Chapter One – I wish I was a rabbit.
Kaine lay on the giant boulder with his chin on the back of his hands and reveled in the tranquility of nature. He preferred the peace and quiet of the forests to the clamoring of Moon City. A quaint little house would fit perfectly in the clearing before him. He could spend his days lounging in the grassy field beyond. A little garden would be nice too.
The crickets and frogs abruptly halted. The rustling of bushes triggered his wolf instincts. Kaine lifted his head. His pointed ears twitched. At the snap of a twig he looked over his shoulder and sniffed the air. A familiar scent mixed with that of the woods on a cool spring evening.
Dash stepped out of the thick brush. "Damn bushes." He slapped at the leaves clinging to his clothes.
"What took you so long?" Kaine returned to planning his future homestead.
"This is a three thousand dollar suit. Not my first choice for traipsing through the woods in the middle of the night."
Kaine scoffed. "We may have human bodies, but we still run like wolves."
"Not in these shoes." Dash hopped onto the boulder with ease. "Mom caught me before I could get out the back door."
"You're so slow."
"Let me know the next time you want to fight with our mother. I need to plan my escape."
"Don't tell me you didn't hear all the yelling."
"I was in the shower. I didn't know what was going on until I heard something break."
"She threw plates at me," Kaine said.
"What? Mom?"
"I think she's bored with the design. Now Dad will have to get her a new set."
"That'll make her happy." Dash sat cross-legged next to Kaine with his bushy tail resting on his lap. He meticulously picked out the twigs and leaves from the silver fur. "We haven't been out here since high school. Where are the territory markings? I can't make out the boundary between the rabbits and us."
"I think it's that big log in the grass."
"If a storm took them out, the inquisitors should have replaced them right away."
Kaine's brows furrowed. "Do you think someone took them down?"
"That would be a violation of the treaty." Dash sighed. "I forgot how peaceful it is out here. Although, I'm not too sure how I feel about my future alpha being sprawled out on a sacrificial rock."
"That story is a lie, and you know it. A rabbit can't kill a wolf."
"Don't tell that to the rabbits." Dash quit grooming and rested his forearms on his thighs. "Mom is just thinking about your future."
"She's more concerned with my future than she is with me. What mother lays out a row of pictures and says 'Pick a wife?'."
"Were they cute?"
Kaine growled.
"Don't snarl at me. You're not my alpha yet. So? Did you see anyone I might like in that stack of future wives?"
"They were all black wolves."
"Ew. Never mind. Black wolves are assholes."
Kaine glared at him. "I'm a black wolf."
"My point exactly."
"Mom and Dad are black wolves."
"They're the exception."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not going to marry someone based on their bloodline. Why can't she get that through her head?"
"Because she's your mom."
"She's your mom too. How come she's not bitching at you to get married?"
"I'm adopted. I'm not the next alpha. And I know where all the best hiding spots are."
"What hiding spots?"
"I'm not telling you."
Kaine watched the tall grass sway in the breeze. "I envy rabbits. They live such simple lives. They grow their own food, live off the land, and spend every day doing whatever they want to do. No one tells them who they should marry or how to live their lives. They must be so happy."
"Rabbits are stupid. They can't fight. Show a little fang and they drop dead from a heart attack. I don't know how they can live without cars. They don't even have electricity."
Kaine sat next to his brother. His thick black tail lay limp behind him. "When my father retires, my life is over. No more parties. No more waking up naked on the beach. No more racing Bedlam Road to piss off the foxes."
"No more sleeping with a different wolf every night."
"It's not every night. I've been careful not to knot any of them. And none of the females were in heat."
"What about the males?"
Kaine smiled wide. "Oh, they were all in heat."
Dash laughed. "You're insane."
"Probably. Why do I have to be Prefecture? I hate politics. The last thing I want to do is deal with foxes. They're greedy, always bitching about something, and you can't believe a word they say. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in the same room with them."
"I'll be there too; unless you chose a different aide. Hey, what about Blitz? She'd make an excellent aide."
"Nice try. If I have to be the next alpha, I'm taking you down with me."
Dash shrugged. "It was worth a try."
"Being responsible for everyone in the three territories scares the shit out of me. I'll have to decide who gets what medicine and how much tribute each territory has to give every year. And the trials."
"You'll only be judging capital cases."
"Exactly. How am I supposed to decide who lives and who dies?"
"I think fending off the rogue packs will be the hardest thing to do."
Kaine's shoulders slumped. "I don't know how Dad does it."
