Let The Wolves Have Them

I am the biological daughter who was lost for fifteen years.

When my family finally brought me back, my adoptive sister, terrified that I would slowly usurp her place, hired men to abandon me in the freezing Alaskan Barrens during a family vacation.

I survived in that frozen hell for a month, nearly torn to pieces by wolves, before a local bush-dweller miraculously found me and saved my life.

When I returned home, bloodied and hysterical, I told my parents she had tried to murder me.

My parents brushed it off.

"Beatrice was just being immature," they said. "It was a prank, and she already knows she was wrong. Let it go."

I couldn't accept the reality that my own parents didn't love me. In a fit of raw, desperate rage, I took a knife and slashed Beatrice's arm.

Furious, they shipped me off to Stonebridge Academya brutal reform school disguised as a boarding schoolto "break my spirit." I spent three agonizing years there in a living hell until my heart turned entirely to stone.

Three years later, they sent a car to bring me home. I escaped halfway through the drive and fled back to Alaska.

I became a wilderness search-and-rescue specialist in the Barrens. For twenty years, I never lost a single soul.

On my thirty-fifth birthday, I received a very specific rescue request.

I looked at the dossier, shook my head, and said,

"This one, I won't save."

.......

Jonas, our local community lead, froze, the joy draining from his weathered face. He grabbed my sleeve, his voice tight with panic.

"Kaya, why? Why won't you save him?"

"This is easy for you. If you pull him out, theyre offering five million dollars. Thats enough to replace your rusted prosthetic leg, and it would buy the targeted therapy drugs for your cancer."

"That five million is your lifeline. Why are you throwing this away?"

I glanced down at the battered, scuffed prosthetic on my left leg and shook my head quietly.

"I've lived long enough, Jonas. Theres no need to drag it out."

"If I say Im not going, Im not going. Just tell them Ive gotten old and cowardly."

Jonas stared at me, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Old and cowardly? Kaya, if you were afraid of death, you wouldn't have taken up Mika's mantle as a search-and-rescue leader in these unforgiving wilds."

"Lately, the wolf packs in the interior have grown massive, and the danger of going out there is through the roof. Everyone else stopped doing runs years ago."

"Only you. For over twenty years, whenever someone screamed for help, you went outno matter the blizzard, no matter the storm."

"And now youre telling me youre afraid to die? I don't buy it."

My voice remained steady. "My mind is made up. I'm not saving him. You can find someone else."

Jonas sighed, defeated.

"Who else? No one has been out into the deep Barrens in six years. They don't even know the shifting ice paths. Besides, there are hundreds of wolves out there now. If a pack catches a scent, there won't even be bones left to bury."

"But you're different. You saved those pups years ago, including the alpha. The pack knows your scent. They won't touch you."

Jonas ran out of breath. Seeing my stone-cold expression, he lowered his voice, almost begging.

"Kaya, please. The boy's name is Brody. Hes the only heir to one of the biggest billionaires in the country. People that rich... they look for scapegoats. They won't care about your reasons."

"You have the power to save him. Why invite their wrath and bring trouble down on yourself?"

I replied flatly, "Let them be angry. I'm not changing my mind."

Jonas sighed, defeated. He dialed a number on his satellite phone. When the call connected, he spoke with a heavy, pitying tone.

"The boy just had his eighteenth birthday. His life hasn't even truly begun. Can you really bear to let him freeze out there, to let the wolves tear him to pieces?"

Eighteen...

My mind drifted. I was eighteen when Beatrice had me dumped in the freezing Alaskan interior.

I had struggled alone for a month before the wolves finally tracked me down and tore into my leg.

Just as I was preparing to die, Mika, a local woman, risked her own life to drag me out and eventually helped send me back to the family who had cast me aside.

And when I finally fled that family, hollowed out and broken, it was Mika who took me in. She taught me how to navigate the wilderness, how to survive, how to save others.

The first time a survivor wept at my feet, thanking me for saving their life, something inside me healed. I found a purpose.

I stayed in Alaska, saving hundreds of lives over two decades.

Every rescue wasn't just about saving someone else; it was about rescuing that terrified, eighteen-year-old girl sobbing in the dark.

My thoughts were shattered by an arrogant, sharp voice coming through the speaker of the satellite phone:

"If you bring my son back alive, Ill double it. Ten million."

The familiarity of that voice made my chest tighten.

I had spent twenty years convincing myself I had let the past go. But hearing her voice, the old, jagged glass in my chest cut deep.

I took a slow, steady breath to quiet the storm inside me.

