CHAPTER 16 #2
In my head, I saw her, the vampire who had killed my birth pack, closing in on me and my mate. She didn’t want word of what we could do to get out, and the Goddess only knew what she would do to a wolf who talked.
It was Michael’s turn to come comfort me, rubbing his forehead against my shoulder. We’ll keep it to ourselves, he said. And then: I truly am sorry for attacking you.
It’s okay. You didn’t mean it. Do you still want to see the forest?
I do.
Good, because I think we need to get as far into it as possible.
He hesitated. Why?
Because it’s not only your size, strength, and speed that got a boost from our bond. Your power is growing.
Even now it lapped against my skin like a tide rolling up a coastline, gaining ground the longer we stood here.
The smell of his surprise filled my nose. So, when I mentioned earlier that my senses seemed heightened…
You were noticing the increase. I need to teach you how to cage it before someone else notices, too. And we need to stay the hell away from other wolves until you learn to control it.
Why are you suddenly so afraid? he asked.
Because I don’t want to give the old-world vamp that killed my birth parents a reason to murder us.
His spine stiffened. Yes, let’s please avoid that.
Grab your clothes, and let’s go, I told him. I know a cave where we can spend the night.
Together we headed deeper into the wilderness, toward the rugged mountains and bottomless gorges the rivers had carved between them over millions of years.
This was inhospitable terrain that not even the most seasoned human hikers would attempt.
The hills were steep and rocky. One false step sent loose scree tumbling down.
Even with our wide, padded feet, we had to be careful.
We traveled for over an hour, loping along when the game paths we followed allowed us to, slowing to a near crawl as we picked our way through the trickier spots.
Eventually, we made it to a familiar, jagged outcropping of granite.
With my clothes clutched in my mouth, I leapt from one boulder to another, leading Michael up the cliff face until I caught sight of the gaping maw of a mountain cave just large enough for us to squeeze through.
I paused outside and scented the entrance.
A mountain lion had passed by the day before, but nothing called this place home now.
We need to shift, I told Michael when we were inside. It’ll be easier to teach you in human form.
He took his clothes and retreated farther into the cave, seeking privacy. I let him go without comment. Hopefully his shift to human hurt less than the one to wolf had.
My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness of the cave.
I padded over to the fire pit in its center, dropped my clothes, and slipped form between heartbeats.
The prickly sensation that ran through me told me Michael was doing the same, this time without any accompanying pain.
So going from human to wolf was a struggle, but wolf to human was fine.
Why? Because he spent so much time as a human that assuming this form felt more natural to him? If so, we needed to work on that.
I pulled my clothes on and set about making a fire.
The last time I’d been here I brought in plenty of kindling and logs.
I’d even thought to carry a lighter out with me, smart wolf that I was.
At this elevation, the temperature could plummet to well below freezing without warning, even in the middle of the summer.
These peaks had been capped with snow up until a few weeks ago, and the dirt beneath my feet held a lingering chill that made me think it hadn’t fully defrosted yet.
When the fire was set, I touched the lighter to the tinder and gently blew, coaxing the first sparks to catch. The air had been cool in the forest. It was damn near arctic here, and since I had a feeling we would be stuck in this cave for a while, the least we could be was warm.
“Here,” Michael said.
I turned to see him holding out his sweater. I took it from him and pulled it on, enveloped in his scent. “Thanks.”
He dropped down next to me and sat close, sharing heat with me while the fire slowly came to life in front of us. Smoke began to rise up, disappearing through an overhead crack in the rocks. A soft orange glow flitted over the walls of the cave.
Michael looked around us. “What is this place?”
“We think the hunters of the Cowasuck Tribe of the Western Abenaki Native Americans used to shelter in it during their longer hunts.”
“Do they still come here?”
I shook my head. “It’s too remote. From what I’ve been told, the first wolves to explore this cave found a few arrowheads and rotted scraps of leather.
We turned them over to the local tribe. They made note of the cave’s location, but according to their records, it doesn’t hold any real significance to them.
It’s just one of the waypoints that dotted these mountains, so they allow our occasional use of it.
Like my birth pack, the White Mountain wolves formed an alliance with the Cowasuck and settled into land they didn’t use.
Unlike the MacKenzie wolves, that alliance still holds. ”
Michael’s expression turned solemn. “If only the original members of my pack had been so wise. We might not have driven the tribes from their lands, but we moved right in alongside the human settlers once they were gone.”
I winced. It was a story that was far too common among our kind. “Are you doing anything to make reparations now?”
He nodded. “A number of wolves have become activists, fighting alongside the tribes to regain their lands and rights, and we donate a lot of money toward advancing those rights in the statehouse, but it will never make up for the past.”
No. It wouldn’t.
We fell silent then, staring into the fire.
I hadn’t heard anything about the Kolbecks backing Native rights.
The only rumors that circulated concerning them were negative.
It made me wonder what else I had wrong.
Did they use their wealth and privilege to help others?
Packs that were less well-off than they were?
Maybe they really did weigh shifter advancement into every move they made.
I glanced over at Michael, my mate, a being who was more man than wolf and still an enigma to me.
He’d accidentally bitten several holes through his threadbare T-shirt and was smeared with dirt, but I didn’t think pointing that out would go over too well right now.
Nor would fixating on it. Because he was looking mighty attainable again.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I told him.
He sighed. “I know. I’m sorry you had to.”
“How we doing with the whole cessation of apologies thing?”
He shook his head. “About as well as we’ve handled everything else that’s come with the bond.”
“Hey, now. Be nice to us. We’re still alive. And we haven’t turned on each other yet.”
He shot me a look.
Oh, right. He’d literally just turned on me.
“You know what I mean,” I said. “For all the shit we’ve been through, I think we’re doing okay. Especially compared to others who were bonded to wolves they didn’t expect.”
“I’ll take your word for it, as I have nothing to gauge this against.”
I grinned. “I bet after a well-organized political engagement, our being mated has thrown you for a loop.”
“Understatement,” he said.
“You’re handling it well,” I told him. He tried to wave me off, but I didn’t let him. “Seriously, Michael. I am so grateful for how patient and kind you’ve been throughout this ordeal. And especially for the fact that you’re already making concessions for me.”
Warmth flowed over the bond. He looked down and picked a pine needle from his jeans. “Yes, well, you do like being the exception, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”
I blinked at him. “You, uh, heard that over the bond earlier?”
He nodded.
Oh, Goddess.
“Anything else?” I squeaked.
He turned to look at me beneath his lashes. A kind of goading pleasure rose in the back of my mind. “Your preference in my clothing also came through.”
I buried my face in my hands.
He chuckled.