Nothing worked. The red wolf that was my friend kept straight on her path to the village. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I needed to keep her safe, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone else.
While trying to come up with my options, I didn’t need to think any further as a pack of wolves jumped out at Grace. She viciously bit into the first one she could reach. I watched as another one was going to attack her back. Even cursed, they were working together. Actually, they were working more together than they normally would.
I didn’t wait to be invited to the brawl as I jumped into it and defended Grace. She turned and nipped at me, but luckily, she was distracted by yet another wolf attacking her. Grace bit at him before sliding out of the wolves that had been circling her. Now, they were circling me and waiting to attack. I didn’t have time to deal with them. I needed to get to Grace.
As I tried to see how to get out of the group, all the heads turned to the new wolf joining the group and growling at everyone, Nikkan.
“Go get Grace; let me deal with these,” I told him.
Images from Nikkan came back to me. He wanted me to get Grace as he claimed he wasn’t fast enough.
‘Yes, you are.’
Nikkan shook his blond wolf head.
‘And you are still injured from last night.’
Nikkan sent back images to tell me he was fine, and he wanted Grace safe more than anything, even his own life. I wanted to argue with my friend and planned to do just that when he jumped into the circle of wolves and pushed me out of the way. He wanted me to leave now.
I looked back at Nikkan. He kicked off the wolf that tried to bite his back legs. We didn’t have time to argue more or keep trading places. I knew how stubborn my friend was, and I had to let him be. He’d made up his mind, and I wasn’t going to change it. The more time I spent trying, the more likely Grace would be hurt.
‘Stay safe,’ I told him before taking off after Grace.
I followed her scent into the village. It was a wreck, but I didn’t have time to inspect what I was passing. I ignored the wolves around me and tried my best not to see the blood that was splattering the walls of the huts. It was bad in the daylight but worse in the dark. It was complete chaos.
Grace had gone into the village and roamed around. I wasn’t sure if she was looking for something or just wandering. As I finally caught sight of her red coat, I took off faster, jumping the fighting wolves and knocking one from a human that had been unfortunate enough to be outside his house.
The night was dark, but the wolves were all out. Something about the new moon seemed to make the curse stronger. From what I could see, either the cursed wolves were hurting other wolves, or they were hurting themselves equally or at the same time. Either way, they were all being injured. The super healing of the wolves could only go so far. I was afraid of what morning would bring.
Grace ducked from my sights, and I chased her into a home. I didn’t expect her to attack when I entered, but I should have known better. Grace wasn’t in control of her wolf, and I had just cornered her in a house.
She jumped on my back, and her claws raked into my unprepared body. I could feel the scratch bleed, but I didn’t have time to contemplate what to do next. I just acted on instinct and flipped her off me. She flew into a pile of wooden boxes by the doorway and yelped. Sitting back and ready to pounce again, I expected her to take off. Instead, she stood and growled at me.
“I don’t want to fight you,” I called to her, hoping there was at least a bit of sanity left in her.
There wasn’t. She jumped at me, planning to clamp down on my forepaw. I twisted and caught her neck with my mouth instead. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to draw blood, but she wrestled under my paws, and I knew I was cutting into her. She wasn’t giving me a choice.
“Come back to me, friend. Come back.”
Grace continued to twist in my paws, forcing me to hurt her further. If I let go, she was just going to attack, but I didn’t like this either. I was staying safe, but there was no way for me to keep her safe.
The stupid curse was ruining Elder. My friends were trapped not just by a wall but by their wolf. It was supposed to be a part of them, a way of life. But it wasn’t. Instead, it was taking over their lives. This wasn’t Grace. She bucked under me, snarling; she wasn’t my friend. But she was still there. I knew she was. Her human side wasn’t gone. Grace wasn’t gone, but this curse was trying to destroy her.
I hated everything about the curse. The people of Elder didn’t deserve this. The wolves didn’t deserve this. Grace didn’t deserve this. I wanted more than anything to save her, to save the people I loved.
Grace growled and bucked at me. I loosened my grip on her throat, and she tried to bite me, making my sharp teeth scratch against her. If needed, I was going to hold her in this house until morning came, and she returned to herself. I just didn’t know how much of her would be left. I had already marked her up more than I ever wanted.
“I’m not giving up on you, Grace. Never.”
The wolf stopped for a moment, and I looked in her eyes. I wanted more than anything to see my friend, but when the beast below me snapped at me and caught my shoulder in her tight jaw, I knew for tonight the curse had won. Grace wasn’t in control. She wasn’t coming back to me until morning. I pushed more of my body weight into her to keep her in her place.
‘I’m sorry, Grace, but I’m not letting this curse win. We’re going to beat this curse. I’m going to change things.’
And with that thought, my body started to tingle from my toes up to my head. It felt familiar but more like when I changed forms.
Crap. This wasn’t the time for me to be testing any of my powers. If I changed into something smaller than Grace, she was likely to eat me on the spot. The tingles continued, and I saw my human form starting to take shape. That was at least better than turning into a mouse, which would be supper for my hungry friend.
