Blood for Wolves (9 page)

“I’m glad you went back to get my
pack,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Though I still can’t
believe you did that.”

He grinned and patted the daypack.
“I like these matches things.”

“Yeah, well, I have a lighter in
there too somewhere. I should show you that.”

But I was too tired to move and
Wolf was too tired to ask. I closed my eyes, warmed by the fire and the meal. Then
I reached up to touch the wings on the necklace the witch had given me. They
were polished and felt like they might have been made from pearls or glass. I
didn’t know how a necklace was supposed to help though. My fingers tingled a
little when they touched the wings.

I sighed. What if I had wings? Then
I could fly. I could swoop down and grab Marianne and rescue her. I smiled to
myself. Wouldn’t that be a treat. Then I could take her home and be on my way,
soaring through the air all on my own, leaving everything behind. How glorious
that would be.

A spot on my back tingled in the
same way.

And what of Wolf? I opened my eyes
to look at him. What did he need me for anyhow? Why did he keep saving my life?
He kept saying it was because we were mates, but that had to be a load of bull.
People didn’t just meet and fall in love. He was probably in this for Marianne.
He needed me as a lure to get her. Once we rescued her, would he leave with
her? Leave me all alone by myself in a forest where giants ate people and evil
smoke werewolves ran the trails and people disappeared, never to be heard from
again? A wolf might be loyal, but he was half human, and people left others to
fend for themselves. Including their children.

“Caroline?”

I snapped to attention, dropping my
hand from the necklace. The tingling disappeared.

“Huh?”

Wolf stared at me as if trying to
figure something out. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

He poked at the fire. “I don’t
know. You just looked…distant. Like you were,” he paused, trying to find the
right words, “sinking into yourself really deep.”

“No,” I said casually. “Just
thinking.”

The stars came out, diamond dust strewn
in a deep blue sea. Patches of sky appeared and disappeared as the treetops
slowly swayed in the wind. The moon hung in just the right spot between two
trees, glowing brightly, a few more slivers of it added since the night before.

“Wolf?”

He busied himself with the fire,
prodding a log to get more flames. “Hmm?”

I squirmed where I sat, not really
wanting to ask the question, but somehow compelled to. “Marianne’s sister. She
was killed by a wolf.” He stopped moving. “Was it you?”

He looked at me sharply, his eyes
glittering in the firelight. “No.”

For several long moments neither of
us spoke.

“How long ago did it happen?” he
asked quietly.

“I’m not really sure. Not long ago,
I don’t think.”

H grunted. “For the last four full
moons, I was impounded.”

I guessed maybe that meant three or
four months, if their time was anything like mine. I listened to the fire
crackle and spark.

“Why did you ask me that?”

I shook my head a fraction. “I
don’t know. When I first met you, you were chasing after her.” I shrugged and
shook my head again as if to say, “How am I supposed to know anything around
here?”

“That’s fair I suppose.”

“Besides, you said that ‘she’
wanted Marianne. Who is ‘she’ anyway?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “She’s
the one that rescued me and the others from the Impound.” He paused for a
moment, as though debating. Then he lifted one of his pant legs, revealing the
gold band I’d spotted during the night while he spoke to a wolf pack. “She gave
us new clothes and put these collars on us, to show we were a part of her
pack.” He frowned. “But I don’t want to be forced to follow. I just want to be
free.”

I thought about his pledge to me. “Am
I forcing you to follow? Because you say I’m your mate?”

His frown disappeared. “No. I chose
to follow you. A mate is not something that is predestined. A mate is,” he
considered his words for a moment. “A mate is knowing that the other person is
just right for you. It’s a very deep feeling. Easy for wolves to find. Harder
for humans. You don’t understand how hard it is to sit here with you over
there. But you need time to find it, and that’s what I’m giving you.”

I watched him for a few moments. The
firelight danced on his face, illuminating his intense expression. It wasn’t
hard to read the longing there. He was right—I didn’t understand that feeling,
but I did know that he’d saved my life twice and was my only link to remote
safety in this place. I at least owed him a little something.

