by Candy Nicks
His eyelids fluttered and his fingers twitched on what appeared to be a weapon partly-concealed beneath the blanket. Tian's wolf stepped back, muscles tensed for flight. A blade it could outrun. A powered weapon, possibly not. Unwise to take chances. Was this the man of whom the Goddess spoke? The man intent of taking them from the only home they'd known?
The wolf glanced around. Brave man to come hunting wolf alone. One howl would call down the mountain wolf-pack and, powered weapon or no, this man would not survive to tell the tale. Brave, but foolish, it decided. Why did humans make themselves so vulnerable? It contemplated the corded muscles of the man's throat, exposed by the turned-back lapels of his brushed-leather jacket. A single bite, so swift he would never know what killed him, would dispatch him to whichever after-life he deserved.
Unlike Tian's dark strands, the man's hair was fair as dried grass-gossamer bleached by the summer sun. Pulled back from a wide brow, a thick plait disappeared into his collar.
No, don't, Tian.
Tian wanted to reach out and touch. The wolf warned against such a rash move. Men were masters of deception. This innocent sleep might be nothing more than a masquerade designed to lull them into lowering their defences. Instinctively, the wolf stepped back. It would not kill one trusted of the Goddess, but it would fight to the death for its freedom.
Behind it, one of the horses shifted restlessly. The smaller of the two whinnied softly and skittered sideways, restrained by the lead-rein secured to a rock. Tian's wolf sensed their growing agitation.
Kill the horses? That would stop the man in his tracks. Bad idea, it decided. It would only strand him here for the winter. When he failed in his quest, the man would need the horses for the journey home.
No. Don't become human, Tian. Men are deceitful. This may be a trap.
Tian emerged, naked in the moonlight. A finger laid across her lips. Hush, she told the wolf. It's only for a moment. I feel something.
Silently, she knelt before the sleeping man, eyes glowing amber as the wolf lent her sight. She eased her fingers beneath the covers and touched the smooth facets of a polished stone lying in the man's slack palm. Immediately, an image flashed into her mind, and without warning, she felt as if she were flying, lifted on the wings of a million memories, towards a place that existed only in her deepest dreams. A place where the Lupine was welcomed and accepted by human-kind. Not caged and exploited. Hastily she withdrew her hand.
Such places did not exist. The wolf resumed its dominance, pushing Tian and her confusion deep inside. The stone lies. There is no such place. Let me kill him. We will deal with the wrath of the Goddess later.
No. Tian's gentle touch held it back. He is loved by many. Did you not feel it? One who commands so much love cannot be evil. Misguided—perhaps. He follows the will of the Goddess. He does not deserve to die for that. And neither do those beautiful creatures.
As you wish, Tian. We go now. The wolf backed away, quietly melting into the landscape. The man would find the hut, but not the woman he sought. It prayed he would find it soon and leave before the first snows. Much as she wanted to be a wolf, Tian would not relish a whole winter living in a chilly cave while the man occupied their home.
The vision given by the stone had been too disturbing. Raised confusing questions. Questions the fickle Goddess would, of course, be disinclined to answer. Human-kind, and even the Lupine, were small players in her grand plans. While they lived in the moment, She saw distant pasts and futures far beyond anything man could imagine. She bestowed her bounty and when it pleased her, manipulated them for Her own amusement.
Tian's wolf shook its head. Resentment would only cloud the issue. The Goddess had spoken, but free will was another gift it would not give up without a fight.
* * * *
Having her so close and naked into the bargain called on every shred of his control. Sol cracked open one eye-lid and surveyed the clearing. No sign of the wolf. Sliding from his bed-roll, he shivered in the chill morning air and slapped his sides to get his blood circulating. Balan stood placidly waiting for his breakfast. The mare eyed him, whickering softly while he knelt on the banks of the stream and splashed himself with icy water to cool his head. He was as hard as an iron rod. The memory of Tian's lush breasts so tantalisingly close to his face did nothing to cool his ardour. Judging by his reaction to her, compatibility wouldn't be a problem. Not on his part, anyway.
