The Golden Claw

by K A Faul

  Faking a huge yawn, Mina stood, stretching her arms out. “You know what? It’s been a long day. I’m going to go lie down for a little nap or something.”

  Linh stared at her, an incredulous look on her face. “A nap? Since when do you take naps?”

  “Yeah, a nap. I’ve been, you know, training. You never get tired? Uh, or maybe I’ll just go to sleep so I’ll be well rested for tomorrow’s training.”

  “It’s pretty early,” Sean said, an equally incredulous look on his face.

  Mina almost snorted. They both saw through her so easily, but she knew one useful strategy: the best lies always contained a core of truth.

  Soreness suffused her muscles, and weariness hung at the edge of her mind. Even before Thomas had been assigned to her, she’d been spending most of her days training. Even a werewolf could get exhausted.

  “Yeah, I’m tired. Sue me.” Mina waved and headed toward her room. “You two have fun.”

  She didn’t bother to look back as she walked out of the living room. She opened the door to her room, slipped inside, then immediately closed it. She pulled off her boots and dropped on her back onto her bed. Several deep breaths followed.

  The solstice lay a little over a month away, and she would face the Rite. Wandering the forests on Earth didn’t bother her much. Her heart sped up at the thought of Esper, a place where true monsters prowled. A place where faeries roamed.

  Mina let her heavy eyelids close. Maybe she wasn’t ready for a full night’s sleep, but a little nap wouldn’t hurt.

  Hell, a little snack wouldn’t hurt when I get up, too. Those preschoolers have the right idea.

  The stars in the night sky were wrong. Mina was sure of it. She might have not memorized all the constellations, but she still had a general sense for what a clear night’s sky should look like and knew a few important stars. The North Star was nowhere in sight.

  She inhaled deeply. The smells were wrong, off, weak, too diffuse. The shadows moved and flickered for no real reason.

  “A dream,” Mina muttered to herself. She’d never had trouble telling, despite having increasingly vivid dreams as she’d grown older.

  Tall trees surrounded her, jutting into the night sky, casting huge shadows and deepening the smothering darkness.

  Mina pushed through the undergrowth, not sure where to go. No owls hooted in the darkness. No animals scurried in the brush.

  “Just a stupid dream,” she whispered. “Doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m obviously in a forest because I’ve been training in the forest a lot. Don’t have to be a headshrinker to figure that one out.”

  A bright blue light illuminated a nearby patch of trees. She squinted as her eyes adjusted. A lithe masculine form bathed in cerulean light stepped out from the trees, heading toward her, humanoid, taller than her.

  Mina sucked in a breath as she noticed the pointed ears. A faerie.

  The light shimmered and pulsed, obscuring the fine details of the faerie’s face. It was like he was wearing a blurring and shifting mask. His footsteps made no noise, and he said nothing.

  “Just a dream,” she muttered. “This doesn’t mean anything. This doesn’t prove I have a faerie fetish.”

  The sound of something padding through the brush killed the eerie silence.

  Mina jerked her head toward the source of the noise. A shadowy form stepped through a patch of brush, a pure inky darkness standing out even in the dimly lit forest. There was something feminine about its shape.

  Her heart kicked up, and she swallowed.

  Yeah, this isn’t good.

  The shadowy form moved toward her, gliding over the ground with graceful steps. Now that it was closer, she could make out pointed ears. Another faerie.

  Mina’s feet wouldn’t move, no matter how much she willed them to. The shadow fae continued closing on her.

  The werewolf’s breathing turned ragged, and she tried to shift. Nothing happened.

  The shadow fae loomed over her now. Two red eyes gleamed in the darkness. Soft, feminine laughter sounded from the creature.

  “This isn’t real,” Mina said. “This is just a dream.”

  The head of the shadow fae moved behind her until it hovered inches from Mina’s ear. She shuddered, straining to move her arms and legs.

  “It’s almost time, little dog,” the shadow said to her, the voice almost alluring in a way. “It’s almost time, and you’ll be ever so important. A perfect tool.”

