by Terry Spear
“No. They’ve been doing well. Thanks for asking. How is Hannah?”
“I can see why you don’t want her back.”
Erin frowned. “That bad, eh?”
“She’s staying with Aegis and me. Unlike Mark and Bryan, who were always volunteering to help us with anything that needed to be done, after doing their practice play-fighting and learning to take cues from us about what the different wolf expressions mean. We’ve been teaching Hannah too, and she’s eager to learn about that, but to help out with the ordinary chores? Forget that.”
“I can imagine she was probably like that when she was at home in the human world. Speaking of which, she’d better not return there, when the police are probably looking for her as a kidnapped victim, or a possible runaway.”
“I’ll let her know that. She knows how to transport herself places, but she’s sticking close to the village.”
“Is she okay with her shifting?” Ena glanced at Ronan.
“Yeah. Better than Mark and Bryan, but I think that’s because she was one of us from the beginning.”
He knocked at the cottage door and Simon answered it. He smiled brightly when he saw Ena with his brother and she appreciated it. “Are you here to check up on Letta? She is doing great.”
“No, actually, I came to thank you for turning Mark and Bryan over to us.”
“Come in. Ronan, did you want to have tea with us?” Simon asked.
Myla waved to Ena in greeting.
Ronan shook his head at Simon. “No, thanks. We’re still having some issues over your ruling.”
Simon raised a brow.
“Some of the wolves believe Tomas and his brothers got off too lightly.”
“My decision stands. Just howl for me, if you need me to step in and make my ruling clearer.”
“Will do.” Ronan waved at Letta and Simon frowned at him.
Ena was amused. It looked like Simon, and maybe his brother, were interested in the scorpion-wolf fae. Ena wouldn’t ask if Letta could stay with her any longer. Letta needed to set down roots and it appeared she was happy here where she was.
Ena sat down to have tea with them. She enjoyed the special cookies that Letta and Myla had made, filled with chocolate and mint, and then Ena told them what Mark and Bryan were doing.
“Sounds like they’re happy to be home,” Simon said. “Though, if they ever need to be around wolves, we’d be happy to give them a home here. Or they can even just come and visit any time they like. We have a great wolf celebration coming up that they need to see.”
“I think they liked some of your she-wolves, but the ladies rejected them for being fae seers before this.”
Simon nodded. “Some of our wolves have had issues with the fae seers when they’ve gone to visit the human world, so it’s perfectly understandable. Even Tomas and his brothers ran afoul of them. We did lose three of our pack members to their kind last year. But Mark and Bryan are the same as us now, and they’re good people besides. Given time, I’m sure our eligible she-wolves will see them for who they truly are.”
“And Hannah?” Ena knew she shouldn’t bring her up, in case Simon said he wanted her to take Hannah back with her.
“She’s doing as well as can be expected. I’m sure she’s giving us no more grief than she gave her parents when she was living at home.”
Ena's own parents had been murdered by a previous dragon fae ruler, not one of the shifting kind, and she truly couldn’t see how anyone wouldn’t love their parents. Then again, maybe Hannah’s parents weren’t loveable either. They probably weren't her real parents either, not if they were human and she was fae.
A knock on the door sounded, and Simon sighed and headed for the door to open it. “Well, look who’s here. A dragon without his armor.”
Ena glanced back to see a growly-looking Brett, but as soon as he saw that she was perfectly safe, eating cookies and drinking tea with the other ladies, he smiled. She would have to discuss this business of him being overprotective of her. She was a mighty dragon shifter fae, after all.
14
Brett smiled at his mate and pulled her in for a hug. Simon was amused to see the dynamics between the two dragon shifters. Ena hugged him back and kissed him, making it appear any problem she had with him being so concerned over her was a thing of the past.
Then Brett sat down with them to have some tea and cookies also. "You would not believe how the rumors are spreading that if a wolf shifter can turn a fae, what if the dragon shifters can? We've had numerous requests from dragon fae who are not shifters for us to turn them."