When the tingling stopped, I waited to be bitten by her. I already felt the blood dripping down my back and my shoulder where she had cut me the deepest, but I was sure I was scratched from head to toe. I knew she would attack. But something was strange. She hadn’t attacked.
I looked down to see I was pinning a very human Grace to the ground. I scrambled off her.
There was only one reason a wolf turned human, not on their own. When they died. No matter the form they died in, their bodies always returned to human. There was Grace lying on the dirt floor as human as she could get. I had somehow killed Grace.
Nikkan was going to kill me. He was going to be devastated. Grace was dead.
I reached down and took her lifeless body into my arms. I tried not to cry. She didn’t deserve to die. She didn’t deserve to be cursed. She was young and had much more life to live. This wasn’t fair. I hugged her body close to me.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” I whispered into her hair. I had failed. Life wasn’t fair.
The world was losing a great spark of life with Grace. She was kind, compassionate, and strong-willed. She was going to make Nikkan happy for the rest of his life, and now she was gone. I wasn’t sure what I did, but she was gone. Nikkan would never forgive me. I was never going to forgive me.
Nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught of guilt that hit me. All I wanted to do was save my friends and the wolves, and I couldn’t even do that. All this magic was inside me, and it wasn’t good for a single thing. I was useless.
Grace gasped in my arms, and I almost dropped her in shock.
“Castiel?” she said with a hoarse voice like she hadn’t spoken in days.
“How is this possible?”
I knew she couldn’t answer me, but I just didn’t understand.
“You’re alive.”
Grace didn’t open her eyes.
“Seems so,” she whispered as she wiggled her fingers.
I could see why she wasn’t moving as her body was dripping as much blood as mine was. After a
nother glance at her body, I could tell she was cut, bit, and scraped probably twice as much as I had been.
“And you’re human.”
“That too,” she added as her eyes finally fluttered open. “What’s going on?”
“I have no idea,” I replied. “But we need to shift and get the heck out of here. The wolves are going crazy tonight.”
Grace sat up and shook. Nothing happened. She looked at me and then closed her eyes in concentration. Her entire body shook again; then, her eyes snapped open to me.
“I can’t change.” Panic laced her voice.
“What?” I asked. That was impossible. She had been born a wolf. She could never be cured.
“I don’t know why, but I can’t change.” Her eyes darted to the open door. She was food for the cursed wolves. It wasn’t safe anywhere in the village.
I didn’t have time to contemplate why this was happening, but without her wolf, we couldn’t leave the village. She would be eaten before we made it a house away.
“Then, we need to find shelter right now.”
I turned back to the open door. When we had entered, wolves were running past. More than one caught sight of me when we tangled, but luckily, no one entered. They would be coming back. I didn’t need to take any chances with the very human friend I now had.
“Now,” I repeated as Grace tried to stand.
I didn’t wait. I scooped her into my arms and pushed further into the small house. I aimed for the middle room, which I knew it would be the hardest to get into. Luckily, she had chosen a home that had more than one room, as many didn’t. I set Grace in the middle of the room and started to stack everything I could find in front of the doorways. Throwing some blankets at her, I went back to barricading us in the room.
“Cover up with the blankets, and hopefully, the scent of your blood will be less. I’m going to transform and stand guard.”
Grace nodded to me as I turned into a large bear. I took up the remaining space in the room and sat down with my back to the doorway, hoping my girth and scent would keep the wolves away for the night; otherwise, I wasn’t sure her miraculous change would be worth it if she didn’t make it through the night.
6
23rd March
I kept guard as Grace finally dozed off to sleep. It sounded like the animals had moved their arguments elsewhere, and I was able to get some sleep also. I was pretty sure if a wolf tried to enter, I was big enough to block their way. Perks of being a large bear.
When morning came, I still wasn’t sure if it was safe for us to leave. Grace huddled in her blankets and watched me with big eyes, still not saying anything. I was slightly worried she was in shock from last night.
“Grace,” I spoke quietly and slowly. “I’m going to transform into a mouse and go take a peek. If it’s safe, we have to go find Nikkan. He took on a pack of wolves to keep you safe. Don’t let anyone or anything in. I’ll be able to go out and in without needing to open the door.”
She nodded.
My magic swirled around me as I shrank down into a mouse. It felt the same as the night before when I was made human without trying. While Grace couldn’t shift, I was still able to do it. I didn’t understand it, but it was my magic.
In my now much smaller form, I found a crack in the doorway and took off. The house was completely silent. I could hear Grace breathing as it was the only sound. As I neared the open front door, I kept to the shadows. This was the tricky part. I wanted to see what was going on, but I didn’t want to be seen as a snack for anything that was out there. Pausing to take a deep breath, I moved forward, still in the shadows, but far enough out into the doorway to look around.
The world was much different in my much smaller form. Everything was huge and looked distorted. My mouse senses told me that the world was fine, even if mixing my mouse impressions of my surroundings with my human brain was getting everything all tangled together. I know what objects I was looking at, but with their new size, my brain didn’t want to accept it. I guess I needed to stick with larger animals until I was more used to it.
