Authors: Sarah Marie Porter
Her ears perked up as he came toward her, grinning in his usual way. “Pack instinct,” he explained, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. He lay down nearby, and watched her with his golden eyes. She felt suddenly comforted, and she wagged her tail slightly at him. “I thank you,” she said softly, knowing that he probably preferred the comfort of his human den. He lifted his head, gazing at her. “No need. Sleeping in wolf form is no sacrifice if I am sleeping next to you, Keva.” Then he laid his head on his forepaws and closed his eyes. Keva sighed happily, and closed her eyes.
As Keva slept, she entered the wolf dream. The forest was covered by soft twilight, quiet and empty. She sighed contentedly, breathing in the soft scent of the grass and the fallen leaves that covered the forest floor. Here in the wolf dream, she could run as long as she wished, free from all danger. She dashed through the grass towards a treeless field ahead, which seemed to go on forever towards the horizon. She loped on and on, breathing lightly, her heart gladdened by the run. Suddenly, a dark shape appeared in her peripheral vision, and she veered and nearly stumbled. There, running along beside her, was Cian. The breeze ruffled his shaggy black fur, and the soft twilight made his eyes seem to glow with golden light. He did not say a word, but merely ran beside her, easily keeping up. She gave him a wolfish grin and ran faster, trying to pass him, but he kept pace. Thinking to trick him, she slowed and stopped quickly, but he immediately turned and stopped beside her, panting lightly. His eyes glinted at her attempt to trick him. “Thinking to lose me, ay? No one is quicker than me in the wolf dream.” Leaping forward, Cian licked her nose quickly then dashed away into the field. Startled and caught off guard, she shook off the shock at his bold move and leaped after him with a giddy feeling in her stomach. When she caught up with him, she leaped toward him and collided with his shoulder, sending them both tumbling into the long grass. He rolled over and leapt up quickly, standing over her to keep her from rolling off her back. He looked down at her, with something dark and wild in his golden eyes that she did not recognize. She gazed up at him, her forepaws folded over her chest. Cian dipped his head and licked her cheek softly, and then leapt away. Keva missed his strong presence immediately, but when she rolled to her feet, he was gone.
The soft sound of Cian stretching woke Keva from a refreshing, dreamless sleep dream. She opened her eyes as he was walking back to the tents, where Liam was already awake and packing away his tent. Cian changed his form quickly and began to help pack up the tents. Keva watched as the tents collapsed before her eyes and were packed away into two bulky cloth bags the men would carry. Liam made breakfast quickly, and the two men ate before they began their trek back through the woods. As they set off southward, Keva followed at a short distance, still anxious about being so close to humans. Cian and Liam set a good pace and covered several miles before they stopped for lunch. When they stopped, Keva drew closer and sat a few feet away as the men ate some granola and dried fruit. Cian made eye contact with her a few times as he ate, but to her relief, he did not try to coax her to come closer.
Soon, they came near the place where Cian had parked his truck. Cian knew that this would be a difficult transition for Keva, so he let Liam take the backpacks to the truck as he crouched down and waited for Keva to come closer. “Keva,” he said, “I know you’ve lived in the wilderness your whole life. Humans like to make things, and we are going to use something called a truck to get home faster than if we walked or ran.” Keva sat a few feet away, and tilted her head slightly.
I understand,
said a female voice in his head. He jerked, surprised. Keva glanced right and left quickly, not sure why he was acting startled.
What has startled you?
Cian cleared his throat loudly. “You just spoke in my head,” he said, feeling a little silly. “That’s usually something only bonded lifemates can do,” he added. She only gave him a wolfish grin in response, and followed him to the truck, which was parked in a public rest area near a hiking trail.
The big black truck loomed in front of Keva like a gigantic beast. She looked up at Liam, who was sitting in the driver’s seat and grinning down at Keva. She let out a long, slow breath. Ruthlessly quelling her anxiety, she followed Cian around to the other side, where he opened the back door for her. She eyed the back seat for only a moment and then leapt up into the truck. As Cian shut the door and climbed into the passenger side, she suddenly felt horribly confined. Cian, seeing in the rearview mirror that she was wide-eyed and her ears were laid back flat to her head, tried to soothe her. “Don’t worry. The ride will be fairly short. You’ll have plenty of time later on to get accustomed to riding in vehicles.” Keva turned her piercing gaze on him.
