As they headed west, Hale and Cain collided with the wall of a snowstorm. The absentee winds had returned with a vengeance, buffeting them with sheet after sheet of snow. Each step forward was like trying to wade against a fierce tide.

They took shelter at the halfway point between the two dens, in a small cave that they’d passed during the daylight hours. The cavern had barely enough space to contain both of the alphas, but its entrance was situated in such a way that the winds blew away, rather than into the tiny room.

Hale and Cain sat on the cold stone, covered by snow-soaked furs and trying not to tremble. Their bodies naturally ran hotter than a human’s and they had a certain degree of imperviousness to the cold, but even they had their limits. There was nothing to eat or to build a fire with, so they made conversation to distract one another.

“When was the last time you saw Yewen?” Hale asked.

Cain understood where he was going with the line of questioning. “A week ago. The killings had to have been three days ago, given the decomposition and the snowfall.”

“So, pretty much overnight, a pack moved in and slaughtered an entire den of wolves, leaving barely a trace as to their identity or whereabouts.”

“I don’t think it was the entire pack,” Cain said. “There were nearly a hundred wolves in his pack. We found, what, a dozen?”

“The rest could have been in the den.”

“Perhaps,” Cain said, though he sounded unconvinced.

“Who in the region would have had the motive to kill Yewen?”

Cain gave a humorless laugh. “Most of the packs had motive. Like I said, Yewen was an ass. His pack was the strongest in the area and he never missed an opportunity to remind us of it. But this area, it’s filled with small, family packs. Shaderunner is the next largest. It would have taken at least three of the other packs working together, and even then, I would have known about it. I have good relations with them. If anyone was planning attack, they would have come to me first.”

Hale wasn’t so sure about that. Cain had always been something of a pacifist. When he and Alder had been planning to take Halcyon territory, they had deliberately kept their intentions from Cain, because they knew he would try to talk them out of it.

Cain said, “Furthermore, if it was one of the local packs, they would have already claimed responsibility, or at the very least, moved their pack into the area. Frankly, Yewen’s territory is the envy of many packs in the area. The location is prime and the hunting grounds are abundant.”

“The way the bodies were displayed, the marks left on the trees, it seemed more like some sort of warning,” Hale said thoughtfully. “So, do you think it was the roaming pack?”

Cain shrugged. “Every roaming pack that I’ve seen has been small, usually just a band of a few males. For a roaming pack to have done this, they must have been highly skilled fighters.”

Or one giant, fucking wolf, Hale thought.

He rolled his eyes at his own internal chatter. Now he was starting to believe the rumors.

“You should come back with Taylor and me,” Hale said. “You, and your pack.”

Cain blinked at him. “What?”

“Sarah’s done having pups, right? You don’t have to worry about one of us jumping her while she’s fertile,” Hale said wryly. “Not that we would, now that we have Taylor. That aside, whatever killed those wolves back there, it could do the same to your pack, and I’d wager that it’d be a hell of a lot easier. We need to stick together now.”

Cain smiled apologetically. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t, not now, anyway. Sarah has connections here, human women who rely on her.”

“And those women are more important than your mate and pups?”

“Most of my pups come from those women,” Cain said patiently. “However, if it comes to it, if I feel we are in real danger, I won’t hesitate to come to Halcyon.”

“How many warnings do you think those fuckers had? Do you think they knew they were in danger or did they just wake one night to their insides being turned into outsides?”

Hale had no idea why he was advocating so strongly for Cain to come to Halcyon. He got along with him well enough now, but they had fundamentally different styles of leadership. If Shaderunner really did come and take up residence in the valley, he had a feeling they’d be constantly at odds. Not to mention, Cain and Alder were more alike than different, and it was easy to imagine a future where the two of them would be constantly overruling Hale.

In the end, Hale would rather picture that future, than one in which he found Cain and Sarah hanging from a tree.

“Those killings looked purposeful,” Cain said. “If it was a roaming pack, then perhaps they were passing through and Yewen tried flinging his weight around. Maybe he underestimated the wrong alpha.” He scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know. That still doesn’t sound right. All I know is that no one has cause to harm our pack. As I said, we are well-respected in the region.”

“Maybe the motive was just to kill. Some wolves are like that. They just have a bloodlust.”

They fell silent for a moment, their eyes on the whipping winds, tossing snow in loose, swirling funnels. Hale’s mind went to Taylor, as it often did when idle, but this time he didn’t imagine laying his head between her soft breasts or sweeping his tongue through her hot mouth. He imagined her hanging from that fucking tree.

“We should leave soon,” Hale said, cracking his knuckles.

It felt wrong, sitting there while his mate and pup were so far away, in a den that was guarded by Clover and a handful of juveniles.

“We can barely see two paces in front of ourselves. We’ll cover just as much ground if we wait for the snow to pass.”

“Maybe you can’t travel as quickly in the storm, but I can,” Hale said.

As with many things he said, Hale instantly regretted the words. Cain cast him a withering look that slowly transitioned to one of reluctant resignation.

“Perhaps.” Cain sighed the word. “I am getting old.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Hale said, though he kind of had.

“I’m already the same age as Father when he passed. I don’t heal as quickly as I used to. Some days, my leg aches. And my hand…” He trailed off, taking his left hand out from under the furs. He held it flat in the air, and Hale noticed a slight tremor. “It started last year. I don’t know what causes it.”

“Have you asked Sarah?” Hale said.

“I haven’t told her.” He tucked the hand away. “I’ve lived a good life, and I have every intention of living for many years to come. I won’t have her worrying about me.”

Hale wasn’t sure what to say. It felt like the sort of conversation Cain might have had with Alder, and he tried to think of how his twin might respond. The best he could muster still felt inadequate.