"It isn't about the money. I can't do it. I won't save your child."

On the other end of the line, Beatrice's voice turned shrill and venomous.

"I've done my research! You go in and out of the Barrens like it's a walk in the park. You have the ability to save him, but you're choosing to let him die. Aren't you afraid of retribution?"

Retribution?

I whispered the word to myself and let out a cold, bitter laugh.

Oh, Beatrice. Your retribution is already here.

Back then, when they brought me back, I had been naive enough to think we could be sisters. I didn't realize she saw me as a parasite.

Terrified that my return would threaten her inheritance and her parents' affection, she hired men to discard me in the freezing wilds during a family cabin trip. I had wept, begging her to let me go, promising I would leave the family and never claim a dime.

Her cruel, venomous words had been burned into my soul for over twenty years:

"You're just a piece of trash they dug up from the dirt. You think you get to be my sister?"

"Only when you're dead will everything in this family truly belong to me."

I was left to rot, my leg mangled by wolves, rendering me a cripple.

When Mika saved me and I dragged myself back to our estate, sobbing as I told my parents the truth, Beatrice merely shed a few crocodile tears. She clutched our mothers sleeve and whimpered:

"Mom, I just wanted to play a prank on her. I didn't think she'd actually get hurt! I'm so sorry!"

And my mother immediately shielded her, dismissing my agony with a casual wave.

"Beatrice was just being careless. She apologized. Stop being so vindictive."

My mother's eyes had been cold, filled with a warning.

I had lost a leg, and she called it a careless prank. That was the moment I realized they would never love me.

Hysterical and broken, I grabbed a paring knife from the counter, lunged at Beatrice, and screamed, "Then let's see how you like my prank!"

My mother threw herself in front of Beatrice, slapping me hard across the face, sending me crashing to the floor.

"How did I give birth to such a monster? Your sister made a mistake, and you try to take her life? You should have just died out in the snow!"

When my father returned, he didn't even look at my bandages. He arranged for me to be sent to Stonebridge Academy, barking coldly:

"You can come back when you've learned some basic decency, respect, and how to behave like a civilized human being."

The abuse I suffered at that reform school stripped away whatever affection I had left for them. The moment I escaped, I fled.

But the despair of that day remained lodged in my chest like a rusted nail.

Beatrices voice cut through my memories again:

"If you rescue my boy, I will fund a state-of-the-art school for your village. I'll make sure every single kid in that town gets a world-class education and a ticket out of there."

Jonas's breath hitched beside me.

I paused, but my voice remained flat. "I'm sorry. I cannot help you."

I hung up.

Jonas looked at me, his eyes rimmed with red. "Kaya, did you hear her? She's offering a future for the kids."

"We live in a place where teachers quit after three weeks because of the isolation. Our kids have to travel hours in freezing temperatures just to get to a basic middle school."

"We've been trapped in this cycle of poverty for generations. This is their only shot at a different life."

"Please, I'm begging you. Save the boy."

Listening to Jonas's desperate plea, my lips trembled. "Jonas... its not that I dont want to. I truly can't. I won't survive it, and neither will he."

Before the words fully left my mouth, the deep, thrumming roar of a helicopter echoed overhead, followed by the crunch of tires on ice. A fleet of black SUVs pulled up outside my cabin.

The cabin door was thrown open. Beatrice, flanked by my biological parents, stepped inside.

"Are you the legendary Kaya who navigates the Barrens?"

Beatrice scanned me from head to toe, her expression dripping with cold arrogance.

I looked at the three of them. There wasn't a single flicker of recognition in their eyes.

I had only spent three months with them before being shipped away. Now, after twenty years of harsh Alaskan winds, biting frost, and manual labor, my skin was weathered and dark, my cheeks flushed with permanent windburn, my frame thickened by years of hauling heavy gear.

I looked nothing like the fragile, pale girl they had discarded.

I said quietly, "I never said I could navigate it freely."

Beatrices lip curled in disgust. She cut me off dismissively.

"Cut the act. You're holding out for more money, aren't you?"

"Fine. Bring my son back, and Ill give you fifty million."

I remained silent. Beatrice took my silence as greed, her tone turning venomous.

"Don't get greedy, sweetheart. Too much cash might choke you."

"Beatrice, mind your manners."

My mother pulled Beatrice back slightly, offering me a polite, plastic smile.

"My daughter is just out of her mind with worry, Ms. Kaya. Please don't take offense."

"Please try to understand our position. Brody is the sole heir to our family's legacy. If we lose him, it will destroy us."

