Wolf's Heart

This time it was Ulric’s hand that was interrupted as it tried to slip under my shirt, the hut around us shaking as a Creature’s roar sounded from outside. Ulric immediately pulled back and stood from the bed, pulling me around him so that he was between me and the door. Not long after that the wooden door swung open and Terrance walked through in his human form.

“Don’t fret, it’s only me. I figured I’ve give you a warning roar before I entered, that way you didn’t take my head off for walking in on a… private… situation. Unless you want me to join,” his eyes met mine around Ulric’s shoulder as he smiled, “If that’s the case then please, continue.”

Ulric growled and narrowed his eyes on Terrance, “What do you want?”

Terrance shrugged, “Uncle Kyros called a meeting and he wants you there. The elders are going to vote on who’ll take the prisoner back.”

Ulric snarled, “And I need to be there why?”

Rolling my eyes I shove Ulric to the side and step around him, “He’ll be there. He’s done running from his responsibilities,” I turned to send Ulric a glare, “Aren’t you?”

He sighed, sending Terrance a glare of his own, “When’s the meeting?”

Terrance smiled, “Now. I figured you’d like to be fashionably late, seeing how it’ll give you a chance to make a grand entrance.”

Ulric roared as Terrance laughed and left the hut. When he turned to me I could see the impatience in his eyes, “That boy will never grow up.”

I frowned, “He doesn’t look like a boy to me. How old is he?”

“Twenty-seven, but we normally a little longer than humans. My grandfather was two hundred and seventy-five when he passed.”

I chocked on that thought, “Two hundred and seventy-five?! How old are you?”

“Ninety-eight.”

I blinked, staring at him in shock, “Jeez, talk about liking an older man.”

Ulric smiled, amusement in his eyes, “Just liking?”

I sent him a mocking glare, “Oh, ha ha, you’re so funny.”

He was about to respond when Terrance popped his head back into the hut, “Oh, and did I forget to mention that Uncle Kyros wanted to talk to you two before the meeting started?”

Terrance quickly ran off as Ulric roared at him, a sinister smile stretching across his face as he disappeared. I rolled my eyes and followed a less than happy Ulric out of the hut. He led me to the almost hidden trail, grabbing my hand gently and twining our fingers together. Throughout the entire walk Ulric held my hand, every once in a while he would even send me a roguish smile over his shoulder.

When we reached the colony I expected Ulric to release my hand, but instead he just pulled me closer so that I walked comfortably under his shoulder. He seemed to ignored the odd stares we received as he just strolled along, the pace he set showing all the other Creatures around us that he won’t be rushed for anything. We reached Kyros’ just as Katima stormed out, frustration and fury etched over her face.

When she saw us she growled and pointed a furious finger at me, “This is all your fault!”

Ulric snarled and shoved me behind him as Katima stomped closer, “Oh, hush! I’m not going to hurt her… I’m just going to kill her.”

I stared at her, blinking in shock, as she glared at me. She tried to walk around Ulric, but he wouldn’t budge. After a few seconds of trying to get him to move she finally growled and tossed her hands in the air, “Alright! I won’t kill her. Can I at least yell at her?”

Ulric glanced at me and raised an eyebrow as if he was asking me for permission. I frowned and pushed around him, “What’s wrong? What did I do?”

She snarled, making Ulric tense, “You talked my father into letting our prisoner go. Why would you do that?!”

I still didn’t understand, “Because everything was a misunderstanding. There’s no sense in keeping him locked up or killing him when he’s agreed to go back home. I don’t understand what I did wrong.”

“He’s allowed to go home with a guide, Roana. Guess who was just voted to be that guide?”

Ulric growled, “They want you to take him back?”

“Yes!” She cried, “The Elders think that since I beat the crap out of him the other day that I’ll be able to control him again.”

Ulric chuckled, “He won’t make it thirty minutes with you.”

I frowned, “Why do you say that?”

“Because I will kill him,” she growled.

My eyes widened, “What? Why? You can’t!”

“Oh, I will. He almost ripped my arm off, Roana! Not to mention the hunk of flesh he practically tore from my back!”

Ulric’s chuckling turned into a snarl, “He bit you?”

Katima gave him a dull stare, “We were in a fight, Ulric. I did my fair share of biting as well.”