I got up and walked around to his
back, leaning over and putting my arms around him, making sure to keep my
weight off of his sword wound.

“Caroline, what…?”

“Thank you,” I said, pressing my
cheek against his, “for saving me from everything in this weird place.”

I hugged him,
and he turned his face to rub his forehead against my temple. His lips brushed
my cheek. I suddenly wanted to tear off the necklace, to throw it away. I
didn’t want to fly. I hated heights. I wanted to be
here
. But when I
released Wolf, the desire disappeared and I left it alone. Instead, I picked
the softest looking spot by the fire and lay down. Before I fell asleep, the
leaves crunched behind me and Wolf lay down, his chest warm against my back. I
didn’t move away.

The next morning I awoke nestled
against Wolf with my fingers curled into the lapels of his jacket. His arms
were wrapped around me and his chin rested on top of my head. I didn’t remember
falling asleep quite so entangled with him, but I was nice and warm so for once
I wasn’t going to complain. His breathing was deep and even, and I felt bad about
waking him up but we needed to get going. I reached up to touch his face. The
stubble along his jaw was rough against my hand and his skin felt warmer than
I’d expected it to in the chill of the morning.

“Wolf?”

He awoke and looked down at me with
gold in his eyes. “Good morning, Caroline.” He turned his face to kiss my palm.
“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes,” I said, surprised to realize
it after all that had happened yesterday.

“I’m glad. Especially since you
started off with a nightmare.”

“I did?”

“Oh yes.”

Suddenly I was very aware of how
close his face was to mine. I couldn’t help it and glanced at his mouth. There
was no denying that the kiss we’d shared the other day had left me
breathless—I’d just tried not to think about it. And yesterday he’d put himself
between me and a sword. One of his hands slid up to cup the back of my neck
while the other tightened at my hip.

“Be careful,” Wolf said, his voice
low and serious.

I snapped back to attention.
“What?”

“I don’t want you starting
something you can’t finish.”

I let out a nervous laugh and
pulled away from him to get to my feet. “Then I guess we better get moving.” I
picked up my daypack and dusted it off with more effort than necessary.

We trekked along the path as it
gently flowed up, down, and around the forest hills and vales. When the road
forked, Wolf would pause for just a moment before picking the right path,
following Marianne’s scent to wherever the creature had taken her. Wolf had
said it was magic, something that wolves didn’t play with. That didn’t make me
feel any better.

I touched the wings at my neck. We
might have to fight again. Battle that thing in order to free Marianne. Would
this turn into a huge ordeal? Would we have to fight more than just one magic
entity? How could we fight magic with magic? I’d killed before, would I be able
to do it again? And what about when I went home? How would everyone like that? Knowing
I’d killed somebody? I bet that would catch their attention.

My fingers stroked the glossy
wings. I stared at the back of Wolf’s head. What if I died? Wolf couldn’t save
me all the time. Would anyone notice I’d died? Could I even believe what Wolf
said about magic and wolves? How did I know that wasn’t a lie? My Wolf, a
good-looking, upstanding liar?

“Why should I trust you?”

Several feet ahead, Wolf stopped
and turned slowly.

“What?”

“I said why should I trust you?”

His expression didn’t change. “I
gave you the most solemn promise a wolf can give.”

“How am I supposed to know that? I
know nothing about this place, and I’ve been just going on your word the entire
time. I probably should have listened to Marianne, but I thought she was
delusional.”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Caroline…”

“No.” I backed up a few steps. “You
stay away from me. You’re working for someone and you won’t say who. You were
after Marianne and more than once by what she told me.” I kept touching the
wings on the necklace. My skin tingled beneath them and the same tingle began
to grow on my back. “You said you were impounded for eating sheep—how am I
supposed to know that’s all you did? Running around with a knife, and you point
it in my face and then claim that you love me? Do you know how twisted all of
that is?”

