***
It was another week before Bo found where he needed to be. He managed to get directions in a town not too far from the mountain and from there found his way to the Sault—Sault Sainte Marie, as he discovered, was its proper name. Then, from there, he traveled south. He ended up in a small town called Pickford at some point and decided that he’d gone too far.
Bo backtracked to the north and checked in the woods by the main road. He wandered through the summer shade, watching carefully for any signs of wolves or people. The forest got quite dense for a while, and Bo thought he might have to find another way before the trees began to thin again and he emerged into a much more traversable area.
He only had to walk a little further to discover a pair of teenagers walking across his path. The boy stopped first, turning to face him and glaring at him with brown eyes as he lowered his head warily. Bo raised his right hand non-threateningly, keeping his left still under his cloak. The girl with scarlet hair that reminded Bo of Ryan’s, turned to look at her companion as he changed into a black wolf and snarled at Bo.
She looked at Bo with marble-colored eyes, only a little greener than Ryan’s. What Bo had to say, however, was aimed at the boy. “You must be the demon.”
“What are you doing here?” the girl snarled, changing into a white wolf before Bo’s eyes. She stepped out of her clothes just like the boy had and stepped up to be on par with him, mimicking his stance.
“I’m here to give you a hand with that,” Bo answered, nodding to the black wolf, hand still raised. He was trying to be as abstract as possible about the black until he had a feel for how the she-wolf perceived her companion. Come now, I’ve been searching for a week. Give me a rest, he thought, exasperated as the two continued to bristle.
“That happens to be a friend of mine, and I’d appreciate that you’d at least acknowledge his gender,” the girl snarled. Apparently, she saw the boy in a good light, even though Bo was certain this was the white she-wolf the dragons had spoken of. Though she seemed to be in good health, if a bit stiff.
“Calm down, girlie,” Bo tried to say calmingly, a bit distracted with how she still seemed to be speaking English to him, “I just said—”
“Don’t call me ‘girlie’! And I heard what you said,” she growled back, thrashing her tail in a cat-like manner. This is what I get for trusting the tongue of a present-day bachelor, Bo thought as Kian crossed his mind.
While Bo was trying to find different words, the boy piped up. “What do you mean, give us a hand? Looks like you’ve only got one yourself.” He spoke coldly to Bo who glanced at his left side before returning his gaze to the two wolves.
That’s it, the first lesson begins now, Bo thought, his face twitching into a snarl for a moment before disappearing from his spot.
In an instant, Bo had the boy in a choke-hold with his neck and paw in his right arm, still leaving his left motionless as he lifted the wolf’s back paws a couple of inches off the ground. As the black coughed, the girl whipped her head around to spot the source of the sound. “Hey!” she yelled immediately, leaping at Bo and grabbing his forearm in her jaws.
Bo flashed the boy a look of surprise before letting go and shaking the girl off, darting back to his original position. He ignored the blood that welled on his arm from her teeth as he let it rest at his side.
The boy gasped for air and the girl glared up at Bo. “What was that?” she snarled, putting herself in front of the boy. “I don’t know who you are, but about now I don’t care. No one treats my friends like that.”
“I wasn’t going to kill him,” Bo replied calmly. “I was just putting him back in his place. Though, I could have killed him if I had wanted to. And you as well. Isn’t that proof enough that I won’t?”
“No,” she replied, staring back at him, her wolf’s eyes a piercing blue. At that moment three more wolves burst out of the bushes; a gray, a scarlet, and a strange black and midnight-blue.
“What’s going on?” the red demanded of the girl instantly, his chest heaving. He had a scar from above his left eye, across his muzzle, and to his right cheek.
“An intruder, obviously,” the boy replied, now mostly recovered. The girl didn’t take her eyes off Bo.
In a moment, the red was beside the white, glaring at Bo with stormy gray eyes. “Tell us your name and state your business,” he commanded, lifting his tail.
“My name is Boelik. I’m here to give you a hand with him,” Boelik said, gesturing to the boy. He was careful to use ‘him’ this time.
“Boa-lick? Sounds like he has an issue,” the gray muttered in the background.
Boelik gave him a baleful glance. “Boelik. Not as in licking a constrictor.” The gray sniffed haughtily.
“How exactly do you plan on ‘giving us a hand’ with him?” the blue and black wolf asked with a mild tone, his yellow eyes piercing Boelik.
“By teaching him self-control, to start. I heard he went on a rampage in demon form. I’m just here to help.”
“How do you know about that?” the charge snarled, coming back up beside the white wolf, opposite the red.
“Overheard some dragon talk. They have spies everywhere, you realize.”
“And what makes you think you can help him?” the red asked.
“That, sir, is a personal secret that I have no desire to share at this time. Let it suffice to say that I have personal experience with people like him.” Boelik was struggling to remember his etiquette—mostly because it had been a long time since he’d last used it.
“And how are you going to prove that you won’t betray us?” the gray asked, bristling. His green eyes narrowed at Boelik and seemed to be irritable-looking.
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to trust me on that,” he replied. At that moment, the girl shuddered throughout the entirety of her body, then sat and cocked her head at Boelik.
“I think we can trust him,” she said, a hint of a question in her voice. It was as if a switch had been flipped in her attitude—rather than glaring at Boelik as though she wanted to kill him, she simply gazed at him with a quizzical expression.
“How do you know?” the boy and blue-and-black asked simultaneously, with various levels of aggression. The blue sounded more curious than anything.
“I dunno,” the girl replied, continuing to stare at Boelik. “By my instinct’s telling me that he’s okay. Kind of like the time with you, Gen,” she said, looking at the black wolf.
Gen growled one last time at Boelik, and then sighed and glanced away. “All right. If you say he’s fine, I’ll work with him.”
“You see? I’m on your side,” Boelik said.
“Don’t cross me,” the girl snarled, shooting her sharp eyes at him once more. “After having seen what you can and will do, I’m not going to trust you right away. Not a chance. Not like I could really stop you with that speed of yours, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try if it came down to it.”
Boelik held up his hand in a position of surrender once more, arm stinging where he had been bitten. “I’m just here to help.”
“Then follow me,” she said, nodding to the red as she stood. He returned her nod, and she turned, waving her tail in a gesture for Boelik to follow.
“What’s your name?” Boelik asked after her.
“I’ll tell you later,” she replied. “Now hurry up and follow. There’s a whole pack for you to meet.”
###
This is a side story for a series Amy is writing about shape-shifters, like Kian and Ryan.
Amy Lehigh
Amy is a proud dog owner, animal lover, and Upward Bound student. When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s probably daydreaming, fishing, or riding four-wheelers. She enjoys a life full of dog fur with a Pomeranian/Japanese Spitz mix named Rusty (and yes, he is the white fur-ball in the photo).
Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?
Tha
nks,
Amy Lehigh
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