“We need to get you back to your mother,” I said. “Slavia will be able to help you, but the forest of Hoia-Baciu is far away from here.”
Catalina stared at me in disbelief. “My mother? But I don’t understand. My mother was killed ... I saw it. Who is Slavia?”
I looked at her and smiled. I had forgotten she didn’t know anything about her own origin. I caressed her cheek again. I wasn’t the one supposed to tell her who she really was.
“Just someone I once made a promise to.”
“Oh, okay. What promise is that?”
“To bring you to her.”
Catalina looked at me and I could see she was confused but she didn’t have the strength to ask or fight me on this. Then she closed her eyes and I could tell she was in pain. The wound on her neck was almost gone, but the fever was getting higher by the hour now. I touched her forehead. She was burning up. I was torn. The forest where the Wind-People lived was hundreds of miles away and I didn’t think Catalina would survive a journey like that with her fever being this high. Yet I knew we had nowhere else to go and we couldn’t stay here. Catalina needed care and a bed to lie in.
I thought about Caspian with great sadness and knew there was no way he had managed to survive. I remembered the last look in his eyes and felt so grateful for what he had done for me and Catalina. I would always remember him for that. Then I remembered his last words.
“You already know where it is.”
What had that meant? I knew he didn’t want to say where the book was since Mantin would have been able to hear it as well. He wanted me to figure it out on my own.
Catalina moaned in her sleep and grabbed my hand while I wondered and worried. I had to bring her home. There was no way other than to run with her all night towards the North and hopefully reach Transylvania in a day or two. It was a dangerous journey but it was the only way out. I could only hope that Catalina would survive the ride.
I sighed as the transformation came upon me. Then I got up on my legs. I felt the hunger from many days of starvation and knew I had to satisfy my wolf before we took off. Luckily I heard a rustle in a bush. I sneaked up on the sound, attacked and dragged out a fox that I ate.
I pushed Catalina with my snout and woke her up. She moaned but understood. She climbed my back with much difficulty due to her weakness. When I sensed she had grabbed on to my fur I left the forest and ran with all the power and strength left in my big wolf-legs.
Chapter 39
I ran through forests, on roads, across fields, avoiding villages, houses, cars and people. With her on my back, knowing she was sick I gathered the strength to run across the country in just one night. Almost three hundred miles in one stretch. Then we reached Transylvania. Part of the region was now in the hands of Hungarian troops, I had come to learn, but I didn’t know which parts. All I knew was I had to be careful not to be seen, especially by soldiers. If I knew General Mantin well he had all his troops looking for me. Therefore the trip was further extended since I had to avoid any checkpoints guarded by soldiers. Yet I still managed to come close to the forest of Hoia-Baciu before dawn came upon us. I was exhausted and barely able to run anymore when suddenly Catalina slid off my back. I turned and looked at her. She was lying on the ground completely lifeless. At the same time dawn was upon us and I changed back. Once the wolf was gone I kneeled beside Catalina.
“No!” I cried and tried to shake her to wake her up. “Catalina. You have to come back to me. You have to wake up!” I cried.
But she didn’t respond. I looked up the hill in front of me. Up there, on the other side of the hill just about five - maybe seven miles away was our destination, the haunted forest of Hoia-Baciu. In there she would be safe and they would know how to treat her illness. I grabbed her body and held her tight. I could barely hear her heartbeat.
“No!” I cried again. Frantically I searched for answers. I cried and held her tight. There was no way I could carry her all the way to the forest. I was so weak, so tired, I wasn’t even sure I could manage to force my wolf to appear.
Catalina’s fair skin became even paler. I put my head on hers while I cried. So close, I thought. We were so close.
Then I heard a voice behind me. “Hey! What’s going on? What’s all this commotion about?”
A figure was walking towards us in the dim light carrying a lamp. I hadn’t realized I had stopped this close to a village, this close to a house. That was when I realized I knew this house and the village. I had been there before and I knew this woman walking towards us yelling.
I rose to my feet and wiped away my tears.
“Is that you, boy?” she said.
“Camelia!” I threw myself in her arms while tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Easy there, son. I’m an old woman,” she moaned but still put her arms around me to hug me back.
I couldn’t stop sulking. Camelia held me tight. Then she pulled away and kneeled next to Catalina. She grabbed her wrist and felt her pulse. Camelia turned her head and looked at me. Fear was written in those eyes. It scared me.
“We need to get her in the house!” she said.
Together we lifted her up and carried her inside the old house. We put her in a bed and Camelia brought a glass of water and a wet cloth that she put on Catalina’s forehead.
“Get her to drink some water,” she said and nodded at the glass in her hand. I took it and put it against Catalina’s colorless lips.
“Please drink some,” I pleaded while caressing her pale cheek. Catalina still didn’t move. “Please,” I repeated.