He moved forward, his head cocked. “What’s
wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” I yelled. “How
do I know you won’t go back on your word? How do I know you won’t take her when
we find her? How do I know that you won’t run off and leave me alone? You’ll
just abandon me here in this forest and leave me to fend for myself?”

The tingling grew stronger now. I
kept my fingers on the wings. I didn’t need his help. He was only half-wolf,
which meant he was half-human too. I could do this on my own. No one even knew
I was gone in my world. Eventually they might look, and if I died here, they
would go on looking forever.

“What do you have in your eyes?” he
asked, ignoring me like everyone else.

 I could do this. I could do
something great, or I would die trying. Wasn’t that how everyone wanted to die?
Bravely? Doing something special, amazing, so that all the world, or at least a
great many people knew their name?

Wolf gasped. “That old witch! What
did she do to you? What did she do?”

I closed my eyes.
Just go away. Leave
me alone. Let me do this on my own.

Suddenly I flew up, great white
wings pumping at my back, the forest falling away under me.

“Caroline, come back! This is that
witch’s doing!”

The forest drew small, a mess of
green far below. The clouds flew past as I went up and up and up, my wings
strong, the air currents flowing under the feathers. I dipped down and sailed
west toward the sea, a tiny curve of blue in the distance. I could find
Marianne like this. Soar over the forest path until I reached the ocean. I
could find her, rescue her, and carry her off to where she needed to be. Then I
could fly, fly away forever, leaving everyone behind to wonder what happened to
me, and they would be so sorry for all the years they missed and all the times
I was left behind. The only things I would miss would be my wolves.

I didn’t know how long I flew. It
felt so glorious to have the wind on my face and the clouds through my
fingertips. Was I supposed to be looking for something? I let the thought go. Being
in the sky was so amazing. Peaceful. No one for miles upon miles.

Suddenly I dropped several feet. Panic
erupted in my chest. I looked to my wings. They were losing feathers. Fast. I
aimed for the ground. I had to land or at least get low enough that by the time
the feathers were gone, I wouldn’t be hurt. I wanted to cry. Why were my wings
falling apart? I wanted to have them forever.

The patch of forest below was dark;
much too dark during the middle of the day. The trees looked like their leaves
were black, and a dark mist rolled along the ground where bare bracken tumbled.
I tried to bank right, aiming for a greener, sunnier part of the forest, when a
screech shattered the air around me. Above me, three creatures with black wings
circled, and then dove.

I tried to flap my beautiful wings,
but they were too weak, too featherless to do anything more. One of the
creatures struck me hard from behind, sharp talons clawing at my pack, trying
to find flesh. I tried to struggle out of the pack, but my wings were in the
way. A second creature struck at me. It snatched up my arm and I screamed as
its claws bit deep. The third screeched and flew around me, under me. It looked
up and for a moment I was able to clearly see what had attacked.

Harpies
.

Ugly women with sagging breasts,
wings for arms and powerful bird-like claws for feet. I kicked out at her, but
she easily flew out of reach, shrieking at me with a mouth full of pointed
teeth. Feathers drifted down in a shower of white now. The two harpies holding
me flew toward a dead tree, black and gnarled, reaching toward the sky in its
last throes of death. I jerked and shouted in their grasp. I didn’t care how
far the ground was now. I didn’t want to end up on that tree. My wings were
gone and my daypack was being shredded to pieces.

I twisted around to the harpy
holding my arm and managed to get my mouth around her leg. I bit down as hard
as I could. She shrieked and jerked. A dark liquid seeped into my mouth, the
smell of rot invaded my nostrils. I gagged and spat it out. She only dug in her
talons deeper, drawing another scream from me, and then they dumped me onto the
tree.

The branch was wide enough for me
to lie on, but I clung to it anyway. My arm dripped blood to the ground far
below me. Too far. At least thirty feet. Far enough that jumping could mean a
broken leg. The punctures in my upper arm throbbed, pain radiating from my
shoulder to my elbow. The harpies landed around me, grinning around their ugly
beak noses and hunching their heads down like vultures.