63. Chapter 63
sixty-three
Noemi
I feel the cold ground underneath my paws, icy and covered in snow. Soon it becomes warmer though and my paws hit the soft ground of my favorite forest. I love running like that; it’s freedom and makes me feel like the whole world belongs to me. Once I spot my skulk in the distance, I pick up my pace, running past our borders.
The guards there wave at me and Miko, one of my best friends who recently joined their ranks, even calls out to me. I make sure to jump when I hear his voice, making a flip forward.
Miko laughs and continues waving until I’m out of sight.
Picking up my pace again, I run towards the huge building at the center of the pack. It’s a mansion, and an equivalent to the wolves’ packhouse or castle. My father already awaits me there. “Noemi!” he calls out.
I shift to my human form, slipping into the clothes he’d prepared for me, before jumping up the stairs to greet him. “Dad!” I blurt out, wrapping my arms around him.
“Don’t act like nothing is wrong,” he groans. “You were gone the whole night and almost the whole day.”
“Yes, I was running,” I explain, skipping through the front door and making a beeline towards the kitchen. The chef there already expects me, her eyes lighting up when she sees me.
“Contessa,” she smiles warmly. “I’ve prepared something special for you.”
I beam. “Thank you, you are the best! That’s why you are my favorite!”
She laughs, while her mate, our second chef, turns to me. “I thought I was your favorite,” he says with a mock-pout.
“You both are,” I explain
I make it back to my father and start telling him about my adventure. “I almost made it to the border of the deer shifters,” I inform him. “I even spotted some of them.”
“Noemi,” he sighs. “I appreciate your sense of adventure and your curiosity, but did you learn nothing from your experience with the dark witch and the werebears?”
“I did! I learned to be creative and choose my allies well,” I point out. “The wolves proved to be good allies. It was fun working with them.”
“Fun…” he sighs again. “You could have died.”
“But I didn’t, and now I know so much more about the world. With every adventure, I know more.”
Dad looks at me and shakes his head. “I wonder where you got that from. Certainly not me.”
I smile, clinging to his arm and looking at him with my best innocent expression. His expression softens instantly. Ever since I can remember, it was just him and me. Dad had me when he was sixteen. He had just gotten his fox spirit, so did Mom. But Mom died during labor, because her fox was still too new and weak to heal her after complications while she was giving birth.
But my dad is amazing. He stepped up as a leader to the foxes and was the best dad possible.
“I bet Mom was adventurous,” I say.
“She was,” he admits.
“See, so I got it from her, and I got my dashing looks and vibrant personality from you.”
He snorts. “If you are trying to kiss up to me, it’s working.” He pauses. “Still, promise me you won’t get yourself into unnecessary danger. And, don’t step onto no-man's land again.”
“I will try to. I want to explore the lands of our allies first.”
“Is that true?” he asks, surprised.
“I’m not stupid,” I say. “When I stepped onto no-man's land and the bears got me, I had no idea what I got myself into. I want to learn more about the other shifters.”
“Why don’t you visit them then?” he asks.
“Who?” I blink.
“You can start with the wolves. I can notify King Endellion and Queen Azadeh, and I’m sure they would be happy to host you as a guest,” he says.
“I could visit the wolves,” I beam. “They are hot!”
At that, he frowns.
“What?” I blink. “They are. Maybe one of them will be my mate. Oh! Or maybe one of the dragons? They are hot, too! Actually, after meeting the General, I wouldn’t be opposed to a human mate, either.”
Dad groans. “I can’t believe you.”
“Already cursing the day I was born?” I ask with a grin.
He puts an arm around my shoulders, squeezing them. “I’d never,” he says.
“But wouldn’t a wolf mate be good?” I ask. “They are strong allies.”
“We’ll see what the gods are planning,” he says.
“Speaking of…” I slip out of his grip and sit down at the dining table finally to dig into my breakfast. Dad follows me, sitting down as well. “On my way to the deer shifters, I saw something weird.”
Dad raises his head. “What do you mean?”
“It was between our and their border. A part of the forest looked like it was burnt down,” I report. “But, when I checked, it wasn’t fire that destroyed it; it wasn’t burnt.”
“What happened then?” he asks.
“I don’t know, it just looked like it was dead, you know?”
Dad furrows his brows. “Did it dry out, maybe? It could have been a parasite.”
“It’s hard to explain,” I say. “But, it felt weird. Not natural…”
I have his full attention now because Dad just looks at me, sudden worry in his eyes. “What do you mean, it didn’t look natural?”
“It looked like the forest was rotting,” I explain. “Wait a moment.” I jump up again and hurry back outside, to the tiny bag I always carry with me when I shift and am on one of my adventures. I learned it’s handy to have some items with me in case of an emergency. I left it outside when I changed into my clothes. Retrieving it, I return to Dad and show it to him. “I brought some of the leaves.”
Dad takes the bag, gazing into it. His frown grows, but doesn’t say anything.
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask.
“No,” he mutters. “It was very smart of you to bring proof. You are right, something about this doesn’t feel natural.”
“What does it mean?” I ask.
“I don’t know yet, but I will reach out to the wolf kingdom about it,” he says.
I eye him hopefully. “Maybe you can send your favorite delivery girl to them!”
He looks amused. “I was planning on sending you there, anyway. There is no use in trying to lock you up here and keep you in the skulk. Yet, I prefer you being on an adventure I know about, instead of just roaming around.”
“It’s a win-win then,” I beam. “I deliver the package; you know where I am, and I can go mate hunting!”