Blood for Wolves

chapter 24

I gave Marianne a huge hug, glad to finally be going back, yet sad to leave her and the luxury of the castle behind.

“Will you come back and visit?” she asked into my hair.

“If I can, of course I will.” I pulled back and looked into her face. “And I trust that you’ll remember everything I told you?”

She nodded, sniffing as she tried to hold back tears. I smiled at her and smoothed her hair.

“Just remember, it might be hard, but you have people here that will help you.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “You’re a very strong girl, Marianne. If anyone can put this place right, it’s you.” I hugged her again.

After a few more farewells between the court and myself, Alex, and Wolf, the three of us set off, laden with packs of food, good drink, and clean clothes. There was no question about Wolf coming to our world. I couldn’t leave him, and he couldn’t leave me. But I felt pretty certain he’d adjust well. After all, I lived in a small cabin in the woods and studied wolves for a living. Exactly the sort of thing Wolf could adjust to—maybe even help me with.

The magic pond—or doorway—sat several days away, but for once I didn’t worry about traveling through the forest. The Kingdom still had a long way to go in terms of wolf-human relations, which is why Alex wore a Sentry outfit and Wolf kept his tail hidden, but at least this time we weren’t in any hurry and didn’t have to concern ourselves with a werewolf witch. We didn’t need Sentries to accompany us to the pond. Every now and then when I glanced into the trees, a flash of gray, tan, or white would pass through the foliage.

It only rained once on our way to the pond, the rest of the days were clear and cheerfully bright. We hiked in the cool shade of the trees, ate warm meals at night, recounting our different experiences. I asked Alex what it was like to be a stag, eventually leading him to admit he wasn’t sure he wanted to hunt anymore. Wolf and I tried to figure out why my heart would break as a human, finally giving up and simply attributing it to my steadfast love for wolves.

“You know,” I said when we reached the pond, “I forgot we had to jump in and get all wet to get home.”

We stood around it, staring at the placid water. A frog croaked.

“Well,” Alex said, and then fell silent. Neither of us had come up with a sufficient story for our disappearance. We’d been gone for almost a month. So far the best we could do was claim injuries and lost radios by a bear attack, rescued by another hiker—Wolf. At least I had enough scars to potentially trick some people, though they looked nothing like bear attack scars.

“Now or never,” I said. “I hope it’s not raining.”

Wolf took my hand, and together we jumped in.

Just like last time, the pond went much deeper than it appeared on the surface. We seemed to sink forever before finally finding the bottom and pushing ourselves back up. I wiped the water from my eyes once we emerged and glanced around. Different. I looked for the little stream that led away from the pond. Sure enough, it ran south and not north, the way I was familiar with. Alex came up beside me, coughing and sputtering.

“I think I swallowed a frog back there.”

The sun rested low on the horizon here, dim orange light seeping through the trees. We crawled out of the pond, wringing out our clothes. From here it would only be a handful of miles back to where our cars were parked.

“Oh my God,” I groaned. Cars. Keys. “Alex, do you have your car keys?”

He gaped at me. “No.”

I smacked the palm of my hand into my forehead. Then he laughed.

“I left it unlocked.”

And he always kept a spare key hidden under the seat. I punched him in the arm.

“By the way,” Wolf said, reaching into his jacket, “I have something you might want.”

He produced one of our radios. To my astonishment, it looked dry.

“Where did you get that?” I asked.

“The werewolves took it from Alex, and I stole it from them. I thought since it was one of the things you used to save me in the village, it might come in handy again. I had one of the sorcerers at the palace charm it so it would be able to pass through the water safely.”

He handed it to Alex and within moments, Alex had it live and searching for a frequency.

“Brandon, you there? Over.”

After a few seconds, a voice came through. “Alex? Jesus Christ, is that you? Where the hell are you? We’ve been looking for you for two days.”

“We’re north of the,” Alex stopped. I gaped at him. “Brandon, did you just say two days?”

“Yeah. You said you were going to go check up on something with your sister and we haven’t heard from you since. Are you two all right?”

Alex and I could only stare at each other. We’d traipsed through a warped fairy tale world for almost a month and we’d only been gone for two days? Suddenly I felt like celebrating. For once in my life I was glad that no one had noticed I was gone. My parents and sisters wouldn’t be panicked, thinking I’d fallen into a ravine or been eaten by a bear.

“We’re fine,” Alex said once he recovered from the shock. “I’ll give you a full report once I get back. Right now I have to take Caroline home.”

I opened the door to my house, glad that like Alex I’d left the door unlocked. I’d have to get new keys to my car and fetch it tomorrow.

“Well,” I said, “welcome to my humble abode.”

Wolf walked in after me. I couldn’t help but grin. It was weird watching him, here, in the flesh, in my house. My half-wolf from a faraway land. He titled his head, smelling the place. Though he’d found the car fascinating, he hadn’t exactly enjoyed riding in it.

“There are a lot of things I guess I’ll have to show you,” I started, dumping my pack onto a chair. I fell silent when his hands slipped around my waist. He buried his face into my hair, breathing deep.

“All I want to know,” he said quietly, “is where do you sleep, my love?”

I turned and kissed him. He was right; I could start teaching him about my world tomorrow. Then I took his hand to lead him to the bedroom.

I cried Wolf until he devoured me.