Then I gazed at Camelia. She shook her head. She didn’t know what to do either. I felt hope slowly ooze out of me. Maybe I could go find her mother by myself and maybe she would know what to do? But it could take hours and Catalina could die while I was gone. I would never be able to forgive myself for leaving her side. No, that wasn’t a solution, I thought. As I was speculating in frustration I suddenly felt something, something coming from deep within me. It was like I felt drawn towards something and it made me get up from the bed and walk towards the feeling. I heard my wolf growl deep within me as I walked out of the room and into another. Camelia didn’t say anything nor did she follow me. She just stared at me, then sat at the edge of Catalina’s bed, holding her hand and washing her face with cold water.
Me, I was walking towards something I had no idea what it was, but something was urging me to walk into Camelia’s kitchen and reach towards the shelf where she kept her jars with flour. Between two big brown jars I pulled out something and looked at it. I gasped when I realized what it was. It was a book, but not just any kind of book. It was my book. The golden paw on the front cover glowed at my touch. I felt a stream of power go through me, like some sort of electricity.
Camelia came into the kitchen and looked at me. Then she smiled.
“He said you would come for it,” she said.
“Who did? Who said that?”
“The other wolf. The man.”
“Caspian?”
“Yes, that was his name. He came back, just a few days ago. Didn’t stay long but asked if he could leave the book here. He told me you would come for it. He told me you’d know where to look for it. Just like last time the book would find you, he said. Because you’re its rightful owner. He knew it would be safe with me, he said.”
“He left it here deliberately the first time too,” I said with trembling voice. “That’s why he never came back that night. He wanted to hide it here, here with you.”
Camelia shrugged. “Well ...”
I scoffed and stared at the book. It felt so good to have it between my hands. I wasn’t going to leave it again.
“So what kind of book is it anyway?” Camelia asked curiously.
“The Ancient Book of Wolves,” I said staring at the glowing emblem.
“What is it?” Camelia asked.
“I just remembered something,” I said. “Something Caspian said.”
“What was tha
t?”
I looked into Camelia’s friendly brown eyes and smiled. “That I would be able to use it whenever I needed it the most. Then I would be able to read it.” I sat at the kitchen table and put the book in front of me. “This is it,” I said. “I need its guidance more than ever. Maybe there is something in here about how I can save Catalina. There has to be.”
I took in a deep breath of air, then grabbed the cover and opened the book. The pages glowed and lit up the entire kitchen, but to my surprise there was nothing on the pages. I flipped a couple of them but realized that there was nothing on any of them. Frantically I flipped more pages, but still the same. They were blank.
“What’s wrong?” Camelia asked.
“I don’t understand,” I said shaking my head. “There used to be pages of scripture all written in an ancient language that I couldn’t read. But I was supposed to be able to read it now. I lifted my head and looked at Camelia in desperation. “Why can’t I read it? Why can’t I even see the letters anymore?”
Camelia put a hand on my shoulder, then she sat at the chair next to me. “Maybe it was all erased because the book has a new owner now,” she said. “Maybe you’re starting off from scratch. Maybe you need to fill in the blank pages.”
I looked at her with confusion. “But how? How do I do that? How do I figure out how to save Catalina?”
“Someone once told me that if you need answers in life, you need to ask questions,” Camelia said and got up from the chair. She started walking towards the door, then just before she left the kitchen she turned and said: “Ask the book, Sami. Just ask it.”
Camelia left me and I turned to once again stare at the glowing blank pages in front of me. I had no other options left, so I followed her advice, remembering that Caspian had once said the very same thing. That I could ask the book for advice once he was gone. I hadn’t understood that he meant it literally.
“Ancient Book of Wolves, please tell me how do I save Catalina?” I said.
I stared at the blank pages for what seemed like hours but probably was no more than seconds. Then suddenly something appeared on them. It looked like letters, but they had no meaning. They danced in front of me, then spun in a circle before they finally settled down on the page.
Truly amazed I read the sentence that had formed in front of me.
Saliva of wolves. So rare, so precious, so dangerous it can either kill a man or make him wolf. Too much is fatal as is too little.
I stared at the sentence again and again but understood nothing. What did that mean? I called Camelia and read her the sentence out loud.
She looked at me. “She was bitten, right? She has wolf-blood in her veins from birth. The bite should turn her, like it did you, but not everyone survives it. There has to be the precise mixture of wolf-blood and human-blood in a body to make a perfect specimen of werewolf. Either she had too much saliva or she needs more wolf in her blood. There is only one of these scenarios you can do something about. Now go and give it to her.”
I stared her.
“Hurry up for God’s sake!” Camelia yelled.
I jumped up, stumbled over my own feet before I finally managed to run out of the kitchen and into the bedroom where Catalina was lying. I walked closer while my heart was racing in my chest. She was so still, so quiet. I took in a deep breath and let her scent fill me. Then I kissed her cheek. I raised my head and looked back at Camelia.
