by Candy Nicks
"I know.” She stopped to draw breath. Excitement gripped her like an unseen hand, overriding the apprehension caused by the visions. With Sol beside her, what did she have to fear? When her burdens became too great, he would be there to help bear them.
Wolf, we must not let our pride drive him away. I suspect Sol is a treasure amongst men.
I ask only to be allowed my freedom, the wolf replied. If the man you call Father threatens us we will be ready for him.
Sol watched her frenzied packing with quiet amusement. “I'll prepare the horses. Their shoes need treating with traction-powder for grip in the snow. We'll load up the mare and you can ride with me. I shall be proud to call you wife, Tian."
She dressed in her warmest clothes and then tossed a spare shirt and pants into the bag. Badly worn, the both of them, but all she possessed until they reached Wolf's Valley. Sol's family would surely see past her current threadbare state to the person beneath. “And I shall be proud to call you husband,” she said; although by now Sol had already left the hut. The words sent a surge of elation coursing through her. A lifting of the spirits she'd only ever experienced in wolf form, racing along the mountain paths.
They should carve their names on a tree before they left. A message of defiance for her father should he ever find this place.
He will, the wolf said. Don't let him cage us, Tian. We would not survive it.
That will not happen. Goddess, she whispered. Seal this place. Keep it safe until we return.
Facing each corner of the room in turn, she invoked a prayer of protection for the sanctuary that had sheltered her for so long. To return and find it violated would be heartbreaking.
"Are you ready?” Sol entered the hut, gloves in hand, hair tied back and stuffed into the collar of his coat. A patient man, even now allowing her to move at her own pace. Her stomach was strangely aflutter, her head too light. Cora's soothing melody rippled across the space between them, calming and anchoring her when she might have fainted clean away.
"I think so."
Sol enclosed her briefly in his arms, then stood back to study her face. “Whatever happens, we will ultimately make it back to Wolf's Valley. I saw us riding through the gates. Both of us, together.
Should she tell him how many different endings she'd seen in the Crystal? That the future was by no means set? The only thing they were certain of was a confrontation with her father.
"Yes, together.” In her heart, she spoke the truth. She would not think of going on to Wolf's Valley alone. “I must find Cora's bag."
"A story-harp will always have pride of place in our house."
Tian bowed graciously, shaking off the guilty pang at the grief she'd caused the little harp. A cascading glissando filled the hut. Cora had long forgiven her.
"Let's say goodbye to your mother."
The final and most difficult part of leaving. At the graveside, another wave of panic hit her. Sol held her upright, lending her strength.
"I'm not leaving her. Not really. She'll always be here, in my heart."
"She wished you to live a normal life.” Sol said. “I will give you that."
Tian dropped to her knees to offer one last prayer for her mother's soul. Hovering between wolf and woman, she caught the sharp, clean scent of pine needles, the musty, dew-soaked earth. In this half-state, she was at her strongest, the best of both man and beast.
"Do I not disgust you when I am like this?” she said without turning around.
"I know what you are,” he replied. “Let's go."
Her human face reappeared. She hoped the outside world would be as generous as Sol. Would they see a Lupine, or a freak of nature? A shaft of sunlight sliced through the trees, illuminating the grave. Dried leaves rattled as if whispering goodbye.
"Give me a few more moments.” Tian waved him towards the hut. “Ready the horses. I'll join you."
Sol hesitated briefly, touched her shoulder. She watched him walk away, trusting she would follow. A trust she should not abuse. Quickly, she stooped to grasp a handful of soil from her mother's grave. It was then that she noticed the misplaced mourning stone.
She growled softly, vision sharpening, every sense alert. A bird broke cover, the beat of its wings loud in the empty clearing. She whirled around, part woman, part wolf, tensed and ready to change.
Tian.
The sound echoed in her head, a dry rasp shaping her name. The same voice she'd heard in the visions. Searching the clearing, sending her wolf-sense beyond to the hut and the mountains, she listened. Sol's heartbeat, a little fast, but steady. The thunder of water falling onto rock. On the high ridge, a wolf-cousin stalking its prey. The only other human heartbeat, her own.