“Well, if anything happens to you, I’ll drag your mate to Halcyon by the hair if I have to. Your pups, too.”

Cain gave him an appreciative smile. “I’m sorry, Hale.”

“Sorry for what?” he asked, cocking his head.

“You’ve grown up, and I have grown old, and in all of these years, I’ve never apologized to you.”

Understanding dawned on Hale. “You thought I stole your mate, got her pregnant, and saddled you with our bastard. If anyone had done that to me, I’d have killed him.”

Cain closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the stone. “I spent so long hating you. By the time I found out that Snow was Alder’s daughter, I had exhausted all of my malice. I had none left for Alder.”

“You don’t have to explain.”

In truth, the words had a strange effect on Hale. Part of him had been waiting to hear them for over a decade, but a larger part of him had understood all along.

“I miss Snow,” Cain said wistfully. “I never wanted to get attached to her, but I loved her as much as any of my own. More than some of my own, if I’m being honest. Now she is gone, and Caim, too. Sable and Lotus left this past spring searching for him. I got a message from them in the summer, but I haven’t heard from them since.”

“Why didn’t you tell me they'd run off? I’d have helped you hunt them down.”

“They aren’t pups anymore. Lotus is only seven years younger than you, and Sable is not much younger than her. I didn’t want to let them leave, but I had to respect their decision.”

All of Hale’s memories of Lotus and Sable had been when they were pups. Lotus had been scarcely a juvenile when Hale had left to form Halcyon. He suddenly felt quite old.

They reminisced about the old days, back when they’d been a family unit. They talked about the fond memories, deliberately avoiding the harsher realities of their lives in a small pack. The memories were nice to visit, but even the best of old times paled in comparison to his present life.

The snow did not abate, but the wind began dying down as night gave way to early morning. He was glad when Cain was the first to stand, announcing that they should be getting back to their mates. Hale could barely think of anything else, and he was rocketing out of the cave before Cain had finished speaking.

He shifted into his wolf form before remembering that he hadn’t eaten. Without sufficient energy reserves, the shift took longer than usual, almost a full minute, and it was uncomfortable, bordering on painful. Once he’d come fully into his wolf form, he needed another moment to get his bearings. Briefly disoriented, he thought he saw dark figures moving through the trees.

“Hale.”

Cain did not raise his voice. In fact, he spoke softly, but with urgent command. Hale turned to look at Cain, who was still hanging by the entrance to the cave. There was a wild look in Cain’s eyes and he made a quick gesture towards something beyond Hale. Hale turned to face the trees again, his vision sharpening to reveal a procession of unfamiliar wolves passing by, the closest one only a few yards away.

He quickly assessed the situation, noting that there were far too many wolves for them to take on in a fight. He and Cain were downwind of them, and somehow, they hadn’t noticed Hale shift. He slowly backed away, shifting into his human form as he did so. The shift was equally uncomfortable in reverse, but once fully into his human form he merely felt compressed, rather than stretched much too thin.

Hale moved to stand beside Cain, the two of them ducking to hide in the shadows. Hale hated hiding, it felt cowardly, but as the wolves continued to pass by, he recognized that it was the only logical option. His first estimates put the band at fifty members, but he quickly revised it to a hundred, and then beyond as more and more wolves of all different sizes and colors poured over the hillside.

“Who are they?” Hale asked, keeping his voice at a whisper.

“I don’t recognize their pack's scent,” Cain replied.

Hale didn’t think it was possible that they could even be in the same pack. There were too many of them, and they just kept coming.

Morning sunlight was bathing the mountainside when the last of the wolves passed by. A handful of stragglers scurried along, rushing to catch up the herd. Cain and Hale waited, listening for any stirrings of life. For a few minutes, all was quiet with the sort of silence that only came during a snowfall. Then, they heard the sound of heavy steps crunching.

What emerged from the forest was not precisely a wolf. It had the sleek body of a brown wolf, as well as a similar face, though the contours were sharper. On its neck, it sported a long, thick mane that reminded Hale of a lion, though the fur appeared longer and glossier. The mane gave him a certain elegance, which clashed with his oversized fangs and massive, protruding claws.

Hale had seen plenty of oak trees that were bigger, but he could understand how the rumor had taken root. Never in his life had he ever seen or heard of a living creature that was quite so large. He and his brothers were the largest wolves Hale knew of, but compared to this thing, they would have looked like ankle-biting pups.

Unlike the members of the herd, it did not pass by them. It stopped some distance away, looking in their direction with its jade eyes.

Hale was jarred from contemplation as Cain stepped forward, emerging from the cover of darkness. He issued a curse but made no effort to pull Cain back. The damage was already done. To his further astonishment, Cain looked the creature directly in the eyes and then executed a deep bow, his fist crossed over his chest.

Hale could only stare in disbelief, both at the colossus and his brother’s reaction to it. Cain gave him a not-so-subtle kick in the shin.

“Show your respect,” he said under his breath.

Hale wasn’t sure if he would have bowed. Probably not. Thankfully, it didn’t matter. The creature regarded them for all of ten seconds and then appeared to lose interest. He continued on at a leisurely pace, bringing up the tail end of the herd.

His herd.

It had to be. Unless there was a second wolf, one as tall as a mountain, then he couldn’t imagine that thing being subservient to anyone.

“Who the fuck is that?” Hale asked hoarsely.

Cain’s back had straightened. “I do not know.”

“Then why bow?”

“Because we were in the presence of a god.”

“A god?” Hale asked, his tone mocking. “Really?”

Cain gave him an impatient look. “What else would you call that?”

Hale stared after the creature, no answer coming to him. All that occurred to him was that he had just seen something so inconceivable that it couldn’t have been conjured in his worst nightmares, yet for some reason, he hadn’t been afraid.