“That’s interesting,” I remarked. “I’m sure there is only one Kaelin tribe in The Woodlands.”
“Are we ready to leave?” Sergius’ voice boomed through our conversation. There must have been at least three hundred wolves milling about the small clearing now. There were many nods and murmurs of agreement. “Then let us go,” Sergius said.
I could not swing through the trees like I had done when traveling to the Bonereavers, because I did not know the way to the Kaelins. It turned out to be a journey that lasted several hours. By the time we arrived, it was dark, all of my fellow travelers now turned into wolves, while I remained human for Victoria’s sake. I knew it was more comfortable for her to cling to my back while I was a man than while I was a wolf.
Like the Bonereavers, the Kaelins had also made their lair underground, in a burrow. I didn’t bother entering this one, and neither did the Northstones. This was a job for Weldon and Annik.
Waiting for them couldn’t have been more awkward, being surrounded by Bonereavers. What I’d done to Dane all those years ago had of course made me an enemy to all of them. I was glad that—at least so far—nobody had come up to me, though I did catch Dane glancing my way. Disconcertingly, he had been eyeing Victoria when I looked up. On realizing I’d noticed, he immediately cast his eye away.
I pulled Victoria closer to me—so close it was probably uncomfortable for her, but I couldn’t help it. She looked up at me, frowning a little and wondering why. She hadn’t noticed Dane ogling her.
If he even tries to lay a finger on her, the world will become a very dark place for him.
“So once we have gathered everyone,” Victoria said, changing the subject. “Like, where exactly would we go to have the big meeting? It had better be somewhere safe and away from the hunters.”
I had already considered this matter. The obvious place would be Rock Hall, an enormous auditorium within the bowels of a cavernous mountain, which also held a network of small chambers that could serve as bedrooms and resting places. Rock Hall was at the very eastern tip of The Woodlands. If the hunters had not reached our current location yet, I highly doubted that they would’ve made it that far. That seemed to be the logical and most safe place to go, as well as the most appropriate. After all, Rock Hall used to be the meeting place of our great ancestors, many, many centuries ago.
Although I had been born into a divided land, The Woodlands had not always been like this. In my distant ancestors’ time, although werewolves lived separately, they had not lived in discord. In Rock Hall they would hold a meeting every so often as a gesture of partnership and goodwill.
I explained all this to Victoria and she listened with rapt attention. She seemed very interested in the history of my country.
“However,” I went on, “we will have to see whether the other packs are in agreement.”
“Mmm…” Victoria murmured, her light blue eyes scanning the crowd. “And do you think any of these wolves might know of a nearby gate?”
The question caused a twinge in my chest, the same twinge I got every time I thought about her leaving.
It was possible that some of the Bonereavers knew, but I was not the one to ask them. And I didn’t want Victoria approaching them either. I was surprised when a voice spoke to our right: “I can ask for you if you like.”
Victoria and I turned to see Rona standing nearby, leaning against a tree. I narrowed my eyes on her slightly, half suspicious of the offer. For a moment I wondered whether she had been told by her mother that I was betrothed to her, and she had taken up her mother’s desire to have Victoria separated from me. But from the look on her face, I didn’t sense any truth in this theory. Rona seemed to genuinely want to be helpful, or perhaps she was just bored and happened to be close enough to overhear our conversation.
I smiled at her appreciatively. “Yes, please do that,” I told her.
She moved up to the nearest Bonereavers to us, three men I recognized as Dane’s brothers. He had so many of them—I believed there were close to twenty in total—that I didn’t even know all their names.
“Do you know of any portal nearby?” Rona asked, timid, polite.
“Why do you want to know that?” one of the brothers shot back, quirking a heavy brow.
I winced as Rona turned around and pointed a finger at us. “It’s because of my cousin’s friend. She is a human and needs to return home.”
Now each of their eyes were on Victoria. Drawing attention to her had been just what I had wanted to avoid.
