Red and the Wolf

by Cindy C. Bennett

  “It’s too late to make it to your grandma’s before dark,” he said.

  “So?”

  “So, trust me, we’ll be safer in here than out there.”

  “You have a gun, Rafe. It’s just a wolf.”

  Rafe sighed, moving to the wood to begin stacking it near the opening to the cave. “Still, we’ll stay the night.”

  Ruby considered arguing. It would be useless, really. She knew Rafe could force her to stay. Besides, she was clever enough to know that wolf or no wolf, it was smarter to stay in the cave and get a fresh start in the morning. The rain still came down in buckets, anyway.

  “Guess we’ll have muffins for dinner, too,” she said.

  “I brought canned stew,” he said, pulling it from his pack along with a small pan to heat it over the fire.

  As they waited for the stew to cook, Rafe ran a hand lightly up Ruby’s upper arm, leaning to kiss her lightly where the bruises resided beneath the sweatshirt.

  “I swear I’ll never do anything ever again that will leave a mark on you, Red,” he said quietly, earnestly. “Lowell, your father, my father, Marina, Hutu, my mother . . . they can all have a go at flogging me for doing so even this one time. Still, it won’t begin to make up for it.”

  “I know you’re sorry. I also know you didn’t do it on purpose.” She smiled. “And the fact that you’ll let your mom have a shot at you guarantees that it won’t happen again. She’s pretty scary.”

  “Yes, she is,” Rafe agreed, laughing with her.

  “Maybe we should let Ali’tasi at you as well.”

  Rafe grimaced. “I won’t survive her and my mother. But yes, for you, I’ll let her have a turn as well.”

  Later, lying near Rafe, covered with a blanket he’d provided for her, she looked toward the opening. “Is he going to be okay?” she asked.

  “He’ll be fine,” Rafe said. “He probably went home.”

  Exhaustion was taking its toll on Ruby. Not physical exhaustion, but emotional. She just wanted to sleep. She let her eyes drift closed.

  “Red?” Rafe whispered.

  “Yeah?”

  “I wanted to ask you,” he said, “Did you love me too?”

  Her eyes popped open.

  Rafe smiled. “I’m not asking if you love me now. Only if you loved me then.”

  Don’t tell him. Don’t say anything.

  “With all my heart,” she said, turning away from him and squeezing her eyes closed.

  * * * * *

  Ruby woke with a start. It took her a moment to remember where she was. The cave was dark and cold. A glance toward the opening revealed that the fire had burnt down to coals. A tortured howling tore through the night. She sat up, eyes glued to the cave opening. The wolf sounded close.

  “We’re safe,” Rafe said in the dark. “As long as the coals are glowing, he won’t come in.”

  “You don’t know that,” she whispered, as if speaking louder might call attention to their location.

  Rafe sighed and sat up. He crawled to the mouth of the cave and placed the last few pieces of wood on the coals. He leaned down and blew until a flame started. He came back to where Ruby sat shivering.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  “I’ll be okay,” she said.

  Rafe scooted beside her, wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her to his side as he leaned against the wall. He brought his other hand around and rubbed her arm. She might have pushed away except the warmth was so welcoming. That, and the fact that she was in Rafe’s arms, and even if it were for a practical purpose, she’d take it. She cuddled closer to him.

  “Rafe,” she began. Another howl came, sounding even closer than before. “Why did you tell me that story? About the lycans, I mean.”

  He was silent. She believed he’d fallen asleep until he spoke.

  “I thought you should know the truth. We’re not supposed to tell anyone about the lycans, but I thought you deserved to know.”

  “Who is ‘we’?” Ruby still didn’t believe in the lycans, but she wanted to know what he was trying to tell her.

  “My family.”

  “Your family?” Ruby was stunned. She hadn’t expected that answer.

  “I know this all sounds fantastical, but it’s the truth. For as long as anyone in our family remembers, we’ve known about the lycans.”

  “So what are you? Some kind of protector, or something?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, that’s clear as mud.”

  Rafe’s laughter rumbled beneath her ear. “If you want the whole truth I’ll tell you, Red. But one of two things will happen. Either you won’t believe me, or you will believe me and then probably hate me.”

  Not likely. “Give me a try,” she said.

  “Like I said, no one is sure where or how it began. Somewhere along time the truth was lost and all we have now are a lot of theories. The one truth that remains is that, in our lineage, we all have the gene.”

  A tremor ran through Ruby. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but asked anyway. “What gene?”

  “The lycan gene.”

  Ruby considered his words. They all carried the . . . but then, that would mean . . .

  She sat upright, looking Rafe directly. His face was dim in the firelight. “Are you telling me you are a lycan?”

  Holding her gaze, he nodded.

  “And Lowell?” She couldn’t keep the disbelief from her tone.

  Rafe’s gaze went to the cave’s opening. “Yes.”

  Ruby scooted away from him. “So that howling . . .?”

  “Lowell, if I had to guess,” he said.

  “You really expect me to believe this?”

