smiling excitedly.
“You
look
different,”
he
said,
perspiration beading on his forehead.
“I feel wonderful,” she told him. “And
happy.” She glanced back at her bed at
Nash who was already sleeping soundly.
“I think it’s time I’m released from your
care.”
“I’m not sure you’re ready.”
“I’m ready. It’s time for me to find a
new destiny,” she said. Her heart was
thudding at the very idea, but she was
ready. With Nash by her side, she was
ready for anything.
“And I suppose I’m not part of your
plan,” he realized, lowering his eyes
behind his glasses.
“Someone still has to beat me at
chess.”
“Your dog can do that,” he said and
laughed.
She glanced at Nash again, her face
glowing with love. “I have other plans for
tha t dog,” she said. She glanced up at
Jared again. “Thank you for bringing my
package. I’ll be leaving this afternoon.”
He nodded. “You have to promise to
take it easy for a while though. No hunting
wild Wolves in the dead of night.”
“I promise never to hunt Wolves
again.” She stepped inside her room and
closed the door.
She took her package to her bed and
sat down on the edge of the mattress. She
carefully untied the string and tore away
the brown paper wrapping. Out fell a
book and an envelope. She opened the
book to make sure it was the one she
remembered. The title “The Wolf Men of
the Forest” was faded, but readable. She
glanced at Nash. He was sound asleep.
She wondered if he would be excited to
see the ancient manuscript. She set the
book down on the floor and opened the
envelope. Inside she found a bank draft for
the exact amount she had requested. A
note from her aunt accompanied it. There
was no salutation at all, just three hastily
scrawled sentences. You’re lucky I didn’t
burn this book. If you want the others,
you’ll have to come and get them
yourself. If you keep spending your
money without regard, it will soon be all
gone. There was no signature, but there
was no mistaking her aunt’s brusque
manner.
‘All gone’ was obviously an empty
threat. Maralee knew her fortune consisted
of over a million gold. As for ‘the others’,
Maralee had never seen any other ancient
manuscripts. Her interest was perked.
Perhaps she would make the journey north
once the weather cleared, but for now she
would study the manuscript already in her
possession. She retrieved it from the
floor, settled herself comfortably beside
Nash, and opened the book to begin
reading.
The Wolf People of the
Forest
by Lee Decatur
While cutting through the forest,
far to the south of Dubwar, I was
attacked by an enormous Wolf and
left for dead among the leaf litter. I
lay near death, for days perhaps, but
was rescued by a lovely, young
woman with stark white hair. Jaida
nursed me back to health and trusted
me with a wondrous secret. She
could transform, at will, into a
spectacular white Wolf.
Her small village was built as if it
were a part of the trees. Dwelling
within the village were a people fair
in appearance, but with leery
dispositions. I was at once intrigued
by their mannerism, which at times
reminded me of animals, but I did
not suspect at first, that they were as
Jaida, a race of humans that could
transform into Wolves at will. I
thought she was special. She was. I
loved her with every fiber of my
being—but that is another story.
Jaida’s brother, the clan chieftain,
Burl, became interested in my
longevity and my ability to survive
grievous injury. He befriended me, or
so I thought, and I lived among his
people for several months. While
living within Burl’s home, I was
involved in a series of unfortunate
“accidents” that would have killed an
ordinary man. I am convinced now
that these “accidents” were staged to
test me and prove I was immortal.
It was only after he was
convinced of my immortality that Burl
revealed his true nature. He was, like
my lover, Jaida, a Wolf. The same
Wolf that had attacked me in the
forest and left me for dead. After Burl
revealed his secret to me, he
expected me to reveal my secret to
him. I, of course, refused. As I have
revealed in my previous writing, a
stipulation of my own immortality
was that it should remain a secret.
And now as I write this final
testament of my life, my once
youthful and indestructible body is
frail and aged, weak and diseased. I
am not sure I will live long enough to
finish this tale, but I am getting
ahead of myself. I must now discuss
the reasons why I went back on my
word, and betrayed the trust of my
lord
and
teacher
who
trusted
unworthy me with his secret of
immortality.
