by Sophie Stern
Now it’s just a place where birds live.
At least, that’s what Storm Dawn’s townspeople say.
Something tells me they’re wrong, though. I think there’s more to the forest and I plan to find out exactly what.
For the last few weeks, as Eva’s grown worse, I’ve been busy reading. In between doctors trying to figure out what’s wrong and calling in specialists from out of town, I’ve been searching for clues as to what might be plaguing her and how we can find a solution. Each doctor says the same thing, though: they’ve never seen anything like it, they don’t know why her symptoms are getting worse, and the only thing they can do is try to make her comfortable.
But then I remembered the story.
The one about the wolves.
The one about the wolves who live in the darkness.
If you can catch a wolf, your life will never be the same.
Eva has an entire journal full of fairytales and recipes. Some of them are obviously just simple musings to go with the story, but this one has always seemed real to me. Catch a wolf, take a lock of its fur, and create the potion. Whoever drinks it will be healed. End of story. Everybody wins.
It’s a beautiful thought: a pretty one, and I’m clinging to it with everything I’ve got.
I don’t really believe in magic. At least, I didn’t until now. Now I don’t really have a choice anymore. Medicine hasn’t helped. There’s nothing left but magic, and if the story is true, then the fur of a forest wolf holds magic. I know that when you catch a wolf, you’re never the same again. Something changes in you.
Living with someone obsessed with wolves means I don’t have to do much research on where to find wolves. My only obstacle is getting deep enough into the forest to find them. I really did think I’d have seen at least a couple of wolves by now. Apparently, the Forbidden Forest is even deader than I previously imagined.
I kick a rock as I keep walking steadily. Wolves. I know their living habits and their mating habits and what they eat. I know where they tend to hide and what their homes look like. I know they’re beautiful, magnificent creatures. I know Eva loves them.
For a brief second, I close my eyes and think of her. Can she sense that I’m out here? Is she even still conscious? When I saw her before I left, she opened her eyes, but she didn’t really see me. She’s too far gone, and I have no idea what’s wrong with her. She’s always been sickly, but this is the worst it’s ever been.
Opening my eyes again, I start walking faster. I have traps in my bag, along with sedatives I managed to get my hands on. I need to catch a wolf and hope for the best. I need to catch one and hope it actually brings magic. I need to catch one because if I don’t, I’ve wasted two days walking through the woods, being away from my friend, and the truth is that I’m scared.
I’m scared that she’s going to die and I’m going to lose the most important person I’ve ever known.
The most important person I’ve ever loved.
I need Eva.
I honestly don’t know what I’ll do without her.
Suddenly, though, hope fills my heart because I see signs of life. After all this time, I’m finally getting a lead. Squatting down beside a tree, I look at the big paw prints in the mud. It rained last night, which means this print is fresh and new. It means there was an animal nearby and not too long ago.
It means I’m getting close.
I can sense it.
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The Wolf’s Darling
Want more shifters? I have a series out called The Wolfe City Pack. Check out an excerpt from book one: The Wolf’s Darling! You can also visit Amazon to get your copy!
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Chapter 1
Amy
The rattling sound my engine is making can’t be good, but I ignore it. I’m excellent at ignoring problems. If you ignore something long enough, it goes away. Isn’t that right? Yeah, I think that’s right. I ignore the sound and keep on driving, keep on moving. It’s not something that I can do anything about right now, so I’ll just keep going.
That’s what you do when you’re having trouble.
You don’t quit. You don’t give up. You don’t stop. You just move. You have to move or you’ll die. You have to move or everything will fall apart. You have to move or nothing will make sense anymore. You have to move.
Tears slide down my face as I try to focus on the road. I shouldn’t be running away from my problems, but I am. I totally am. I know that, and I know it’s a bad idea, but I’m doing it anyway because I’m nothing but a big, fat coward who can’t tough it out when things get hard.
I’m nothing but a loser.
A failure.
A huge disappointment.
I put on one of my favorite songs from my angst-driven teenage years. Down by Something Corporate starts blaring through the speakers and I lose myself in the tunes for just a little bit. For just a little while, I lose myself in the song. I lose myself in the music. For just a little while, I forget what I’m running away from and think about what I’m running toward.
Freedom.
Hope.
Something new.
I peek at the GPS on my phone to see how much further I have to go. It’s just another hour to Honeypot, Colorado. My cousin Hope is graciously allowing me to stay with her and her family for a little while until I get back on my feet, until I figure out what I’m going to do with my life. She knows what it’s like to lose everything and have to start over.
She knows what it’s like to have nothing but yourself and your car and a couple of boxes of junk from your childhood.
I think about the fact that I reached out to Hope when my world fell apart and I think about what she said.
“Just come to Honeypot,” she told me. “Everything is different here. You’ll see. You need a fresh start, Amy. You need something new.”
Maybe it will be a fresh start. Maybe it will be exactly what I need, exactly what I hope for. Maybe it will give me everything I long for, but I doubt it. A city is a city and a town is a town. They’re all the same, in the end. Everyone is looking out for number one, and heaven help the person who gets in their way.
