siblings’ survival would have made some difference. Maybe then she wouldn’t have gravitated to Ranna in the first place. She wouldn’t have loved her like she had loved her now.

She turned, walking to Alar’s side while favoring her injured foreleg. “Come on, Alar… we have to move quickly,” she urged, leading her companion onward. She glanced over her shoulder one last time, her gaze forlorn as it rested on the small gray shape of Ranna, motionless and alone on the ground. A hollow sadness made her chest ache as she looked at her, and then she turned to the journey ahead. She had never felt such confliction before. Knowing she hadn’t killed Ranna was a good thing, already in that moment when she had believed the she-wolf to be dead by her fangs she had felt some tiny light flicker out within her. But now the light remained, and some faint but deep and prevailing moral compass was commending her for her restraint, for her instinct to preserve the life. Though was it her moral compass? Or was it that she couldn’t yet accept the truth about Ranna, a tiny part of her hoping that all this was some huge misunderstanding? Whatever her underlying motivations…. She still couldn’t push away that same soft voice in her mind. ‘You have ruined us.’

Alar watched as Ranna’s eyes desperately sought after his own in spite of Shen’s jaws wrapped firmly around her throat. There was a fire in her gaze; a fragile, kindling flame. But like a newborn pup it would need to be nurtured and cared for if it ever hoped to consume the forest. Alar smiled at her slyly. So much untapped hidden potential, he thought to himself. What a pity to be smothered before it had a chance to breath.

And then it was done. Shen stepped away from the body and Alar’s smile fell. He looked to her as if considering her potential as well. When the reinforcements came he had fled with the intention of abandoning everything, including the young she-wolf. After all, what use would he have for her now that Vale was no longer his to play with? Alar’s mind went to work. After his encounter with Faust and now this, their future soon became abundantly clear. Shen had proved her loyalty time and time again. Even in the face of Ranna’s accusations, she still remained steadfast. Why be rid of someone so useful?

There was a biting wind in the air. It wouldn’t be long before the first snows came. There was no doubt that with his injuries it was going to be a long and tough winter.

“Come on, Alar… we have to move quickly.”

Vaguely he was aware of the pain throbbing through his body as Shen helped him to his paws. He needed her, reluctant to admit it as he was. Not only would she prevent him from starving, but with the incredible strength inherited from her father coupled with the determination to protect him she would prove to be a reliable bodyguard.

Alar’s eyes silently brushed passed his daughter, unconscious. Had he been alone there was no doubt he wouldn’t have escaped Vale alive. There was a moment; a small passing moment, but in that moment Alar was, for once, truly thankful for Shenandoah

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