by Leia Stone
Staring at the steady rise and fall of her chest, I decided to just focus on what I could control or I would go insane with worry. Grabbing my spear and net, I set out to the creek behind the cabin to catch some fresh fish.
Okay, Sage was here, near death, but I wasn’t alone anymore. One of those two things was very cool. I needed to focus on the positive.
The baby kicked then, and I reached down and rubbed my belly. “It’s okay. Mama’s got this.”
After about an hour of spear fishing, I’d caught six fish. I normally only caught about two or three before heading back, because I had no need for an excess of fish that would just rot on my wood block kitchen counter, but I was hunting for Sage now too, a thought that brought me untold happiness.
“I’m not alone,” I mumbled to myself, unsure if the gravity of that sentence actually had sunken in yet. “I’m … not alone.” I stopped at the edge of the creek, fish in my net, and broke into sobs.
I’m not alone anymore.
My best friend came into the cursed woods to look for me and nearly died. Did I even deserve that kind of friendship? I wasn’t sure. I had to make sure Sage got through this. I had to take care of her.
I wiped my tears, gathering myself and then headed back to the cabin. The second I neared, I sensed something was wrong. One of my clay pots outside was tipped over, broken, and I could hear weird huffing animal sound. When I rounded the corner, the sight of a giant black bear caused me to stop dead in my tracks.
“Go on!” I shouted. “Get!” I raised my arms to make myself look big.
The bear was peeking inside the open cabin door, right at Sage! I’d seen bears off and on around here, but always from a distance. They never came into my camp and I never kept food overnight. If I did, I tied it up in the trees in a satchel. I knew enough about camping to do that.
What I wouldn’t give for Marmal’s shotgun right now.
“Hey, bear!” I shouted, and reached down to grab a rock, chucking it at his back. My wolf stirred, sensing the impending danger, and in the blink of an eye she was out of my body and had solidified by my side. The bear backed away from the door and turned to face me, his nostrils flaring as he no doubt smelled the fish in the net that I held.
I was not giving up my dinner! Sage needed this meat to get better.
Since I’d gotten here, there had been little use for my magic. Running vampire fast didn’t help when searching for a hidden cave opening, you had to go slow for that, and there were no bullets to stop out here either. So I’d just gotten used to being a regular old werewolf, but now that I was faced with this threat, I felt my magic stirring. The scent of hot wires filled the air.
I set the net containing the fish down on the ground and then stepped closer to the bear.
“Get. Out,” I growled.
My wolf dipped her head low; her lips peeled back to reveal her pointed teeth, then a deep, terrifying growl ripped from the back of her throat. The bear sniffed the air again and immediately jerked backward as if he’d smelled my magic and knew what it meant. Taking one last look inside of the cabin at Sage, he turned and ran away, heading toward the creek to hopefully catch his own damned fish.
I relaxed, my magic fizzling as weakness took hold of me. I couldn’t handle my wolf being outside of my body for too long anymore, and already having her out for so many hours while she dragged Sage here, it was taking its toll.
As if sensing this, she leapt into my chest. I picked up the fish and headed back to the cabin. When I got inside, I was relieved to see Sage’s wolf curled into a ball, her chest rising and falling in rapid pants. That was a good sign. If she was alive enough to shift, that meant she was going to make it.
Right?
She would heal faster in wolf form.
I went about the work of gutting and deboning the fish, tossing cubes of it into my clay cooking pot with wild mushrooms, sliced sweet potatoes, and some wild green onions that had just started to spring up around the creek.
Once the food was boiling on the rack above the fireplace, I set out to make another bedroll. I’d been collecting cotton so that I could try to make a bassinet for the baby, and maybe even a winter sleeping bag of sorts, but all of that would have to wait.
Sage was here.
The very thought had me looking down at her to make sure she was real.
