Legend (A Wolf Lake Novella) (7 page)

Turning the corner, Sam stopped and felt her heart hammer hard against her ribs. She'd been drawn by the low murmur of voices, the welcoming sound of friends and family spending an evening together. Only all conversation had stopped, all eyes in the room turning to stare. She searched the sea of faces looking for a friendly smile, for some indication that she was welcome.

"What are you doing out here?" Nafarius stepped between Sam and the rest of the pack, his body effectively blocking her view.

"I thought maybe I could help." Sam looked up at him, silently pleading with him to understand. "I can't stay in there another minute."

"You don't belong out here." Nafarius said, he could feel the pack's displeasure, most of which centered at the spot between his shoulder blades.

"So everyone keeps telling me, but I'm here and unless you plan to let me go..." Sam left the rest unsaid. It wasn't like she had an effective alternative or made a very believable threat and they both knew it.

Nafarius stared down into her face, saw the stubborn set of her shoulders. It had taken a lot of courage to walk out here knowing she wasn't welcome and ask to be included. "Fine, but you sit and be quiet." Sam nodded quickly before he could change his mind. Grabbing her by the hand, Nafarius led her to where he'd been sitting talking with Roland. "Sit," he said, pointing to a pile of thick pillows.

"I'm not a dog," Sam grumbled, as she took a seat.

Roland's lip curled, a low growl indicating his displeasure.

"Give it a rest, Cujo," Sam snapped.

"This is you being quiet?" Nafarius asked Sam, a look of warning cutting off Roland's response.

Sam glared but snapped her mouth shut. Around them, conversation slowly returned, though not as carefree as before. She felt bad for having interrupted but would rather deal with the guilt than the loneliness.

Settling in, she listened as Nafarius and Roland reviewed the day's events. Apparently, they had spent most of it inspecting the edge of their territory looking for signs of trespassers. She gathered from their thinly veiled comments that they were looking for both human and werwolf alike.
There are other werewolves?
She thought, but kept that question to herself.
 

It didn't take long before listening to their conversation grew boring. Turning her attention, Sam studied the group around her.
Was there any way to tell a werewolf from a human?
she wondered. Everyone around her appeared so...normal. It was hard to believe that they could go all furry.
Though, that one over there
, Sam thought, with the hair growing out of his ears...

Across the room, Maddie worked with several other women to prepare the evening meal. It was obvious to Sam that Maddie was the only one working, while the rest of the women stood around gossiping. Because she was watching, Sam was the first to see it happen, witnessing the moment as it unfolded.

Maddie started to turn, two plates of food piled high. At the same time another woman, a tall leggy brunette that seemed to be at the center of attention, took a step back. The two women collided, the plates flipping end over end, crashing to the floor and spraying food everywhere.

"You clumsy bitch!" Rose brushed food from the front of her dress. "Watch where you're going!"

Maddie immediately dropped to her knees, scrambling to pick up the broken plates and ruined food. "Sorry, Rose. I didn't see you there."

"Get me something to wipe this mess off."
 

"Just a minute. I want to pick up these pieces before anyone steps..." Maddie never saw it coming. One minute she was kneeling on the floor, the next she was knocked up against the wall, ears ringing and her face on fire from where Rose had struck her.

Sam jumped to her feet, but a vice grip on her wrist pulled her back down onto her ass. Turning, she saw Nafarius watching her.

"No." Nafarius didn't turn to the confrontation taking place across the room. He already knew how that one would play out. He was focused on Sam. He had seen the way she reacted and knew any interference from her would be fatal. "It's none of your business."

Sam glared. "Maddie is the closest thing I have to a friend here. That makes it my business."

"It's pack business," Roland said, not unkind. "Maddie knows how to handle Rose."

Sam turned to see that Maddie had managed to appease Rose and was working on cleaning up the mess. A gentle squeeze brought her attention back around, Nafarius releasing her wrist. Sam nodded at him, a silent promise to sit quietly. Around her, the pack worked through the meal, few of them having noticed the altercation. A few minutes later, Maddie came by and handed her a plate, smiling when Sam lightly touched her arm.

