CHAPTER 5
“IT DIDN’T GO WELL after that,” Lenore mumbled. She cleared her throat to dispel the lingering flashback from her head. “Even a little bit of stress in those early days had me…” She gripped her elbows tightly. “Not be me.”
“Well, having those heavy shackles on you wouldn’t help!” Brynn sighed. “But I understand what you mean. Not the human to werewolf part, but every werewolf growing up dealt with control issues when we’re too deep in our feelings, more or less.”
Lenore dropped one arm to her side. “Am I going to get treatment right away?”
“Treatment? That sounds like some sort of disease thing,” Brynn said with a laugh. “It’s nothing like that.”
Lenore’s head jerked upwards, staring at her with wide, anxious eyes. “Then what is it? Please, anything to just... make it stop. Do I need to take moon baths? Eat something specifically for werewolves? Wear silver?”
The kirin snorted, almost as if it was entertained.
Brynn laughed harder, shaking her head in utter disbelief. “Stars, what do humans say about werewolves? That’s all weird nonsense!”
Brynn placed her hands on Lenore’s shoulders and stared right back at her, her relaxed and amused expression contrasting Lenore’s anxious one.
“Calm down. There’s no rituals or anything weird involved.
Think of it like... uh, puberty? You’re going through changes that’ll sort themselves out as you start to tap into your werewolf side.
All natural, perfectly normal.” She paused and added, “Normal to us, probably crazy to a human.”
“I’m definitely sharing the human perspective,” Lenore replied. “No offense.”
“None taken. This is honestly so fun to hear!”
“Why’re you two lagging behind? The longer we waste time, the longer it’ll take to travel through the night.
I doubt you’ll manage that well.” Edmund’s expression sharpened into a stern glare at Lenore, and she shuffled closer to Brynn in response.
The pair started to walk, trailing some distance behind him.
“He’s not very warm, is he?” Lenore muttered under her breath.
An amused snort burst from Brynn. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. He’s actually being more pleasant than usual.”
“... This is pleasant?” Lenore exclaimed—stopping to look at her in disbelief.
“Well, he practically ignored me the entire way here, so it’s either that or he makes far blunter, sometimes downright mean remarks…
so yes. I find it personally better to just be like a mindless wolf when listening to him than ruminate on his words and fall apart,” Brynn answered breezily.
“I get to keep more years of my life rather than being aged with stress.”
“Is he a higher rank than you?”
“More than that, actually. He’s the Vesren,” Brynn said with the same level of casualness. “Our second-in-command.”
Lenore’s lips parted before she shut them tight. “T-the second-in-command?” She tugged at the corner of her capelet, realizing Brynn had never addressed him by his first name. “You mean I’ll be under this torture forever?”
“In what world is this torture?” Edmund’s voice sounded too close now, and she turned forward to see him standing over her with a flat expression. “What would you call you being in those shackles then?”
“… Also torture?” A light dusting of pink settled on her cheeks as Lenore smiled nervously. “My apologies, Vesren. My mind is a little warped right now. Everything feels like torture.” Brynn turned away, grinning behind a raised hand.
Lenore thought she might’ve glimpsed a tiny flicker of amusement in his eyes before he turned away. After giving a loud, exasperated sigh, he said, “Brynn, just get her on the saddle. It’s clear enough here.”
“Have you ridden horses before?” Brynn led her to the kirin and took hold of Lenore’s hand to help hoist her up onto the large creature. Its cloudlike, billowy tail swayed gently as it waited for Lenore to get on.
“Urgh,” Lenore grunted as she pulled herself up and swung her leg over the saddle.
Once she had settled in comfortably, she replied to Brynn’s question.
“A few times. But this’ll be the first time I have to do it for this long.
” She shifted around, trying her best to adjust her dress’s fabric over the saddle and her legs. “Why a kirin instead of a horse?”
“Kirins aren’t scared of a werewolf’s scent,” Brynn explained.
“We have a few in our pack just in case of anything. A horse would’ve run away long ago.
” She patted the kirin’s scaly hind leg.
“We figured you wouldn’t be able to turn into a wolf yet, plus you’d have things to bring.
