Lion Conquers All by Krystal Shannan

16

RYDER

Snow was falling now. Not hard, but enough that visibility was reduced to about half. He climbed to a rock ledge and lifted his head to the sky and howled.

It was getting late, had to be close to eight or nine by now. August in Denali was normal to have sun until well on toward ten o’clock for most of the month. At least that’s what the chart on the wall in the community center had said.

He had at least another hour of light. Maybe two if he wasn’t judging correctly.

An answering howl came from maybe a few miles away. Then another. And another. He’d found them.

He leapt from the rock and ran toward the wolves. Every few minutes he would howl again and wait, listening. The boys were working their way closer to him too.

The forested land and shale-covered hillside flew by in a white hazy blur. More snow was falling, but he knew where he was going. He didn’t have to see everything.

Except the damn bear right in front of him.

Dalmeck.

He swerved, just missing the big brown fifteen hundred pound predator that wasn’t happy to see him. The bear took a swipe at him and Ryder dodged, barely missing getting a chunk of his flank ripped apart.

The bear roared and Ryder pushed harder, putting as much distance between him and the fast-moving grizzly as possible. He shot out into a small clearing. The wind hit him hard in the open space, but he never quit running.

The bear was breathing hard, but keeping pace. Another roar fed Ryder’s adrenaline and he howled again, this time with a warning for the boys to watch out. The last thing he needed was them tangling with a bear.

Answering howls this time were so much closer than he thought they would be.

A trio of wolves shot out of the forest line toward him, headed straight for the bear.

Ryder slid to a halt and turned to try and head them off. They were being stupid. Grizzly bears were not to be messed with.

The bear had stopped in the center of the clearing and the three massive wolves were circling. Growls rumbled through the clearing, both wolf and bear. They called them boys, but their wolves were full grown now like his and easily weighed in at four or five hundred pounds. They were the same height as the bear, but much leaner and much faster.

They dashed in and out, biting and slashing the big predator until it was panting and bleeding.

Ryder stayed back.

They were a team and the three wolves moved together like one entity. It was a beautiful thing to watch. He was proud of how far they’d come over the year they’d been here—from unsettled unruly boys into a loyal tight-knit group who would take on a grizzly to protect him.

The bear was down in ten minutes.

One of the boys shifted and walked toward Ryder, the wind and the snow swirled around the young man’s face and whipped through his long dark hair—Callum had grown into a man.

Ryder shifted too, walking to meet him. They embraced.

“You let bear get the better of you.” Callum’s words were smoother than last time they’d spoke. He’d been practicing.

“Yes, it was a lazy mistake.” He patted Callum on the back and they separated.

“We will eat well for several days.” Callum shrugged and looked over his shoulder at the bear and his brothers. “They are easier to kill when on flat ground. And that one is a particularly nasty bastard. He likes to bother the human campers.”

“Good kill then.”

“Yes.” Callum met Ryder’s gaze again. “We saw Di’Rham this morning. And now you are on the mountain in a building storm. Why?”

“There are two missing children. Teens. A boy and a girl. They would look like campers. Aarav said he saw you. Were you watching that group of boys?”

“Yes. We visited with them several times.”

Ryder’s heart climbed into his throat. “What?”

“Don’t choke on your tongue, we were shifted and dressed appropriately. We have clothes stashed on the mountain here and there. The Tragher boys camp out here often. They are—” Callum paused as if searching for the right word. “We like them. They are fun.”

“Your language is much improved since we last spoke. I assume they are not the only humans you are interacting with?”

“We are careful. We know the rules. We shift far away and hike in when we interact with people. No one sees our secret.”

“You know you’re welcome in the Tribe if you want to come down off the mountain.”

Callum nodded, his face an emotionless mask. “We know.”

“Have you seen a pair of young campers? They are missing. Not checking in with their parents. The whole town of Mystery and Anchorage SAR is about to crawl all over this mountain. They are waiting for the storm to blow past.”

Callum’s face scrunched up. “SAR?”

“Search and Rescue. There will be teams of people. Helicopters in the sky. It’s going to get crowded out here. You should probably come down to the Tribe’s cabins for a couple of days until it calms.”

“Rhal. Lex.” Callum called out.

The other two wolves stopped eating, shifted, and walked over to join them. They also had grown up over the past year.

“You all look healthy and well. I’m proud of you. You’ve done the Tribe proud by staying hidden and keeping peace on the mountain.”

Hesitant smiles flashed across all three of their faces.

Callum was the oldest and would be twenty this year. Rhal and Lex would both be nineteen. Their shoulders and chests were bare of pack tattoos. They wouldn’t have been considered warriors until their twentieth birthdays. Callum would’ve gotten his first set of tattoos this year.

“Ryder is looking for a pair of campers. Young. Boy and girl.”

“Few days ago I saw a couple. They were camping up on Whiteback Ridge. At least, that’s the closest trailhead sign to where they came onto the mountain.” Rhal glanced to Callum, deferring to his authority. Within the small trio, Callum had assumed an alpha-like role.

Callum tipped his chin, urging him to continue.

“They seemed to know what they were doing. Had a lot of gear. Plenty of food.”

“Good. Can you tell me if they looked like this?” Ryder pulled his phone from his pocket. Col had texted him pictures of both missing kids.

Rhal took the phone and studied the picture. “I don’t think so. The female had curly red hair. Not shiny and brown like this one. The male I don’t remember as much.”

Lex took the phone from Rhal. “I saw campers several days ago too. One set was a family, though, they had kids with them. The others were a male and female and young.” He nodded his head. “Yes, this was them. I’m quite sure of it. I got a good look at both of them. They were arguing and I wanted to make sure he was not mistreating the female.”

“Was he? We were told they were a couple.”

“No. They kissed afterward and seemed fine so I left. But they both yelled at each other a few times before packing up the campsite.”

“Where were they, Lex? Do you remember?”

I don’t know what the place is called, but I could take you back there. The trail will be ruined after this storm.” He brushed snow from his shoulder. “It’s likely already gone.”

“If you looked at a map, could you give me a general location? Maybe one of the hikers would know the area and know where they might have been headed next.”

“I think so. We’ve been trying to practice with the maps on the mountain signs. Learning to read better and recognize landmarks on the paper. It’s slow. But I feel like if we wanted to live with people, we are better prepared for it now.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t stay?” Ryder’s chest tightened. He felt guilty for not pushing Knox harder and spending more time with them himself.

“No. Well, maybe part of it.” Callum jumped back into the conversation. “But mostly it was so different. Being a wolf was all we’d known.

“Then the pack was gone.” Rhal spoke this time. “Everything about this world was foreign. It was too much too fast. Being a wolf was safer. But now—”

Lex picked up the sentence his brother dropped. “Now we’ve met people who live in Mystery. They aren’t so bad. We even like some of them. We’ve learned more about the world. We see how integrated you are. How you’ve found your soul call mates among their people.”

“Being alone was good for us, but we are ready to try being a part of the Tribe.” Rhal glanced at Callum. “You know we’ve talked about it.”

“I know.” Callum said, his face drawn tight.

“Callum hates change, but Lex and I have been working on him.” Rhal grinned and Lex patted Callum on the back.

“Come eat with us. We will not waste a meal. Then we will go back with you and I will find the campers on your map. We will help the humans find their children, yes?”

“Yes, I think they will need a great deal of help, but we must be very careful.” Ryder stared at the bear lying only a few yards away. His wolf was starving. He hadn’t had a chance to hunt in nearly two weeks.

“Hungry?” Callum asked, a knowing grin stretched across his face.

“Very.”