Dark Heart Wolf - Haley Weir Page 0,7
and killed them. After that, he promised to take care of me, but I could not ask any questions about what had happened.”
“It happened a long time ago after a smaller tribe broke away from the Apache. They lived in this region long before outsiders and pilgrims ever set down roots. This land was flourishin’ and the natives were free to do as they pleased before the laws of the modern world interfered. But the ships arrived on the shores, and powerful men sought to conquer these territories for themselves. Three bloodlines came upon the tides of war. James, Cassady, and Porter.”
Ruth sat up a little straighter and listened intently to Mary Ann’s retelling of the tale.
“Their great-grandfathers came along with the Spaniards. After a while, the founders of this nation asked them to spy for them. In doing so, they found the tribe in this territory and they took the land from them by force. The land the ranch is built upon was a burial ground for an Apache Shaman’s people,” Mary Ann said. “The spirits of the tribe’s ancestors demanded that the men who took their land pay for spillin’ the blood of their tribe and claiming sacred land.”
“How did they become wolves?” Ruth asked quietly.
“The bloodlines of Porter, James, and Cassady were cursed to live forever with evil spirits inside of them, makin’ them restless and ensurin’ that they would never see the afterlife. Decades went by, and the curse made them shells of the men they once were. They begged for death. And one night, they searched for the remainin’ members of the tribe and asked for forgiveness.”
Mary Ann sat beside Ruth and continued.
“The elders of the tribe told them that they had to speak with the ancestors that dwelled at the peak of the mountain. Alexander Eugene Cassady, Sam and Boone Cassady’s great-grandfather, climbed to the top of the mountain. He wept towards the moon and prayed to be released from his burden. Sam told me that the ancestors promised to break the curse if the three bloodlines agreed to fulfill a prophecy.”
“A prophecy?”
Mary Ann nodded. “The three men were given women from the tribe to bear their first sons. They laid with the Apache women and returned to their lives until they were summoned by the tribe again. They were instructed to climb to the mountain’s peak and were given their sons. The men thought their curses were broken, but it wasn’t true.”
“What happened?”
“The spirit of the wolf was now part of their legacy, but it never presented itself. The tribe needed four male children that were worthy of the spirit of the wolf. So, the men lived long, empty lives. And then Boone Cassady was born. He was bigger and stronger than the other children. Jesse Porter and Wesley James were as well. They grew together, formin’ some sort of pack between them. And then Sam Cassady came into this world. His glowin’ red eyes proved that spirit of the wolf was alive and well within the boys,” Mary Ann explained. “They were worthy where the others had failed.”
“Was the curse broken?”
“Not quite,” she sighed. “Their great-grandfathers carried the four boys up to the mountain and presented them to the ancestors. They were given the freedom of death that they had craved for many years. One by one, the generations of Cassady, James, and Porter died. They left behind four frightened boys who went their entire lives thinkin’ that they were cursed.”
“The wolf is not a curse?” Ruth’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“No. The curse died with their grandfathers, but the spirit of the wolf was to remain inside of Boone, Sam, Jesse, and Wesley until the prophecy was complete. Until recently, no one knew what that prophecy was. Itsá, the Apache shaman, received a message from his ancestors that the four men had to ensure that the bloodlines continued so that the spirit of the wolf remained strong.” Mary Ann lifted her skirt slightly and showed a pale mark on her ankle. “A storm came. I was in a wagon with my brother and three other women. My brother died in the wreck.”
“I am very sorry to hear that, Miss.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. Mary Ann cleared her throat and traced the mark with the tip of her finger. “I’ve had this my entire life. Sam has a matchin’ one on his right shoulder. For a long time, neither of us knew what it meant. We were close...too close after a while. We realized