this neurotic. Who knew when he might snap again?
He scratched at his neck again and blew air out through his nose like an aggravated dog. “I don’t know the reason. As for who, I can’t say.”
“Why not?”
“I’m force-bound not to.”
“Uh huh.” I savagely pushed at my daypack. “God! Wolf? Did you see a small can in here at any point in time?”
“I most certainly did. Awful smelling stuff. I got rid of it immediately. Why did you have such a thing in your pack?”
I let out an exasperated sigh. Might as well tell him. “For protection. It’s especially good against bears.” And crazy people.
“Bears hmm? They’re no worry. Too busy eating honey porridge and going on outings.”
Oh joy. “Wolf, where am I?”
He smiled, and this time it wasn’t scary. It was soft and happy. “You’re right here, with me.”
“No, I mean, this place. This forest. What’s this place called?”
“Oh. You’re in the Kingdom of Red. It’s a very big place. Home to all the wolves in all the lands.”
“How many ‘lands’ are there?”
“Three. Would you like to see a map?”
“I would, very much so.”
He sat up enough to pull a worn piece of leather out of a pocket. Then he flopped back on his stomach by me and held it out.
“This is the land of Arglesia, though we all know it by the name of King Thrushbeard’s Land, even though he and his queen have been dead for generations. Above it is King Lute’s realm. And this is the Kingdom of Red. See? We can’t leave here because the mountains border it, and they’re much too high for any of us to scale and half-wolves aren’t allowed through the human passageways.”
I carefully examined the details of the map. The continent was like nothing I’d ever seen before, at least, not where I came from. Lute’s kingdom sat in the upper corner in the northeast, and if the map keys were anything to go by, looked like farmland as well as forest. Thrushbeard’s Land was below in the southeast, mostly forest, and appeared to have two little castles scrawled on the map. The Kingdom of Red was the largest, at least twice the size of the other two lands, and practically all forest. A line of mountains separated the Kingdom of Red from the other lands, stretching from ocean to ocean across the continent. The continents and writing were scrawled in black and faded with time. The leather was flimsy and careworn from years of use. I didn’t see how it could be fake.
The pond. Marianne. Wolf. Giants. Now this map. I finally gave in and fully accepted where I was. Far from home. In some fairy tale land. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh, cry, or just freak out, but considering everything I’d gone through already I was too tired to do any of those things. It was like I’d just gone through the five stages of grieving. Except I’d skipped the bargaining part. I wondered if I should start.
I handed the map back to Wolf, watching him as he carefully folded it up and tucked it away in his jacket pocket. Then he settled down near me, happy. He looked like a regular guy relaxing fireside. Like we weren’t in some fairy tale land and he and I had gone camping for the weekend. Then he noticed me looking at him and winked.
“Are you really a half-wolf?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” he said softly.
I stared at him for a bit before speaking again. “You seem to have issues.”
He sniffed, the content look fading from his face. “It’s hard, being half-wolf. No pack to speak of. Feared by humans. Farmers especially. They hate wolves, half and whole alike, those farmers. Doesn’t matter which. They catch a wolf, they build a fire and burn it or stab it with pitchforks and anything else until they reach its heart. No one loves wolves in the Kingdom of Red.”
He got very quiet as he said the last part. He plucked at a thread on his coat cuff, sullen.
“I study wolves, you know,” I finally said.
His gaze fixed on me again. “Study them?”
“I’m a wolf biologist. I watch them, follow them. I understand their habits and personalities. I protect them where I come from. I’m not afraid of wolves.”
“No? Is that why you weren’t afraid to kiss me?” His eyes glittered again.
I laughed lightly. “I was afraid to kiss you, trust me. But that was because I thought you were a serial killer. I