Wolf

Keegan yawned, wincing against the sunlight as he helped Mary in her garden. The soil needed to be plowed on the small plot and he couldn’t allow her to do the work when he was there to help. Despite his willingness to help he had been there since early morning and after a late night at her home before he was tired and she was working him hard. There were some job around the property that had been continuously put off while Mary and Quinn had waited for their only son to come home from the capital city. He had gone there to work and better learn to be a physician but it had taken him a long time to return.

As it was Mary and Quinn were no longer strong enough to do some of the work themselves and he was happy to do it for them. Most of the jobs were small things, climbing on the roof to patch a small leak or fixing a draft in the barn, but others had been a bit more difficult. He had spent much of the morning trying to repair their well and make sure it was still collecting water correctly and had ended up thoroughly covered in grim and sweat.

Regardless Keegan enjoyed being around the older couple. Quinn had supervised each job with the watchful eyes of someone who wanted to do their own work, critical but apologetic. Mary had meandered between outside and her kitchen, preparing them all a large meal. Keegan couldn’t wait to finish the garden as that meant he would be able to eat and, more importantly, escape the blazing sun. Quinn was going into town after they had finish eating to get some odds and ends so Keegan was hoping to be able to talk to Mary about Wolf.

The demon had assured him that Keegan was free to tell Mary as long as she could be trusted. Wolf had been concerned that the wrong person would hear and Keegan would be hauled off to one of the asylums in the capital, locked in a strange dungeon in order to “recover” from the demon’s magic. Though he knew Mary would never let that happen, Keegan had had to work hard to convince Wolf of it. They’d compromised on the issue, Wolf saying that he’d be over at dusk to walk Keegan home and to make sure Keegan was still safe.

“Keegan!” Quinn’s voice broke the boy’s train of thought and he started, yanking back the small hoe to avoid hitting one of the tomato plants. He gave the old man a sheepish grin as he focused back on the garden instead of his demon. Working up the soil in the rest of the garden didn’t take much longer and he was more than relieved. The day was hot, sun blazing, and the small pieces of skin Keegan left exposed were an angry red. While other men tended to strip off their shirts early into a day like this he couldn’t or he would risk the entirety of his skin being burnt to a red that was far too close to matching his hair.

“Thank you Keegan,” Mary said as he moved into the kitchen, sitting in one of the small wooden chairs at the table. Quinn repeated the sentiment as he spooned soup into three bowls. Vaguely Keegan could see the lettuce and potatoes in it, enough to determine that it was thankfully a cold soup. He wasn’t sure he could actually handle one of Mary’s thick, hot stews. Quinn placed the bowls in front of each chair and smiled at Keegan as he broke a piece of bread off for him.

“Keegan you’re so red,” Mary said chidingly as she looked at him more closely.

“It was a bright day,” he said with a shrug, pulling off the hat Quinn had allowed him to borrow. Its wide straw brim had kept his face mostly protected. Mary nodded in reluctant acceptance and he knew she wanted to make some sort of motherly comment but refrained. The rest of their meal was eaten in relative silence, a few trivial comments being made. Keegan hardly spoke he was so preoccupied with eating the soup and bread. At their house Micah had left to go to the market only after Keegan had left for Mary and Quinn’s so there was no food left.

“I’ll see you soon if you’ve already left by the time I get back,” Quinn told Keegan with a warm smile, hand squeezing the younger boy’s shoulder before he started towards the market. Keegan said a brief goodbye before Mary ushered him back inside to help her clean up lunch. It didn’t take long as she set the soup in the pantry and then they simply rinsed the dishes off.

From the knowing looks Mary kept shooting him Keegan found himself wishing that she had wanted more chores done or at least that cleaning up their meal had taken longer. Instead he suspected she’d done it so that they could talk. As soon as she’d stacked the bowls once more she rested a hand on his shoulder and led him to the small chairs in a room off to the left of the dining area. The pair was fairly well off, enough to afford plush cushions to slip on the hard wooden chairs and Keegan sank into one of them gratefully.

Though Keegan and Micah were both technically nobles they didn’t have near as much money to spend. They could live fairly comfortably on their average wage but the death of their parents had hurt them financially. At the time Micah had hardly been made a squire and Keegan just a page. An older cousin had come in to be a temporary guardian for the boys. Keegan could still remember the fight that the man and Micah had gotten into, ending in both bleeding and the two children turned out without a home.

According to a contract Micah’s knight had convinced the cousin to sign the two boys had received a pittance until coming of age and entering the war. Since then neither had ever bothered to fight him for the land. He was twice as rich as he was when Keegan and Micah had been turned out and they would have surely lost a fight with him. So instead they lived on their wages from war and enjoyed Mary’s soft cushions.

“Keegan you’ve seemed distracted all day,” Mary began, prompting him to continue. Instead he gave her a small shrug, not quite sure how to begin. This was Mary; he couldn’t actually tell her everything about his relationship with Wolf no matter how much he hated keeping his secrets from her. “You said Wolf was something last night but you never finished. I promised you then that I wouldn’t tell anyone, no matter what I think of it.”

Mary watched Keegan closely and he shifted awkwardly under her gaze. Her warm eyes looked straight into his own, unwavering and prompting. He thought of Wolf, of his eyes that changed color as quickly as his moods. He was a tempest, unpredictable and so very feral but Keegan would do anything for him. There had been a brief time he had thought his love for the demon had been a spell or charm but the realization of its sincerity had been shocking.