  An inky hand reached and grabbed Mina’s throat, squeezing. She gagged and choked. Pain exploded from her throat as her bones cracked underneath the iron grip of the shadow.

  “Humiliation must be repaid with humiliation. You will be my instrument, little dog. Oh, how I’ve waited.”

  The shadow continued to squeeze as Mina tried to take in a breath.

  I can’t die in a dream. It’s not real. I can’t die in a dream.

  Mina’s eyes snapped open. She gasped for breath and pawed at her throat. A good thirty seconds passed before she accepted she wasn’t being choked by an evil shadow faerie bitch.

  “What… the… hell?” She sat up and ran her hands through her hair, taking several deep breaths and savoring the air.

  Mina stared at her bare wall, suddenly wishing she had a poster or painting or something to take her mind off the bizarre dream.

  She’d dreamed about the fae man before, more times than she could count, but she’d never ever encountered the shadowy fae woman, let alone been attacked in her dream by her.

  “Stupid Esper,” Mina said. She exhaled slowly. “Just letting you get under my skin. Yeah, it’s almost time for my Rite of Passage. I get it already, subconscious. You want me to admit I’m a bit freaked? You win. Of course, now I’m talking to myself like a crazy person. Did you want that, too?”

  She glanced at the clock, stood, and walked to the door. She froze as her hand touched the door handle.

  Talking to Sean or Linh about her problems always helped, but it was late, and she doubted her friend was still around. Complaining to her Unturned brother about nightmares related to her Rite of Passage was a bitch move, and she wasn’t about to make him feel worse.

  It was time to toughen up. A werewolf who couldn’t take a few bad dreams might as well beg for Rogan to return and make them into a weregerbil.

  “Dark side of my stupid faerie fetish,” Mina mumbled.

  Chapter 8

  A few days later, Mina stood outside of a simple home on the other side of the town, her stomach in knots. With Linh off on her errand in Seattle and Sean dealing with his own issues, she hadn’t been able to talk much to anyone about the stresses of training. And now she had to enter the wolf’s den itself: Thomas’s house.

  She glanced up at the cloudless night sky, gaze drifting from star to star. Hanging out with her uptight trainer was about the last thing she wanted to do. Only the potential presence of a few other wolves would make it palatable.

  Mina knocked on the door. The door creaked open, and a blonde-haired girl with crystal blue eyes greeted her. Mina didn’t recognize her, but she looked around her own age.

  The girl tilted her head, her eyes widening as she stared.

  “Uh, creepy much?” Mina said.

  The blonde raised a hand, pointing at Mina’s head. “You bear the Mark of Rogan.”

  Mina fingered the streak of red in her hair. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “I’m Anna,” the girl said, and thrust out her hand. “Anna Colby. It’s my greatest pleasure to meet you, Mina Golden Claw.”

  The girl had a faint accent that Mina couldn’t quite place at first. A few seconds later, she realized the girl was Canadian.

  After a quick shake, Mina shrugged. “People around here don’t tend to call me Golden Claw, just Golden.”

  Anna’s face twitched. “I’m sorry.”

  “Uh, okay. Not your problem.”

  “Are you one of the Initiates?”

  Anna nodded, eagerness growing on her fa
ce. “I am so happy I can be in your Rite Pack.”

  “Not that I’m going to complain about you thinking I’m awesome,” Mina began, “but you have to know that I’m not getting any special treatment because I’m the king’s daughter.”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  Mina blinked. “You don’t?”

  “No. I’m proud to run alongside one with the Mark of Rogan.”

  Anna seemed nice enough, if a little creepy, and after months of dealing with Thomas riding her ass and Garett in her face, it was nice to have someone who liked her.

  The Canadian girl smiled warmly. “I’d heard that you bore the Mark of Rogan and that you would be soon doing your Rite, and I begged and begged to be allowed to go on the Summer Solstice Rite of Passage.”

  “When did they want you to do yours?”

  “During the Fall Equinox, if not the Winter Solstice.”

  Mina thought that over. She’d never even considered asking for a certain date for her Rite. Her father had told her when he expected her to go through the Rite, and she’d trained to comply.