Had she connected with the Crystal? Lupines were sensitive to its power and through it could access the Collective Memory. What had she seen to make her withdraw so abruptly?
He found himself whistling and light of spirit as he fed and watered the horses. Almost euphoric, although that could be due to exhaustion, he thought with a weary smile. Despite thoughts of his mother's home-cooked meals and the warm comfort of his feather-bed, he'd welcomed this chance to prove himself fit for his future role as leader of Wolf's Valley.
Long may Ancel live, Sol murmured automatically. Exciting though his future role was, he didn't want to think of a time when his father's steadying presence would no longer be a constant in his life.
And Tian—such a sad spirit. Natural, he supposed, since she was in mourning. Yet, he'd sensed in her a challenge he found impossible to resist. He rode forth, on the final stage of his journey with a renewed sense of purpose and a head full of tantalising memories. Black silk caressing his cheek. Slim fingers grazing his palm. A scent both earthy and ethereal. Elusive and inviting.
He shifted uncomfortably in the saddle and slowed his rampant thoughts to more practical matters. Look for a hut. Sheltered by a stand of pines on the lower slopes of the central mountain. Squinting, he gazed at the landscape, muted into softness by the morning mist.
"Come on, Balan. One more day and then rest. And real food. Venison roasted on the spit, juices dripping..."
Oh yes, he was ready for this next life-step. He only hoped he could persuade Tian that she was, too.
* * * *
Panic immobilised her. The yellow-haired man on his magnificent horse would cover the distance to the hut before the sun dropped below the horizon, but here she sat still, on her low bed fingering the patchwork coverlet made by her mother. Unable to move because once she left this place she'd called home, she would never return.
The image of her mother? Yes, she should take that. And the talisman. A skinning knife. A blanket. Her warmest coat. Tian surveyed the room. Did a wolf need personal mementoes?
We go, Tian, the wolf insisted. Leave everything and simply be.
I'm not ready, she thought, already feeling the pain of familiar ties being severed too abruptly. Goddess, help me.
Her own thoughts echoed back to her in the heavy silence. Her feet refused to obey. Resentment bubbled deep inside her and she clenched her fists around handfuls of the quilt. Why should she be hounded out of her own home?
Leave it all, her wolf insisted. I will provide.
Yes, she thought. This attachment to human things would fade soon enough. And once broken, it would remain so. With a deep breath, Tian rose and reached for the image of her mother in its delicately carved frame. It went into a drawstring bag along with a wooden comb and a brooch of polished stones, made by her mother to trade at the travelling fairs. A cloth doll sat on a wooden wall-shelf, propped upright by two slim volumes. She left them. They would only add unnecessary weight to the bag.
Turning her back, she resolutely ignored the doll's happy smile and sifted through a basket of clothing for a spare tunic and underclothes. “Just in case,” she told the wolf.
He's coming, it wailed in her head. Will find you and keep you.
"Yes, yes! Give me a moment.” A spoon might be useful. And the fire-sticks. In the depths of winter, a fire would be welcome. She weighed the bag in her hand. Imagined it clamped between the wolf's teeth or strung across its back. Perhaps room for a small pan and a tin drinking goblet? How did you distil your whole life into one small bag? Choose what to take and what to leave? It c
ouldn't be done.
Salt, the wolf reminded her. Don't forget the salt.
Along with the small glass jar containing the precious mineral, she packed a wedge of crumbly goat's cheese wrapped in a square of oiled canvas. The remains she stuffed into her mouth. When she'd eaten these supplies, would she ever again taste human food?
With the bag nearly full, she had no reason to linger. Time only to release the few remaining fowl they'd kept for eggs and then bravely leave behind the only life she'd known for another existence that would see her to the end of her days.
"Goodbye,” she whispered to the empty room. No, not empty. Her mother's lingering presence filled every corner. In the embroidered cushions heaped onto the wooden settle. The dried flowers arranged with care in the hand-woven basket. The toasting fork laid across the hearth. In all the touches that made the hut into a home, Tian saw her mother's face smiling back at her.
