Wolf's Kiss

Amorina Haggard poured a cup of coffea so dark that Katima actually cringed. When Amorina turned back around Katima hid her flinch behind a friendly smile. She really did like Amorina , who laughed every time Katima refused to call her Rina. It didn’t take Katima long to figure out that Amorina was Roana’s maternal grandmother, she looked just like the little wolf hybrid, though a bit older. Katima could tell that Amorina’s hair was once a deep brown, like Roana, but unlike Roana Amorina had bright green eyes.

Amorina brought two cups of that dark coffea to the table Katima was sitting at. After handing Katima one of the cups Amorina pulled out a chair across from her and sat slowly. Katima could hear some of her bones creaking and felt sorry for the older lady. Amorina’s expression didn’t change at the creaking, she didn’t flinch or show pain, but Katima knew that arthritis was a painful bone disease and Rheumatoid was the worst kind.

After settleing in the seat Amorina smiled at Katima, “How are you today, dear?”

Katima returned her smile, “I have yet to run into Warrick, so today has been pretty good.”

Amorina laughed, “I swear, half the time you two remind me of two year olds fighting over a toy and the other half an old married couple.”

Katima sneered, “We do not act like a married couple.”

Amorina just shook her head and laughed, sipping at her coffea. After satisfying her thirst she sat her cup down, “So what brings you here for a visit?”

Katima place a few pieces of folded parchment on the table, “I received a letter from your granddaughter today. She wanted me to give this to you.”
Katima watched as Amorina unfolded the paper and read the charcoal markings on it. Her bright eyes filled with unshed tears as she turned to the next page. When she finished with the letter a single tear escaped and she wiped at it with a shaky hand, “Thank you,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion, “I didn’t know you’d tell her about me… she wants to meet and she’s willing to travel all this way so that I don’t have to.”

Katima smiled “She was excited to hear that you were alive. She feared she only had her brothers left and is thrilled to have this connection to her mother.”

Amorina nodded, carefully folding the papers back together and setting them aside so they wouldn’t get ruined, “I’ll have to write her back, make plans for her to visit.”

“She’ll come with my brother, Ulric,” Katima said, “So don’t worry about sending an escort. My brother loves her and protects her from everything, whether it’s a threat or not.”

Amorina nodded, deep in thought, “That’s good, I’m glad she’s found someone to care for her.”

When Amorina’s gaze returned to hers the elderly lady smiled softly, “I’m sorry to cut our time short, but I would really like to start on Roana’s letter.”

Katima smiled and shook her head, “Don’t worry about it. Let me know if you need any help with it.” She stood and gave Amorina a gentle hug before leaving the hut. Once outside she didn’t really know where she was going. If she was back home she’d probably be in some meeting or helping a Tribe member, but here she really had nothing to do. Basically all she did all day was walk around. Talking to Amorina was pretty much the only thing she did that was interesting.

Katima sighed and decided to walk through the forest for a little while. She debated about walking in her human form, but decided against it. She wanted to run as her wolf. She walked a few feet into the forest so that she could undress in private then shifted, shaking out her blonde fur. She stretched her long legs, then broke into a run.

Katima enjoyed her wolf form. In a way she envied Ulric and his ability to ignore his responsibilities. There were times where she just wanted to run, run as far as she could go until her wolf was tired. But she couldn’t. Her father was counting on her to keep the peace between his Tribe and this one. Tribe Haggard was so unstable Katima feared it would crumble with the slightest puff of air.

After a while Katima stopped running, taking in the beauty of the plant life around her. This part of the forest had some of the largest trees possible. The trunks reach way up high and when they could no longer go any further the limbs and leaves extended it, attempting to touch the clouds. Moss grew over the ground in so many different shades of green that Katima swore they created new colors.

She was about to walk on when she felt eyes on her. She stopped moving and looked to her left, seeing a light brown wolf like herself staring at her. The brown wolf snarled, his body still and threatening. Katima watched him, contemplating whether she should fight or run, when he charged at her, sharp teeth dripping with saliva.