penned in. But the farmer’s son caught me. He backed me into a corner with a scythe, calling to his family. They were going to burn me up right then and there. So what else could I do? I jumped at him, and I bit him, oh yes, I bit him good, but just on the arm, and I escaped.
“They caught me later, the black coats, indeed they did. Roped me up and locked me into a box to rot and curl up and cry and howl, set to burn along with all the other wolves in there, all of them for stealing sheep or cows or chickens or rabbits. One every day. Every day, set on fire, howling until they died, black burnt flesh that had to be peeled off the poles.”
His eyes had gone completely gold and swam with red as he talked, his breathing heavier in his anger. “Everyone always telling you what to do. Always looking over your shoulder lest you get a bolt in the back. And now you think I’m going to pay attention to you, little human ghost girl?”
I shoved him away from me with every ounce of strength I had. He snarled, but I didn’t care.
“Then why did you pick me?” I shouted in his face. “Huh? Then why did you pick some pathetic human woman like me to be your mate?”
The anger faded from his face and the yellow in his eyes dissipated. He stared at me for a few moments before squeezing his eyes shut.
“Caroline…” He doubled over, putting his hands to the sides of his head. “I didn’t… Oh it’s wrong, it’s all gone wrong!”
He bolted past, out the doors, nearly crashing into Alex as he did so.
“Hey, what the—”
I took a few seconds to recover before running after him into the night.
“What the hell is going on?” Alex yelled after me.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay,” I called back. He wouldn’t believe me. Rightly so. I didn’t even believe me. But I couldn’t let Wolf run around at night in this state. It couldn’t be safe for anyone. He’d already disappeared from sight, and fear welled up in me. I had to find him. I had to rein him in somehow. I’d just about lost hope when an unmistakable wolf howl erupted from the woods to my left, echoing through the darkness.
I followed the sound into the trees. The forest canopy blocked out most of the moonlight, only a handful of beams breaking through. I stopped to give my eyes time to adjust as much as possible. I didn’t want to stumble around blind in the dark, and I didn’t know how much time I had before it would be too dark to see anything at all. I listened hard. Far off to my left, a voice floated through the trees. The faint sensation or magic tugged at me, vaguely reminding me of the necklace and the hidden magic that held Marianne in the town. Bits of a one-sided conversation sifted through the darkness.
“What did you do……made it worse……awful…hungry………I don’t know…yes, she keeps looking……expect me….work like this…”
I trailed after the voice. Just as suddenly as it came, the strange sensation disappeared. Suspicion crept over me. A few moments later I peered around a tree and found Wolf walking around.
“Wolf, who are you talking to?”
He snapped to attention. “No one.” The he squeezed his eyes shut. “This is awful. Awful. I’m a cursed creature, that’s what I am, just like the rest of them. Can’t even control myself. Why did it have to be you? Just because you smell so good and you’re not afraid of wolves and just right and then I push you off and snarl and snap like a werewolf, just like they all think I am…”
“Are you disappointed that you chose me?” I said softly.
Even in the dim shaft of moonlight I could see his miserable face. “No,” he rasped. “It’s just…it’s wrong. It’s all wrong. The moon. It’s never this bad.”
He sank to his knees and put his hands to his face as if to hide from everything. Protecting himself from the moon. Hiding from me in shame.
I took in a deep breath and went to him. I dropped to my knees so we were face to face and gently took hold of his arms.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m here. I found you.”
He took his hands away. I touched his cheek and leaned forward to put my forehead against his.