  Rafe’s gaze came back to her. “No, I don’t expect you to, but I hope you will.” He pulled his knees up, resting his arms across them.

  “So all of the animals . . . Bradford . . .?”

  He held one hand up. “That wasn’t me, Red. I swear.” He dropped his hand. “We all carry the gene, but we don’t all shift. Three and a half years ago, I began showing the signs.”

  “Signs?”

  He shrugged and gazed at the fire again. “You might not remember how much bigger I got in those last six months before I left.” She remembered, but hadn’t thought anything of it—at least, anything that didn’t have to do with her desire for him. “I started getting fevers regularly, only I wasn’t sick. I wasn’t sleeping much, and I was restless.” He blew out a breath. “I was afraid that if I stayed, I’d hurt someone.” His eyes locked with hers. “I was afraid I’d hurt you. I couldn’t have lived with that, Red. So I went away. I left, tearing my soul in two, because it was better than the risk if I stayed.”

  Ruby shook her head. “But you left Lowell here.”

  Rafe twined his fingers together. “Lowell hadn’t shown any of the signs. We figured he was a carrier, but not a shifter.” Rafe ran a hand through his hair. “Six months ago, my mom called to tell me he was showing the signs. I came back to try to help him learn control.”

  This was crazy. Rafe believing what he said was insane. “So you figured it was safer for you in New York at college than here?”

  Rafe rested his chin on one hand, watching her. “I wasn’t in New York. I was in Alaska.”

  “But . . . your address was in New York.”

  “My aunt lives there. She forwarded my mail. I was in a very remote part of Alaska, far north, so it sometimes was weeks before I would get my mail.”

  Huh. Well, she supposed that explained the delay in his responses. It didn’t explain his eventual complete lack of response, though.

  “Why Alaska?”

  “My uncle, my father’s brother, lives there. He teaches us how to control the change. Instead of shifting because of anger, or anxiety, or hunger, I learned to change at will—or not. I learned control, and I haven’t changed for over two years.”

  “So why didn’t you come home?”

  “I was afraid that coming back to Piera would und
o all I had learned. Something about Piera drives us more than anywhere else. Maybe it’s this forest. I don’t know. When I came back for Lowell, I didn’t know if I’d have control here. If I didn’t, I couldn’t stay.”

  “You could have taken me with you,” she murmured.

  Rafe scooted closer again, placing a hand over hers. “If I had come to you three years ago and said I was about to change into a lycan, and I wanted you to go with me to the northern reaches of Alaska while I learned how to control the beast, and could only hope I didn’t harm or kill you in the process, you would’ve thought I was crazy.”

  “I kinda think you’re crazy now,” she said softly. She looked down at Rafe’s hand on hers. She studied it. It looked the same as it always had. It felt the same as it always had. Whether he truly was a lycan, or just insane, which seemed more likely, it didn’t change how she felt about him. She brought her gaze to his. He watched her, waiting.

  “Why’d you stop writing?”

  “I thought it would be easier if you forgot about me, and moved on with someone else.” His jaw tightened. “I had no idea Lowell was trying to be that someone else. I always thought he disliked you.”

  “Me, too,” she said. “According to him, everything he did was because of jealousy.”

  Rafe smiled grimly. “I wish I could hate him for it, but I can’t blame the guy. If it was me, and you loved someone else, I’d be jealous, too. And if he went away, I’d do everything I could to get you to love me.”

  “How could you think I’d ever forget you?” she whispered.

  Another howl ripped through the dark and Ruby shuddered.

  “All those animals, was it Lowell?”

  Rafe seemed to consider answering, but finally said, “Yes, it was.”

  Ruby still didn’t know if she bought into the whole lycan thing, but the thought of Lowell transforming into a raging beast and slaughtering animals—particularly Bradford—caused a chill to ripple across her entire body.

  “We’re trying to convince him to go to Alaska, but he won’t go as long as he thinks . . .”

  “Thinks what, Rafe?” she pressed.

  “As long as he thinks there’s a chance with you.”

  Ruby was stunned. “Why me? What am I to him? Nothing, when compared to everything else.”

  Rafe smiled, taking both her hands in his. “Ruby, you’ve heard that wolves mate for life, right? Well, we’re not wolves, but in that particular area, we are the same.”

  Ruby didn’t know whether to laugh at the absurdity, or cry over the whole, ridiculous mess.

  “But Lowell and I, we haven’t, you know, mated. We haven’t kissed or held hands. We haven’t even been on a date.”

  Rafe was grinning now. “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear that, Red.”

  Ruby pulled one of her hands from his and shoved against his shoulder. “This isn’t funny, Rafe.”

  “I know,” he said, using his now freed hand to caress her cheek. He leaned forward, hesitating before kissing her, as if asking permission. Ruby closed the distance.

  She’d only kissed Rafe twice before. Once when she thought she had a lifetime with him, and once when he blindsided her when he first returned home. This was completely different. This time she knew that he loved her, that he’d stay with her if she asked it of him. This kiss was on a whole new plane from the other two as heat flowed between them, his mouth gentle and urgent at once on hers.