  Guess I follow orders better than anyone thinks.

  Mina nodded at Anna, some newfound respect for the weird girl.

  The blonde motioned inside and moved away. Mina followed her into the living room.

  A brown-skinned man with dark hair sat on the couch. He was broad-shouldered even for a werewolf. Another man stood behind the couch and looked her way. She almost laughed at the amount of product that must have been in his brown hair. He shot her a grin.

  Both looked around her age, maybe slightly older. That made sense for a Rite Pack. Some wolves took longer for their first shift than others, but there was a narrow range before the wolves around them could tell if someone was Unturned.

  “Jorge Ramirez,” the man on the couch said with a wave.

  “Ryan Summer,” the other man said.

  Anna stepped in front of Mina. “This is Mina Golden Claw, Daughter of the King, and bearer of the Mark of Rogan.”

  Mina coughed, her cheeks heating.

  “Sweet,” Ryan said.

  “Nice to meet you,” Jorge said.

  Thomas stepped into the living room, carrying two cases of beer. “Nice of you to join us, Mina.” He set the beer on the table.

  “You’re going to let us drink?” Mina said. “Besides the huge amount it’s going to take for it to be fun, you sure that’s okay?”

  Thomas smirked. “I talked to the Sheriff about it. I’m just supposed to keep you Initiates in my house, in case some dumbass tourist is stumbling through town.”

  Mina crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Where was this side of you the last few months?”

  Thomas snorted. “When it’s time to train, it’s time to train. When it’s time to relax, it’s time to relax.” He gestured around the room. “And none of you know each other. The Rite Pack needs to start learning trust for one another, and to do that, you all need to let your guard down.”

  Mina eyed the cases. Werewolf metabolism made drinking an expensive adventure. She couldn’t help but let a little respect bloom for Captain Stick Up His Ass. She grabbed a bottle of beer and sat in a chair across from the couch. Anna grabbed her own and sat next to her. The boys followed.

  “Tonight,” Thomas said, twisting the cap off his beer, “you’re all going to relax, drink a little, and I’ll go over some key details of the Rite, at least the things I can share with you before we begin.”

  Mina sipped at her drink, making a face. She’d had plenty of opportunities to drink. After all, there were few werewolves who cared about underage drinking according to human laws, but something about the bitterness of the beer didn’t sit well on her tongue. Not that she’d ever let Thomas know. She’d never hear the end of it.

  Ryan gulped down half his beer and beamed a smile at Mina, revealing dazzlingly white teeth. Mina wondered if the tooth whitening transferred over to his wolf form.

  “So,” Mina said. “Any of you been to Golden Oaks before?”

  The other three shook their heads.

  “Well, uh, welcome.”

  “Thanks,” Ryan said. “So you’re a princess, huh?”

  Mina rolled her eyes. “I’m the daughter of the king, but not a princess.”

  She knew of other clans who obsessed more over such titles, but she was surprised to see Golden Claw wolves asking about it. Even if they were new in town, she would have thought they wouldn’t have cared much about it, but maybe Ryan was from an area bordering another clan’s territory.

  He shrugged. “Always thought that was weird. I mean, that’s what a princess is, right? And you got that whole hot and special thing going on. So you’re a hot werewolf warrior princess, you know?”

  Mina arched her brows. “Hot werewolf warrior princess?”

  Thomas snickered in the background.

  Jorge groaned and shook his head. “Oh man. Here he goes again. Bro just doesn’t know when to stop. How many women you gonna hit on in Golden Oaks, Ryan? All of ‘em?”

  “I’m not hitting on anyone. I’m just talking about Mina’s good points.”

  Anna frowned at Ryan. “Don’t be disrespectful.”

  Thomas watched them all in silence, sipping at his beer.

  Ryan shrugged. “This is the opposite of disrespectful. If anything, I respect everything about you, Mina, from your body to your black hair and that awesome red streak going on.”

  “That red streak is the Mark of Rogan,” Anna hissed. “Not some flirting point.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Look, I’m just saying, I’ve never been with a princess, let alone one with the Mark of Rogan.”

