Chapter 21: Betrayed, Bitten, Born

She knew that she should turn away and head back to her cabin. But the pain in the whimper tugged at Brooke’s heart, and she kept moving forward. She was not prepared to see the gruesome sight before her. In a small clearing less than a hundred yards into the forest line, a cluster of six bloodied red wolves lying motionless. Brooke froze as her brain worked to make sense of the scene in front of her. The whimper rose again from a seventh wolf further away.

Brooke hurried towards it, seeing it twitch as if trying to hold on to life, but it was clear that its wounds were too severe. Brooke walked closer to the dying animal and placed a calming hand on her fur to let her know that she wasn’t alone. The animal seemed to calm as she turned her head to look at Brooke. Her sad woeful eyes tried to explain what she couldn’t say.

“It’s okay,” Brooke tried to assure her. “Just rest.”