Remnants of the vision, she told her wolf. Nothing more. If he were here, we would feel it.
We should, the wolf replied. The visions left your father's mark on this place. Hard to know what is real and what is not.
She picked up the stone. Turned it in her hand, sniffed at the dark, glossy surface. Had Sol moved it?
Why would he leave it facing north? Sol would not do that.
I don't know. Carefully measuring the interval, she replaced the stone in the east-west orientation demanded by the ritual.
"Tian?"
Sol's voice, filtering through the trees. Not that of the man in her head.
"Coming,” she called back. Pushing down her wolf, she berated herself for being careless with the stone. Placed north, a mourning stone acted as an anchor. Much as she'd wished her mother to remain, she would never have tried to trap her spirit on the mortal plane.
I did it, she told the wolf. I must have moved it accidentally.
"Coming, Sol,” she called again, then turned and ran to the hut, hackles prickling with the ridiculous feeling that the usually-friendly trees were watching her.
Nothing there, she chanted in her head. Stupid woman, nothing there.
"Nervous?” Sol held out the leather harness used to strap the sword to his back. “I can't wear this if I have you seated behind me. Turn around."
"Yes, I am.” That he read her so well was unnerving. She attempted a wavering smile, obediently presenting her back for the harness. “My wolf travelled the lower plains, but the world seems so vast."
Sol snapped the last buckle in place. “I don't think we'll out-run the snows. I'd like us to reach Greendale if we can. By going directly south, we'll miss the worst of the winter. I have credits for food and lodgings to see us through if we do become trapped. I will sell my hair to raise a few more if we need them.” He slid the sword into the sheath, lifting strands of her own hair, which had become entangled in the leather straps.
"Yellow hair is rare?” She reached back and touched the unfamiliar weapon. She fought with teeth and claws, not metal.
"Very. People have been known to kill for it.” He lifted his hood, grinning at her from the confines of the quilted lining.
"This is why you hide it?"
"Best not to invite temptation. Go back inside. Take one last look around before locking up. If there's anything more you want to bring, we'll squeeze it in."
She found a knit hat and a pair of woollen mittens and resisted the urge to linger. Outside the horses were laden. Sol sat astride, waiting. And perhaps, in the shadows lurked a man, her own flesh and blood. Someone who would never stop seeking her.
A safe arrival at Wolf's Valley would only delay the inevitable, she realised. Avoiding him now would condemn her and Sol to a lifetime of looking over their shoulders and wondering when he would show himself.
Yes, the wolf urged. Confront him now. Or we will have no peace.
Sol would not approve.
Sol does not know everything. We do what is best, Tian. I will deal with the man you call Father. Call him. Tell him where we are.
Her vision dimmed, reminding her of the delicate balance between her and the wolf.
Don't make me go into the world blind. We made an agreement, wolf. Our best chance is to reach
Wolf's Valley. We will be protected there.
Call him, Tian. Tell him where to find us. I would have this over. You would too, if you are honest with yourself. We do not run, tail between our legs at the first sign of danger.
Extending her hands, she groped for the door-frame, stopping before she stood in Sol's view.
Wolf. Please...
Tenaciously, the wolf latched onto her turmoil, feeding on the indecision. After a several heartbeats, she stopped resisting.
All right, all right. Give me my sight. I will not fight you. If we lose our harmony, we lose everything.
I have given, Tian. Now you must. Your mother said the man who seeks us is evil; but have no fear, we will prevail.
I hope so. Wolf, don't do anything impetuous. Mother painted a picture of an evil man, yes. Sol says it's more complicated. I would talk to my father. Tell him I wish a life with Sol and his people. Surely he will not deny me?
We have seen how hunters take, with no thought of the lives they destroy. Remember the Loren Pack? Slaughtered for their pelts. The cubs left to starve. The man you call Father is a hunter, I can feel it.