"That's been a real change from the previous rule," Ena said, "when the dragon shifters had been second-class citizens and only a means to an end. Still, I doubt a dragon's bite could do more than possibly cause an infection, just as anyone's bite could, but it wouldn’t turn anyone into a dragon shifter."
Simon and Myla shook their heads.
"No one's tried then?" Myla asked.
"Not that we know of," Ena said. "Certainly, neither Brett nor I will be doing it. Are you going to punish Hannah for what she did to Myla and Letta?”
Simon stretched out his legs. “She had the excuse she was newly turned and didn’t have a lot of control over her actions. Just like Mark and Bryan didn’t. We kept her locked up for longer, and we’ll do it again if we feel she is…unstable.”
There was another knock at the door. Simon let out his breath in resignation. "I believe I need to deal with some pack issues. Thanks for dropping by. If I don't see you before you leave, tell Mark and Bryan that they are always welcome here."
"We will," Brett said.
Simon answered the door.
Ronan said, "The rest of our pack needs to hear your ruling again, because some of our members were gone at the time and they don't believe you would let the brothers live after their treachery. One good thing that came out of it—most are stating they wouldn't want them ruling in your place."
"Okay, let's go." Simon left with his brother.
"How are you doing with the pack?" Ena asked Letta.
"I think my abilities can really help them. And I'm enjoying the friendship here. Except, of course, for the issue with Gia and her brothers."
Someone knocked on the door and Myla laughed. "I swear we never have this much company." She went to the door and smiled. "Come in, Clarita."
Clarita saw the dragon fae shifters and Letta sitting in the living room and she said to Myla, "I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I heard the awful news of how you were attacked. And the she-wolf still lives."
"Your arrival is welcome. We're just visiting. This is Letta, the woman who saved my life. And you know Ena and Brett."
"I've heard about you, Letta. I heard you're a scorpion fae," Clarita said, coming in to join them.
Myla fixed her some tea.
"The same she-wolf who attacked Myla, turned me," Letta said.
Clarita frowned and took the tea cup that Myla offered her. "I didn't think that your kind even existed any longer. And I was surprised a wolf shifter could turn a fae."
"It appears that it can change a scorpion fae. Maybe because my kind have isolated themselves from other fae for so many centuries."
"It surprised us all," Ena said. "Hannah turned two of our humans too. And, I'm sorry to say, we brought the fae seer to our world to begin with. Apparently, she was a wolf shifter all along, who just came of age."
Clarita shook her head. To Letta, she said, "We have our own wolf pack. I don't belong to Simon's. We're winged wolf shifters, if you didn't know."
"I noticed your aura is a sky blue; whereas, the wolf shifter's aura is more of a woodland green," Letta said.
"Right, for the woods to camouflage them and the blue is for us flying like dragons in the sky." Clarita shifted to show Letta her shimmery wings as a wolf.
Letta smiled. "Beautiful."
Clarita shifted back. "Thank you. We're not opposed to mating wingless wolf shifters, but I think there's just a
preference to having a mate who can fly also. It appears you are both okay after Hannah bit you." Clarita smiled at Brett and Ena. "I'm surprised to see you are here."
"We had to drop off the two men who had been turned earlier, though we've managed to bring them home," Brett said. "We wanted to thank Simon for taking them in and teaching them how to be wolves."
Clarita laughed. "I would think that much would come naturally. Then again, I was born a winged wolf shifter. I still think the she-wolf who wreaked so much havoc should be terminated."
"She's being given a chance to live among us and learn how to behave. If not, that's always an option," Myla said.
Another knock sounded on the door.
"We're going to get on our way." Brett squeezed Ena's hand.
She agreed. "Good seeing you, Myla, Letta, and Clarita."
"Likewise," the ladies said.
As they went to the door, Myla opened it to see who was there.
