Circle of Wolves

by Jacqueline Roth

  “Bounced this one on her knee, she did.” The woman pointed behind her to the oldest of what must have been her daughters. The woman was well into her sixties and her gray and silver hair was just peeking from beneath the scarf that covered it.

  “How old did you say this one was?” Elena looked at Kira with amusement.

  “I’m thirty, ma’am.” Evan answered uncertainly.

  “At least he’s legal,” one of the older women standing behind Elena chuckled.

  “Be nice to your elders,” Kira laughed back. She turned to Evan. “Because of how the blood Wolf ages, it is taboo to be physically intimate with a wolf who has not reached thirty.” She glared back at the other woman. “This does not apply to curse wolves.” Turning back to him she smiled sadly. “Valeri was not yet thirty.”

  She placed a hand on Elena’s shoulder. “I like this one.” Kira nudged playfully at the old woman. “Behave. I’d rather you didn’t scare him off.”

  “Has he met Nico?”

  Kira nodded.

  “Then no chance of that. Unless that opinionated cow of a mother of yours gets to him. It’s her you need to watch, not me.”

  “We’ve had that discussion,” Kira said ruefully. “Believe me, we’ve had the discussion.”

  “Well, at least there is always your father.” Elena looked up at Evan and winked. “She gets most of her blood from him, I think. That’s a good thing.”

  “I haven’t met either of them yet but I am certain that you are right.” Evan shifted uncomfortably at the memory of her mother.

  He caught the sharp exchange of glances between Elena and Kira.

  “Don’t, Elena,” Kira warned slowly, “Alexi’s shoving hard enough for both of you.”

  “I doubt it would take much of a shove.” Elena was eyeing him closely. “No, not much of a shove.”

  He couldn’t stop the twitch that formed on his lips. Kira had been right. This woman was very interesting, endearing in a frustrating and pushy way. “No,” he spoke up, turning his eyes to Kira, “no it doesn’t take much of a shove to make someone go where they are already headed.”

  He was rewarded by a bright smile from both women. He went to reach for Kira’s hand but she pulled away slightly and frowned at him. A slight shake of her head and he realized she didn’t want him to touch her in front of these people. He was distracted by Elena’s chuckle. “Gadje.” She seemed to be speaking to the other women. “Poor boy,” she continued, “thinks his love has rejected him before us.” There was a twitter of laughter among the women.

  “Don’t fret child, she is just showing respect for our ways.” She motioned for him to look behind him and he saw that the women had been joined by a group of men who were holding themselves apart. The two groups did not mingle. “An unmarried woman does not allow a man to touch her. It would be violation of marimé, our purity code.”

  Evan breathed deeply with relief. He noticed for the first time, that though he had been invited into the women’s circle as a curiosity, none of them stood within arm’s distance of him to avoid any risk he might touch one by accident or design.

  “Speaking of unmarried women,” Elena was continuing, “we have happy news. A wedding tonight. We hurried back to be here for the moon and so that we would have a day’s grace for the wedding.”

  Kira’s eyes turned to a young woman who was wearing a necklace covered in gold coins. “Nadja? Has the time finally come? Can you really be that old?”

  The young girl smiled brightly. “We will have a great feast tonight and you will both be there.” She said it with such finality that it didn’t even cross Evan’s mind to resist the idea.

  “Of course.” Kira looped an arm around the young girl’s shoulders. “It is time these fathers got around to setting a date.” Elena looked as if she would say something but a look from Kira had her raising her hands in submission.

  “I said nothing.” The wicked grin showed a mouth devoid of teeth but it was a smile that made you want to smile back. “All of you,” she called out to the women and men alike, “get back to work. We have a great deal to do.”

  After the crowd dispersed, Kira sat on the ground at the woman’s feet. “Elena, we need to talk.”

  “Yes, I know. Sit down boy. You are giving me a sore neck looking up at you.” She motioned for Evan to be seated.