Nash laid his head on Maralee’s lap,
disrupting her reading. She scratched his
ears. He huffed out a breath, before rolling
onto his side.
“Are you awake now?” she asked.
He opened his amber eyes marginally.
“I have a present for you,” she said
with a sly grin.
His eyes opened and he wagged his
tail. If a Wolf could smile, he was
smiling.
“Not that kind of a present,” Maralee
said, with a chuckle. “A book written five
hundred years ago by one of my
ancestors.”
He sat on his haunches and looked
down at the book. She closed it before he
could read any of it.
“I seem to remember a certain man
refusing to allow me to read any of his
precious books.”
He glanced up at her, his eyes
narrowed.
“I think he was afraid I would figure
out that he’d been keeping secrets from
me.”
He lowered his amber gaze to his
forepaws.
“So I decided to have my aunt send a
similar book from our estates in Dubwar,
a nd is this some strange coincidence or
what? It’s all about a people who live in
the forest and can change into Wolves at
will and an immortal sage who finds
him
self mortal. Of course I haven’t read
far enough to figure out why, but it seems
it must have something to do with this
chieftain named Burl.”
Nash took his human form. She was
surprised to see him scowling.
“I can’t believe you took one of my
books, Maralee,” he growled at her,
snatching it out of her hands. “It is my
responsibility to figure out this puzzle and
I don’t want you to…” He trailed off,
having looked more carefully at the book.
“This isn’t mine.” He opened the book,
and though he didn’t recognize the
handwriting, he knew the story. The sage,
Lee, was a Decatur? How could Nash
have overlooked that very important tidbit
of information?
“No,” she said, snatching the book
back. “It’s mine, and if you want to read
it, then you have to tell me everything.
And I do mean everything. Everything
about your people, the curse, your
immortality, and the Wolf Guardian thing
Carsha mentioned last night.”
He
surprised
her
by
laughing
mirthfully and hugging her. “I suppose I do
owe you that, love. Was that book really
written by the sage that granted my people
immortality?”
“I think so,” she said, moving the
worn, leather-bound book out of his reach
when he extended his hand towards it.
“You’re not going to budge and inch
on this, are you?” he asked, kissing her
lips lightly, distracting her completely.
“Why should I?” she murmured,
dropping the book on the floor and
wrapping both arms around his neck.
“You’ve been keeping secrets from me for
too long. The only thing I know about you
for sure is that when you’re in your human
form I can’t think of anything but how
much I want you.”
“So maybe I should stay a Wolf like I
promised myself,” he said, kissing her
more deeply now.
“Don’t you dare,” she growled into his
mouth.
He broke their kiss to look down at
her. “And what would you do if I did?”
“I guess I could get used to it,” she
said, “or I could start dating Jared.”
He looked shocked by her idle threat.
“Are you interested in him?”
“I was teasing, Nash. What girl would
want a boring, steady doctor, when she
could have a shape-shifting Wolf?”
“Uh, all of them,” he said with
conviction.
She smiled and touched his face. “Not
all of them,” she argued. “Not me.”
“So you’re just trying to make me
jealous. Do you know what Wolves do
when they’re jealous?”
“They make love to their woman for
hours,” she guessed hopefully.
“They kill their adversary.”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”
“Without hesitation,” he said, “but I
like your suggestion better.”
His hands ventured beneath her
hospital gown to grasp her hips and
position her beneath him.
“You make me feel like an animal,” he
growled, and plunged into her without
warning. Her back arched and she gasped,
somewhere between pleasure and pain.
“Look at me,” he demanded. His fingers
tangled in the strands of her hair and
forced her head back. “Maralee.”
She forced her eyes open.
“Do you really accept me for what I
am?” he asked her.
“Yes.”
“You don’t think I’m a monster?”
“Of course not.”
He began to move within her and her
eyes drifted closed. He tugged on her hair,
not enough to hurt, but it did grab her
attention. Her eyes flipped open.
“I want you to look at me, Maralee. I
have to be certain that you know who I
am.”
“Of course I know who you are,” she
said. “What do I have to do to prove to
you that I accept you?”
“Just look at me.”
