Four legs? Check. Sharp teeth? Check. You, my dear man, are quite obviously a wolf. Unfortunate side effect, apparently. One I didn’t anticipate, either.”
Galen pulled back his lips, showing gleaming white teeth. Both Erik and his inner wolf poised to flee.
Angry mates are dangerous, Wolf Erik said.
Not my mate, Erik shot back. He took a long, hard look at Galen, hunkered down and inching forward, teeth bared. We run on my signal, Erik told his wolf.
Inspiration struck before Galen did. “I know!” Erik cried, “Let’s go show the seer! He’s the wisest man we have.”
Galen brightened. “And he can help me?”
“Help you? You don’t need help. You’re perfect. I just want to show you off. I’ll be the envy of the pack.” Praise always worked on Isibel. Maybe it would work on this villager-turned-pack-member.
Erik dressed quickly and marched downstairs, head held high, trying to ignore the danger at his back. Wolves can smell fear, Erik’s own wolf reminded him, to which he replied with all the sarcasm he could muster, Really? I didn’t know that. I mean, I’ve only been one since birth!
Continuing his inward battle, Erik measured his steps carefully while feigning nonchalance. No need adding embarrassment to injury. Galen followed unsteadily behind him. Having two extra legs and a tail to deal with required practice. Judging from their time spent on a feather mattress, the man learned quickly. No doubt he’d master the art of four legs in no time.
Galen made such a spectacular example of wolfhood, and what an adventurous lover! He’d be an excellent mate for someone. Too bad the prophecy dictated that Erik wait for some future baby to arrive, then grow up, before taking a mate. An unbidden growl emerged, and not solely from his wolf, when he thought of another having Galen. Coughing into his fist disguised the sound.
He ignored annoying nails screeching across stone and the inevitable thump, thump, thump, of a new wolf learning to navigate stairs by doing it wrong the first time.
Erik entered the hall as if he owned it, which he did. Oh, yes, they’re seeing this. He reveled in the excited, “Ohhhs,” and “Ahhhhs,” of his people.
Circling the room, Galen dogging, or rather, wolfing, his heels, gave all the people time to admire the sleek body of the former villager.
“What a lovely wolf!” Aunt Eydis exclaimed, the first of many to remark on the newest member of the pack.
“I’m a wolf!” Galen wailed.
Really, the man acted as though that was a bad thing!
“Yes, and a fine example to be sure.” Eydis scratched his ears affectionately.
Erik growled.
“Touchy, touchy,” his aunt replied, looking very pleased with herself.
“Waahhh! I’m a wolf!” Galen cried again. “Now I gotta eat people!”
“Only the bad ones,” Eydis assured him.
“Oh, what a fine howl he has!” Lady Isibel stepped up between her two miniature mates, handing Eydis a blanket. She towered above her matched set of men.
“Yes, he does.”
The thick blanket dropped over Galen and the Alpha Bitch chuffed. The blanket twisted and turned until Galen’s now human head poked out from under its confines. “Much obliged,” he mumbled from his woolen sanctuary.
“Don’t mention it,” Eydis replied. “You’ll learn in time how to turn at will. Until then, any alpha can help you.”
Galen peered out from under the blanket, casting a cutting, squint-eyed glare at Erik. “Any alpha?” he squawked. “As in: the forest lord could have turned me back at any time?”
Several pairs of accusing eyes turned to Erik. “Hey!” he shouted. “He’s a gorgeous wolf. I wanted you to see him.”
Eydis smirked. “Yes, what an absolutely perfect Alpha Bitch he’ll make, too!”
“Wait! A what? Alpha Bitch?” Horror etched itself on Galen’s face, showing no sign of leaving soon.
“Alpha Bitch?” Erik echoed.
Aunt Eydis directed her explanation to Galen. “Alpha Bitch is the customary title of the lead female of the pack. Or, in the case of an alpha male leader who prefers another male, then the title falls to the leader’s mate. You, in this case.”
“Me? I’m not his mate!” Galen shouted at the same time that Erik joined in, “He’s not my mate!”
“Oh yes, you are, and he is,” came the voice of authority in the form of Old Jarl.
“What?” Galen and Erik gasped in unison.
“There are certain advantages to being a wolf’s mate,” Eydis put in, patting Galen’s arm.
Disbelief wasn’t a good look for the man. “And those are?”
“Well, for one thing, though our unmatched individuals are free to dally wherever they please, once officially mated, it’s for life, holding true to