I looked around the empty street. Red painted walls and the ground. I could see a few humans lying naked and not moving. They had likely been a wolf when they died, just like I thought Grace had. I sat very still and listened to everything around the house. There was nothing to be afraid of. It seemed like the wolves had all fought it out the previous night and were either dead or resting now.
Grace was waiting for me when I entered. She was fully dressed when I appeared in front of her.
“We need to find Nikkan now,” I told her as I grew to my full human size and was tossing the blockade from the doorway. “It doesn’t look good out there.”
I looked Grace over.
“Can you shift now?”
She shook her head. What in the world was going on? Could being in a near-death experience change a shifter? Would it come back?
“Okay. Let’s move this stuff and get out of here.”
Grace joined me and moved the last few pieces blocking the doorway as I looked around the room. I dug through a few of the boxes we had moved and looked in a chest. There was a large dagger, or it could have been a small sword. I took it as I grabbed Grace’s hand. I’d have to return it later, but for now, we needed a way to stay safe in human form.
“Stay behind me,” I told her as I pulled her through the house.
I kept alert as we crept through the house. My mouse senses said there was nothing, but my brain was having a hard time believing that. There were wolves all over the place the night before. We couldn’t be alone now. And with the children in the woods, I sure hoped the wolves hadn’t taken off during the night. I knew the kids would stay safe where they were, but they’d be terrified.
The wolf village was too quiet and covered with fine white dust. Since the curse had come back,, the village was always filled with, at least, moaning. Right now, the place was silent, and that didn’t sit right with me.
I had thought the white sparkle from the dust was just my mouse eyes, but I could see it was fine snow. The unexpected spring snow shower didn’t hide the carnage of the night, but it made me feel like the world was starting over. I stayed on alert but had hope.
Grace stayed behind me as we made our way back through the village. I wasn’t sure where to find Nikkan, but I was going to the last place I saw him and would go from there. We didn’t make it all the way there when Grace called out, and I spotted the blond wolf lying on the ground. It looked like he was still a wolf. I wasn’t sure why Grace wasn’t. Just one more mystery to figure out.
Wolf Nikkan tried to push himself up on his paws but fell back to the ground. He didn’t have the energy to do it.
“Save your energy, friend,” I told him as I scooped him into my arms.
Nikkan gave me one whine but accepted my help. Had he been human, he would have punched me, but as a wolf, all he could do was bite, and I knew my friend wouldn’t bite me in case he turned me into a werewolf. I was more than certain he was too injured to protest further.
“Let’s get him back to the camp and the children,” I told Grace. She nodded as her eyes filled with tears while looking at Nikkan.
I began to walk back out of the village when we heard some noises in the south. I changed my course. When I was as close as I would get with my injured friend, I sat him on the ground.
“Watch over him, and I’ll be right back.”
I handed Grace my small sword, and she held it with both hands. She might not be trained like I was, but I knew she’d defend him with her life if needed.
The trees were dense and let me creep further near the conversation I heard. There were men yelling at each other, which was a good sign. If it had been wolves snarling, I would have left, but men I had to see. And one voice was familiar.
When I finally could see, I didn’t hesitate to step out of the brush.
Micco was standing and facing three large men that were all yelling at him. I approache
d the group from behind Micco.
“We got lucky last night,” one was yelling.
“We can’t count on something like that happening again,” another added.
“If we hadn’t all been knocked out, who knows what would have happened,” the first continued.
“Enough,” Micco growled, his wolf seeping into his human voice. “While last night was hard, it will get better. We all know this. The curse was the hardest during the first winter season when it happened long ago. We just need to weather this out.” Micco stopped talking when he heard me approach. He turned to me.
“How in the world did you get in here?” he asked.
I smiled and hugged the man that was like a grandfather to me. I was happy he survived. I didn’t know where he was in the fighting, but it seemed he was no worse for the wear.
“We have a bit to catch up on,” I replied as Micco hugged me back. “I’m just glad to see you alive.”
Micco gave me his hearty laugh as he pulled back.
“You think a curse can beat me? Ha.” The old man was as tough as you could get. Though he did look like he’d seen better days.
“What happened last night?” I asked about the argument I had walked in on.
Micco scratched his head.
“We have no idea. One moment we were all running around fighting, and the next moment we woke up, and it was morning time. Once people started to change back, no one could explain what happened. It was like something knocked us all out cold. Some people woke human.”
Maybe the bodies we saw weren’t dead, after all.
A thump landed at our feet, and I took up a defensive stance in front of Micco. He reached down at the package at our feet and undid the twine on it. Opening it up, he found it filled with white bandages. Another thump landed, and I could see where it was coming from, the wall. I left Micco and the wolves behind as I made it to the wall.
I stopped in shock.
Behind the foggy wall were hundreds of people. In front, Sera stood next to Mal, who had her hands on the wall. She was chanting as more people tossed packages through the wall.
Castiel: Son of Red Riding Hood (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 3) Page 29