"You must have family of your own. Surely you can understand a mother's desperation? I am begging you, as an old womansave my precious grandson."

Seeing my biological mother humble herself to protect the child of the woman who had tried to kill me... a sharp, familiar pain bloomed in my chest.

I wanted to scream at her. She isn't even your blood! You give her and her son everything, so why couldn't you spare even a drop of love for me? I didn't need much. Just a crumb.

But the words died in my throat.

I pulled my lips into a cold, hard line.

"I'm afraid I can't relate. I was abandoned by my parents as a child, and I've never had a family of my own."

"I said no. Take your business elsewhere."

"You miserable bitch!"

Beatrices face contorted with pure hatred. She pointed a finger in my face, her voice shrieking:

"You cold-blooded freak! No wonder your parents threw you away. You deserve to die alone. I hope you rot in hell!"

"Beatrice, calm down."

My father stepped in, gently patting her shoulder before turning his sharp, calculating eyes on me.

He spoke in a measured, powerful tone:

"Ms. Kaya, the golden window for rescue is closing. We have less than ten hours. Every second you waste puts my grandson closer to death."

"You're refusing because the price isn't right. Fine. Save my boy, and I will personally hire elite tutors to ensure every child in this village gets into an Ivy League school."

"On top of that, I will write a check for one million dollars to every single resident in this town."

"I believe that is more than generous."

"But if you still refuse..."

My fathers eyes turned glacially cold as he gestured toward Jonas.

"My conglomerate owns the distributors that purchase the wild chaga and morel mushrooms harvested by your people. It is the only source of income for this entire region."

"If you continue to stall, I will blackball your village. I will cut off your livelihood completely."

"Your people can starve on this frozen tundra for all I care. And I promise you, I keep my word."

Jonass face drained of color. He fell to his knees in front of me, grabbing my coat.

"Kaya... they're billionaires. They can do it."

"Please. For the sake of my mother who saved your life, bring the boy back. We can handle the cold, but the kids... their futures shouldn't die here!"

"Did you forget what my mother said before she died? She wanted the kids to see the world beyond these mountains!"

I looked at Jonass tear-stained face, then glanced out the window at the local children huddled in the snow, watching us with terrified, wide eyes.

The weight of their entire future crashed down on my chest.

Tears welled in my eyes, but my voice remained a whisper. "I'm sorry. I really can't save him."

"Why?! Why won't you just save him?!"

Jonas scrambled to his feet, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me in sheer, broken desperation.

"Stubborn bitch," Beatrice spat, her smile turning vicious. She turned to the armed security guards standing behind her.

"Round up all the kids in this village. We're taking them into the Barrens."

She laughed, a manic, desperate sound.

"The biggest threat out there is the wolves. If we feed them first, they won't touch my son."

"If this freak won't go, we'll use these local stray dogs to pave the way. One way or another, I'm getting my son back."

The guards moved instantly, heading toward the door.

Jonas threw himself in their way. "Stop! Stop it! The kids have nothing to do with this!"

I couldn't believe the depth of her depravity. I shook with rage. "Beatrice! This is kidnapping! You're breaking the law!"

Beatrice lunged forward and kicked me hard in the chest. I crashed to the floor, my worn-out prosthetic snapping off and skittering across the wood.

She stood over me, looking down with absolute disdain.

"The law? There isn't a cop for a hundred miles, you pathetic cripple. Who's going to stop me?"

"Besides, all of your worthless lives combined aren't worth a single hair on my son's head. Dying for him is the highest honor you'll ever have."

"Don't worry. Once he's safe, I'll pay some priest to pray for your miserable souls."

The guards dragged the screaming children from the snow, binding their wrists with zip-ties.

"Kaya! Help us! I don't want to go to the wolves!"

"Kaya, I'm scared!"

The screams of the children mixed with the desperate shouts of the villagers trying to fight off the armed guards.

The scene was absolute chaos. And my biological parents stood there, watching the brutality unfold with cold, silent approval.

Jonas was pinned to the floor by a guard. He watched his own nephew being thrown into the back of an SUV and screamed at me, his voice cracking:

"Kaya! For God's sake, tell me why! What did they do to you that's worth sacrificing all of us?!"

I stared at the cold, indifferent faces of my biological parents.

I let out a ragged, hysterical laugh, and screamed at the top of my lungs:

"Why?! Because his mother is the monster who tried to kill me!"

"If I go out there, the only thing I'll do is throw her son directly into the jaws of the wolves myself!"

"Just like you did to me twenty years ago, Beatrice!"