Ulric’s snarl turned into a pissed off older brother growl, causing Katima to laugh, “I see how it is. You disappear for year, couldn’t care about what I was doing during that time, but you’ve only been here a couple days and you’re reading to beat the snot out of the first guy who looks at me.”

Ulric sighed, “Fine, don’t take my help. I’m just going to head on into the meeting and pretend I’m listening. Do you mind spending time with Roana until I’m done?”

“Sure, no prob-”

“Roana’ll be attending this meeting as w ell, Ulric.”

Everyone turned to see Kyros standing at the entrance to his hut. He glared at Ulric, “I sent for you an hour ago.”

“Yeah, well next time don’t send Terrance,” Ulric growled as he grabbed my hand and walked to his father, “He only just now notified us.”

Kyros snarled, “I’ll deal with that boy later, right now you two are needed in here,” he stepped back to allow us entrance into his house, “I wanted to talk with you about this before the elders got here, but that’s not going to happen now.”

Ulric and Kyros lead the way to his kitchen table where three other men were sitting. They didn’t look all that old, two a little older than Kyros and the other looking to be about the same age. There were small plates of fresh fruit, cheese, and crackers as well as glasses of water set out across the table for everyone to enjoy, only there because of Emera’s thoughtfulness.

Ulric pulled out a chair for me as the men I assumed were the Elders stared at me in shock.

“What’s a human doing here?” One asked.

“Even more pressing, why is it a female?” another sneered.

The eldest of the group, oblivious to the others’ complaints, looked up and smiled at Ulirc, “Clarence! It’s been so long. Why, I remember the last time I saw you you were playing in the pond with that young lass a few houses down. You remember the one; she had red hair and great big-”

Ulric loudly cleared his throat, sending me a sideways look, “Yes, I remember her and that was over twenty years ago, grandpa.”

I held back a laugh as the older man wiggled his eyebrows, “twenty years, twenty minutes, time never matters when you’ve got a cute red head with big-”

“Grandpa!” Ulric growled lightly, “Would you like to meet Roana?”

The man smiled at me, “Hello, I’m Kedem. How are you?”

“I smiled, “I’m good, a little interested in Ulric and this red head…”

Kedem laughed, “I’m sure you are, but I’d rather not have my grandson being tried for murdering his grandfather.”

“Hmm, maybe you can tell me when Ulric’s not around.”

He laughed again as Ulric sent me a growl, “I’m going to make sure you two are never left alone together. I can see you guys causing a lot of trouble.”

Kedem and I smiled at each other, but our good mood was interrupted when one of the other Elders shoved back his chair and stood with a growl, “Why is there a human female sitting in on our meeting?!”

Ulric growled and almost lounged at the man, but I managed to place my hand against his arm. Before Ulric could respond Kyros slammed his fist down on the table, “There will be absolutely not fighting, does everyone understand?”

The man turned his own glare to Kyros, “I just want to know why she is here!” he shoved his index finger at me, almost smacking my face with the motion.

“She is here because it was her decision to release the prisoner,” he sent me a proud nod as I lifted my glass of water for a drink, “and she’s not human. She’s one of us.”

I chocked on my water, glad that Ulric was there to lightly pat my back, “What?” I gasped.

Kyros gave me a confused glance, “What do you mean, ‘what’? What did you expect when you found out he was your brother?”

I stared at Ulric, then Kyros, my eyes as wide as saucers, “I wasn’t expecting that. You mean I’m a Creature?!”

The sneering Elder roared and lunged at me, Ulric barely able to stop his attack. Ulric shoved the elder back and roared, his eyes darkening as he seemed to grow taller and broader. The Elder stepped back and growled, “You don’t want to do this boy. You might be bigger and stronger, but I’ve got a lot more years of fighting knowledge than you.”

Ulric growled and placed himself between me and the Elder as the man just sneered. They stared each other down before the man sent a glare at me, “You better take your woman someplace she belongs before I do it,” His glare turned into a sneering smirk, “I’m thinking she’ll look good in the kitchen… or the bedroom.”

Ulric’s roar shook the hut as he charged the man, the two of them meeting over the table as glass broke and food rolled over the floor. The other Elders jumped away, Ulric’s grandfather moving to my side surprisingly fast as he pulled me a safe distance away.

I stared in shock as Ulric and the Elder continued to fight. They ignored all of Kyros’ roars and commands to stop as blood began to fall to the ground.