Tian breathed, deeply. The room came back into focus. She took a little longer to gather together her scattered nerves. Fate, no doubt guided by the Goddess's manipulative hand, would decide the next move. No matter which path they took, it would inevitably lead to the same place.
All they could do was arm themselves, and be ready.
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Chapter 9
"Sol. Stop!
Tian slithered from the saddle and started on the fastenings of her coat.
"Can't you smell how wonderful it all is?” Her face glowed with excitement. Nostrils twitching, she threw the coat at him and slid her shirt over her head. She emerged from the folds, hair bouncing, amber eyes flashing.
"I won't go far. And I'll be careful,” she added when she caught the anxious censure in his eyes. A flash of fur disappeared through a cleft in the rocks, leaving him to dismount hastily and chase the shirt, which was tumbling across the rock-face, caught by an errant breeze.
He knew what she was doing. No matter how dangerous, he couldn't deny her wolf the right to mark the route home. Tian was like a child seeing the world for the first time. Her initial distrust was melting into an enthusiasm impossible to contain.
Taking the reins, he led the horses towards a rocky overhang sheltered on three sides from prying eyes and saw to their needs. Several times on the journey, he'd thought that Tian was deliberately inviting discovery. A shower of small stones skittered down the slope, panting and the scrape of claws loud in the silence. He laid the blast-gun on a flat stone to absorb the last weak rays of the sun and unpacked the small tent.
"Snow,” she said. “Already on the higher peaks. For us, tomorrow, at the latest."
Soft breasts pressed against his back. Slender arms wound around his waist, enclosing him with strength and love. Heat from her skin seeped through his clothes. He tipped back his head his mouth seeking hers. Elegant fingers deftly untied the lacings of his pants.
His reward for the purgatory of worry she put him through every time she disappeared.
"You mustn't worry about me,” she said. “I can look after myself."
"You might as well ask me to stop the sun shining,” he replied, shoving the pants past his hips. Reckless to make love in the open like this, when they knew what might be out there, watching. No willpower to resist when she offered herself so generously.
Pulling her round, onto his lap, he enclosed her naked body in his coat and pushed inside her, groaning with the feel of her tight, enclosing warmth.
She kissed her way to his ear. Bit down, lightly. “Say you forgive me,” she whispered, her hips starting a slow rocking.
"Your slave,” he mumbled. “Completely in your power."
Tian threw back her wild, wind-tangled hair, her face alight with the euphoria of the chase across the mountain. She moved in time with him, teeth catching her bottom lip, amber eyes never leaving his. Slight as a summer breeze in his arms, yet radiating a strength he'd never experienced. Not even in the most fearsome of warriors. She was solid like the rock at their back. Tenacious, like the trees clinging to the highest ridge.
"Ahh...” Sweet, blissful release. With his head on her shoulder, he continued thrusting, lost in the scent of arousal and lust. Like this, filled with the exhilaration of the wolf, she smelled of earth and sky and freedom.
Languidly, they floated back down to earth, lips touching, part kiss, part secret smile.
"I would be angry with you,” he said, when she finally allowed him to breathe. “If I had any energy left."
Tian rocked her hips, the smile turning wicked. His cock immediately registered an interest. “Do not be angry with me,” she said. “I brought dinner."
Three fat fowl and a rabbit lay beside them, along with a glowing fire-stick.
"I encountered a Krillian dragon on the ridge. It gave me fire. There should be enough power left in the stick to light our campfire."
Sol eased from her, reaching into his pocket for a cloth to clean himself. He straightened, groaning at the rush of blood to his legs. Tian sat back on her heels, watching him, lazily replete.
"You ask a Krillian for fire and tell me not to worry about you?"
"Oh,” she said flapping a dismissive hand. “They're completely misunderstood. You only need ask nicely.” Her eyes clouded. “Of course, man never does."
Sol bowed his head. “When next you see it, tell it thank you. Here. Much as I like you naked, you'd better dress yourself."
"My father is not here. No traces, no markers. Nothing."
Sol crossed to the packs and took out his hunting knife.