A little while later, the pack broke for the evening, families retiring to their personal spaces while Nafarius walked her to her alcove. Sam felt lighter, a little less alone after her evening with the pack. No one had spoken to her, but a few of them had come by to speak with Nafarius, one or two of them offering her a small smile. Returning to her alcove, she was surprised to find new bedding, several soft pillows and a pile of magazines. There were even a few of her personal items someone had salvaged including a small camp light. It wasn't exactly the Sorrento Hotel, but it went a long way towards making the alcove more comfortable.

* * *

The next morning, Maddie came by to collect her, pointedly ignoring Sam's questions regarding Rose. Together, the two women went to work cleaning out the alcove. After that, Sam followed Maddie as she made her way through the day. She tried to pitch in, to help with the young woman's duties, but her offers were gently but firmly rebuffed.
 

It didn't take long for Sam to fall into a routine. Her days were spent with Maddie, the two talking and sharing stories. Her evenings were spent with Nafarius and Roland, listening as they discussed pack business and plans for the next several days. At night, she returned to her alcove and tried not to think about the future. She, along with everyone else, knew this couldn't last. The forced peace between her and the rest of the pack would break eventually.

Surprisingly, it all came to a head over vegetables.

"Is this a weed?" Sam asked, pointing to a small cluster of green.

Maddie looked over Sam's shoulder. "Potato."

"Oh," Sam left it, and several other similar ones, alone. "What about this?"

Maddie pulled a bundle of carrots out of the ground, shaking off loose dirt before tossing it into her basket. "Weed."

Sam went to work pulling the offending growth out of the pack's garden. Beside her, Maddie was busy pulling a variety of root vegetables that would be used in the evening meal. "How many gardens are there?"

Maddie moved over a row, checked the tomatoes. "Hmmm...maybe a dozen or so. But there's a ton of stuff that grows wild, like the mushrooms. We don't bother planting those, just pick them when we need them."

"What about fruit? I would kill for a nice, juicy orange." Most of the meals she'd eaten had been of the meat and potatoes variety but there had also been fresh baked bread, apples and cheese.

Maddie smiled. Sam had a running list of all the things she would kill for. Coffee and pie topped the list. "We eat a lot of berries and there are a few apple trees nearby. Nafarius will bring fruit back with him whenever he comes back from town."

"He goes into town?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Hmmm..." Maddie said, her attention focused on a stubborn weed Sam had missed. "Once or twice a year for supplies."

"Oh," Sam frowned, wondering if this bit of information helped her cause. Nafarius was still unwilling to let her leave and refused to say when that might change.
 

"I think that's enough," Maddie said, tossing a last onion into her basket.

"Oh thank god," Sam groaned as she got to her feet, "I think I have a permanent knot in my back."

"I told you that you didn't need to help," Maddie pulled one last weed, looking up at her new friend.

"I feel like a freeloader," Sam said. "You do all the cooking, feeding me. Seems the least I can do." It felt weird, her place not quite a prisoner, but definitely not an invited guest.
 

"Well, well, well...look who has been digging in the dirt," Rose stepped out of the trees, her two constant companions close on her heels. Sam knew better than to think that Rose was here to help. More likely than not, she was hoping to catch the eye of the men working nearby.
 

Most of the pack's gardens were planted so they worked with the surrounding forest. But a nearby dead tree was threatening to fall, taking out a large part of the garden. Nafarius had ordered it taken down, and several men were stripping down to do the job.

"What do you want, Rose?" Maddie asked.

"Me? Nothing," she said, shouldering her way past Maddie, she knocked the basket out of Maddie's arms, vegetables rolling everywhere. "Fetch!" Rose said with a laugh, her two constant companions giggling in appreciation.

Maddie was reaching for a potato, when she felt Sam's hand on her shoulder.

"Pick it up." Sam ordered, staring at Rose.

Rose's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Back off, human, before you get hurt."

