by Redrae Gunn
She shrugged off her leather jacket as she strode into the living room. She was in full leather as David had woken up after she had left for the store. She saw the young wolf on the carpet between the men on the sectional and the sofa. He was howling at the ceiling, and everyone was arguing about how to get him to be quiet.
Damien, Caleb, Sean, Chad, David, Jeff, and Maska went silent as she walked in the room and used her hand to “nip” the howling cub on the neck. The room was quiet for a second, and then the cub looked up and growled at Tayen. She bent over and “nipped” him again with her hand. He rolled to his side from the force of her blow and stayed down.
“What the fuck?” Tayen asked meeting each person’s eyes. She fixed her gaze on Maska as he was the one person who would never be in the city if he could help it, and there was a wolf pup in her living room howling at the ceiling.
Maska apologized to the others in the room and then he spoke in his native tongue to Tayen. His hand gestures and emotions, as well as Tayen’s reaction, needed no interpretation. Half Smile was alive but had nearly died defending the pup. Her recovery would take at least two months. While Half Smile recovered the pup needed a place to stay.
The only zoo willing to work with the pup was in Omaha. The only person Maska knew who could handle a domesticated or half wild wolf in Omaha was Tayen. As Maska glanced down at the now quiet pup it was obvious that the only leader the wolf was willing to accept was Tayen.
Maska glanced at the wolf who sat, glancing nervously around the room, between Tayen’s legs. Tayen had some of her own words in return to Maska, and then she looked down at the pup, who bowed his head at her gaze. She stalked out of the room, and the pup followed her. He glanced back at the men and grunted a little. Tayen tilted her head to the side and smiled at his reaction.
Tayen went to the fridge and saw the steaks Cindy was unthawing for the next morning. She sliced off a piece of the red meat and chewed it. She pulled the raw slice of meat from her mouth and threw it across the floor of the kitchen. The pup scrambled after it, growling ferociously as he devoured it. When he was finished, he looked at her, grunted, and tilted his head. Tayen smiled back at him and repeated the action twice more and headed to the living room.
“He is Ahanu,” Tayen said as she looked down at the animal. Maska laughed and nodded his head in approval at the name.
Tayen turned and left the room. The pup glanced back and grunted again at them again before scrambling after Tayen, whining, as he negotiated the stairs. He kept his nose to the ground and wandered around upstairs before he finally put his nose to the floor and followed Tayen’s scent into her bedroom.
“Well then, Ahanu,” Tayen said looking at the wolf that was looking back at her with an intense gaze. She settled in the hammock, and when Ahanu whined, she picked him up and settled him on her chest. “I know your mom,” Tayen began softly. “Let me tell you a little more about her.”
“I have to know that meaning,” David said to Maska. “I haven’t asked about you or Tayen’s names in years, but I need to know what she just named that killer.”
Maska smiled. “It means, well”—he paused—“in this case, based on her pronunciation, it means ‘One who laughs.’ Which appears to be very correct, judging by his behavior.”
“That little, grunting, gloating thing he did,” Caleb said, “did sound much like a laugh.”
“I think it fits,” Maska said. “Half Smile had that pup around us quite a bit. He won’t do well in the wild at this age. I know that Tayen will work with the zoo, and he will be back in his own pack as soon as Half Smile is better. It’s only temporary, she knows that, so don’t worry too much about the killer, David.”
“It’s very quiet,” David said, glancing nervously upstairs at Tayen’s door.
The men in the living room crept upstairs, curiosity getting the best of them.
Caleb opened the door to Tayen’s room and saw her sleeping in the hammock. Ahanu was sleeping on her chest.
Maska reached around David and shut Tayen’s door. He started down the stairs followed by Jeff. Maska turned and nodded at Caleb and David, his gaze lingering longer on Caleb. “No longer is the lone wolf alone.”
Epilogue
Tayen and Caleb sat across from the half-blind woman who flipped the cards on the table. Tayen fingered the purple cloth, liking the silver threads woven into the material. It was the first time that Caleb had brought someone with him when he went to get his cards read and the first time he had done it and it hadn’t been his birthday.
Tayen breathed deeply the incense and patted Caleb’s back when he sneezed. Caleb flexed the muscles across his broad chest and leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his shoulder-length, brown hair. His dark-green eyes flashed at Tayen, and he smiled.
“Well, you are in love,” the woman said looking at the cards and not at the couple in front of her.
“Yes, but the new moon?” Caleb said. “You said I would find love with the coming of the new moon.”
“Oh, yes, dear.” The woman stared at him with her good eye. “The new moon has found you.”
“Found me,” Caleb repeated.
The woman pointed to the Queen of Swords, next to the Hanged Man. They were facing toward him. “Trust me. Trust the cards. The world has given you what you seek.”
“I have everything I need.” Caleb sighed, his arm tightening around Tayen’s shoulders. “I just want to know what the new moon had to do with anything.”
“I can only interpret the cards as you’ve drawn them,” the woman said to Caleb. “Submission, yet the strength to challenge you. That has all come to you with the coming of the new moon.”
“But not the moon cycle,” Caleb said, running his hands through his hair again.
“No matter,” the woman said, gathering the cards. “Love found you.”
Caleb flipped a hundred dollar bill on the table and left the store. He apologized to Tayen for bringing her along. Tayen stood in the middle of the snowy parking lot and traced her name in the snow with her foot. Caleb came over and looked down at her name wondering what she was doing.
“New moon,” she said softly as she stared at her name in the snow. She looked up at Caleb to see the realization of her name’s meaning dawning in his eyes. “The new moon literally plowed you over, spilling oranges everywhere.” Tayen smiled. “The tay-en found you, Caleb.”
Caleb looked in Tayen’s eyes. The love he felt was reciprocated in her gaze. He whispered, “I’m so happy that she did.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“I’ll take Author’s Bio for 200, Alex.”
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there isn’t much to say. I grew up with parents who were high-school sweethearts and are still married, had four younger siblings to torture during childhood, and made it into adulthood, thankfully, with minimal scars.
I reside in the middle of America with a very “intense” husband, a son who takes after his dad, and a daughter who likes to “kick it” with her mom on weekends. The order on the totem pole is clearly apparent, but I also find that kind of abandonment enjoyable.
What is twisted? Who are we all?
“And that is the answer to the Daily Double. Thank you all for playing.”
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