All three men shook their heads. Even if they did know where a portal was, now they knew the information would benefit someone connected to me, they had no reason to give it to us. Not the savviest move on Rona’s part.
Rona moved around, asking a few more werewolves, but nobody gave her an answer.
Rona made her way back to us, shrugging apologetically. “Maybe the Kaelins will know.”
“Maybe,” I muttered. “Thanks anyway.”
She returned to her spot next to Lavonna.
We weren’t waiting long for the Kaelins to emerge after that, along with Weldon and Annik. I eyed the large group of new additions: males and females with mostly narrow, lithe builds, and dusty blond fur.
Now we were three tribes—four if you counted me—but we still had many more to go.
On the journey here, I had already been pondering the impossibility of ever gathering together all of The Woodlands’ tribes in a timely manner. We would need to discard that plan and instead target only the largest, strongest, and sharpest packs to join our ranks.
Keeping Victoria by my side as always, I milled around the outskirts of the crowd, eyeing my aunt and uncle who stood near the entrance of the burrow. They were talking to what appeared to be the male and female alpha of the Kaelin clan.
“It is already late now,” the male leader was saying, “and our hunt today was particularly strenuous. We were all about ready to retire—as you noticed—but of course we see the urgency to leave and make ground as soon as possible. I suggest we travel to Sintel Lake and then stop there for a few hours to rest before continuing the journey to the Cuthrals.”
The Cuthrals. Another pack I’d never had dealings with. I guessed they were on speaking terms with the Kaelins.
“That sounds sensible,” Sergius said, before looking to Weldon.
He nodded curtly. “I have no objections.”
And thus we set off again. I hung back with Victoria as the rest surged forward. I was itching to once again swing through the trees with her, get away from all these wolves who were either strangers or enemies. But at least Brucella was busy upfront talking with the Kaelin leaders, rather than hanging back here to irk me.
On arriving at Sintel Lake—an expansive reservoir in the middle of the woods—we stopped and wolves began wandering around, looking for somewhere to settle for a few hours of sleep.
Finally, I could climb. I warned Victoria to hold on tight as I scaled the highest tree by the lake’s bank. This was the perfect kind of tree to spend the night in. As towering as it was, its trunk was mighty thick, as were its branches. So thick that two people could lie comfortably next to each other without touching. Victoria’s breathing became more restricted as I climbed higher and higher—I truly hoped that she wasn’t still scared I’d let her fall. I stopped as we’d almost reached the very top of the tree, high enough to gain a sense of peace.
Stepping onto a particularly broad branch, I took off my satchel and belt and also removed Victoria’s satchel from her back. I placed them in a secure nook, even as Victoria remained clinging to my arms. She looked more nervous than ever, glancing down at the sheer drop on either side of us. I positioned myself with my back against the tree trunk before stretching out my legs and pulling Victoria down between them. I hoped she felt secure now, with my limbs on either side of her.
“Do you really think I can sleep like this?” Victoria asked, her voice unsteady.
“Would you rather sleep dow
n below? Amidst all those wolves?” I certainly didn’t feel comfortable with that.
“No,” she said. “I prefer it up here… Just doubt I will get any sleep…”
“You could try. A good start would be closing your eyes.”
She smiled faintly. “I guess.” She looked exhausted. I fully expected her to slip off to sleep, if I could just lessen her tension a little. Her muscles felt tight, her posture stiff, even with my body practically wrapped around her as a safeguard. Then I wondered whether it was not just the height that had her so on edge, but because… well, my body was practically wrapped around her. We were very close to one another in this position. Some might even call it intimate. Maybe I had been too presumptuous in drawing her so close to me. I had just wanted her to feel secure.
I was about to suggest a change of position when she began to loosen a little. Slowly, her muscles relaxed against me and she leaned her head back until it rested against my chest.
I glanced down at her face, her eyes beginning to droop. And then after perhaps a quarter of an hour, sleep stole her from me.