“It’s hard to keep my eyes open, but
I’ll try.”
“That’s all I want,” he said. They
stared at each other as their bodies
writhed together. Their tempo was
frenzied, their movements harsh, as if they
needed to leave a lasting impression on
each other’s body. Her fingernails dug
into his back and he gasped in pain, but he
liked it. He wanted the pain. It made her
more real. He needed her and the madness
they shared to be real.
His eyes drifted closed as he
approached the culmination of their
joining. When he gasped and his mouth
fell open in wonder, the look on his face
was enough to send her tumbling over the
edge after him. He collapsed on top of her
and she hugged him close.
“I love you, Nash.”
“Yes,” he gasped, still shuddering
with the aftereffects of their lovemaking.
They lay there for some time, their bodies
still joined, their pulse and breathing rate
returning slowly to normal.
“I’m sorry for being rough with you,”
he whispered. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. It was…exciting.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll ever
understand you.”
“Do you trust me now?”
“I don’t know. We might have to do
sure.” When he lifted his head to look
down at her, he was grinning.
“Sir,” she said, “I do believe I am
being manipulated.”
He laughed and kissed her. “When we
leave here, I will tell you everything.”
She smiled. “Will we return to your
cabin, or stay in the inn?”
“Would you like to come home with
me? I wasn’t sure that you’d want to, after
what my mother did to you,” he said,
stroking her hair from her flushed cheeks.
“Well, she was out of control under
the full moon, so it wasn’t really her fault,
after all.”
He lowered his gaze. “I suppose.”
He looked too guilty not to be hiding
something.
“That isn’t what happened, is it? I
thought you were going to start being
honest with me.”
He lifted his eyes to hers again. “She
really wanted you dead, Maralee, even
after I broke the effects of the curse on
her. She wanted revenge for Cort.”
Maralee was the one to look away. “I
see,” she murmured. “I guess I’d want me
dead, too.”
“It’s not only because of Cort,
Maralee. My mother has always abhorred
humans, more so than any other person I
know.”
“So I guess that means she won’t be
overjoyed that her other son has taken a
human as a lover.”
“Wife.”
“Wife?” she blurted.
“If you’ll agree to stay with me
always.”
There was a knock at the door and
both of them started. Nash moved from his
position on top of her before taking his
Wolf form. Maralee was just able to
cover herself with her rumpled blankets
before Jared opened the door.
“Are you hungry?” the doctor asked,
carrying a tray of food. “Mrs. Smithy just
brought us both some breakfast.”
Nash growled irritably.
“Do you need to go outside, boy?”
Jared asked Nash in an aren’t-you-a-good-
doggie voice. “Come on. I’ll let you out.”
Nash made a sound of impatience, but
jumped off the bed and left the room. He
followed Jared outside to do his business,
as a good dog should. This gave Maralee
the opportunity to make herself more
presentable. If Jared realized the scope of
her relationship with her “dog” then he
was sure to have her committed. Maybe
she was crazy for loving a Wolf, but it
wasn’t anything she could help.
CHAPTER 31
Maralee followed Nash through the forest,
idly chatting about the different cities and
villages she had visited on her travels.
Nash was still in his Wolf form. She
wasn’t sure he was paying attention to her.
He kept pausing on the indiscernible trail
and glancing around warily, sometimes
lowering his head to sniff the ground,
sometimes perking his ears to take in
unusual sounds.
When they reached the outskirts of the
village, Nash paused. His body was rigid
with
tension
and
Maralee
didn’t
understand why, until she noticed the
crowd of people between the nearby
cabins and trees. Her first thoughts were
they had gathered to offer her their
welcome, and accepted her as she
accepted them.
“First, you desert us on the night of the
full moon, and then you bring her here,”
someone called to Nash from the crowd.
Nash moved forward, continuing
towards his cabin as if he couldn’t hear
his words. Maralee picked up her pace to
keep in step with him, her heart
hammering with apprehension. Perhaps
they’d come to kill her, rather than
welcome her, after all.
“You even put the children in danger
by trusting a Hunter. She could have killed
us all just as easily as she killed your