“What if it doesn’t work,” I said. “The book said it could also be too much. What if I kill her instead?”
“Well there is only one way to find out,” Camelia said.
I took in another deep breath then bent over Catalina. I forced my wolf to appear and felt the fangs grow out.
I closed my eyes and leaned over her beautiful neck before I sunk my teeth into her and penetrated her soft skin. It felt intoxicating. I bit her as gently as I knew how to, held it for a wondrous second while our thoughts, our minds and our blood became one. Then I withdrew hoping that since she had the blood of wolves in her and not ordinary human blood, the bite wouldn’t make me crave human flesh.
I looked at her. The color was already back in her lips and soon she opened her emerald eyes.
“Sami,” she said gently.
Suddenly her eyes grew worried. I drew backwards thinking that maybe I had done something wrong, maybe it hadn’t worked after all?
Catalina looked strained, her face torn, like she was experiencing great pain. She lifted her hand and looked at it. Long brown hairs were growing out of all pores, then she moaned in pain as claws grew out between the fingers and soon she was staring at a paw covered in brown fur. I looked at her face as it slowly transformed until only her green emerald eyes gave her away. At first she was startled. I smiled at her and caressed her with my snout.
I guess that was why Caspian bit you, I said through my thoughts. He wanted you to turn like I had. Become a wolf like he was.
Chapter 40
It took a couple of days for Catalina’s body to get used to its new shape and capabilities but she was much faster at learning how to control her wolf than I had been - maybe because she managed to embrace her new life immediately and not deny it like I had.
We talked for hours during the day while I explained to her who she really was and what she was now capable of. I even told her that Caspian had been her real father and a true hero.
At night we went hunting together and I truly enjoyed having a companion on my lonely nights chasing wild animals. After seven days we finally decided Catalina was well enough to leave Camelia’s house and travel to meet her people and her true destiny.
But the war had come closer to the village now and every day and night there had been fighting over the hills in the distance, in the direction of the forest of Hoia-Baciu. Every night the sky was illuminated by their cannons and guns and we heard planes flying close in over our heads dropping bombs on their targets not far away. It worried us and Camelia as well. So we decided to travel at night, as the wolves. In that way we could move faster and the darkness would cover us. We packed our new clothes that Camelia had provided for us and the book in a sack that Camelia tied around my back.
As darkness fell upon the small house and the transformation came upon us we hugged Camelia one last time before we were ready to leave the house. Camelia cried but tried to hide it from us as she followed us out the door.
There was heavy artillery fighting in the distance and the sky had turned orange. I heard yelling and screaming and gunfire coming from over the hill. Then I turned and looked back at Camelia.
She didn’t speak, merely looked at us with concerned eyes. Sometimes eyes say far more than any words. I wondered as I had done so many times before whom she really was and how she knew so much. I hoped deeply that our paths would one day cross again.
I took one last glance at Catalina before we both leaped into the night.
THE END
Dear reader.
Thank you so much for purchasing I am Wolf. It is the first book in a planned series and I am planning on writing more books about Wolfboy and his adventures in the coming year.
Wolfboy was originally a character from one of my first novels called A Gypsy Song (The Eye of the Crystal Ball - The Wolfboy Chronicles) and he never quite left my mind. So later I decided he deserved his own series and that was how this book was born.
If you’re interested in reading about how Wolfboy helped Sara the Gypsy on her marvelous adventure you can get the book here: A Gypsy Song
Don’t forget to check out all my other books while you’re at it:
Take care,
Willow Rose
Other books in English by the author:
Paranormal Romance Novels:
BEYOND (Afterlife #1) http://www.amazon.com/Beyond
SERENITY (Afterlife #2) http://www.amazon.com/Serenity
ENDURANCE (Afterlife #3) http://www.amazon.com/Endurance
SAVAGE (Daughters of the Jaguar #1) http://www.amazon
.com/Savage
BROKEN (Daughters of the Jaguar #2) http://www.amazon.com/Broken
A GYPSY SONG (The Wolfboy Chronicles) http://www.amazon.com/A Gypsy song
Mystery/Horror Novels:
One, Two ... He is coming for you (Rebekka Frank #1) http://www.amazon.com/One, two ...
Three, Four ... Better lock your door (Rebekka Frank #2) http://www.amazon.com/Three, Four ...
Five, Six ... Grab your Crucifix (Rebekka Frank #3) http://www.amazon.com/Five, Six ...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Willow Rose is an international Best-selling author. She writes mystery/Horror, Paranormal Romance and fantasy. Originally from Denmark she now lives on Florida’s Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. She is a huge fan of Anne Rice and Isabel Allende. When she is not writing or reading she enjoys watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
Connect with Willow online:
http://www.willow-rose.blogspot.com/
www.facebook.com/willowredrose
https://twitter.com/madamwillowrose
Willow Rose, I am Wolf (The Wolfboy Chronicles)
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