I’ll have to ride in one of these again? There are more of these cursed machines? By the Creator, you humans don’t know what true freedom is,
she said, growling low in her throat. Cian could not help but chuckle at her, which provoked another reaction.
What was that sound you made? It sounds suspiciously like mirth, although I have never heard human mirth.
Cian nodded soberly. “I was laughing,” he said, trying to remain serious. “It’s a valuable human expression.” Liam guffawed loudly, startling Keva.
Apparently so,
she said with a wolfish grin.
Although it does sound very strange.
Liam glanced in the rearview mirror, his deep green eyes twinkling. “Some people say that laughter is the best medicine, too,” Liam said, just as he was turning right onto a dirt road.
Medicine?
Keva asked Cian, feeling befuddled. “I’ll explain later,” Cian said. “For now, let’s just focus on meeting the rest of the pack,” he continued, pointing to direct Keva’s attention out the window, where humans—or lycans, she was not sure—were gathering outside of four large wood cabins. The cabins surrounded a larger wood building which emanated smoke from two brick chimneys sticking out of it like a rabbit’s ears. Big wooden doors on the front of the big building suddenly flew open, and a tall, elderly man walked out. His hair was a very light gray, and included only a bit of fuzz on his head and a strangely pointed beard on his chin. Keva immediately knew that he was an Elder, though she did not know how.
Keva peered out the window, feeling extraordinarily nervous. She began thinking of her very first solo hunt, both the nervousness of being separated from her pack and the thrill of the chase and the final kill of her prey. She shuddered, but the people outside the truck seemed friendly enough. She waited as Cian and Liam exited the vehicle and walked up to the elder, gesturing and pointing at the truck. The elder’s eyes widened. He gestured at Cian, who came back to the truck to open the door for Keva, who leaped out immediately despite her qualms about meeting a new pack. She took a deep breath of the fresh air, and set to examining her new pack. They stared at her, all nine of them. There were two young ones near an older female, two older males, a young female, and an older couple that included an elder and perhaps his mate, and the other male elder.
Cian began introductions. “Keva, this is Rick and Rosa,” he said, nodding to the two young ones. “Their mother and my aunt, Nila.” The older female nodded perfunctorily at Keva. “And this is Davin,” he said as one of the older males stepped forward. “Davin is my uncle,” added Cian, “and this is Cormac,” he continued, gesturing to the other older male. “Cormac is Liam’s brother,” he explained. The young female grinned at Keva as Cian looked her way. “And I’m Kara, Cian’s sister,” she said sweetly. Keva grinned back. She began to think that maybe she would enjoy being with her new family, after all. The three elders were not introduced, for they had begun walking towards the meeting hall, the large building in the center of the group of cabins that made up the camp.
The pack gathered in the meeting hall. The other members of the Council, five males and three females, arrived soon after, standing to one side of the big round oak table that took up the center of the room. The Northern Pack elder, whose name was Garr, called the room to order. "Quiet, everyone. This meeting has been called to review the results of our alpha's mission to do justice to Brann, the rogue that murdered a family in the human town to the south." Cian stood up. "The rogue is no more. He would not surrender to the judgment of the Council, thus I had to end his life. The elder will confirm that this is Brann's fur and proof of his death." he added, tossing a swatch of fur on the table. The elder nodded gravely after sniffing the fur. The Council nodded in unison, as well. Elder Garr, his hair white and beard white streaked with gray, spoke for them all. He wrinkled his prominent forehead, and said, "Thus Brann ends." The members of the pack murmured an agreement. "Alpha Cian, please explain this
lycan's
presence," Garr continued, lifting a hand in Keva's direction. He frowned as he added, "And please tell us why she is not in human form like the rest of us." Keva cringed at the sudden attention, as the whole group turned their eyes her way. Cian frowned at the elder's obvious, uncalled-for scorn. "This is Keva. Liam and I found her living with a pack of true wolves." The whole hall began to rumble as the pack began murmuring amongst themselves again. Elder Garr lifted a hand, and the room fell silent again. "How is that possible? The true wolves do not accept us among them."