  He chose a spot well away from Kira so that he would not accidentally brush against her and offend these people. He looked up into the aged face and saw her frown sadly.

  “I know. I have led them to you. I did not know what else to do, Kira. They would not leave us. They have followed us for many days. They are,” she lowered her voice, “mages. But they are not hunters so we did not dare to deal with them as we would have dealt with others.”

  Kira sighed. “I know. Have you actually seen them?”

  Elena nodded. “Yes, we have seen the fire when there was no fire. We have seen them appear and disappear when they think we notice them.”

  Both women looked at him. Evan was startled when he heard Elena speak, “This one really is gadje isn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s the boy, isn’t he? The one who haunts Alexi?”

  “Yes.”

  Elena looked at him thoughtfully. Evan could think of nothing he needed to say so he remained silent. She turned her dark gaze away from him and to Kira. “He knows?”

  “He knows everything.” Kira met the eyes unyieldingly.

  “Everything?” Elena’s brows drew together.

  “Yes.”

  “And still he sits here.” Her words were almost an affirmation to herself. Her eyes brightened as she smiled suddenly. “I’ll bet he doesn’t know everything.”

  “Elena?” Kira’s face was suddenly wary. “What are you up to?”

  The old woman chuckled. “Does he know his darling is a heroine? A war heroine?”

  Evan looked from Kira to Elena. “What?” Kira a heroine he would well imagine but war? What war?

  The trio was interrupted by Alexi’s noisy arrival. No sooner did he appear than Kira’s head swung around and looked at the group of men. Her eyes widened. “Alexi?”

  “Leave it, Kira. Let us handle this.” Alexi removed the cloth bag he had flung over his shoulder. “Evan, come with me. No, Kira, you stay here. We have business.”

  “Alexi what are you up to?” Kira was rising to her feet and squaring off against her brother.

  “There is only one reason why Father could justify meeting with Evan now and meeting with him outside the gate. You know that.” Alexi’s voice was gentle but his eyes were determined. He pulled a bottle wrapped in a bright silk scarf from the bag. The neck of the bottle was decorated with a gold chain from which gold coins hung. “This was Father’s choice, Kira.”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock but she recovered quickly. “What about Evan’s choices?”

  “He is free to refuse.”

  She sighed and turned to him. “You are free to refuse, Evan. It will not slight me in the least.”

  “I’m free to refuse what?” Evan was staring from one to the other with puzzlement. He really hated it when they spoke like siblings. Each knowing the other so well they only spoke half their thoughts, secure that the other would understand.

  “There has been no fixing of the darro?” Elena’s voice sounded scandalized. “Kira! You walk with a man alone and there has been no fixing of the darro?” The older woman rapped her cane hard on the ground in anger.

  Kira groaned in frustration. They were all well-meaning but they were the most meddlesome group of people. Why was it the people she loved all seemed so determined to set the pace for her life? And not just hers but Evan’s too.

  She turned to Evan. “Darro means bride price, Evan. I’m afraid you are going to have to meet with Father under the pretense of determining my bride price.” She turned to Alexi. “I assume you will be acting as Evan’s father.”

  Her brother nodded. “Our customs make me
responsible for him.”

  Evan looked at her face. The apprehension there was clear and easily defined. So was the conflict, a conflict he felt mirrored inside himself. So very fast. Everything was moving so very fast. So very quickly he was finding himself with everything he had ever wanted. He lifted his hand to touch her face and stopped himself, letting it clench and fall back to his side. The sense of uncertainty passed quickly. Alexi was right, if he listened to the voice inside himself he knew what he wanted. He had already told her he expected her to leave her family and come back with him to his world. She had agreed.

  Kira looked at him trying to gauge his reaction. He was confused and trying to sort it out. “I’m sorry to see all this thrust upon you like this. Just remember Evan that none of this is real. You need not take any of this seriously.”