Hannah. She ignored Ena, smiled brightly at Brett, and said to Myla, "Your brother sent me to talk to you."
Ena paused, her dark look directed at Hannah, and Letta suspected she was ready to stay and help deal with her if Myla needed her to.
Myla gave Ena a hug. "Congratulations on your babies again. Letta can visit you any time she wants."
"Thank you." Then Ena and Brett left.
Clarita was eyeing Hannah with contempt.
"I want to know why I was in the human world when I'm supposed to be one of you," Hannah said to Myla.
"Have a seat." But Myla didn't offer her anything to eat or drink.
Hannah took a seat on one of the chairs.
"Princess Alicia was raised there when she is a dragon fae. Though, that's what her mother is. Her father is of the sphinx. And her mother's father, who ruled the dragon fae kingdom, wouldn't let her mother marry her father. They did anyway, then left for the human world so that the king wouldn't kill her father, and maybe the baby. They hid out for years in the human world."
"I wasn't living with fae parents. They were strictly human," Hannah said.
"Not fae seers?" Myla asked.
"No."
"It could be that your parents had taken you there and they died and you were orphaned. No one knew of your whereabouts in the human world so that they could come get you. That's one possibility," Myla said.
"Or, you were so ornery as a child, your fae parents dumped your butt in the human world, figuring it was an easy way to get rid of you," Clarita said.
Hannah frowned at her. "Who are you?"
"Your worst nightmare if you hurt Myla again," Clarita said.
Letta immediately liked the winged wolf fae.
"Clarita is my best friend. And Letta is too." Myla smiled at Hannah.
Delighted that Myla included her too, Letta wondered if Hannah had ever had any best friends, even among the fae seers.
"What if I'm like Princess Alicia and have parents of different fae realms? Maybe I'm a princess too." Hannah tilted her chin up, as if to say they would have to treat her like royalty.
Letta was a princess in her own right, though she didn't feel any need to share that bit of news with the wolves. They didn't have titles among them, so it wouldn't make any difference to them.
"That would be a disaster," Clarita said. "I mean about the princess part. Then again, wolves don't have royal designations."
Myla cleared her throat. "And if you are of two different fae, the wolf shifter will be dominant over a regular, non-shifting fae."
"What about a dragon shifter?" Hannah asked.
"We haven't ever seen one of those, so your guess is as good as ours," Myla said. "And we have checked our archives to learn if anyone has left the pack some years ago that we might not remember or were too young to even know about. None of our elders knew about you. None of our wolves are unaccounted for. No one was ready to give birth and then the mother and baby, or just the baby, disappeared either."
"What about other wolf shifter packs?" Hannah asked, looking disappointed.
Unless she changed her attitude, Letta didn't think any wolf pack would want to claim her.
"There are several all over. You might have originally been from one of those," Myla said. "Well, actually, you must have been, since you're not one of ours." Myla sounded glad for that.
Letta didn't blame her.
"I want to look for my wolf pack. There has to be one."
Letta thought Hannah believed the woman would think she'd be better accepted there. Maybe she would, since she hadn't nearly killed anyone in any other wolf packs. Maybe they wouldn't mind her snarky attitude.
"Maybe Tomas or one of his brothers could take you to look for them," Myla said.
Clarita snorted. "They should be dealt with in the same way as her. I heard the news about them too."
"Why did I only just recently become a fae? I mean, if I was born one, how come I only now can do fae stuff? Why not before when I lived in the human world? I just don't understand it," Hannah said.
"Your parents or another fae might have cast a spell on you so that you couldn't turn until you came of age. Not everyone comes of age at the same time. Just like walking and talking for children come at different stages of development for different children, that happens with fae children," Myla said. “And often we don’t come into our all our abilities until we’re teens. That way we can’t skip over to the human world without a guardian and get ourselves in big trouble when we’re little.”
Simon returned to the cottage and let out his breath. “I don’t always make popular decisions for the pack, but, boy, do some of our wolves want blood. Hey, Clarita, glad to see you here.”