Nobody has time for other people.
Nobody has time to go out of their way and help.
Nobody has time for patience.
Nobody has time to forgive.
I start crying again as I drive. I wipe my eyes because it’s getting hard to see out the front window, but then I realize that’s not because of my tears. It’s because the engine has now started to smoke.
As the clouds billow from the front of the car, my heart sinks. This is it, then. This is the end of my wonderful, grand adventure. This is the part of my story where everything stops, where the heroine realizes she never really had a chance. The whole world was against her. What was she going to do?
Fight it?
I pull over to the side of the road and shut off the car. Then I just sit there. It’s dark, and I’m tired, and I’m on the side of a road I’m pretty sure shouldn’t even exist anymore. It’s not even a highway. It’s just some side road I thought would be faster and have less traffic.
Lucky me.
Always making the smart choices.
A quick glance at my cell phone confirms what I already suspected: that I have no towers. I can’t call for a tow. I can’t do anything right now but sleep in my car or walk to the next exit. Something tells me it’s not safe to sleep on the side of an empty road in the middle of nowhere, though, so my choice is easy.
Walking it is.
Finally, I get out of the car and open the hood. More smoke billows around me, but I try to ignore it as I prop the hood of the car open. I’m going to be making a journey on foot, and I’m hoping that if I make it obvious the car broke down, the cops won’t give me a ticket for illegal parking before I can get a tow.
I take my backpack and pull it on. I also grab my wallet,
keys, and phone. Then I lock up my car and start walking. There’s other stuff in my car, of course. There are plenty of things people can take and resell, but I don’t really care about any of that. Right now I just care about moving forward, about reaching my destination, wherever that might be.
I’m going to need to call Hope as soon as I can to let her know I won’t be making it in to see her, but I think she’ll understand, and I think everything will be okay. I hope everything will be okay. I need everything to be okay.
I start walking.
As I move through the darkness, I realize I should feel afraid, but I just feel annoyed. Why can’t a single thing go right for me this week? Hell, why can’t a single thing go right for me in my entire life? Do I really deserve this? Have I really been such a terrible person that I deserve to have a million and nine things go wrong for me?
I want to say I’m not.
I want to say I’m not that bad and I don’t deserve it, but you never know.
Maybe I was a really terrible child or something and this is Karma’s way of getting back at me.
As I trudge along the side of the highway, I wonder how long it’s going to take to actually get my car fixed. Realistically, Honeypot is an hour away by car. I can’t afford to have my car towed there and fixed in Honeypot. I’m sure Hope would spot me the money, but I don’t want to be a burden. Asking for help is already hard for me. Asking her to pay for a tow? I won’t do that.
No, there’s got to be a town closer than that. I’m sure there are several rink-a-dink little places here and there that have mechanics. The biggest problem right now is that I didn’t take the highway. It’s at least half a mile to my left and right now, I’m just going straight. I’m just going to keep moving. I’m just going to keep walking until I find something, anything, anywhere.
I reach an intersection and I take note of the street names so that when I do find a mechanic, I can tell him exactly where the car is. It’s dark, but the stars are so bright I can see where I’m going.
“You don’t get views like this in the city,” I mutter, and keep walking. It’s strange to think how much my life has changed in the last week. It’s strange to think that a week ago, I was just a normal person living a normal life. I had a normal boyfriend and a normal job and a normal future.
And then Jeremy decided I wasn’t worth protecting.
He decided I wasn’t worth fighting for.
I wonder how people survive break-ups and still move on to find someone new. Isn’t it strange? I suppose it’s kind of like how women go through childbirth, but then continue on to have another child. It hurts, but it’s worth it. The pain is awful, but soon the memory fades, even just a little.
In a month, will I still feel so broken?
In a year, will I still feel so sad?
I’m still crying as I walk and now, strangely, I have the feeling I’m being watched. I wasn’t worried before, but now I’m starting to get a little nervous. This is Colorado, after all. It’s known for wild animals. Hope told me she saw a lot of wild creatures when she first arrived. Hell, she even saw a bear. Like, up close.
I shiver as I think about running into a bear out here alone. I’m not terribly out of shape, but I don’t think I’d be able to out-run a bear. Even if I wasn’t completely tired and worn out from my week, from the drive, I don’t know if I could face a bear. I’d probably faint from fear.
“There’s nothing out here,” I say aloud. I stop walking and turn in a circle, searching the darkness. There are fields on either side of the road. One of them has a lot of trees, but they’re spaced far enough apart that nothing is hiding. I would be able to see a bear.
I think.
There’s nothing.
“You’re overreacting,” I say to myself. “There’s nothing here, Amy. Just focus. What do you need to do?”
I start moving again as I run through a mental checklist and continue talking to myself. It’s a nervous habit. Ever since I was little, I’ve talked to myself when I’m scared or overwhelmed. It’s probably really silly, probably really dumb, but it’s always made me feel like I could handle things.