"I can't stay. I know you wanted more for me. Mother, how would I live with humans, when I don't know how? I can be a wolf, but leaving this mountain, living amongst men ... no. It's better this way."
She ran gentle fingers over the strings of her mother's lap-harp. “Goodbye, darling Cora. I will return for you when Sol leaves."
The harp's song filled the room with a tumble of anxious overtones.
"Take me too,” it sang. “For comfort and remembrance. Without me, who will sing your mother's songs?"
"Dear Cora.” Tian touched the strings caressed by her mother's clever fingers. Found her name on the list inscribed on the polished wooden frame. Handed down from mother to daughter, the harp was the thread binding the female line. “I will mate as a wolf, if they will accept me. I will not forget you."
"The Alpha is already mated.” Cora's voice rose in pitch. “Your destiny lies elsewhere, Tian. If not for you, take me for your daughters."
Urgent and pleading, the melody lingered on the air. A poignant reminder that in Cora, Tian would leave behind more than wood and brass.
"Forgive me, Cora.” Reaching for the brooch, Tian pulled back the pin, exposing the sharp point. “To all things there is a beginning and an end. I am the last of this line. It ends here.” She scored a groove beneath her name with gentle care, not wishing to hurt Cora further.
Cora sighed out her acceptance in a series of running cadences, each quieter than the last. When the sound finally died away, Tian took it as her blessing to leave.
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Chapter 2
Twice, he circled the forest, seeking the clearing hiding the hut. On his third sweep of the lower slopes, he caught his first glimpse of the wooden building.
Far from the rough planks and bare, subsistence-level existence he'd imagined, the hut was an oasis of calm and civility, contrasting with the stark spare beauty of the mountains. He stared in wonder at the neatly tended garden, the wooden carvings decorating the porch-rails. The window box filled with fading flowers. Curtains hung at the small window and a stone chimney hugged one side of the building. A smaller, stone shack stood a short distance away. Carefully placed to receive the best of the sunshine filtering through the trees, the love and care that had gone into the building was evident, even to a stranger's eyes.
Now he felt like an intruder. Vaguely ashamed of his determination to drag Tian away to his world. He dismounted and secured the mare's lead rein to a low branch. Balan he left free, knowing the horse wouldn't stray far from him. Let them graze while he investigated.
No smoke curled from the chimney, no movement behind the glass window. Sol held back, sheltered by the trees, every sense alert and ready. Tian was blessed with the extraordinary abilities of both woman and wolf. He wouldn't see her until she was ready to make herself known.
Oh, for a real bed. His body ached for the comfort of hearth and home, even as the Eagle warrior in him mocked his softness. He stopped the thought and glanced around. A single stocking hung on a rope slung between two trees. A basket of root vegetables rested on the top step. Fresh footprints in the soil. Human. Small.
Abandoned, but not long since, he decided. The air hummed with the vibrancy of those who'd lived here. He took a cautious step forward and edged his way across the clearing. Climbed the steps and lifted the latch to the door. His skin tingled. The Goddess had blessed this place. Only those she favoured would gain entry.
Inside the hut, he found a living space divided by a curtained area that revealed two low wooden bed-frames covered with stuffed down mattresses and patchwork quilts. A rag rug on the floor, an embroidered throw draped over the back of the settle. Bunches of dried grasses adorning the stone hearth.
He touched the cloth doll lounging on the shelf. Sniffed from the jar of lotion on a low table between the beds. Back in the main room he helped himself to a chunk of stale bread from the dresser and caressed the strings of the diminutive lap-harp perched on the table, frowning at the fresh scar in the wood, under Tian's name. Dropping onto the settle, he tipped back his head and breathed in the sense of peace and order of this refuge hidden from man.
He rolled shoulders strained from endless riding, surprised at his reaction to the rustic simplicity of Tian's home. He envied her freedom when his future held only the weight of responsibility and care. The welfare of Wolf's Valley and its growing population would, one day, rest on his shoulders. Tian had no such ties. Sol closed his eyes and imagined lazy evenings sprawled on the settle in front of a blazing hearth. A dog at his feet. Tian curled into his side. Long nights spent exploring each other's bodies, each time finding something new. The seductive images filled his mind.