Using a bone needle and twine, I pierced the edges of two large pieces of suede cloth and started to make a sleeping mat. I was sure it was going to be comfortable, but the stitch work needed help. I just didn’t care. I was too tired and too excited and nervous for Sage to be here. Once I had roughly sewn three sides together, I started to shove the cotton inside. I’d already shelled it and picked off the little hard bits that were left over, including the seeds. Then I’d pulled the buds apart, making it fluffier and as big as possible. By the time I stitched the top of the mat, I’d gone through all the cotton I’d harvested for the baby, but I had made a four-inch-thick mat for Sage to sleep on.
I had one deer skin left, and I could probably harvest another before I went into labor. I’d started hunting big game recently, knowing that when baby came I would need things like animal skins to keep her warm in the winter. I took what meat I could and left the rest for other animals nearby.
Shaking off those thoughts, I stepped back inside the hut and lay the mat in front of Sage’s wolf, who was still asleep. The scents of the delicious fish soup had completely saturated the cabin, and I was so starved I wasn’t going to be able to wait for her to wake up.
Pulling the pot off the fire, I set it on the ground and grabbed a clay bowl and matching spoon. I’d tried many times to replicate whoever had made these, but whenever I tried to fire them like you would in a kiln, they cracked. Whatever skill the person who had made these had, I wasn’t going to learn it anytime soon. Pouring myself a large bowl, I scarfed it down while I watched Sage sleep.
“Sage,” I called to her in between slurps.
Her wolf stirred slightly but stayed fast asleep, panting in a heavy rhythm.
“Hungry? Thirsty?” I sucked down the last bit of my soup and then poured a large bowl for her from the clay pot, using the same bowl and spoon. There was only one set, so we were going to have to share from now on.
From now on. I wanted to cry at the fact that I wasn’t alone anymore. The steam from the soup filtered up to the roof of the cabin as I watched Sage’s wolf and prayed she would wake up and be okay.
Running my fingers through my hair to detangle it, I pulled it into a tight braid and then brushed my teeth with some clay powder and ground mint leaves. Sometimes I had silly thoughts like the fact that I could probably sell this homemade toothpaste to the hippies back in Spokane for like nine bucks a small clay pot.
After rubbing my teeth vigorously with the dried abrasive moss brush I’d made, I spit into the sink.
“Holy shit, you’re pregnant!” Sage screeched in a weak and raspy voice, and I jumped backward so quickly I nearly tripped over the bowl of soup I’d put down for her.
I looked down at my best friend, wide-eyed, heart pounding in my chest.
She spoke … that meant. “You’re real?” Tears streamed down my face.
The scars on her cheek were still there, like she’d been attacked by an animal, and so was the bruising, but she was talking and breathing and sitting up … so that was good.
Reaching out, she pulled my suede blanket over her naked body and took in a few deep breaths. “Are you really pregnant? Or am I hallucinating?” she questioned again, her eyes on my belly.
I chewed my bottom lip, nodding as more tears fell, and then I dropped to my knees before her. “From the night Sawyer proposed, I think.”
She burst into crying laughter and reached out to lay a hand on either side of my swollen tummy. As she extended her right arm, she winced and retracted it. With her left, she stroked my stomach, looking at it wide-eyed. “Demi … you’re fucking pregnant.”
Now it was my turn
to burst into crying laughter as she pulled me into a hug, cradling her obviously injured arm between us.
“I’m so … glad you’re here,” I said, between sobbing and laughing like a lunatic. “How long have you been here?”
I felt like being social was hard for me right now, like six months without another human conversation had made me a bit crazy and I needed to relearn eye contact and pausing to let others speak and all of those things you would teach a child.
When she pulled back, she looked at my belly and then at the soup. “Is that…?”
She seemed about as socially awkward as I was.
I nodded. “For you.”
She looked skeptical. “I won’t take food from a pregnant lady. Are you sure you’ve had enough?”
A grin pulled at the corners of my lips. “I have, and there’s more.” I pointed to the steaming pot in the corner at the hearth of the fireplace. Without another word, she grabbed the soup bowl and started to chug, only stopping when a chunk of fish or potato made it in her mouth, and even then she only chewed once or twice. She’d lost weight, her hair was caked in dirt and blood, and she smelled like a zoo.