"Don't invite trouble, Tian."
"I'm not."
She fumbled for her shirt fastenings, her expression uncertain and all too-human again. Threading her fingers under her hair, she untangled it from the collar and let it rain down in a tumbling, silky mass. He loved the weight of it trailing across his bare skin. Hated the look of confusion in her eyes when he attempted to explain the ways of the world.
"I ... and my wolf believe we should seek him out. Talk to him. He is one and we are two. He is old and we are young and strong. Why should we fear him? I do not like this feeling of being stalked."
"Neither do I. Hold the rabbit's legs for me."
Tian slipped quickly into pants, warm socks and boots. He draped the coat over her shoulders. Let the mutinous set of her jaw pass without comment. She was not someone he could throw over his shoulder and march away with when she defied him. No meek woman who stayed near the hearth, preparing his food.
She held the rabbit taut while he scored the skin and peeled it away, gutted the organs from the flesh. Busied herself finding roasting-sticks. He lit the camp-fire. Plucked the fowl.
As the meat roasted and the sun melted into the earth in a blaze of orange light, they put up the tent, neither of them speaking. To make this relationship work required patience, not hasty words.
After the meal, Tian sat between his bent knees, her back to his chest. He caught the whiff of spice from the rinse she used on her hair, a scent uniquely hers. She lifted her head and sniffed the night-air then wriggled back comfortably and sighed heavily.
Sol remembered the distress when her wolf had denied her sight. Seeing her relaxed and in tune with her beast was a gift.
"The Krillian's still there, higher now. It's moving west to the mountains of Stearn for the winter. There's a lone wolf on that high ledge. It's been tracking us since we left the hut. I think it's seeking a mate."
"Well, it can't have you.” Sol wrapped himself closer, shielding her body from the terrors of the night. “What else can you sense?"
"When the world is still and quiet—everything. Sol, if he was out there, I'd know."
He touched her head. “You'll hear him in here, first. That's how Lupines communicate with each other."
"Then wherever he is, he's not close enough. I thought you wanted the confrontation. Don't you have a grudge to play out?"
"Not with you here. It's between me and your father. And even then, I'm not sure I could bring myself to kill him if it should come to that. You're of his flesh and his blood. It doesn't seem right."
Tian twisted around. Cupped his cheeks, thumb brushing the rasp of his stubbled jaw.
"He's just a man. And when we are legally married, he loses all claim to me. May I marry without consent?"
He kissed her fingers. Tasted the lingering rabbit-grease. Wished they had some wine or ale. Tonight he would have liked to get a little drunk, to forget everything and spend the night making love with the woman he adored. A foolish thought given their circumstances.
"You are his until your twenty-fifth year. I think that's the rule for a daughter of Rom. The priest at Wolf's Valley will marry us without consent although in the eyes of the world it will not be legal until you reach your majority. In any case, your father isn't one for rules. Legal or not, he'll want you back."
"I have hidden from him all these years. And now I am seeing the world. It's full of sights and sounds and smells I could only dream of before you came. My mother must have had a good reason to hide me from all this. You know what my father is capable of. Now I need to find out for myself. Do you understand?"
"I'm trying."
The Lupine was loyal, but ultimately a free spirit. Living with a human would only temper her natural instincts. He curled his fingers around her wrists and matched his strength to hers. Spoke to the wolf and the woman.
"All I ask is for you exercise caution. And listen to your mate once in a while. Yes?"
Tian let go and returned him a tremulous smile. Her expression a little sad. “A wild beast does not take orders."
"You're not a wild beast, Tian. You're a Lupine. Once they lived in harmony with man and they will again.” When she moved away he followed, held her in his arms, giving her the anchor she sorely needed. “Finn learned to live in this world after years of torment at the hands of man. You will too. You should see his children. They don't question what they are, they just are. I understand that this is hard for you but let's at least give ourselves a chance. Come with me to Wolf's Valley. Listen and learn, and then if you feel you must meet your father I will arrange it. We'll take an armed escort and meet him on neutral ground."
