Wolf Heart: Moon Born book 1

by Dallas Jessica Owen

  “Father you are not making sense,” She frowned, “I saw no sign of plague before I left and nothing strikes that quickly.” Her father shook his head and she looked at him, eyes sharp. “Tell me then.”

  “The morning you left to go to the Walkers I was called to the Braiden’s home. It was his son, Karl.” She watched as her father shook his head. “He is dead Alice, taken in an afternoon. I have never seen anything even remotely like it and I fear for the world should it spread.”

  “Keep talking, I will make some tea.” Alice got up and walked over to the fireplace. Their woodpile had become meager she saw and she used what was left of it to begin starting a fire.

  “When I arrived Karl had bright red patches of skin on his chest, back and neck and his breathing was labored. I smoked the room with mint leaves and watery peppercress but it did little to help. After about an hour he began to scream, his joints on fire every time he moved and then,” Her father looked at her and she saw real fear on his face, “Oh gods Alice. He started to sweat blood.” She watched as he visibly pulled himself together. “He soon died and then later that afternoon his mother and another villager came down with the same symptoms.”

  “By the following morning, the number of cases was up to ten. There is no rhyme or reason to its infection. Mothers go down whilst daughters are unaffected, one brother will die whilst another will be free. I rushed around trying to help and when Terrel demanded I tell him where you were I couldn’t lie anymore. I had to tell them you had gone to the Walkers to aid their injured family member. Aiden went mad then. He was shouting that it was my fault, that I had brought his sickness down on his village and that I should have raised you to be a better daughter.”

  Her father looked at her and she saw the tiredness in his eyes. “I am sorry daughter. I saw the darkness within Aiden’s eyes when he was young. I went to Terrel, offered my help but he never believed what the rest of us all see. His son is mad.” Shaking his head he sighed, “Anyway he vowed to take you as his bride and when I told him no, he pushed me down and kicked me. His father tried to pull him off but Aiden was incensed. He was screaming that it was his village and he would get a new healer, one that would do as he ordered.”

  “I do not know why he wants you so daughter, but I will not sign the marriage contract. You will not marry him whilst I am alive.”

  She laughed bitterly, “It makes perfect sense to me. He wants to marry me because then he gets to control me, the woman he wanted but who always turned him down. He thinks we should all act the same, be the same. Here to service him and those like him, to be brood mares only and he will break me to do it.”

  “No.” Her father shook his head. “I cannot let this happen. If he wants to ensure the villager's loyalty then he can only break the laws of the church to a certain extent. I will not sign the marriage contract. He will not dare break that one.” As she sat next to him he reached over and squeezed her hand, “Anyway, tell me something better. Tell me of your adventures with the Walkers.”

  “I have seen so many things father, things that would be called evil but are not,” I have tasted her lips, oh gods. “It was Pyter’s daughter, Sasha who was injured. She had been struck by some abomination whilst she was scouting some of the ruins of the forest and became deathly ill. We nearly lost her,” Her face went pale and looking at the table she whispered, “I nearly lost her,” before she looked up once more. “We had to approach her mother, the witch of the hollows.”

  “So that is how she came to be?” Her father shook his head. “When I spent time amongst them he asked me if I had any ideas on how to treat their predicament. I told him what magic has taken away only magic can give back. He already had her then and I thought she must have been a foundling. I never knew he had already thought of the witch.”

  “Well, I certainly learned more than I thought I ever would.” She went quiet and then looked at her father. “They made me an offer. They asked me to think about joining them.” She watched his face, “I know you know what that means.”

  He nodded slowly. “I do. The gifts green Lady Sova gave to them are remarkable but I am not sure I could take them, not after having the joy of my daughter in my life.” He squeezed her hand. “You have never expressed any desire for a child though. You have never expressed any desires at all for normal village life. Do you know what you will do?”

