Wolf's Heart

I pressed my chest closer to the large boulder, my back arched as I tried to retie my dress. The slender ties kept slipping out of my grasp and every time I thought I had them tied tightly enough and I stepped away from the boulder the front of my dress would slip down to my waist. I’ve be at this for what feels like hours now with no sign of Ulric.

Soon the sun will set and I’ll be stuck here in the dark, alone and with my dress untied. The constant cold breezes snuck into the opening of my dress and caused me to shiver uncontrollably. I’ve never had to tie my own dress before; there had always been someone in the village that was willing to help me, a little girl or another woman who was walking by.

Letting out a frustrated sigh I once again try to loop the small ties together, but it was starting to seem impossible. Just as I was about to rip the ties from my dress a twig snapped from the forest behind me. Twirling around quickly a million scenarios ran through my mind, a wolf pack was waiting to make me their dinner, a lion was hunting me like I was a snack, or another Creature was stalking me.

Giving a quiet whimper I press my back as close to the boulder as I could get, terrified it was another Creature about to attack. Flinching with every noise whatever was out there made I concluded it wasn’t a wolf or lion. There was too much noise for it to be a stealthy predator. That left the Creature scenario, but that still didn’t really work because Ulric had never made this much noise.

When the figure stumbled out from the forest mumbling about stupid rocks and throbbing toes I let out a relieved sigh. Katima hopped about on one foot while she grasped her other one for a few seconds, forcing me to stifle my laughs with my hand.

“Yeah,” she called to me, “laugh it up. At least I’m not the one in the forest at night with my dress half on.” Releasing her foot Katima jogged to my side, “Here, let me help you.”

I obediently turned so that she could tie my dress, dropping my tired arms when it was finally secured.
“There, now we can head back home.”

Frowning, I follow Katima back to the colony, “Where’sUlric?”

She shrugged, “He came running through the huts grumbling about you being up here before he disappeared.”

I swallowed, “So you don’t know where he is?”

She looked back at me, “No, but something must have upset him. I haven’t seen him act that way since my dad told him he had to be alpha.”

She turned back around and began humming as we walked down the mountain, “What did he do then?”

She stopped humming, “He just… disappeared.”

Her short answers were getting on my nerves, “He disappeared? For how long?”

Her silence was disturbing, and when she finally did answer I felt my heart stop, “Three years.”

“Three years?!” I reached out and pulled her to a stop, spinning her until she faced me, “He was gone for three years?”

Katima fidgeted, “Yes… he wouldn’t listen to any of our calls.”

“You mean he won’t be back for three years?”

She bit her lip, “I don’t think he’ll be gone that long this time…”

“Really? And why won’t he be gone for three years?”

“Because he left you here. He won’t go anywhere without taking you with him.”

My hand fell from Katima’s arm as reality settled around me, “No, he left me here and he’s not coming back.”

"Why?"

“Because I’m the reason he’s upset.”

Katima sighed and rolled her eyes, a smile stretching her lips, “A lovers spat isn’t something to worry about.”

I shook my head and pushed past her, setting a fast pace down the mountain, “This wasn’t a lovers spat. He ran away from me, just like he ran from being alpha.”

Katima jogged until she reached my side, “What do you mean? How did you upset him?”

I sighed, my hands twisting together nervously, “I’m sure you know that we went to see the man that attacked us?” at her nod I continued, “Well, the reason why he wanted to see me was to tell me the reason he attacked was because he was protecting his sister and that she has a scar on her spine.”

Katima’s eyes widened as she pulled me to a stop, “I saw a scar on your back when I was fixing your dress. You’re his sister?”

“I guess, I would have asked more about it, but Ulric dragged me from the cave and carried me up here, when he saw the scar he just disappeared.”

Katima didn’t say anything to that for a few minutes, the colony finally coming to view before she leaned close to me, “Don’t tell anyone yet. If they find out about your possible heritage they may try to hurt you.”

I frowned, “Why?”

“We’re a very territorial species. Unless you were born to or married into our pack you’re treated as a threat and dealt with harshly.”

My frowned deepened, “But no one’s hurt me since I’ve been here.”

She smiled, “Everyone saw you with Ulric. They knew that messing with you meant messing with Ulric, not to mention they didn’t see you as a problem. You don’t smell like us, so we all assumed you were human.”

I would have replied, but Katima gestured me to keep quiet as we entered the dark colony. Once again Creatures in both forms were scattered around, this time loitering around pits of fire. Every group we walked past seemed to watch me closely, as if they already knew my terrible secret. When we reached her parent’s hut I gave a relieved sigh to finally be away from their stares.

“Oh Roana!” Emera gasped, rushing to envelope me in a tight hug the moment she saw me enter.

I looked over to see Kyros sitting at the table, his eyes holding sympathy. Katima continued to join her father at the table, sharing a small smile with him.

When Emera pulled away from our hug she batted at the tears in her eyes, “I saw Ulric charge through and was confused, but when Kyros told me what had happened I grew worried. Are you okay?”

