Stormfast realized he was a part of the curse. Ever since Isaac said those words before jumping into the river, it seemed that the generations after him had fallen into the river. He said the river would be cursed for his family. It couldn't be a coincidence. Isaac's son, Bronx, famously fell into the Dividing River by accident. He was even nicknamed the River Wolf. Of course, Stormfast himself had fallen into the river the day before yesterday. Stormfast hadn't heard of his late father, Owen, or Tony falling into the river, but he was sure it probably did happen to both of them. It was just not public.
"Stormfast? Are you okay?" said Terra. The black wolf snapped out of it.
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He gave her a broken smile before going outside. He looked into the nearby river. There, it showed his reflection. Will I fall into the river again? Will my future pups? he thought. He knew, whether he liked it or not, his life was tied to that river between the East and West. Instead of the Dividing River, he was going to call it Destiny River.
Before he could ponder more, something caught his nose. "*sniff, sniff* Hey, Terra. Check this out." She exited the cave and came to him.
"What is it?"
"Do you smell that?"
"Dead caribou," she replied. Both of them then ran towards the smell.
Later. . .
A few hundred yards east of the riverside den was a small grassy plain. In the middle of the plain was caribou meat.
"Memphis," Stormfast whispered. Not too far from the carcass was a very small den. Stormfast's stomach growled. He stretched his neck in an attempt to take a bite without being heard.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you, mate," said a voice. A grey wolf came out of the den. "Why, I oughta—"
"Please don't hurt us!" the couple cried in unison. They hugged each other in terror. The grey wolf laughed in response.
"Heh, heh. Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt ya."
"Ahh, thank you!" said Stormfast.
"But maybe I will if you two don't get out of here in the next five seconds!"
"Wait, wait, wait! What is that?" said Terra. Around the grey wolf's neck was a chain of small bones.
"None of your business!" he yelled.
"No, no! They look familiar. I saw some other bones that have eerily similar markings." The news struck the grey wolf.
"Where is it?" he asked.
"It's a femur, and it is a bit far from here, but I can bring you there."
"We're really doing this?" Stormfast whispered to her. She then elbowed him in the chest to quiet him. Stormfast didn't like the idea of bringing a stranger to a place he didn't know of but as long as Terra got it over with fast, he followed.
The couple was on their way, but the grey wolf remained still.
"Well? Are you coming?" said Terra.
"Wait! I, uhh... have to do something first." He ran to his den. He took off his necklace and laid it on the ground. He then licked one of his forepaws and touched one of the bones with that paw.
"Be right back, Mum," he whispered to it. He exited the den, smiling at the two wolves he just met. "Coming!"
Meanwhile. . .
"So what happened to you?" asked Stone. Rhys frowned.
"I got caught in a river with my sister, and I was trying to get out. For some reason, she kept pushing me to the left side of the stream. We then fell down the waterfall. She landed in the water while I landed on the rocks. When I woke up, she was gone. She left me for dead." Stone was now mad at the sister.
"Who's this sister?"
"Oh, my Omega sister, Terra."
"Why would she do that to someone like you? I think she's jealous of your Alpha status and wanted to get rid of you once she had the chance."
"You know what? You're right!" said Rhys. "I mean, there are lots of qualities I have over her."