Chapter 1
In the bracken, Star Gazer stood with her sister, Moon Gazer, the stars and moon glittering in the night sky, as they observed Rune splashing in the pond. "You know we must release them from their wolf halves and allow them to evolve into their fae personalities."
"Aye. We'll have to give them clothes until they can learn their fae powers and finally establish contact with other fae. They'll need an occupation to earn money to support themselves in the way of the fae."
"Right. I'll bring clothes for Rune."
"Do not make them frilly and impractical. I know you, dear sister, and you'll want to dress her like a fae princess when she still needs to live out in the wilderness on her own."
Star Gazer smiled. "She can have both."
Moon Gazer sighed. "I will dress the boy in rugged clothes."
"Regal. He is a prince of the moon, just like Rune is a princess of the stars. Sure, they will have appropriate clothes for out here, but when they become part of the fae culture, they'll need to present themselves in the best way possible."
"Clothes do not make the man or woman."
Star Gazer knew better. Impressions could significantly impact relationships with others. Dressing as a vagabond or as royalty made a huge difference.
Moon Gazer sighed. "They will also have to find their way in the human world and cause mischief like the rest of their people."
"They have so much to learn."
"Aye. But so far, they have done well. We have guided them. We'll continue to guide them until they know who and what they are and their place in both worlds as fae and wolf."
Star Gazer smiled. "Off to make her clothes." She would weave the magical threads to create garments distinguishing Rune from any other fae or wolf out there. Despite her sister's comments, she knew Moon Gazer would do the same for Stone.
The strangest feeling washed over Rune as she played in the water before bedtime.
Suddenly, she was standing in water up to her waist as something other than a wolf.
The full moon's bright glow lit up the pond, and she stared at her reflection, then glanced back to see that no one else was really standing there, but no, it was her.
A…fae. She'd seen them travel through the glen before while she hid from sight.
But what was this? She wasn't frightened, just curious and surprised.
Long golden hair spilled over her shoulders, and her skin was pale pink in the moonlight. Now what would she do? She was naked, without a stitch of clothing, and the summer night was warm, but it could grow chilly later in the evening.
She heard rustling in the bracken and glanced over her shoulder. A red fox stood watching her for a moment, then dashed off.
But something else garnered her attention—something she couldn't see, yet she swore it was watching her.
Then, to her relief, she willed herself to shift back and ended up in her wolf form. She shook off the excess water from her fur and returned to her den to sleep the rest of the night and ponder the strange experience she'd just had.
As much as Stone hated to admit that he wanted to see the lone female wolf, he had come again to observe her bathing in her pond in her fur coat until she had turned into a beautiful golden-haired fae.
He'd been so shocked that he couldn't believe his eyes until she turned back into her wolf, and he immediately recognized her.
Which made him wonder if he could do that too. And why hadn't he already?
As a fae, she was slim, but well-toned, and he couldn't help but be impressed. When the fox had appeared, he'd feared it would give him away, but then the fox dashed off, and his secret remained thus.
Then she shook off the excess water from her fur and returned to her den to sleep.
He reluctantly left her glen to return to his own, bathed as a wolf as she had done, and nothing happened! Why couldn't he turn into a fae also? As many as he had seen moving through his territory, he thought he must be one also—a wolf and fae in one.
Disgruntled, he finished bathing and returned to his den, vowing that if she could do it, he could too.
The next day, fae arrived in Stone’s glen, dressed in regal clothes.
Royalty, he assumed. He’d seen them come through here before, knew their scents, but they weren’t wolf shifters like him.
They were dragon shifters. He thought he should chase them out of his territory, but they never stayed for long, and they didn’t eat his food.
Not until that day. One of the men said, “Ena, do you want to fish here?”
She smiled at him and shifted into a dragon, startling Stone.
He was already watching them through thorny shrubs and could imagine being incinerated if he startled them.
He hated hiding on his own land when this was his territory.
But they outnumbered him six to one, and he didn’t have a death wish.
All the fae turned into dragons and swooped down into the pond, his pond! To fish. He was so angry, but he couldn’t do anything but watch or leave. Didn’t they have a lake, pond, or another fishing source, like the ocean, that they could access? He couldn’t fish in the sea, as they could!
To add insult to injury, they brought in their catch but didn’t eat it raw. They turned into the fae and began setting up a campfire to cook the fish! A firepit, rocks surrounding it, kindling, and then logs. One of them shifted into his dragon and blew dragon fire onto a pile of twigs and logs.
Before Stone could stop himself, he hurried out of the brush and growled.
Everyone turned to observe the wolf, a yearling that didn’t seem all that powerful. He couldn’t even shift into the fae to tell them this was his territory and the fish were his.
They had the nerve to smile at him.
“He wants some of our fish,” Ena said. “Cooked or raw?”
All of it was his!
She cooked it for him and then tossed it to him. He caught it as a dog would, and he was annoyed at himself all over again. But he swallowed his pride, ate the fish, and waited for another.
They all laughed.
“He’s a growing wolf,” one of the men said. He tossed him a fish.
Despite not liking that they had stolen his fish, he chowed down on the second one, realizing he was really hungry and maybe their arrival had been fortunate for him. He spent a lot of energy hunting for food all the time. And they had gone deeper in the pond so they were able to get bigger fish.
Then they began to eat their cooked fish.
“This must be where he’s living,” Ena said. “But he seems to be alone. He’s kind of young to be on his own.”
“Don’t tell me you want to take him home with us.”