  Shaking her head she whispered, “I do not know,“ Sasha’s face floated in her thoughts and she whispered. “Something happened that I don’t know what to think about. Even if Aiden had not dragged me back, I might have left anyway. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “Alice,” Her father got to his feet slowly. “You have always relied on your mind to solve all your problems. Sometimes though, you have to take a leap of faith. Think with your heart daughter. Think not what would be right but for once what would make you happy and you will find the two are often the same.” Then he smiled and she felt her heart lift as he bent carefully and hugged her. “It is good to see you again daughter.”

  That night as she lay in her own bed once more, covered with blankets Alice tossed and turned trying to sleep. This is stupid she thought as she opened her eyes and stared into the darkness of night. It was just the heat of the moment that is all. It does not mean I want her. Closing her eyes once more she saw Sasha’s face in her thoughts, felt her lips once more and her fists bunched. “No,” whispering into the room she shook her head. “I cannot think like this.”

  Why not? Her heart whispered to her. What do you feel so much guilt over something that felt right? Is it because you have been told not to by a village that would turn against you at the slightest ill?

  She is my patient though, her mind answered. I cannot become close to someone I have treated. That is a trust I cannot break.

  With a grunt, she got up and punched her pillow before falling back onto it. She is no longer my patient though.

  She might be again one day. She has become sick once, what is to say she will not again? How can I keep to the code my father taught me then? Staring into the darkness she felt a tear run down her cheek and whispered, “I dabbled with a sorceress to save my friend. How far would I go to save the one I loved? I cannot risk that. I would burn the forest to ash for her.”

  Turning she felt her heart race and remembered the touch of Sasha’s fingers against her neck, the look of desperate need in her spring green eyes. Say it her heart whispered. Soft and gentle it prodded her.

  “No. We are from two very different worlds. It would not work.” She shook in her bed as her body yearned to get up and run, to force its way through the village and back into the forest that called her. “It could not work.”

  You could join her world. The invitation is open and father has told me to leave. Turning onto her side once more she heard her father’s soft snoring as he slept in his own sleeping space next door. Say it she heard her heart whisper once more. Say it and know the truth.

  It is her or Aiden for he will never allow anyone else to marry me. It is her gentle touch or his brutish one, her soft kiss or his hard one, her tender caress or his uncaring one. I do not want him. Oh, gods, I don’t want him. I want her.

  “I want her,” she whispered and felt her heart beat faster. Rolling onto her back she felt tears prick her eyes. “I want you, Sasha. I want you and I want your world and I messed it all up.” In the darkness, she heard her heart answer. A wolf howl, long and undulating under the moonlight outside the village and Alice smiled. “Wait for me if you can. I will get back to you I promise. No matter what it takes.”

  Chapter 23

  “Father,” Alice came down to breakfast wearing the skirts and dress that the village expected of her. White and frumpy they were a world away from the leather outfit the Walkers had bestowed upon her and she felt hemmed in by them as if they tied her to a world she no longer wanted. “Father I have something to tell you.”

  “I gather you have thought on the Walker’s proposition then? What
did your heart tell you?” He sat at the work table, cutting a bunch of herbs that had dried. Every movement of his hands was sure but she saw that he winced as he worked, as his ribs still caused him pain.

  Walking towards him she sat down opposite and took hold of his hands. Cupping them she smiled up at her father. “I think I have found the person I want to spend my life with. Doing so would mean leaving here though.” Then she blushed and looked down at the table, “It is the Walker headman’s daughter, the one I treated.” Looking up she scowled “I know I should not feel this way, that she was a patient, that she is not a man and that she is not who you would want. You are not disappointed?”

  “When you were born I looked at your mother and said, I wonder what she will grow up to be. Your mother just smiled and looking down at you whispered, I just want her to be happy.” He reached across and took her hands in his own. “Does this young woman make you happy?”