Cian grimaced, tapping a finger on the table as he considered how to respond. "Keva's mother explained to Keva, before she abandoned her to our hands, that Keva's sire raped her mother when her mother was in
estrus
. Keva's sire was Brann, the rogue." This time, the room burst into loud conversation. "A half-lycan?" said a Council member disbelievingly, causing Cian to growl in response. "And half true wolf, and my lifemate," he bellowed back. "Does anyone wish to dispute that with me?" The room grew quiet, registering his challenge.
Elder Garr lowered his overgrown gray eyebrows and frowned. The point of his long gray beard quivered as he pursed his lips in concern. "Your lifemate? Did you meet this she-wolf in the wolf dream?" Cian crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "I did, twice." Gasps could be heard across the room. The widespread location of packs, meant to reduce violent competition, usually had the result of lycans rarely meeting the other half of their soul in the wolf dream, since they must be in close proximity to meet. Cian’s sister, a tall, lean brunette, stood from her seat at the table. "If this is true, then may I be the first to welcome my brother's lifemate." Keva stared at Kara in surprise, but the woman only grinned at her and winked. Cian cast a grateful smile at his sister.
The elders still frowned, not happy with this new development. "If she cannot change form, she is to be considered a true wolf," stated another elder, a short woman with a streak of white in her long gray hair. Cian glared at her, but she merely gave him a stony gaze in return. "She's my lifemate, Elder Sera," he growled. "I won’t send her away or turn my back on her."
Keva flinched when Sera turned her sharp yellow eyes toward her, the lone wolf in the hall. "You have one week, including today, to learn how to be a lycan and change into human form," she announced, "or you must return to the wild, lifemate or no." That said, the elders turned as one and filed out of the hall, leaving only the local pack in the meeting hall.
Keva turned to Cian, desperation visible in her bright blue eyes.
What if I can't change?
Cian shook his head at her expression of doubt. "You will be able to change. I'm sure of it. Fate would not have brought you to me if it meant for us to be parted."
Cian's sister, Kara, took it upon herself to teach Keva everything about being a lycan in a human world. Even though Keva could not talk out loud, Kara’s lessons still managed to fill all her time. For Keva, the next two days were full of learning, from history to science to reading. Keva proved to be an exceptionally quick student, absorbing the information as if it was water and she was stranded in a desert. She was particularly fascinated by reading. Though she did not yet have thumbs to turn the pages of books, she learned to recognize more words than could be counted. To Keva, the idea of putting communication into a tangible form was amazing. She especially enjoyed watching Kara write, and eagerly anticipated doing so herself. Food was a whole different scenario. Keva found that even though the werewolves could eat raw meat, they preferred to cook it to avoid disease. The spices, sauces, and garnishes they added made each meal taste new and delicious, giving Keva an extra reason to look forward to staying in the pack with Cian.
By the second day, Keva was comfortable around her newly adopted pack, and Kara decided it was time to focus on changing her form. She began by asking herself out loud, "So… how old are you, I wonder?" Keva answered in the only way she knew how.
I have seen two winters pass
, she answered. Kara gaped at her, and Keva tilted her head in confusion. "You're a telepath! And you're only two years old!" She began to giggle to herself. Keva watched, perplexed, as Kara jumped up and grabbed a calculator. "Okay, so you're half true wolf, and true wolves only live about twelve years in the wild… you have lived one-sixth of your life as a wolf. But lycans live about 100 years or more, so one-sixth of 100 is... about seventeen. I'm going to assume your human form will look between seventeen and twenty." Keva nodded, and asked,
What does a seventeen-year-old human female look like?
Kara stared at Keva again, but shook her head and grabbed her laptop. "I'm never going to get used to that talking in my head stuff," she mumbled as she began typing. She pulled up an image of a young blonde female with average proportions, and turned the screen towards Keva. "Something like this," Kara said. Keva nodded slowly, trying to imagine herself with two arms and two legs.
I don’t know,
Keva said.
It doesn’t seem like that body would feel right to me.
Kara looked at the pretty white wolf and sighed. “It’ll take time, but you’ll get used to the idea, just like I had to get used to the idea of being a wolf. When I first turned, I was sixteen years old. I began to feel really restless, like I had to get out and run. When I went running in the woods, I ended up changing form and coming back to camp as a wolf. Perhaps something like that must happen before you can shift. You still have five more days before the elders force you to leave, so don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”