"You'll be a great Prefecture. You're honest, fair, and caring. Just be yourself and follow your instincts."
Kaine looked up at the moon. "I wish I was a rabbit."
"Well, you aren't. You're a wolf, so get over—" Dash sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"
Kaine looked around and checked for scent. "Rabbits?" He smiled at his brother. "Let's have some fun."
Chapter Two – Don't eat me!
The little group of rabbits huddled behind the log. Panting from his run to the edge of rabbit territory, Robbie squinted to see the thing his father used to tell him stories about when he was young.
Rodney pointed at the boulder in the distance. "There it is. Do you see it?"
"Yeah." Robbie didn't remember it being so big, or so far. The grass was also higher than the one time he'd been there before.
That rock terrified Robbie the first time he saw it. He'd never been so far from Rabbit Town or his family back then. Tonight was going to be different. He was the head of the family now. It was his job to do scary things no one else could do. Robbie was all grown up and his brother was with him. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't going to chicken out. And, he absolutely wasn't going to pee his pants this time.
His brother grabbed his arm. "You don't have to do this," Remi said.
From the other end of the row of rabbits, Rodney held up a carrot. "Come on, Robbie. All you have to do is touch the rock, and this yummy wummy carrot is all yours."
"Stop using words that don't exist," Remi said.
"Yeah, Robbie," Rueben snort-giggled. "It'll be easy."
Remi glared at the two cousins. "If you truly were Robbie's friends, you wouldn't dare him to do something so dangerous."
"We are his friends. We're going to give him a carrot. Besides, that's the sacred rock where the king of the rabbits killed a giant wolf. That's the safest place in the whole wide world."
"It's not a rock. It's a boulder. And it's in wolf territory. Besides, that king of the rabbits story is just a fairytale."
"It really happened." Rueben nudged his cousin. "Tell him."
"Yeah. Hundreds of dozens of years ago, the giant wolf came out of the forest and started eating all the rabbits. So, the king of the rabbits challenged the giant wolf to a fight."
"With a stick," Rodney said.
"There's never been a king of the rabbits nor a giant wolf." Remi crossed his arms. "And hundreds of dozens of years ago doesn't even make sense."
Rodney scoffed. "What do you know?"
"A lot more than you."
"Oh yeah. What's a thousand times ten?"
"Ten thousand."
"Wrong. It's a thousand and ten O'clock."
Rueben elbowed his cousin. "You showed him."
Remi pushed his wide-rimmed glasses back into place. "You are an embarrassment to all rabbits."
Rodney waved the carrot around. "Come on, buddy. Be the king of the rabbits. Touch the rock."
Robbie licked his lips.
Remi turned his brother to face him. "Rabbits aren't allowed to cross the border without a good reason. You'll be breaking the treaty. If you get caught, you'll go to jail. Or worse – be eaten."
Robbie didn't like the worried expression on his little brothers face. He glanced at the rock then looked at Remi. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe going home was the smart thing to do, but there was so much more at stake.
Touching that rock wasn't only Robbie's chance to get a big carrot for his family. He wanted to give his super-smart little brother a reason to look up to him. He wanted Remi to see him as something other than a stupid rabbit.
He put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry Remi. I'm fast. I won't get caught. And Rachel can make enough carrot soup for days."
"Nobody's going to want soup if you get eaten by a wolf."
"I'm your big brother, Remi. Trust me. I can do this."
"Yeah, Robbie," Rodney said. "You can do it. Or are you going to pee your pants again?"
The cousins laughed.
Remi clenched his fist and jerked his arm back.
Robbie pulled his brothers arm down without the cousins being any the wiser. "It's okay, Remi. I can do this."
Robbie hopped over the log. "I can do this."
"Please don't go."
Robbie's heart thumped in his chest. He tightened the rope holding up his britches and planted his bare feet firmly on the ground.
Remi whimpered. "Robbie."
I can do this. Robbie broke into a run. His feet thwacked the earth. The tall grass whipped at his legs. The closer he got to the boulder, the harder his heart pounded. He sprung from the tall grass and raced across the open field. I can do this. I can do this. He slid to a stop, touched the boulder, turned, and ran into something hard.
Flat on his ass, Robbie held his stinging nose and looked up. Looming over him was a wolf in a fancy suit. His ears stuck out of his thick black hair, and his tail swayed to and fro.
"Hello, there." The black wolf's sharp fangs glistened in the moonlight.
"Don't eat me!"
No comments:
Post a Comment