“I came to see how Letta was doing,” Clarita said, then glowered at Hannah, the cause of all the trouble.
“Hannah wants to find her pack. Maybe Tomas or one of his brothers can go with her?” Myla asked Simon.
Letta smiled. She thought it was a great idea.
“Yeah, that would be the way to go. I’ll let them know right after we eat.”
“I’ve got to run,” Clarita said. “I’m due at Alton’s treasure cave for guard duty.”
“All right. See you later,” Simon said.
Myla gave Clarita a hug and then the winged wolf left the cottage.
“What if Tomas or one of his brothers doesn’t want to go with me?” Hannah asked.
“Let me put it this way, he needs to get in my good graces, so if I tell him to go, he’s going.” Simon opened the door for Hannah. “I’ll let you know when you’re leaving.”
Letta thought he sounded glad to send her on her way. She hoped that Hannah would find her own people. Maybe she’d be happier. Or not. Some people were never happy, no matter where they lived, who they lived with, or what they did with their lives.
“Did you have a nice visit with Clarita?” Simon asked as they began to prepare a boar stew together.
“Yeah, it was. How was your date? Because of Tomas’s situation, I didn’t get a chance to ask,” Myla said.
“It was fun. We actually went to the seacoast.”
“Now that sounds good. That’s what I need. A guy who will take me to somewhere fun. It’s a good thing I wasn’t dating Tomas. I had considered it. He was interested, you know, because I’m the pack leader’s sister.”
“No other reason?” Letta asked, thinking the wolf was a creep, if that’s all he wanted. Power through marriage to Myla.
Myla blushed. “I’m sure he liked me too. But that wasn’t the ruling factor.”
“So how close is the nearest wolf pack from here?” Letta figured it must be a long way away so they wouldn't compete for hunting and fishing.
“About four hours from here. We like to have a lot of territory between wolf packs,” Simon said. “We don’t really have a lot of problems between packs. We do try to find mates from other packs. We often have pack celebrations as a way of getting to know other wolves.”
“The dragon shifters have trials and dragons
come from all over to win at competitions. That’s their way of finding new dragon mates also,” Myla said.
“So what do you do at the wolf gatherings?” Letta asked.
“Feasting, dancing, wolf fights, but also activities like wolf tug-of-war, wolf runs, locating objects of our own as fast as we can,” Myla said.
Letta laughed. “Like they do at dog trials in the human world?”
Myla scoffed. “Wolves are not like dogs. But we do have a nose for things, so that’s why we do it. We mate for life, unlike dogs.”
Letta smiled. It would take some getting used to being a wolf and thinking of doing things in wolf terms.
“So what did you think of Clarita?” Simon asked.
“I love her wings.”
“Do you wish you had been changed by one of her kind so you could have wings?” Simon asked.
Myla smiled.
Letta shook her head. “I think it’s enough to be a wolf shifter. I’ll pass on the wings.”
“Are you feeling more comfortable about being a wolf?” Simon asked.
“I’d like to practice some of the things Myla said we’d do at a wolf gathering.”
“Dancing?” Myla asked.
“Yes, I don’t know how to do that. It’s not something our king would have allowed. Not between males and females.”
“Simon will have to teach you how to dance.”
Someone knocked on the door.
Simon went to the door and Letta was surprised to see it was Tomas. “Yeah, Tomas?”
“Hannah came by my cottage and said you wanted me to take her to find her wolf pack.”
“Yeah. I think she’d be happier with her own people.”
“Or not,” Tomas said. “I didn’t think she had a pleasant bone in her body, but she seemed to perk up when you told her she could go looking for her pack.”
“I just hope you can find her pack.”
“And she’s happy with it.”
“Thanks for taking her with you to find them.”
“We’ll be back for the wolf celebration in three days. If we don’t find them before that, maybe one of the wolves from one of the packs attending the celebration will know Hannah is one of theirs.”
