Leora
Everything was dark. And then suddenly, it wasn’t anymore when I awoke. This time with a gentle flutter of my eyes.
Instead of hot and shivering, I found myself nice and cozy in a soft bed. My body ached a bit, but there was no sharp pain—in my leg or anywhere else.
At least not at first. The scent of some savory food caught my nose, warm and meaty. And my stomach cramped with ravenous hunger.
How long had it been since I last ate? The unappetizing meal they’d given us on the plane at least …
Wait …
The plane …
The long walk to reach my sister’s Highland kingdom town when we couldn’t afford the taxi fare to get us there all the way …
The fall into the river …
The male with the gun who was going to kill my daughter …
I jerked up in bed. “Dorie!”
“Relax, Mother Wolf," a deep voice said from beside me. "She made it through the full moon without so much as a nick. Now she’s out at the stable feeding Queen Elizabeth the third apple she doesn’t need today.”
Relief flooded me. Dorie was okay. But how had she made it through the night with two wolves? And Queen Elizabeth?
I turned toward the voice, my mouth opened to ask several confused questions. Then I beheld the man towering over the bed.
No, not a man. A wolf. I could smell it now. He was a wolf, like Dorie and me. An extremely large male wolf. Huge and thick as an oak tree.
He’d looked big outside the window. Up close, he struck me as nothing less than a Scottish giant.
A black t-shirt strained tight against his barrel chest, and his thick biceps bulged underneath his sleeves.
And his hands—I’d never seen anyone with a set as large and hammy as his.
He looked like he could crack walnuts with a snap of his fingers.
He stared down at me, his dark gray eyes shining with an intense emotion I could only translate as anger.
I swallowed, all my questions falling away.
“Might want to cover up before she gets back,” he bit out.
Something soft hit my face like a blanket, turning the world dark.
A large black t-shirt, I realized when I pulled it off my eyes. One of his shirts. And it smelled … oh my goodness, it smelled wonderful. Like cozy fires, mountain snow, and evergreen forests.
This male … he smelled the opposite of the colony I left behind on Prince Edward Island. The opposite of Joshua.
But then, all those nice feelings about the gorgeous-smelling shirt disappeared when his words caught up with the rest of my thoughts. Cover myself up? What had he meant by that?
I looked down, and in an instant, I realized why he’d thrown his shirt at me.
The large round breasts I’d only ever seen in the shower were uncovered for the entire world to see as if to say, “Hello, nice to meet you.”
I sat there naked. Stark naked.
I made a sound much like the mice in the village's collective barn and smushed the shirt to my chest.
Unfortunately, that action alone didn't give me back the modesty I’d been raised to rigorously upkeep. If I wanted that back, I'd have to … I cringed … I'd have to actually put on the shirt.
It would have helped if the red-haired giant would turn around to give me some modicum of privacy.
But he continued to regard me with that intense stare.
And I was too embarrassed to speak, much less form a polite request.
So, I did the best I could to keep myself covered with the blankets as I stuck my arms and head through the holes of his amazing-smelling t-shirt. And it looked like I wouldn’t have to worry about my lack of clothes below.
Joshua had derided me a few times for eating so much that I was twice as wide as him. But the giant’s t-shirt was so big on me. It reached nearly to my knees.
Not exactly an ankle-length dress, but it would do until I got my own clothes back.
“Th-thank you.” I cast him a grateful look. Well, I tried to cast him a grateful look. One glance at my unexpected savior was all I could manage before I had to dart my eyes away.
He no longer carried a gun, but he somehow struck me as even more intimidating than when he'd been outside the window.
My human cowered and prayed behind my lowered eyes.
But my wolf …
She was doing something else … breathing in a weird way I could only describe as panting.
“I …” I struggled to find an excuse for my bizarre reaction to him. “I’ve never seen someone with red hair before.”
A weak explanation, to be sure.
Well, I’ve never had someone pop a squat in my cottage. Then attack me in wolf form like the place doesnae belong to me." I was physically incapable of lifting my eyes to meet his. But I could feel his dark gray gaze on me as he said, “So I suppose we’re even on that score.”
Embarrassment crawled beneath the surface of my skin like earthworms displaced by rain. I rushed to apologize and explain, “I’m sorry about that. Of course, we didn’t mean to ah … pop a squat. You see, we were trying to …”
“Aye, the girl-wolf told me you were attempting to reach Faoiltiarn when you walked right up the side of my mountain.”