  Mina barked out a laugh. “And with lines like that, you never will be.”

  “Damn,” Jorge said, hitting the side of the couch. “I think they heard you getting shot down all the way in Portland, bro.”

  Ryan’s smile didn’t falter. “Yeah, just give me a chance to prove myself.” He winked at Anna. “You’re cute, too.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “I also have taste.”

  Jorge broke into another laugh and spat out some of his beer. “Zero for two.”

  Mina grinned. She could handle dealing with these kinds of Initiates.

  The next hour passed in banter, with Mina growing to like her Rite Pack. They were from all over the territory, with Anna being from a small town in Alberta. Ryan had traveled from Idaho, and Jorge from northern California. All of them had come a long way to get to southwest Washington.

  Individually, they all came off as pleasant enough. Jorge was very laid back, but Mina got a good sense that he’d have her back when trouble arose.

  Anna’s obsession with Mina’s red streak might get old, but the girl seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. Ryan would be a handful, but she preferred a happy horndog to a morose asshole.

  Thomas didn’t say much, instead just letting the Rite Pack get to know each other. Though it didn’t escape Mina’s attention that her trainer also downed a lot of beers.

  “So, that’s when I swore to them I’d seen a wereunicorn,” Ryan said, finishing up an anecdote.

  Mina laughed. “And they bought it?”

  “Oh yeah,” Ryan said. “Spent two days looking for it.”

  Everyone in the room laughed, except for Thomas. He cleared his throat loudly. They all turned to look at him.

  Thomas set his current bottle down on the table. “It’s time to overview the Rite.”

  Everyone set their bottles down and focused on him. To Mina’s surprise, even she wanted to hear everything her trainer had to say.

  “It’s pretty simple,” Thomas began, “and I know you’ve probably heard of a lot of this, but part of the process is me formally explaining it to you.” He looked around. “In a month, on the Summer Solstice, we’re going out as a pack. I’ll be acting as alpha. Our goal is simple: we need to collect two types of unusual mushrooms.”

  Mina gritted her teeth to avoid making a crack. T
homas stared at her as if daring her to do it.

  “What’s so special about the mushrooms?” Mina asked. “No one will tell me the details.”

  “That’s because there’s supposed to be some element of surprise. And don’t spread what I’m about to tell you. It’s simple. The mushrooms aren’t just mushrooms.”

  “Wait, are they like magic mushrooms?” Ryan asked. “We going to get high? Have some sort of spirit quest to see Rogan?”

  The young werewolves all stared at their trainer.

  Thomas laughed. Mina almost jumped, startled by the genuine mirth demonstrated by her trainer.

  “Yeah, they are magic mushrooms all right. Literal damn magic mushrooms. They have actual magical properties.”

  “What do you mean?” Mina asked.

  Thomas stood and cracked his knuckles. “You’ll find out when you need to know.”

  “Are you kidding me right now?”

  “That’s the rule, Mina.” He locked eyes with her and didn’t continue speaking for several seconds. “We’ll spend our time in the woods surviving only off what we can forage or hunt. You’ll all be given preservation amulets because we might run into humans not in the know. But it’s a remote area, so that almost never happens.”

  Jorge rubbed his hands together. “One of the mushrooms is in Esper, right?”

  Mina twitched at the mention of the other world. Her hand drifted to her throat, and her mind to the memory of being choked.

  “Yes,” Thomas said. “We will be traveling to Esper.”

  “Then we get to meet an angel, right?” Jorge said. “I mean… an actual, honest-to-goodness angel.” He stared off into the distance as if enraptured by the thought.

  “No,” Thomas said.

  “No?” Jorge’s face fell.

  Mina and Anna exchanged glances before they both looked at Thomas.

  “I thought the only way to get to Esper was with the help of the angels,” Jorge said.

  “There’s a passage, a special sacred passage we use only for the Rite,” Thomas said. “That portal is only open for the week after equinoxes and solstices.”

  Mina blinked several times at the revelation. So many secrets surrounded her, even as the daughter of the king.