  “Yes, yes I do.” Then in a rush, she laughed. “It is crazy. She can change into a wolf and yet I feel so safe when I am with her. I’ve seen sorcery and places the first race lived. I have met dryads and forest creatures that could tear me apart. By all rights, my soul should be in peril yet all I feel is my spirit soaring by her side.” She blushed furiously. “I am going on now. Why do you not stop me instead of letting my prattle on like a traveling minstrel?”

  Her father smiled “Why would I stop something you feel so passionately? When I was with your mother I felt like the sun came out every time she smiled. I hope you feel the same for this woman.”

  Alice shook her head but could not help smiling. “She isn’t the sun. She is more like the moon.” Then she frowned. “But I have to apologize to her. She tried to get close to me and I messed it up, running because I was afraid. And I can’t leave you here alone. Not with that brute. What are we going to do?”

  There was a thump at the door and her father smiled, “Do not worry Alice. I think he has made our choice for us. I won’t be laid by my beloved when I die, but I will get to see my daughter happy. That will be enough.”

  Getting to his feet he walked slowly to the door and opening it she heard Aiden’s angry muttered cursing before he pushed his way inside. “Right, let’s get this charade out of the way.”

  The village headman walked in behind him and in his hand was a piece of parchment. “My son wishes to marry your daughter Georg. Sign this blasted thing so we can put all this behind us and get back to the way things were.”

  “I will not.” She watched as her father crossed his arms. “You have allowed your son to assault me, blame me for this plague and have now asked the church for another healer. As soon as he arrives we will leave this village and you will never see us again. Until then I will help you with this illness because the ill do not deserve to suffer for your cowardice but my daughter will not be here. She is leaving today and you will never see her again.”

  “NO!” Aiden shouted it enraged and pushing his father out of the way he pushed Georg against the cabin wall. Alice saw her father wince as he hit the wood and got to her feet as Aiden growled. “You will do as I say and sign this contract now. We will be Wed and then we will chase those filthy Walkers out of this forest. She will never see them again.”

  “I will do no such thing.” Her father stared at the headman’s son and shook his head. “Your father might be too afraid to say no to you, I am not. You will not have my daughter.”

  “Aiden,” Alice walked over to the three men. “I do not love you. I do not want you and you do not want me.” She turned to Aiden’s father “Let us both go and you will never see us again. I promise. Control your son and do not let this travesty continue.”

  She watched as Aiden’s face slowly turned an ugly shade of red. “Sign, the paper,” he hissed slowly and she saw his fists clench and his eyes turn white and mean. Her father shook his head once more and she heard the headman’s son whisper “No, you will not disobey me.”

  Thrusting her father once more against the wooden wall of her home Alice watched as Aiden turned, striding towards the table. “NO!” she screamed as the headman’s son reached for the knife and she tried to move, to stop him but it was too late. Face red with anger and snarling in hate she watched helplessly as he turned, his hand pushing against her father’s stomach. Red blossomed then and she heard her father grunt in pain.

  “You will not say no to me!” Aiden shouted, “I am your leader here and I will have obedience!” Slowly, her father fell backward, the knife blade appearing red and dangerous until he hit the floor with a thump that was loud in the sudden silence.

  “Son, what have you done?” She heard Terrel whisper but all her mind was on her father. Running to him she fell to her knees, reached for him and pushed her hands against his wound to try and stop the bleeding. She watched as his face turned white in pain and shock. “By the god’s son, what have you done!”

  The smell of copper was strong in the air and her vision was smeared with tears. Filled with fear all she could do was sob as her father raised one trembling hand to cup her cheek. “This works in our favor father. I’ll take his body to the forest,” She heard Aiden’s bored tone, felt rage in her heart at it. “We’ll say he went to find rare herbs that would have stopped the illness and the Walker’s killed him for it. We’ll say they brought the plague with them. We’ll wipe them out for this and then we can chop this forest to the ground.

  “As for her,” Fingers twisted in her hair pulling and she screeched in pain. “She has no father now, so as headman sign the damn marriage contract and we’ll have our own personal healer once I have broken her.”