“Your mountain?” I repeated, honestly confused. “Are mountains things that can be owned here?”
A hard beat. Then: “I came to my cottage to pass the winter. Alone. I didn’t expect to find a hurt she-wolf here with her toothless daughter.”
Another wave of embarrassment passed over me. A much more familiar kind this time than immodesty.
I loved Dorie. She was funny, and resilient, and loyal. I didn’t care if she was toothless. I would never trade her for another daughter. But I knew the rest of the world, including Joshua, didn’t see her the way I did.
And, of course, this amazing-smelling stranger didn’t want anything to do with me or my daughter. Just like Joshua, he viewed us as a burden.
Actually, it was worse for him than for Joshua. We actually were strangers, squatting in his home. And I was the not-so-great-smelling she-wolf, currently occupying his single bed.
How long had I been asleep?
Longer than a single full moon night, I determined after taking a quick glance around the cabin.
The couch was empty. But the plastic bag of toiletries we'd received at the women’s shelter in Canada sat at its foot.
That and the rumpled blanket on top of the couch told me where Dorie had passed her time while I slept.
Also, the prayer covering hanging off its arm.
She never remembered to put it on before going outside unless I reminded her. Several times.
Even if my daughter hadn’t taken the couch, he never would have been able to fit on it. Which meant the red-haired giant had been forced to sleep in the huge single wing-backed chair or possibly even on the floor.
An old panic rose inside my chest. The same as when Joshua was due home at any moment. But the house was a mess, and supper was still cooking on the stove because I hadn’t quite timed it right. This was the kind of panic where I knew I'd be in trouble as soon as he walked through the door.
But the giant had already walked through the door. He towered over me, waiting for me to explain myself.
“I am so sorry,” I choked out the words with a pained breath. “I could have really hurt you in wolf form, and I can see we’ve terribly inconvenienced you. I’ll go get Dorie, and we’ll be on our way.”
He shook his head at me. “Your wolf only let go of ye a coupla minutes ago. Knitting bones is heavy business, even for the likes of us. The sleep will grab you quick again before you know it.
“Even more reason to make the rest of the trip to my sister’s kingdom village now,” I said, throwing back the covers. My muscles groaned a bit. But it wasn't anything I couldn't push through. “We should get going before I tire again. So, if you don’t mind handing me my clothes?”
He snorted. “You mean that strange uniform that reeked of mildew and body odor? At least it wasn’t one of those shite polyester blends, though. I was able to use the bits your wolf left behind for stove kindling.”
I stared at him, aghast.
“What? You’re upset I said shite?” His lips creased down with a consternated frown. “Your girl didn’t even know what it meant.”
“No, I’m upset you burned my clothes,” I corrected him. “Though, you should curb your language around Dorie. She’s not like outsider children.”
“Nae, she’s not,” he agreed. “Outsider children wouldnae have asked me to teach them more forbidden words after I explained what shite meant.”
Of course, she had. Other than being toothless, Dorie was pretty much my sister, Tara, duplicated in the same lifetime.
“Maem! Maem! You’re awake!”
As if on cue, Dorie burst through the door of the cabin. Unlike me, she still had on her black dress. But her white apron was covered in dirt. And her hair, unfettered by her prayer covering, had become a cloud of tangled curls escaping from her two braids.
“Dorie!” I called back, nonetheless, holding out my arms to receive her huge hug. Her unkempt appearance didn't matter. I was so happy and relieved to see her.
“What happened to coming back in five minutes?” the giant groused at her.
Dorie pulled back from our hug to inform him, “Queen Elizabeth wanted me to stay with her and talk for a while.”
And that was how I found myself circling back around to my original question.
“Queen Elizabeth?” I asked her.
“My horse,” the giant answered.
At the same time, Dorie said, “My new friend! I went outside to give her an apple.”
“Her third apple of the day!” the giant said. His jaw ground under his red beard.
“Then I lost track of time telling Queen Elizabeth about my first plane ride.”
“Your last plane ride ever,” I promised, nestling her close. “So, you’re okay? You’re really okay?”
I pulled back to do a sight check for scars. No matter how many full moons we went through, I never stopped being terrified on her behalf. “You didn’t get hurt when we …”
“I’m great!” she answered with more enthusiasm than I’d heard in her voice in years. “Alban let me have a slumber party with Queen Elizabeth. And he promised to look after you even though we both tried to kill him.”