  A smile burst winningly across his face as he realized it really was so simple. Bride price. To marry Kira. To marry her and to have her as his wife at his side. This was what he wanted. Part of him was chuckling, wondering what his friends would think if they could see him now. Passive, easygoing, slow-moving Evan.

  “And if I choose to take it seriously, Kira?” The blue-gray eyes searched her face for her reaction.

  He saw her lower lip begin to tremble and her eyes shone. “Then I would tell you that Father is waiting.”

  He followed her gaze and saw a man dressed not so differently from the men around him but a man who exuded not only the air of command, the absolute aura of power and dominance but the scent as well. Standing in the midst of the Roma men was a man who could have been Alexi’s older brother, a man who met his eye and held it until Evan lowered his gaze and looked away. Stanislav Gregoravitch had come to him.

  He let Alexi lead him away. Alexi still carried the canvas bag but stopped halfway between the groups. Evan looked back at Kira and her face was a moving cavalcade of expressions, feelings and thoughts. He could see her hesitation, her hope, her love, all moving across that beautiful face. When he looked back at Alexi, he was reaching into the bag.

  “Evan, you are going to need this.” Alexi handed him a round cloth-wrapped bundle that Evan recognized instantly. His focus stone.

  “Alexi? Isn’t this exactly the wrong thing for me to have in my hand right now?” Evan remembered Kira’s reaction. How would her Father react? The rest of those around him.

  “Evan, if there are mages who have followed Elena’s family and if they are from the evil man you warned us of, then you need to have this. We can protect ourselves, my friend. How could we leave you defenseless?” Alexi wasn’t looking at the green stone that Evan was now holding uncovered in his hand. “I apologize for the invasion of privacy. I had to go through your things to find this but if these people are as bad as you say, you must have this.”

  “I’m not exactly defenseless without it but it would be helpful, yes.” Evan looked at him and realized just what Alexi had done for him in the last half an hour. He had swallowed his own terror of magic and had braved the handling of a focus stone to bring it to him. He had braved his father and Kira to bring him the chance not only to meet with the Alpha but to meet with the father of the woman he now realized he did most ardently want at his side.

  “Evan, there is one more question I need to ask.” Alexi seemed actually hesitant. “I have brought everything we need if you really want to do this. The darro is a formality for us, not like with Elena’s people. The gold necklace and a few symbolic gifts are all you will be expected to give. I have them here in the bag. If you don’t want to do this, we will simply conduct our business and move on. Kira will suffer a bit of embarrassment in the eyes of the women here when it is learned you rejected the price but it is not like it is for them. For these women the rejection would follow them, damaging their chances. A refusal of a bride price would be mortifying. What Kira would find mortifying is for you to feel pushed or pressured into doing something you don’t want to do.”

  Evan hesitated. “You really are okay with this, Alexi? I know you’ve been pushing but this is getting very real. Your sister and I, it’s getting very, very real.”

  A smile formed on the full lips. “Yes, I’m okay, Evan. Father is as well. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. I think he is actually hoping for some happiness in her life and we’ve all seen how much happiness you’ve brought her the last week. Evan, you didn’t know her before you came. She was so quiet, so sad, so very lost. She believes what she is, her gift, that it is a curse that keeps her from ever being happy. She had given up on ever having the things she wanted most, a mate, a family. These last days have seen my little sister returned to me. If for nothing else, Evan Forester, Father and I would give you the world if you but asked it.”

  “Alexi, you said you are acting as my father for this?” Evan looked at the large man’s brown eyes. They were so earnest.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Papa, let’s go set a darro for that lovely woman.”

  Circle of Wolves

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Price Paid

  Alexi led Evan to the circle of men. They had seated themselves upon the ground surrounding a log upon which sat Stanislav Gregoravitch. Evan kept his gaze focused on the man’s face but avoided looking directly into Gregoravitch’s eyes. He stopped outside the circle and waited. Instinct was telling him not to approach this man without an invitation. He turned his head to the side and looked back to where he had left Kira. She was sitting next to Elena now. Nadja had rejoined them and was sitting behind her. Kira was watching him intently, her nervousness, her anxiety carried to him on the wind.