“Honestly? No,” I sighed, allowing Emera to lead me to the table, “I don’t know where Ulric is.”

“Oh, dear!” Emera cried

Kyros reached over and squeezed my hand as I sat down, “He’ll be back, don’t worry.”

I looked into his eyes, “Is that what you said when he disappeared last time?”

Kyros sat back in defeat when he realized I was right. Katima growled as her mom began pouring tea for everyone, “I say we hunt him down and drag him back! How dare he put Roana through this?”

“Katima, calm down,” Kyros said gently

I ignored her glare, instead I turned to Kyros, “I need to talk to your prisoner again. I have to know if what he said is true.”

Kyros sighed, “Ulric won’t like that. When he finds out-”

“Don’t you mean ‘if’ he finds out? He’s the one that left me alone to sulk.If he comes back, we’ll deal with it then,” I practically growled, upset that Ulric would rather run than help me through this.

“Roana, I don’t think-”

“I’ll take you,” Katima interrupted her father, standing from her seat just as Emera place the tea ups on the table, “We can leave right now.”

“Katima-”

Kyros growled dangerously when she interrupted him again, “Come on, Roana.”

Katima dragged me from my chair, ignoring her parents’ calls for her to come back. I followed her as she lead me from the hut, her father charging after us.

“I can’t let you two go alone.”

Together the three of us walked through the colony, our walk made in awkward silence. I could still feel everyone’s stare as we walked past, their eyes watching my every move. When we finally made it through the colony I let out a relieved sigh. When we reached the edge of the cliff my eyes widened to see Kyros’ hand transform into a Creature’s set of paws. Without changing any other part of his body he quickly climbed down the mountain side while Katima rushed to remove her dress, handing it to me so that she could change. Once she was a Creature she helped e onto her back and then followed her father down, transforming back into a human when we reached the cave. Her father had already disappeared into the cave by the time she took her dress back from me, the tie in the front of it making the task a lot easier than my dress.

Together we walked into the cave, the walk seeming shorter than when I had traveled it with Ulric. It seemed that in no time we reached the room that my supposed brother was being held. He was still in the same position, his arms painfully stressed as his weight sagged against his binds. His head was lowered, but this time his presence felt like defeat.

Kyros stood to my left while Katima leaned against the cave wall on my right. Taking a deep breath I stepped a little closer to the man, gathering my courage, “Are you awake?”

He jerked at my voice, his head flinging up with his eyes wide, “You came back?”

I swallowed, “I have some questions and you’ll answer them.”

He nodded, shock still evident in his blue eyes, “You can ask me anything.”

“If, and that’s a big if, I’m your sister, why wasn’t I raised with you?”

He eyes turned dark, “A group of humans stumbled upon our mother when she was picking wild flowers. Because she was in human form the five men were able to subdue her and capture her. She spent two months in their camp before we were able to find her. They had beaten her so bad that she could no longer transform. You were born eight months later.”

He swallowed, as if the past was almost too painful to talk about, “Dad was one of those tyrant alphas. He thought of you as a weakness. Mom was never able to recuperate after what had happened and her body wasn’t able to survive your birth. She was the only one who could calm our father and when she was gone he blamed it all on you. He was going to drown you in the river by our camp, but Alem and I bundled you up and placed you in a village miles away, hoping he’d never find you. When he just ignored your absence we thought you were safe.”

I frowned, “Then why were you searching for me now?”

“Alem took over the alpha position a little less than a year ago and our dad didn’t take his loss well. When we heard a woman was taken from her village by one of us we all grew worried. Alem couldn’t leave the pack so Tertius and I set out, hoping you were still in the village where we left you.”

When you weren’t there we searched the forest for two days before we tracked you to that berry patch. I was worried that you were being held against your will,” he sent a glare to Katima, who ignored it, “I never thought you were being protected by them,” this time his glare turned to me, “and I didn’t expect your friend,” he growled the word, “would kill our brother.”

Guilt slid through me, but I made sure my face was emotionless, “Maybe if your brother hadn’t been hurting me Ulric wouldn’t have acted that way.” I lifted my arm so that he could see the already healing wounds.

As he looked at them his eyes turned sad, “I’m sorry about that. All Tius wanted to do was get you away from the fighting. His mind must have been focused on that because he never would have hurt you otherwise.”

I shook my head, “But he did. Ulric was the one protecting me.”

“Was he?” the man sneered, “Then where is he now? I see you brought others for your protection. Tell me, did you find the scar? Did he run when he realized what that meant?”

He scoffed, his eyes freezing cold, “All of our kind know about him, how he won’t even protect his own pack. Let me give you some brotherly advice, little sister, he isn’t protecting you. He’s using you, just like he uses everyone else in his life.”

Pain sliced through me at his words. My heart burned with the thought that Ulric really didn’t care about me, that he didn’t care for me like I did him. Tears gathered in my eyes as his words sank in, but when I opened my mouth to deny it all a furious roar sounded through the cave, the vibrations shaking the very foundation of the mountain. Rocks fell from the roof of the cave, threatening to cave in as the roar seemed to never end.