Which meant he was more tired that he'd realised.
He sniffed his armpit, wrinkled his nose and rose reluctantly, ignoring the urge to drop onto one of the cots and sleep the sleep of the dead.
Grabbing the remaining sliver of soap-wort and a drying cloth from his pack, he followed the sound of water tumbling from the mountain, then stripped off his clothes and stepped under the thundering cascade. The battering force of the water, painful at first, eased and soothed muscles knotted from weeks in the saddle. His grateful groans mingled with the sound of water hammering rock and flesh as he revelled in the simple pleasure of being clean.
He shook loose his hair and worked in the soap with firm strokes. The waist-length strands were a source of fierce pride, a mark of his Eagle heritage, but the very devil to keep clean and knot-free. Not that he lacked volunteers to help with that amongst the ladies at Wolf's Valley. The memory of the last woman who'd tended his hair and what they'd been doing before that made him stir and harden. The thought of Tian doing the same reminded him how long he'd been without a woman. How glad he was the Goddess had finally given him leave to take a life-mate.
Grasping hold of his cock, he brought himself to a swift release and with it, the last of his energy drained away. Shaving could wait. His hand didn't feel steady enough to wield a razor.
Dizzy with fatigue, he dumped the saddle packs on the porch and tended the horses, aware of having reached his destination but not yet achieving his goal. Was Tian nearby and watching over her home? Or had the wolf left the mountain for pastures new?
Questions rolled around in his mind as he lay full-length on the cot chewing a stick of rill-bark to clean his teeth. Far too fuzzy-headed to seek her out now. Sleep called him and he could nothing but obey. He was aware only of the soft dip of the mattress, the worn comfort of the patchwork quilt. The scent of flowers all around him. Tian smiling at him in his dreams.
"Catch me if you can,” the image sang as his dream-self staggered after her, breathless from more than the run. She was his destiny and he would have her. If he could only catch her. He inhaled sharply and renewed his efforts.
"Wait,” he croaked and stopped hands on knees to catch his breath. “Where are you?"
Her laughter echoed around the mountain-tops. For now, she existed only in his dreams. Amber eyes flashed once and then she disappeared.
* * * *
> Walking away from her past and the last links to those she had loved took a greater determination than she possessed. While the wolf fretted and chastised, the woman recalled the pale-haired man entering her home.
Violating her sanctuary. Sol moved with the confidence of a conqueror. Of one who knew he matched up favourably to the best life had to offer.
She sat on the high ridge, hugging her knees, trying to forget Sol standing in all his glory under the thundering water. Soapy hands gliding over firm flesh. Slicked-down hair clinging to broad shoulders and muscular arms. Her first sight of a naked man had stolen the breath from her lungs and stirred up disturbing feelings that left her dazed and confused. How did he feel when he touched himself? How would those capable hands feel on her own body?
Let go, the wolf urged.
"I'm trying. I thought it would be easier."
Then try harder, the wolf said, exasperated now and eager to start the ritual of wintering. We need to hunt. Get fat. Can smell the snow. It's coming.
"I know.” Was Sol asleep in her bed? Would he come looking for her?
He's a warrior. Yes, he will come. Tian, we must leave.
"Did the Magic stone lie? It showed me a future I could never have imagined. Do you think we can trust him?"
He's come to take you away. To a cage without bars, but to a cage all the same.
Curiosity nagged at her. A disquieting confusion of wanting to put distance between her and Sol and, at the same time, wanting to creep down the mountain and learn more about the men her mother had so vehemently warned her against. Part of her acknowledged the physical attraction. That was beyond her control. The tingling low in her belly and the flush of heat that had crept over her skin as she'd watched him pleasure himself was nature's way of making sure human-kind lived on into a new generation. No different from a wolf taking a mate to ensure the survival of the pack.