I dared not budge an inch lest I wake her from what was likely only a fragile slumber. But I found myself continually glancing down at her face. Her peaceful, sleeping face. I gazed down the gentle slope of her nose, her soft, full lips parted slightly as she breathed.
Even though from this height I had a full view of the dazzling, star-strewn sky, strangely, that night it was Victoria my gaze was drawn to.
Victoria
It was a miracle that I managed to sleep, though I was so very tired. I had almost been falling asleep on Bastien’s back before climbing up here.
The slumber was not deep, however, and it did not last long. I stole just enough rest to not feel like a zombie when I woke up, I guessed a couple of hours later. It took me a few seconds to remember where I was, with muscular arms bound around me, the long strong legs of a man on either side of me, and beyond that a steep drop of God knew how many feet.
I looked up, my eyes meeting Bastien’s gray ones, and it all came flooding back. I offered him a small smile, which he returned, before I let out a yawn.
“You seem rested,” he remarked.
“Yeah, thanks… You didn’t sleep at all, did you?”
He shook his head, chuckling. I would have been horrified if his response had been yes.
I gazed up at the glittering night sky. Although there was a cool wind up here, I was still wearing my uniform jacket, and with Bastien’s body heat radiating into me from all sides, I felt pleasantly warm.
“So when did you last sleep?” I wondered.
“I don’t remember,” he replied.
“You’re like a vampire. After all this running, you barely need to sit down.” Vampire. I winced internally as I said the word. My chest ached as I thought of my mother and father. I’ve got to get back to them. I will get back to them. We just need to find a portal. Of all these tribes we were about to visit, one of them was bound to know of an alternate portal. One of them just has to. I didn’t want to consider the possibility that the portal within the hunters’ compound might be the only one left open.
“I suppose we are alike in that sense,” Bastien replied. “Though I have never personally seen, met, or known a vampire.”
I couldn’t help but tilt my head back and widen my eyes at him. “Really? You’ve never seen a vampire?”
A smile curved his lips. “No. But that should not be so strange to you. This is the realm of werewolves, after all.”
It was. But I’d thought vampires were known to visit here from time to time. I supposed just not in his area.
“Why don’t you tell me about vampires?” he asked, a curious sparkle in his eyes. “Are they all as bloodthirsty as they’re rumored to be?”
I chuckled to myself. “No, not all of them. It just depends which one you meet. Those in The Shade never drink human blood… You wanna know something? My own parents are vampires.”
His brows furrowed. “What? How is that possible?”
I let out a sigh. This was going to be a long story. I recounted the discovery of the cure to him; he was interested in every detail of the history of how it all happened. Then he began to ask me other questions—questions about The Shade. He wanted to know what kinds of creatures lived with us. In addition to our werewolves, I told him about our dragons, our jinn, our fae, our vampires, our humans, and the increasing number of half-breeds who inhabited our island.
I was surprised by his surprise as I described all these species. He had heard of these creatures, but he’d lived such a sheltered life in The Woodlands until now that he had never seen any of them before. I sure found that ironic. Here I, a human girl, found myself educating a werewolf about supernatural creatures. Though, of course I had an unfair advantage being born and bred in The Shade. There really was no place like it. Corrine often referred to it as a supernatural zoo, though my aunt Sofia preferred to describe it as a shelter. A sanctuary for all.
Bastien was truly mesmerized by The Shade and its inhabitants, and by the end of my explanations, I couldn’t help but chuckle at his awed expression.
“A trip to The Shade really would be educational for you,” I said, grinning. “Hopefully after”—if—“you and your people manage to fix this mess, you will pay us a visit.”
The brightness in his eyes faded a little. My words had brought him back to reality, reminded him of the impossibility of the task ahead. I could practically read his thoughts from his expression—a trip to The Shade for him was not likely to happen for a long, long time.