“Wolf’s a demon.” Keegan had vomited the words before he could second-guess them yet again. They burned his tongue, black and accusing, and he was on his feet before he’d consciously thought about it. He wasn’t sure what he thought standing would accomplish. Maybe he could run faster then but it was Mary. Even if she turned against Keegan she was old, and he could easily escape her.

When he dared to meet her eyes they were wide but he couldn’t read the emotions in them. They swirled across her face, flickering and indecisive. Keegan couldn’t blame her but it made him edgy, wanting to leave. Finally she seemed to settle on an incredulous resignation, shaking her head slightly as it cocked to the side.

“A demon. A monster then is who you’re with.” She watched him, seeming guarded. The distrust in her gaze made him flinch a bit and Keegan felt as if he might have been drowning. If he lost Mary, the only person he really had other than Micah, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He’d already lost his real mother when he was twelve. He couldn’t lose another only six years later.

“He’s not what you would expect Mary. He’s good to me. He’s saved my life.” A small part of Keegan spoke out against the desperation in his voice, saying it wasn’t the best way to convince Mary. He needed rational facts, not overzealous emotions.

“Sit down Keegan,” she told him after a moment, nodding to the chair. He did as he was told almost gratefully, legs folding beneath himself as he fell into the cushion. “You want me to be ok with you having a demon for a lover?” she demanded, eyes challenging. Keegan found himself fingering the brand on his arm, fingers tracing it and looking for comfort. He no longer needed to look at it to feel the faintly raised lines that were on his forearm. “Let me see.”

Keegan looked at Mary in surprise before realizing that she was looking at his arm, the loose sleeve of his shirt hiding the actual mark. He hesitated but at the ferocity in the older woman’s eyes he pushed the shirt up and held his arm out towards her. She let out a small gasp as she gripped his wrist, looking at the brand with shocked eyes.

“He did this to you.”

“No! It- He didn’t technically… It proves that I’m in a voluntary… relationship,” Keegan winced at the way his voice cracked, “with Wolf.” Mary gave him a short nod and he pulled his arm away as soon as he released his wrist, rubbing over the brand nervously, as if he were trying to wash it away. It was so permanent, so undeniable, and he wondered if he should have shown her. If she told somehow she’d know how to prove it now.

“My sister was with a demon. She had one of those, not exactly the same, but similar.” Her voice was cool, polite in a way Keegan had never heard.

“I didn’t know you had a sister… What happened?” he ventured when she paused.

“She’s gone now. She said she loved him, that he treated her well. She said he was the best thing to ever happen to her. My dad said he had to meet that creature, so Lora called him home. He was nice enough, a bit rough, but decent. My father killed him two days later and Lora sobbed. We wondered for a while if it might kill her she was heartbroken.” Keegan winced, pain striking through him at the thought of such loss. He wasn’t sure he could handle losing Wolf, especially if it was because Micah had betrayed him. Keegan shuddered, wincing, as Mary took a breath to continue. ‘She died’ is what he expected, or some variation but instead Mary gave a small smile.

“She recovered, after a while, and met a nice man who lived nearby. She fell so in love with him and he did everything for her. I’ve never seen two people happier. She thanked our dad eventually, said he gave her the opportunity to meet the one she was meant for.”

“No!” Keegan snarled, standing up fast enough that it knocked the chair over. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“And I won’t,” she agreed easily enough, “but maybe his death you spoke of is a good thing. You will be free.”

“No! I don’t want him dead!” Keegan yelled, his eyes narrowed. He stumbled back, feeling betrayed as she gave him a pitying smile.

“You’ll be ok Keegan. You’ll recover if-“ He spun around, running from the house before she could finish. He didn’t want to hear Mary telling him he’d be better off with Wolf dead, that Wolf needed to be dead.

Instead he sprinted down the road, cobblestones rough but not impossible to run on despite their uneven nature. Keegan ran until he could hardly breath, eyes on the ground and not focusing on any of those around him. He heard them cursing as he almost ran into them but they all moved out of his way until he felt a pair of arms wrap tight around his shoulders. He was yanked to a stop with a painful gasp, momentum suddenly gone.

The familiar smell of wild outdoors and something indecipherable floated around him and Keegan felt his knees give out as Wolf tightened his grip on him. The demon cooed to him softly, loosening his grip so he could slip a supportive arm around Keegan’s waist. Keegan allowed the demon to lead him along, unconcerned even when they wandered all the way to the woods, Wolf still muttering soothing words.

“Sit down my pet,” Wolf urged quietly as he leaned to towards the ground so place Keegan there. The boy complied before wrapping his arms around his knees and peering up at the demon through thick red eyelashes.

“How’d you know to-“

“You kept messing with your mark,” he explained, pulling Keegan’s arm towards himself to press a soft kiss to it. Keegan couldn’t help but shiver at the sensation and Wolf gave him a roguish grin before it dissolved into a more sincere concern. “I figured you’d told her when you touched it and all I could feel was fear but then… Mary must have done something because there was this sudden desperation coming through and you just seemed frantic. I was worried about what had happened.”

“She told me her sister was with a demon till her dad killed him. She said I’d be happier if you were dead too. I don’t want you to die Wolf!” Keegan frowned, embarrassed by his desperation as Wolf wrapped him into his arms tightly.

“It’s ok my little pet, hush.” Wolf kept one arm tight around Keegan while the other carded through his hair. “Just breathe alright and we’ll deal with this later.” Keegan nodded against Wolf’s chest, curling into him so that he could make contact with every piece of skin possible. Even as he gripped the demon tightly his cool skin cooled Keegan’s burns from the sun, making him relax into the overwhelming safety he felt.