“Sage, how long have you been here in the woods?”
She shook herself, moaning as the last bit of soup went down her throat. “Forever? I lost count. It got too depressing so I stopped.” She looked behind me, to the doorway, as if expecting someone to charge in and attack her.
I frowned. “How long did you wait for me before you came after me?” I’d kept a meticulous daily count. If she told me how many months she’d waited until coming after me…
“A week. Like I said.” She looked at me then with a fierce protectiveness and my whole body froze, my throat tightening with emotion.
“Sage … you’ve been here five months and three weeks. How did you survive?”
She chewed her lip and I could see that I had fared much better than she had. There were so many scars; she was too skinny, too unhinged, paranoid even. Why did she keep looking at the door?
Her bottom lip quivered. “Same as you. Drink from the creeks, hunt small game, forage. Sleep under the trees.”
But that’s not what I had been doing. I’d had a home, letters to read, a shower, a place to go to each night and have a sense of normalcy.
Her eyes flicked to the door once more, and I reached out and grasped her hand, causing her to jump.
“Sage? What did you mean about you being cursed?”
Her gaze flicked from the door to me again and she swallowed hard. “I shouldn’t have come here. It will bring trouble to you. I need to go.” She moved to stand, but I yanked her down with surprising force and she winced as if in pain, causing me to loosen my hold.
“Sorry, but, Sage, I’ve been alone for six months. I’m pregnant and stuck here. You are not leaving me no matter what trouble you may bring, and I’m not leaving you either.”
She pulled her hand from mine then and burst into tears, cupping her face as she rocked back and forth. “It will know I’m here,” she wailed. “You might get hurt.”
My heart broke in that moment for my poor friend who was clearly on the edge of a mental breakdown. I’d been there, so many times I’d been there.
“Just calm down. We will figure this out together. What is it?” I rubbed her back softly as she sobbed.
She pulled her hands from her face, showcasing tearstained cheeks, which had run through the brown dirt and crimson blood, leaving clean tracks on her face.
“The curse, the magic, the woods. It hates me. It’s trying to kill me. Rab was right,” she whispered as if it could hear her.
Maybe she’d eaten some bad mushrooms or something and was hallucinating. “Okay, well, if it comes, we can fight it together.” I smiled, trying to brush the whole thing over.
She shook her head and then pointed to the three lined scars that ran down her cheek. “Last time I did that, this happened.”
Something clicked in my mind, then. “Wait, are you talking about the bear?”
She looked out the door, eyes wide. “The bear, the elk, the mountain lions, the trees. They’re all trying to kill me for coming here. I’m not wanted here,” she told me, and lifted her shirt to reveal a puckered scar.
My mouth popped open in shock as things started to click in my mind.
The moving trees, the bear sniffing inside my cabin … was he specifically hunting Sage? Was Rab right about the curse?
“What’s that from?” I asked, pointing to the scar.
“Elk attack, while I was sleeping.”
Elk attack? Elk didn’t just randomly attack sleeping people. “The tree,” I whispered.
She nodded. “Threw itself at me and knocked me into the ground. I would have died without your help.”
Holy shit. Holy, holy, fucking shit.
Okay … my best friend had been stuck in killer woods for over five months searching for me and now we had no way out. No big deal … I could handle this.
“Okay. Well … I’m an alpha and the woods don’t hurt me and neither do the animals, so you’re safe with me now.”
I hoped saying it would make it true.
She looked at me with pity, like she wanted to believe that, but there was no way she could.
“So if you left a week after I did … is the war?” Please give me good news. I just needed good news about the outside world.
Sage swallowed hard, looking down at my belly again like she maybe didn’t want to tell me something that might upset me.
“Sage. Is Sawyer okay?”
She nodded. “He’s fine, but we lost the war. Everyone, including nearly all of the Paladins, went underground and are safe in hiding as far as I know.”