Somehow, hearing my voice out loud makes me feel a little stronger, a little braver. Maybe it’s because sometimes, having anyone tell you they believe in you can give you the strength you need to move forward. Even if that someone is just yourself, sometimes it’s nice to hear. It’s nice to hear you can do it.
It’s nice to have someone tell you you’re strong.
“First, find a mechanic,” I say. Then I realize it’s nearly midnight. I imagine all the mechanics have gone home for the night. “Scratch that. Find a motel. In the morning, talk to the clerk. The clerk can help me find someone to fix my car.”
That’s it.
That’s what I’ll do.
I’ll find a motel. I’ll find a clerk. I’ll find a mechanic.
They’ll fix my car and then I’ll be on my merry way. Then everything will be okay and I’ll only be a little late to Hope’s place and then I can really start my new life without Jeremy, without stress, without any problems.
I’ll be able to start my life.
My legs are aching and my throat is dry. I wish I’d thought to grab a water bottle. I’ve been walking for close to an hour and sleeping in the ditch is starting to seem like a viable option, but then I finally spot some lights.
There are only a couple of lights visible at first, but soon there are more and more, and I reach the edge of a small town.
“Wolfe City,” I read the sign. “Cute name.” I mean, it’s the kind of name that makes me think this is going to be a ghost town overrun by wolves, but it’s cute. I pass a couple of houses before I find the main street. The street lights are bright and the town seems to be well-lit. It’s quiet, and I’m guessing everyone is asleep, but I should be able to find my way around.
There’s a small grocery store and a general merchandise store, along with a couple of fast food chains. I walk past them and finally find what I’m looking for: a little run-down building with the word MOTEL flashing in front.
I approach the building warily and push open the door. A little bell jingles and the scent of must and mold wafts to my nose. It’s an older building, but it’s just for one night.
Hopefully.
Oh, I really, really hope it’s only for one night.
“Hello,” the clerk says when I walk in. She looks me up and down and then, if I’m not mistaken, she sniffs the air. Oh damn, do I smell bad? I walked for a long time. I’m probably sweaty and gross by now. “Can I help you?” She cocks her head to the side, waiting for me to say something.
“Um, yes, do you have any rooms available?”
“You want a room?” She looks surprised, as if that was the last thing she was expecting me to say.
“Yeah, I mean, yeah. Isn’t this a motel? I mean, um,” I stumble over the words, completely flustered, until she smiles and laughs and waves her hand.
“Calm down, honey. It’s just that we don’t get too many out-of-towners here. I figured you were looking for directions. Of course we’ve got a room. Just one night?”
“Yeah,” I say, breathing a sigh of relief.
“I’ll need to see your ID, and it’ll be $42.50 for the evening. Cash or credit is fine.”
I fish my driver’s license out of my pocket and hand it over, along with my credit card. I do have a little cash, but I want to save it for emergencies. Then again, I think this technically qualifies as an emergency.
The woman starts whistling as she bustles around, copying my ID and filling out something on her computer.
“So what brings you to Wolfe City?” She asks.
“Oh, I’m actually on my way to Honeypot,” I tell her. Maybe I shouldn’t admit my final destination. Maybe I shouldn’t be telling a stranger where I’m going, but something about this woman seems calming, trustworthy. She’s older than me, probably around forty or so, and she has a gentle smile.
“Hon
eypot?” She looks up at me in surprise. “Why?”
“I’m going to go stay with my friend for a little while.”
“Oh,” she nods. “Boy trouble?”
“Something like that. My car broke down, though, so I’m here.” I motion to the room. “You don’t happen to know a good mechanic, do you?”
A grin spreads across her face.
“My husband is the town mechanic,” she says. “And he’s the very best. Don’t worry,” she glances at my ID. “Amy. We’ll get you taken care of in no time.”
Chapter 2
Adam
As I lurk around the Wolfe City Motel, I can’t quite believe what’s happening. The women Heather called Amy is my mate. She’s definitely, absolutely, totally my mate.
And she’s totally human.
How could this happen? How could this be the way I found out? I’ve been searching my whole life for the one woman I’m destined to be with. I never expected it to be a human. I never expected to find a mate who wasn’t a shifter.
A shifter knows, though. There’s no mistaking it when you find your one true mate. There’s no denying the way you can scent them, the way you instantly know there’s a connection. There’s no way this could be a mistake.
She’s the one I’ve been waiting for all this time.
And she’s only passing through town, so I don’t have much time.
I was able to catch her scent more quickly than I should have. Usually a person’s distinct scent is fairly faint. Usually, you have to get pretty close to be able to smell them. This is why wolves are so seductive and suave. This is why we use all of our sexual prowess to get close to each other. We need to be physically close, and sometimes physically touching, in order to tell if someone is our mate.
But I didn’t have to get close to Amy.
I didn’t have to touch her.
She was crying while she walked down the road outside of town. She was crying and her heart called out to mine. I was in wolf form, which may have made it even easier to smell her, to scent her. Everything is easier in wolf form, and everything is easier when emotions are strong.