::: Vote for Clayton  for #Wattys2016:: 

Update -Clayton WON!

What if both Dallas and Clayton lost Rya?

Here's for all the #teamRYAandPUP...

and #IWP (International Wildflower Pack)

Inspired by discussion thread and comments from Clayton. "I came late to this... so here goes. I stand by my statement that Dallas and Clayton are the two sides of the same coin. Neither Deserve Rya ever! She is worthy of someone else, of being someone's first thought in the morning and last thought at night. My dream-scene in the coming chapters:Dallas' wolf takes him dark, he wakes up on the porch of Rya's cottage a few days/weeks/months later. "

An empty house

Months in the wild, running, sleeping, hunting, eating, but nothing fills the emptiness his wolf feels, nothing soothes the ache of something missing. We hunt like we have never hunted, but never find the prey we seek. Every trail takes us further from the pack until one dark night, he just doesn't go back... I woke up in the fog, its cold dampness soaking into my bones. Snow in white mounds in the shadows of trees. The winter here always trades back and forth between snowflakes and raindrops. Cold.

Dawn was just painting the eastern sky a dull blue gray between the trees, the clouds tell me it may snow again later today. It is going to be an ugly day, miserable. Standing, I shake out my fur, I ache as I look around. I realize I am not with the wild pack. I am in front of her house. My wolf brought me here. I think about the last time I saw her, the last time I spoke to her. So much regret I don't want to remember. I punished her for my own fears. I left her sobbing in the dirt. She had kissed him but I am no better than him. I had promised to fight for her and instead I ran away. Coward.

I shift standing and stretch, I have been a wolf for months now, winter is coming again. I have to go inside, I need to see her, even if she hates me. I just... I just need a moment. Ever since I left the ache I feel won't go away. I think my wolf hates me. The door is unlock, there is dust on her table, her scent is so faint, she smells like a ghost, like Maysa. Everything is dusty, furniture draped. Empty. I can't help the trembling that overcomes my muscles. It could be the cold, there is no heat in the tiny house and my breath floats like clouds before me. But I think it is something far colder than the temperature, no, I know it is. Fear.

Walking to her room I find it empty, everything that was her is gone. The bed we once made love on stands in pieces against a wall. The window left cracked open has left a skiff on snow on the wood floor. Not warm enough in the dark, cold place that once burned with our passion, to melt it. 

'When did she leave? Where did she go?'

I wonder. My throat is dry like I've been eating sand. In the bathroom, I turn on the spigot to get a drink, nothing comes out. Either the water is off or the pipes have frozen. I catch a glance of myself and can only stare. My eyes are no longer moon blessed white, they are a dull blue gray, as dull as this morning's sky. Footsteps in the living room, cause me to rush out. Hope blooms in my chest that it is her. Clayton stares at me sadly and angrily, like he doesn't know if he should pity me or murder me. Conflicted.

We size each other up for a moment. We had been friends once and had not parted on good terms because of her. She was the moon and we were two foolish wolves fighting over something neither of us deserved. Someone we both rejected. Fools.

"She's gone," he said softly and I can hear his pain as keenly as I can feel it.

"When?" is the only word I can choke out of my dry throat.

Clayton shrugs, "I don't know. Cora reported her missing one day. She hasn't contacted anyone since, not even her family." He seems more angry at himself than me now.

Rage rushes over me, how could he not know she had left! But I realize, I am no better. She had screamed her love after me and I had just left, never turning back. Never even answered my phone, I wonder if there is a message for me. Regret.

"Can I talk to Cora?"

Clayton shakes his head slowly, "She left to go live with her mate when she found Rya gone. She hates you as much as she hates me now, Dallas."

I nod slowly, Cora is a female who holds grudges like the Moon holds the tides. She trusted me with her friend and I failed that trust and now Rya is gone. Cora would probably be at my throat before I could ask her a single question. Betrayed.

Caleb rushed in holding out some clothes, "Bro, mom and dad are freaking out! How'd you get here?"

"My wolf," is all I can answer.

Clayton looks at me with a kind of pity, the kind of pity one kindred spirit has for another. I dress quickly. The room is cold but my spirit is colder. I inhale deeply smelling the dust and snow, I can smell the faintest trace of her, it is tainted with grief. As we walkout, I close the door. The house feels as dead as my hope. EMPTY.

Some time later:

Back at the lake house after a long day, I can't shake the feeling something is very wrong, as snow swirls into the glass. My wolf is whining at me to find her, save her, she hurts, she may be dying. I don't understand then I realize something about this dull ache I have felt in my back and hips and stomach and legs. It isn't my pain. The bond has grown weak but I feel like it is her pain. If I had marked her skin as our wolves had marked each other, I would know for certian. She had asked me to, I am not even sure why I refused anymore. Wherever Rya is, she is in pain, she is suffering, and there is nothing I can do, no way to find her. Helpless.

Suddenly a series of quick sharp pains brings me to my knees, I can almost hear her screams, Clayton and Caleb are talking to me but I can't hear them, only her then silence. Cold, empty silence, too much like death, she had no one there to protect her. I sob as my wolf howls. Lost.

'Goddess, what have I done?'

<^><^> Next one shot : Moon Blessed.