I sagged in relief. Sucked to learn we’d lost the war, but good to know our people were alive. I could deal with that. “So Sawyer is in the bunker?” That was good. It meant he was with my parents.
Sage chewed her lip.
“Sage!”
She sighed. “Sawyer commanded that Walsh get everyone into the bunker and stay there to look after your parents and his mom. Astra stayed in Paladin Village to beat that stupid drum every hour.”
My throat closed with emotion at that. Sweet Astra. I hoped she was okay.
“And Sawyer?”
Sage frowned. “He and Eugene said they would wait to go into the bunker until you got back.”
My eyes widened. “So he just stayed out in the open in the middle of a war!”
Sage winced. “He hid obviously, but I don’t know how well … he could have been captured.”
Captured! I burst to my feet and started to pace the small room, made even smaller with Sage and her mat on the floor.
“Or not … I don’t really know. Maybe he went into the bunker…”
I stopped my pacing and settled. Yeah, maybe … except I knew Sawyer, and he wasn’t the type to hide and wait to be saved.
Frick.
A long stretch of silence passed between us. I didn’t know what to say, and clearly neither did she.
“Did you make this place?” She looked around at the cabin and I was grateful for the topic change.
I shook my head. “Past alphas did, but I improved on it. It’s got a shower. Want one? I can start boiling the water.” No sense in worrying about Sawyer and my family until I was out and able to do something about it.
Her eyes widened. “YES I want a shower, are you insane? What kind of question is that? Do you have soap?”
I chuckled. “No, but I have an exfoliating clay scrub with lavender.”
She grinned. “That sounds like heaven.”
I boiled the water and then helped her stand. She had a limp on her right side, the leg that had been bent at an odd angle when I’d found her. With a little help, I was able to get her into the shower and fill the clay pot overhead with warm water.
“Ohmygod, this is heaven!” she screamed as I stood outside the small shower hut and peered into the woods with paranoia. Would that be
ar come back? Would an elk? What she’d said was so weird, I wasn’t sure how to process it.
Were the Dark Woods trying to kill Sage? If so, she might be safer here in the pasture with the cabin. It was free of large trees, and if we could erect some kind of fence, it might deter the animals…
“Are you seriously here?” Sage called through the thatched siding.
I grinned. It was weird how easily we were falling back into our normal banter.
“I know, I can’t believe it,” I told her.
“So, I can start helping you look for the cave now and we can be out of here in a few weeks I’ll bet!” she said excitedly.
Oh. She still had that optimism I’d had three months ago.
“Yeah, maybe,” I said.
Now that Sage was here, I was less interested in searching for the cave and more so in preparing to safely have this baby.
Three months later…
“Stop getting up,” Sage barked as she fussed over me. “Just lie around like the giant pregnant lady you are and let me do stuff!”
I chuckled. My belly was the size of the moon and my ankles were slightly swollen.
Sage pulled my feet up to prop them onto the bassinet we’d weaved to prepare for the baby, and then she went back to skinning the rabbit she’d caught for dinner. She was such a huge help these past three months, I’m not sure I would have made it without her.
“I’m pregnant, not useless,” I told her with a grin. That was partially a lie, I was so pregnant I was basically useless, but I felt stir crazy. Sage had forced me into bedrest two weeks ago when my ankles got swollen so bad that we could see my thumb indent when I pressed on them.
Sage pointed her deadly hunting blade at me and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t mess with me, woman. I have a knife.”
My grin grew wider. Sage and I had made a pact last night. We were going to give up looking for the cave for the next three months. It was so disheartening to climb all the way up there week after week and have the same results. We were defeated, and so fucking over it.
It was time to just prepare for this baby. It was time to look forward to something. We also made a pact to stop talking about the past as well. It was too painful. It had been nine months. Sawyer was either dead, captured, or underground. Willow had given birth already and her baby would be human. The Ithaki probably invaded Paladin Village and killed Astra…