Sam stepped between Maddie and Rose. "Pick. It. Up."

"Or what? You'll make me?" Rose laughed. "It seems Nafarius' little pet has grown claws."

Across the way, Roland caught sight of the confrontation and moved to intercept. He may have little use for the human but she was still under Nafarius' protection.
 

"Wait," Nafarius said.
 

"What? Why?" If Rose harmed the human, Nafarius would be forced to put her down. Right or wrong, Rose was still pack and Sam was human.

"I want to see something." Nafarius had come to know Sam a bit over the past few days.
 

Sam's smile held little humor. "At least I'm not the pack's bitch in heat."
 

Sam knew she'd hit a sore spot. Rose was one of those women that spent their lives trying to catch the right man. She walked around flashing flesh trying to tantalize the stronger males in the pack. Maddie had mentioned that there were several willing to take their ease with the female but none of them wanted to mate with her. "Lift your tail often enough and eventually someone will take you up on your offer," Sam taunted.

"You bitch!" Rose lunged at the human, a low vicious snarl turning her face ugly.

Sam braced for the strike, didn't bother trying to defend herself knowing that she didn't stand a chance against Rose's inhuman strength.
 

"Rose!"

Rose froze, Nafarius' roar echoing across the forest. Slowly, every line in her body screaming in reluctance, she stepped back. "This isn't over," she promised, before stalking off out of sight.

"I told you, a human doesn't belong here." Roland reminded.

"The problem is not that she is human," Nafarius said turning away from his second. "It's that she's alpha."

Sam pressed a suddenly shaking hand to her stomach. Taking a deep breath she half knelt, half collapsed to her knees and started helping Maddie pick up the scattered food.

"You shouldn't have done that," Maddie whispered.
 

"Have I made it worse for you?"
 

Sam wasn't sure what had possessed her to take on the other woman. She was outmatched on every level but something inside refused to allow her to stand by and watch as Maddie was bullied. Maybe it was because Maddie was the first real friend Sam had.

"No. I know how to deal with Rose."

"Why do you let her treat you that way?" Sam was honestly curious. She was trying to understand pack protocol but the dynamics were complex, with shades of nuances that escaped her. Maddie had tried to tell her there were some things only one born a werewolf could understand.
 

"She's one of the most dominant females in the pack. I'm not strong enough to confront her," Maddie shrugged. It was the notion of someone that had lived with a belief her entire life and never once thought to question it. "She's well within her right."

"Being stronger doesn't mean you prey and pick on the weak," Sam said. Standing, she smiled when Marcus stopped to hand her a few of the stray potatoes. "It means you protect them."

"Not everyone thinks like you." Maddie gathered up her things and started heading back to the den.

"No," Sam said, spying Roland watching, a curious look on his face. "Not everyone."

NAFARIUS FOUND SAM by the stream. She stood with her back to the trees, a light breeze blowing the hair from her face. He caught her in profile, noticed (not for the first time) the strong line of her chin that seemed perfectly matched to the stubborn set of her shoulders.

She was throwing rocks in the water, trying to make them skip. "You need flatter rocks," he said, letting her know he was there.

Sam picked another rock, threw it and sighed when it went straight to the bottom.

"Sam."

Sam didn't turn around, just tossed another rock at the water.

"We need to talk," Nafarius started. "You can't trade on my protection that way."

"Is that what you think that was?" She turned to him, anger simmering in her green eyes.

"It wasn't?"

She shook her head. "Rose could snap me in two. I know that..."

"Then why?"

"Maddie is my friend. For whatever reason, she's too sweet to stand up for herself," she shrugged, and turned back to the water. "Someone has to."
 

"That's not the way we do things."

"I know," she said, letting the rest of the rocks drop from her hand. "Maddie keeps trying to tell me. But you know what? I figure if you can get away with offering protection to a human, I can offer protection to a werewolf."

Nafarius sighed, rubbed at his forehead. "Jesus, woman, how does that brain of yours work?"

Sam just smiled at him.

"You can't protect Maddie," he said. "You're only human."