  “Father, please,” she begged as his eyes began to close. “Don’t leave me. If you leave me you won’t get to see who I love,”

  The hand that held her cheek tightened became firm and his eyes snapped open. “I am sorry Adana,” he hissed as he stared over her shoulder. Then with a strength that shocked her, he pushed her aside and staggered to his feet howling in pain. Open mouthed she watched as he ran towards Aiden and the headman of the village, pushing them away from the door with his weight and in a strangled tone of agony he howled, “Run to her!”

  He grunted in pain as Aiden raised his hand once more, the knife still clenched in his hand and then it was brought down in a rush. She watched the knife pierce her father’s back but he still refused to fall. With a sob, Alice ran for the door, her eyes full of tears. “Stop her!” Aiden’s voice rang out and she felt hands reach for her dress. It caught, pulled her back for just a moment and then she was past and pushing out the door.

  Her white dress was stained red with her father’s blood and running she saw the few villagers that had dared to come out of their cabins stare at her in shock. Tears fell as quickly as she wiped them away and her feet staggered on grass and mud and dirt. “Stop her!” she heard a shout from behind her and no longer recognized who was shouting. Pulling her skirts up, she ran for the hole in the village wall, running to escape the horror that lay behind.

  Blood pounded in her head and her heart screamed as she ran. She knew she only had moments, for she could not run fast in the village skirts she was forced to wear. Feet pounded behind her and breathe hit her neck. “What?” she heard a villager say as he came from around a corner and reaching for him she spun around him, pushed him into Aiden’s way and saw them both go down.

  She began to run once more, dodging between houses until finally, she saw the break in the village wall she sought. “Get back here Alice!” Aiden’s booming voice appeared behind her and she dove to her knees, scrambled at the hole in an effort to get through. A hand caught her foot and she kicked out in fear, heard a grunt and the grip released her.

  She made it halfway across the clear grassy boundary that protected the village from the forest before she was brought down. Hands clawed at her and she screamed in terror as she found herself turned and Aiden’s sneering red face glowered down at her. “Get back here you bitch!” he roared and as his hand rose in the
air she sobbed for her lost father.

  Fury erupted above her and Aiden was catapulted off as a streak of midnight and moonlight hit him. She heard screaming rage, and spitting curses as hands reached down for her. “Come,” she heard Markus shout and getting to her feet she saw Sasha clawing at Aiden’s face. Rage filled she struck like the wolf inside her, fingers reaching for her opponents eyes. Green eyes that were usually so bright, so natural now seemed yellow and rage-filled but for all her strength Aiden was larger, stronger and with a shout of anger he pushed her off.

  “Take her then, but know we’re coming for you bitch. Coming for all of you,” Sasha crouched; her legs bent ready to leap and growled a deep throaty growl that promised death as Aiden hissed his threat.

  “Sasha, come on,” Markus shouted to her as he pushed Alice into the trees and with a look back Sasha smiled but it had nothing of joy within it.

  “Come for her, or try and hurt her again and I will come for you boy,” She spoke low so that only the two of them could hear it. “I will flay you alive and feed you to the forest. I swear this on everything I hold dear. You have lost her.”

  “How fast can wolves run when they are caught in traps bitch?” He laughed, low as if sharing a joke between them both. “Yes, I know what you are. A secret passed down between headmen so we know how to deal with your kind. So run all you want little bitch but we will hunt you down and skin you to hang on our walls.”

  Then he lifted his voice and shouted “I found you once Alice, I will do so again! You won’t escape me!” Aiden hollered into the forest, his face scratched and bleeding. “I will make you mine and see your godless friends dead!” Turning he stalked back towards the village.

  Sasha turned, ran into the trees towards her waiting friend and found Alice shaking. Taking her in her arms she held her as Alice began to cry. “Did he hurt you? Are you ok? Alice, talk to me!” Sasha’s worried face stared into hers and saw only pain.