Chapter 20: Betrayal
Today was the first day that Aiden and I would be starting the patrols, and my body was not looking forward to moving. I looked out a small hole in the den to see if the light was moving; it was still dark, so I figured I could lay there for a while longer.
All of a sudden I caught myself as I jumped at the sound of Aiden's voice, then peeked open my eyes to see him glaring at me with his head poked in the den. I must have fallen back asleep and apparently, he was ready and did not want to give me time to wake up. So, I got up slowly and stretched out my legs and pushed passed him into the open world. I did not look back to see if he was following me, I just proceeded to move on towards the start of the Eastern territory. I could hear his loud paw steps behind me; I could tell that he was not even trying to be quiet. He was shuffling his feet like a loud bear shuffling through the trees in a fit.
As we reached the edge of the Eastern side border, I marked some spots and scraped off some bark from the trees, a warning sign. Aiden marked over my scents, I just shook my head in disgust and continued. I examined each area carefully, checking for any signs of change. I stared across the river; passed it led into the kingdom, where Aliana would be. I remembered the first day we met here. She was sitting on the rock straight ahead of me, and I was in the bush a few feet behind me. I remember how brave she looked, ready to strike anything that came at her, then her eyes quickly shifted into curiosity as she saw me step out and look at her beautiful face that glowed in the light. I shook my head and looked at Aiden, moving on to the south.
It took all day to do the patrols and Aiden and I did not speak a word to each other, he just glared at me occasionally and marked over my marks. Nothing seemed different along any of the other borders, nothing out of the ordinary, but I knew something was going to happen soon; I was just hoping I was prepared enough to deal with it. On the western border, it had the same stench I always scented near there. Aiden had not seemed like he had noticed anything, so I figured I just had a stronger nose, and the human camp was farther away than I had thought.
Once we got back to the rogue camp my uncle came straight to Aiden and I asking how it went. "It was as boring as hunting a dead animal. Asher is too proud to have fun or even cross over into another territory for a few measly minutes. I saw a nice plump bird on the south border too." Aiden's voice was full of annoyance; if only he knew how annoyed I really was. I looked at my uncle and calmly stated, "Nothing today, but it is only the first patrol." My uncle nodded and proceeded back to my aunt's healing den.
The next couple of days were the same, the patrols were boring, Aiden was still an immature pup, and the West still smelled the same. I wanted to know when the humans were going to proceed, what they were planning. Then my mind went to Aliana for the thousandth time; I hope she did not get punished or anything drastic. I hoped that she was okay and that her clan was doing something, or at least making plans, more than what my own clan was doing. Once we reached the western territory for today, the wind had picked up and the scent was stronger. I could have sworn I was going to see my last meal a second time. I sighed and sat closer to the river that split the north and west, staring into the full-grown willow trees. It looked so eerie and dark within the West. I know I have already been there but somehow it has changed, gotten darker and emptier. "What scared of the dark?" Aiden sneered at me.
"No, unlike you, I take everything in, in detail. I focus on every little thing." I tried reasoning how I think with him but naturally he just scoffed and turned around and proceeded back to the camp.
Another day gone by, and another patrol with nothing out of the ordinary. My uncle asked every time we arrived in the camp, and I responded with the same thing. "Although I do smell the same scent on the West every day. The scent of rotting animals, burning wood, and something else that I can't seem to distinguish." My uncle sighed and nodded. I could tell he was stressed and that he looked sick, which made me worry a lot about him; especially that he would not tell me what was wrong.
The next day I was slow to getting up, and apparently so was Aiden, so I laid there in the dark den. My mind was being quite active, more than usual it seemed. Aliana was once again on my mind; I could not help it, it was like she was a faded memory; a dark secret, a fantasy. I felt as if I could never have her; no matter how close I got, no matter how hard I tried for people to understand, it did not matter, I could not have her. The thought made my heart ache, and I could not take it anymore, it has been far too long since the last time I had seen her beautiful face, her gorgeous white fur. I got up abruptly and walked outside. I stood on the covered entrance to our camp. Bushy trees swaying in the wind and the sky looking like blended leaves. I jumped when something brushed passed me. It was Aiden, ready to start yet another patrol. He seemed more tired than usual today, but I followed behind carefully.
The scent of a bird close by hit my nose, I barked at Aiden to tell him to wait a second and hunted the bird down. I easily killed it and ate it as my breakfast. As I was licking my paws and getting the leftovers out of my teeth, I noticed I could not smell Aiden's scent and I knew he was not nearby. I walked in the direction of our first mark.
I looked around for Aiden. I did not see him, yet I was not too surprised, and appreciated the time without his presence. I lifted my nose in the air and let the scents come to me. Aiden's sharp stench hit my nose easily, it was in the direction to the southern border. How obvious of him to move on without me; it is not like my uncle would rip my tail out if I let anything happen to the arrogant pup. I heaved a sigh and walked along to the south as well. When I could not see him, I decided to stay put by the river; maybe he would come back for me. I heard a stick crack a few paws ahead of me; squinting my eyes I peered in the location of the sound. I did not see anything, so I began to go towards the sound.
Before I could react something sharp lunged in my side, I heaved a growl and instinctively grasped my teeth on a bundle of fur and threw it away from me. Once I looked up, I saw a large black rabbit with bloody teeth ready to taste my blood once more. It is another one of those mutated creatures. I stuck my paw up on its chest once it came close and pinned it to the ground hard, its head between my claws. It let out a very loud screech as I sat there and examined it carefully. It was squirming and screeching like a vicious thing. I could not seem to move; the look of this thing made my mind whirl. "Seriously, why do you always have to ruin everything." Aiden's voice came up behind me with a hostile tone. "Are you going to kill it? Or are you going to sit there staring at it like a cub's first kill?" I looked at him as if he were blind, how could he not see what this thing looked like. Suddenly he pushed me on my side and bit into the skull of the black rabbit. My anger began to boil inside me; I tried so hard to maintain myself, but I could not stand the way he acted. He suddenly backed away from the rabbit as its blood came out in a red slime instead of a liquid.
"Aiden, don't you see what's wrong with that rabbit?" He just glared at me and then looked back at it. I got up and got closer to him and got right in his face. "You need to start using that small brain of yours, you can't just let things happen and say rude things to people, especially those older than you. You must start learning the words respect and tolerance. You are a rude arrogant wolf, and you are the one that gives rogues a bad name. Now take a look at that rabbit and stop being so stupid and take things into consideration." I clenched my fists and stared at him waiting for a reply. He just glared back at me with his teeth clenched. Then he took another look at the rabbit. "I know its plagued. Actually, no doubt I'm smarter than the, oh so great Asher. You do not even know anything about yourself, nor your own clan members. I knew that elk was plagued before I even killed it." Before I could even register what, he had just said he changed forms and lunged at me, throwing my body against a large rock; I changed right as I hit the rock, but I could not move, I could not breathe. Aiden's wolf form was a size bigger than mine, not to mention he was more muscular as well, but I had speed, silence, and agility; yet I could not use my skills when I was pinned down and out of breath. "You see Asher, the humans have had this exact plan for centuries, they were just waiting for the right leader, one who knew the territory." He gave a juvenile grin and just as I was getting my breath back and struggling to fight back, he stuck one of his claws into my lung. I could feel the blood flooding to the wound. Then he got ready to sink his teeth straight into my throat. I knew I was losing too much blood already; this bite would be the death of me.