“I don’t take home every stray critter I find, Brett. Besides, he’s a wolf and needs to be living in the wild. Dogs and cats are domesticated, so no problem.”
As a wolf, Rune was getting ready to fish for lunch, the easiest way she could catch them.
When she saw the smoke from the glen bordering hers, she thought it was odd since she hadn’t seen Stone turn into a fae, and he couldn’t cook anything as a wolf.
Concerned it was a forest fire, she headed to his glen and saw Stone eating cooked fish, surrounded by regally dressed fae—royals, she assumed—at a nice-sized campfire, a stone ring around it and a log and twigs piled up, golden-orange flames licking at the air.
Stone was greedily eating up the fish they tossed to him, catching them mid-air. She was so surprised to see him having a meal with the fae when he was such a lone wolf. Did they realize he was a shifter who couldn’t shift? Probably not.
But she was glad to see that there wasn’t an out-of-control fire in his glen, just some fae enjoying a campfire meal. She’d worried he would need rescuing.
Then the fae finished their meal, and one of them zapped the fire out of thin air with a spray of ice coming from his hands.
He was a wizard, warlock, or sorcerer. That gave her pause, and her skin chilled.
Stone just stared at the cold embers covered with ice, looking like he was in shock.
Good. She was glad she wasn’t the only one.
“You’re not taking him with us, are you, Ena?” a guy asked.
“Nope. He belongs here. This is his home, though I would love to revisit him in the future.” Ena started to head out with the others.
Rune stayed hidden, now wishing she’d had someone to catch fish for her and cook them. What a boon!
When the fae were well out of sight, she came out of the shrubs and shifted. “Well, you sure had a good deal.”
She swore Stone was smiling at her in a wolf’s way, then licking his chops. He wagged his tail, the first time she’d ever seen him do that.
She scoffed and headed back to her glen but heard something following her. She looked back. Stone was pursuing her! What did he want? For her to catch fish and cook it for him?
She ignored him, then reached her favorite fishing spot. She shifted and entered the water, then began wading out and pulling in a fish. Stone was soon fishing nearby. If he scared away her fish, he would be in big trouble.
But he caught a couple of fish and left them on the bank.
Then he made a fire ring for her, carrying small rocks in his mouth.
She brought over bigger stones that she could carry.
Then he started grabbing sticks to make a campfire for her.
She watched him in surprise. Was he going to eat more cooked fish, or was he getting things ready so she could cook her meal?
She carried her fish close to the campfire and then went back for his two fish, brought them up, and rested them on the others. Then she turned her hands palms up, her fingers pointing at the kindling, realizing she didn’t have any way to start a fire in her rock-lined fire pit.
Suddenly, fire flashed from her fingertips and the tinder caught.
She jumped back, and so did Stone. She looked at him, but he was just staring at the fire.
The older she got, the weirder things got!
Then she skewered the fish and began cooking them over the fire while he sat nearby.
She suspected he was still hungry, or he wouldn’t have helped her, and he had decided that cooked fish tasted better than raw fish, though for wolves, she imagined they would taste fine either way.
She sighed and offered him one of the fish, but he shook his head. She was surprised, but hungry, so she ate the fish and cooked the second one. Again, once it was cooked, he declined to eat it. She finished cooking the last one, but again, he wouldn’t take it.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
“Okay, last chance.” She ate the last fish. “Thanks for helping me with making the fire and catching the fish. So who were those people? Have you met them before?”
He shook his head.
“I was surprised you hadn’t chased them off, but at least they didn’t just take your fish and feed themselves and not you too.”
He woofed at her.
“No luck turning into the fae yet?” she asked, though she knew the answer to her question. She figured he would have turned into the fae to speak with her.
He woofed and then left.
She realized she enjoyed his company, even though he usually watched her from a distance. Just like she did when she stole over to his glen to see what he was up to. Since she’d been able to turn into her fae, she’d been over there several times, trying to see if he had turned into his fae yet.
The next morning, Rune heard fighting in Stone’s glen and vicious growls. Instinctively, she knew to let well enough alone. But she couldn’t. She shifted into her wolf coat and raced off to Stone’s glen.
When she arrived, she saw four wolves, about the same age as her and Stone, all in wolf form. They were snarling and growling at him as if claiming his territory for their own. One was a female, the other three males.
All of them were participating in bullying Stone, though he was holding his own, even against that many wolves.
She didn’t even wait to see how all this panned out. Even if Stone had started it, it would have been over territory, and she knew he had every right to protect his glen.
She raced down the hill through the shrubs and tore into the first male she could reach. She bit him hard in the flank, and he jerked back. Before he could bite her back, Stone engaged him, growling, biting, and snarling.
Now it had to look like more wolves owned the territory, and the four encroaching wolves turned tail and ran off.
After the fight, both Rune and Stone were heaving, their mouths bloodied, their tongues hanging out of their mouths, their hearts beating hard.
Then suddenly, Stone nosed her muzzle and licked her face. She breathed in deeply and let it out. Then she licked him back, and they lay down together and just rested.
He suddenly jumped up and ran off. She was afraid that the other wolves, or even more of them, had returned to get revenge.
But she didn’t smell or hear anyone coming. Not until she heard Stone return, but he wore leather breeches, boots, and a long shirt belted at the waist. She smiled. He had finally turned into his fae.
Long silver-white hair flowed over his shoulders, and his blue eyes were brilliant. He was beautiful, like the silver moon on a dark night.