I cleared my throat, wanting to lift the mood again. “So, uh, is there anything else you wanted to know about me or my home?”
He paused, his expression slowly turning thoughtful. Then he asked, “Do you have a husband?”
I scoffed. “No,” I said. “I don’t even have a boyfriend.” I have never had an actual boyfriend, was what I should’ve said.
“Why?” he asked, appearing genuinely puzzled.
“Well, first of all, I’m only nineteen. And second, betrothal from birth is not a practice where I come from.”
His frown deepened. “So?”
“So what?” I asked.
“So how do marriages take place?”
This young man really was from another world. I wondered if all werewolves were so traditional. The werewolves in The Shade certainly didn’t find choosing a life partner for oneself such a foreign concept—but perhaps that was because they were rebels. Outcasts. They had already shunned their life and people in The Woodlands and abandoned their native customs.
“A man and woman choose one another,” I said simply.
“I see.” He paused again. “Some wolf packs in The Woodlands do this too. Not many, though.”
“Aha… I suppose your parents were betrothed to one another from childhood also.”
He nodded.
We lapsed into silence. When Bastien had first pulled me into this position, so… surrounded by him… I had felt awkward and uncomfortable. But now I felt relaxed. As the first signs of morning began to show on the horizon I even dared to reach out and take his hand. Pulling it to me, I was curious to see just how much larger it was compared to mine. I placed my palm against his and practically laughed at the size difference. Then I glanced down at his feet…
I felt Bastien’s breath against my neck as he looked over our shoulder at our hands pressed together. His fingers curved upward and closed around the tips of mine. His palms were so rough, toughened from God knew how many human years of swinging through the trees.
I twined my fingers with his and lifted his hand, resting it back on his knee from where I had taken it.
Bastien cleared his throat. “The packs were not planning to stay here for long,” he said. “They may already be up and getting ready to leave now. I think we should head back down.”
I shuffled forward a little on the branch as he raised himself. He reached down a hand and helped me up bef
ore guiding me onto his back. After making sure I was holding on tight enough, he began to carry me down the tree in long, graceful leaps. He dropped about six feet at a time, making my stomach lurch and clench. On reaching the ground, we returned to the lake where we had left the other wolves. All the wolves within my view still appeared to be asleep.
“They will rise soon,” Bastien informed me. “But since we are awake, we might as well make good use of this time.”
He carried me away from the crowds of sleeping wolves, in a diagonal line toward the lake. We entered a thick cluster of trees that lined its border. Snaking his way through them, he brought us to a small, enclosed piece of grassland. The trees formed a natural shield from the rest of the woods. I couldn’t see a single wolf from where we stood.
He walked to the bank and put me down. Kneeling, he drank palmful after palmful of water. Realizing that I was thirsty myself, I scooped up some water too and drank. It wasn’t quite as crystal clear as the river water had been, but it still tasted pure and clean.
Once I had fully rehydrated myself, I glanced at Bastien. He was standing now, unbuttoning his shirt. He discarded it, revealing the marvel that his physique was, before diving into the lake.
Water splashed around me, a few droplets falling on my face and hands. The water was cold, and I shivered just at the thought of going in there. But as I watched him dip beneath the surface and begin swimming, I felt the urge to join him. I wasn’t sure when I’d next get the chance for a wash. Something told me that on this crazy journey, I needed to take opportunities as they came.
I removed my jacket and hung it carefully on a tree branch. Then I paused, wondering about the rest of my clothes. I had a bra and underpants on, but even though I had worn a bikini plenty of times in public, I felt shy about Bastien seeing so much of me. Instead I rummaged in my satchel for one of the loose, oversized shirts Brucella had provided. All the garments she’d given me were loose and baggy—more fit for a man than a woman—but I guessed that had been on purpose. I ducked behind a tree and pulled on a shirt that reached just beneath my thighs while removing my pants. Now it felt like I was wearing a dress.