The North

Chapter 2

Things are looking up for the pack, or are they. . .

Do you think Eabha ran into friend or foe?

Chapter 2

The wind whipped up white foam from the sea and splattered it over the wooden dock. Wood creaked and moaned, which didn’t fill me with confidence. Sailors carried boxes and baskets of food, cloth, jewellery and a whole myriad of other things that would be traded for across the sea. As the old trader had guessed, the captain had asked for only one coin less than he’d picked out for me.

Soon we would board and hopefully leave our horrors far behind us.
Mother fussed around Father as the weather turned dour and dark clouds crept closer to land.

Fionnlagh had offered his help to the Captain to get everything on board and scurried back on forth with an almost smile on his face. He’d never liked to stand still for long. I didn’t either but with the pups growing ever more restless and tired, someone had to keep an eye on them.

"I need to feed Seumas," Oighrig mumbled from next to me, bouncing her small female on her hip. My youngest cousin was fast asleep but her little face was scrunched and red, and I knew it meant she would be screaming at the world for food.

"Once we're on board, you can," I replied absentmindedly, only to flinch when I realised I had given an order to my Alpha Female. But she didn't seem to notice, eyeing the growing waves that thrashed the pebbled beach further down.

I didn’t like the sight of it either. None of us had ever been on a boat before so I already feared seasickness would be a problem, but to cross for the first time during a storm, while weak and injured. . .it could prove rough on all of us.

There wasn’t time to fret over it though. As the first thick drops of rain landed and darkened the mud around us, Fionnlagh waved for our attention on the plank that led up to the ship.

“Our cabin is ready! You can come onboard.”

I linked my arm through my aunt's to keep her beside me and herded my siblings in front of me while Mother supported Father. The crew barely gave us a second glance, busy with their work in preparation for setting off. Heavy sails flapped above us while they were tied off in the best position to catch the wind.

Fionnlagh led us down a rickety set of steps that went into the belly of the ship. My nose scrunched at the foul scents that clung to the wood. Even down here everything smelt of salt, and sweat. However, after travelling non stop for weeks, the small cabin we were given was luxury. Two beds were pressed against opposite walls and covered in thin blanket, and the pups all clambered quickly onto the same one.

I guided Oighrig to sit on the only bench so she could feed her pup while trying to brush off that the rocking of the ship was indeed making my stomach churn.

"You should rest, Father,” I said once she was settled. “I'll wake you when they're serving food.”

For a moment he held my gaze with a small glint of his wolf, but I straightened up, willing to fight him if it would get him to back down. We needed him to take it easy so we could rely on him later, although I understood his dislike at being coddled. He could challenge me if he wanted, I knew I could win without truly hurting him. But it would hurt me. I didn't want to see my Father, the male who'd always been my Beta, the one I looked up to and aspired to be like, submit to me. Not like this.

All it took was a gentle touch of Mother’s fingers against his arm for him to deflate. We helped him into the other bed and covered him in the blanket to protect him from the chill and damp.