  A shuffling near the entrance to the cave pulled them from their kiss. Behind the fire, in the darkness, a creature stood. Tall, broad, darkly furred, a long snout with sharp teeth bared, glowing eyes. Ruby let out a small squeak of surprise. Rafe scrambled away from her, sweeping up his rifle and cocking it, taking aim at the creature whose eyes were intent on Rafe.

  “No!” Ruby cried. “No, Rafe. It’s Lowell. He’s your brother.”

  The creature’s eyes swung her way with a ferocious growl and abruptly it was gone. A few seconds later it howled angrily into the night, the sound carried back to them. Rafe set the gun down, moving over to take Ruby into his arms. She didn’t realize how badly she shook until he did.

  “I didn’t believe you,” she said shakily.

  “I know. I wish it weren’t true, Red.”

  The vision of the creature stayed front and center within Ruby’s mind. She’d never seen or imagined anything like it. It didn’t seem real. And Rafe was one of them.

  “He won’t come back,” Rafe said. “We need to get some sleep if we’re going to make it to your grandma’s tomorrow.”

  He pulled both blankets over them, lying down and settling her in front of him, his arm wrapped protectively around her. She faced the cave’s mouth, eyes wide, watching for Lowell’s return.

  Part IV Grandma’s House

  Rafe had granola bars for breakfast for them. Ruby feared leaving the cave and coming across the creature again, though so far there hadn’t ever been any daytime sightings of it. It might be Lowell shifted into some otherworldly form, but it wasn’t a Lowell that could be trusted.

  They packed everything up and walked out onto the damp earth. At least the rain had stopped, and the skies, though gray, weren’t dark enough to indicate an imminent storm. However, in these mountains, that could change quicker than the shiver that shimmied across her skin.

  They hadn’t trekked halfway to her grandma’s yet, so they walked quickly, not speaking much. Ruby didn’t think she could take another night in the forest.

  Ruby balled her fists, attempting to ward off her nervousness. Now that she knew what Lowell was, and that he was somewhere out here with them, she couldn’t help but constantly scan their surroundings, watching for him. She wasn’t sure just how angry he was with her, or with Rafe.

  When they came in sight of Anaia, Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. The town was even smaller than Piera, with only about a hundred residents, most of them holdovers from the time when Anaia was a silver mining town. The silver had tapped out over forty years ago. Ruby’s grandfather had been a silver miner, and her grandmother had refused to leave their home after his death a decade earlier.

  They made their way down the steep path leading to the edge of the small town. Ruby realized how vulnerable Anaia could be if Lowell were to decide to wreak havoc. If the barge were in town, it could be evacuated fairly quickly. But on foot, navigating the steep, treacherous path would prove challenging for many of the elderly residents, not to mention the trek through the forest to Piera. She only hoped that she wasn’t leading the wolf into the hen house.

  As they came near her grandma’s house, Ruby stopped and turned to Rafe. “Do you mind if I go in alone? I want to tell her about my dad.”

  “I want to ask around town, anyway. See if there’ve been any . . . sightings,” he said.

  Ruby nodded. “Good idea. I’ll just be here, so come back later. We’ll spend the night and head back tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” he agreed. “Ruby . . .” he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something. Instead, he just smiled and said, “Give your grandma a hug for me.”

  “Give her one yourself when you come back,” she said, turning and pushing through the low white gate that surrounded her grandma’s yard.

  “See ya, Red,” he waved, heading down the road.

  Ruby watched him before turning to her grandma’s house. The small, unassuming brown house looked like something out of a fairytale. White shutters, thatched roof, dormers to allow light inside, and a sign welcoming visitors next to the front door were almost as familiar to her as her own house.

  She walked up to the front door, opening it at the same time she knocked. There wasn’t even a question of whether the door would be locked, or if she was welcome to walk in.

  “Grandma, I’m here,” she called, peering into the interior. Silence greeted her. “Grandma?”

  She shrugged her backpack from her shoulders, dropping it on the living room floor. She moved into the kitchen, setting the basket of goodies on th
e countertop. The clean and tidy house had the feeling of being empty.

  She walked back through the living room and down the hallway, peeking into the two guest rooms and her grandma’s bedroom. She wasn’t in any of the rooms, and the open bathroom doors revealed those two rooms to be empty as well. She walked back into the living room, hands on hips, stumped. She’d really expected her grandma to be at home, waiting for her. Well, shoot.

  She went back into the kitchen and pulled some plastic wrap from the cabinet, wrapping some of the muffins and cupcakes to put in the freezer. Once finished, she walked into the living room to wait. She opened the CD player and smiled as she recognized her grandma’s label-free “old lady mix”, as she called it, that Ruby had burned for her a few years ago. The mix included an eclectic collection of songs from a wide variety of genres. She turned the stereo on and pushed the play button. The song that kicked on was “Brother Warrior” by Kate Wolf. The irony of the artist’s name wasn’t lost on Ruby.