Speaking of which, I notice you haven’t brought a lot! ”
“There wasn’t much time to pack many things,” Lenore said. “I had to make do with the bags I had on hand too.” She held the reins tightly in her hands. “So it’s just some of my clothes, basic necessities, and, uh, skincare products.” A light chuckle left her. “Can’t forget that!”
“Ooo! Once you can turn into a wolf, I can take you to where some fairy magic runs down this waterfall. One lick and your skin is refreshed.”
Lenore perked up. “That does sound really interesting.” Her boots wiggled in the stirrups. “But it might take me a while to turn into a… wolf,” she said, her voice dropping to a hush.
“Don’t worry, it’ll soon be like blinking your eyes. It’ll be so fun once you can run with us!” Brynn’s eyes shone bright with excitement. “Seeing how pretty you are, I bet you’ll be a beautiful wolf!”
“Wolves can be seen as cute?” Lenore wondered quietly out loud to herself. That certainly wasn’t the impression she gave to anybody else so far, justifiably so.
“I can't wait till you catch your first rabbit, your first proper moon gazing, your first drink of fresh moon nectar, your first feast with us—oh my stars, I’ll maybe even get to see your mates’ ceremony—”
“Can you silence yourself, Brynn?” Edmund growled.
“Let’s go before our brains melt from listening to your constant ramblings.
” He made a sharp whistling sound, causing the kirin to start walking.
Lenore jerked forward in her seat from the sudden push of momentum.
The tresses of her silver hair swung lightly before falling back into place.
She looked at Edmund, who didn’t meet her gaze as she passed by. A small, sharp huff left her. Mustering up a polite smile, she said, “It would be nice if you gave me a warning.”
He glanced at her without an ounce of apology on his face. “We’re going now.” His curt, dry words irked Lenore even further. She refused to engage in any conversation with him anymore, choosing to turn her head over to Brynn. Instantly, her eyes nearly bugged out as her lips opened in surprise.
Brynn was now replaced by a large, dark-green wolf.
The shades of her thick fur reminded Lenore of a forest, matching the earthy color scheme around them.
Lenore could only stare in breathless awe as Brynn’s snout turned to face her, lips pulled back in what seemed to be a smile.
The whites of Brynn’s pearly fangs gleamed under the sun.
“Smiling looks horrid in this form, doesn’t it?” Brynn said.
“It’s... it’s different,” Lenore replied slowly. “I thought when you transform, it’d be… you know, like a werewolf? Standing on two legs and all.”
“Ohhh, our actual form! I actually prefer that—I love tearing through the forest at full speed. But we can shift to wolves too, which makes traveling way more convenient. We’ve got three forms total—human, wolf, and werewolf!” Brynn spun around, tail wagging.
Lenore nodded in understanding. She never knew a werewolf had another form. “Smiles aside, I think you’re a pretty wolf? I’m sorry, I don’t really know, but you look nice.” She paused and cringed at her clumsy attempt at a compliment. “I’m sorry that just sounded... bad.”
That earned her a howl of laughter from Brynn. Her bushy tail wagged with glee as she pawed at the ground in amusement. “Thank you, Lenore!”
Edmund spoke, undercutting Brynn’s jovial laughter with the low sharpness of his voice. “We’ll run now, and we aren’t stopping our trek.”
Lenore only caught a briefly still sight of a much larger wolf that closely resembled the pure night sky before he bolted ahead. The gait of his run exploded with power, every stride commanding authority. Lenore gazed after him, watching in amazement all the while.
“And there he goes. He’s right though, the sooner we get off the public road, the better.” Brynn took a few steps forward, then turned her muzzle toward Lenore. “Hold on to the reins tightly, Lenore.”
“Oh, okay—”
A sharp bark from Brynn spurred the kirin’s walk into a gallop that nearly threw Lenore out of the saddle.
With a terrified yelp, her hands held onto the reins for dear life, clutching so tightly that the skin of her knuckles turned white.
Silver waves of hair rolled with the wind, her face lashed with the cold.
Lenore heard a shout from Brynn over the wind racing past her ears. “Just hang in there! This part will be over soon!”
Right. Just hang in there. I can do that. The wind feels nice, the air smells good, and if the circumstances were different, I’d see this as fun. Let’s just think of it as fun.
With that thought in mind, Lenore took a breath against the rushing breeze. A small smile graced her face as she allowed herself to enjoy the exhilarating experience for what it was. It was fun.