  He turned back and saw that Alexi had taken a seat within the circle and opposite his father. The low voice came from the man who was the Alpha of all the Wolves. The Family, Kira had called them. The original Family. “Evan Forester, approach and join us. We will determine if we have common interests to be served.”

  Evan slowly entered the circle. He stopped behind Alexi and looked down at his friend. He felt more intimidated than he had in a long time. For the most part, these people had stripped away his shyness, his hesitations and his reserve but this man returned all of those with a breathless force. He looked to Alexi for guidance. He now had a double incentive to not mess this up. For the conclave and for Kira.

  Alexi nodded and Evan took a seat on the ground that put him to one side and slightly behind the large man. The Alpha watched him closely and looked him over with a penetrating appraisal. “So, I am led to believe we may have business to discuss.”

  Evan had been about to answer when he saw Alexi’s hand reach out to his side, palm facing him. The sharp, brief movement was clear. Stay quiet. Let me talk.

  “We have much business to discuss, sir. As you know Evan Forester seeks alliance with this family. He seeks it on multiple levels.” Alexi’s voice was calm and practiced.

  Evan was studying the great man through the conveniently too long lock of hair that fell in his face if he kept his head tilted down. Over five hundred years old, Kira had told him. The academic in Evan allowed itself to wander briefly over the wonders and events that had changed the shape of humanity and the world during that time. The things this man had seen.

  He noticed Gregoravitch smile slightly at the words Alexi spoke. “He does, does he? Well, if he is reasonable we can most likely accommodate the alliance. We are not opposed to it.” The man let his smile deepen. “The woman is very valuable. Is your…boy…capable of meeting a suitable demand of compensation? He looks a bit young and worn to our eyes. How will he compensate us?”

  Evan looked up directly at the man. What he could see of the side of Alexi’s face and from the faces of the men seated about them, this was expected. How could he compensate them? How did one put a price on a woman like Kira? Symbolic or otherwise.

  “We stand ready to offer suitable compensation for the girl.” Alexi emphasized the word. “What price do you set?”

  The entire exchange essentially excluded Evan but then Alexi had s
aid he would act as Evan’s father. He guessed it made sense that his father would do the bargaining. Man to man, so to speak.

  “We require several conditions and compensations for one so valuable.” The Alpha’s words were slow and measured. “We require assurance of the ability of this young man to provide for her. We also require compensation for the contribution she would have made to the well-being of the family. What compensation do you offer?”

  Alexi turned to look full at Evan and motioned for him to move forward. He pulled a small loaf of bread from the bag and handed it to Evan and motioned for him to present it to the Alpha. Evan took the loaf and as he reached forward to lay it at the feet of the man Alexi spoke. “We offer proof that she will never know want, we offer assurance that while our families…” Alexi hesitated for a moment and looked at Evan, “while our peoples are joined, we shall offer succor and sustenance one to another.”

  The older man smiled and looked at the crowd. A bit of murmuring had arisen among the men at the word “peoples”, but they all understood that Evan was not the same as the other men of the family of the girl he bartered for. He nodded his agreement. “That is acceptable.”

  “We await your next request,” Alexi said calmly.

  “We seek compensation for the flavor, the variety and energy our daughter brings to our lives. How will you compensate that? How can one so young possibly reimburse us for such a rare source of joy?” Evan began to notice a bit of a glint in the man’s eyes.

  This is a game, he thought. He snuck a look at Alexi and saw the same repressed amusement. He relaxed. This was just symbolic.

  Alexi reached into his bag and handed Evan three small pouches that were tied with colored string and then the ends of the strings tied together. Evan leaned forward and placed them at the man’s feet next to the bread. “Salt, paprika and ginger we give you as proof that she will always know a life filled with excitement, with passion, with joy and that as long as our peoples are joined together they may draw enrichment from the diverse flavors of our traditions.”