by Lilly Cain
“I don’t think the gadjo loves you.” Danior picked up a long metal rod from the workbench and stood over Helen. The wolf seemed to be enjoying the chaos in the barn. “Or maybe he isn’t as brave as you. How brave are you, Helen Mathews?” He touched her cheek with the metal quickly on one side, then dragged it slower across her other cheek. Helen screamed.
Silver. Burn marks rose quickly on Helen’s skin at even this light touch. And she was already hurt; he’d seen her limping, so Danior had already tortured her some time earlier. “Stop, I accept!” He couldn’t let her suffer at the hands of that asshole, even if he really needed more time to think about the bargain he’d just made and what it meant.
The Grandmother held up her hands. “Very well.” She chanted quickly and withdrew a small vial from her skirt pocket. David grimaced. They’d been played and she’d been expecting them, expecting all this. No way would she go around hanging onto werewolf potion in her pocket. No, she’d used the situation she knew was coming to make Danior submit to her, and she was getting exactly what she planned, an opportunity to change David. Why had she thought this would be the way to go, what revenge did she have on her mind?
Helen would at least be safe for a while. He’d hold his end of the bargain. And maybe she could figure out what to do while he took her place and solve the issue between them and the Rom. A quick idea dawned on him, half formed but he needed to blurt it out while he could. “Helen, use the retreat land.”
He blinked as spatters from the grandmother’s vial hit his face. And then the pain began. His heart pounded and he cried out as his flesh seemed to catch fire. His hands burned and the bones began to break, or elongate. Categorizing the many points of agony quickly became impossible as his whole body was broken and remade. He hadn’t thought to pull off his clothes and they strangled and cut at him as they ripped and he changed.
The worst were his legs, the way they ground inside him. Or at least he thought that until his skull crushed inward and back, leaving him gasping in agony. And then the tail… He howled, baying in pain as the bone and flesh built for his tail and burst forth, and then thousands of prickles rippled through his skin as fur burst forth.
Done. The wolf was free. He took in the scene around him: triumph radiating from the grandmother, anger from the wolves in human form, and horror from Helen. It was that—her expression and body language and scent screamed denial of what he now was—that forced him to answer the call of the night and run and run.
16
“The people have many paths over the United States. Some bands overlap in their paths, and there are times when several will come together for great meetings. But over the years we have lost many places where we could freely meet in any great numbers.”
Donceanu rose and pulled a huge, antique-looking book from a cupboard beside the door. “This shows the path of all the bands, including ours.” She placed it reverently and gently on the table, despite its obvious weight.
“No one outside our band has ever seen this book. Or even knows of its existence.” She opened the tome and turned the thick pages to the middle, where a map of the eastern and southern states lay spread across the double pages. In strange, shining gold ink ran the path that the Rom were so concerned with, the one that contained, or maybe generated, their magic.
“The map is spelled, something not even the other grandmothers are aware of. Your new campground has already been added.” She pointed it out. “We knew change was coming. The path marked here hadn’t glowed for more than three years, not until you agreed a month ago to find us a new meeting place. What you have found will make us stronger than we have been in generations.”
Helen leaned back on the bench. “I’m glad it’s what you want. I really never meant to hurt your people. And I think you knew that. So why did you do this to me? Why curse me?”
Bianca closed the book and took Helen’s hand. “It was not a curse. I think, deep inside, you know this. The wolf is a gift, child. For the change I knew was to come.”
“A gift. The most bizarre gift anyone has ever received.” Helen huffed out a breath and tried to stay calm. “Yes, I can see where the wolf is a great thing for some of your people. But look what’s happened to me and David! I’ve had to quit my job, he’s been gone from his company for a month…I don’t even know where he is or if he’s been all right. Danior could have been torturing him this whole time!”
“Danior is not what you think. He is a leader of wolves. He does what is best for them. Rest assured he has taken care of your man the best way he knows how. He may be a little power hungry, but the new path will give him more freedom and more power and he will be satisfied until well after I am gone. The new grandmother can worry about him then. Your man will have learned under him and done well.”
Helen tilted her head back and groaned. She’d never understand these people. “David isn’t my man. I’m sure of that. He was disgusted by the wolf, by the way I changed, so I can only imagine what he feels about me after a month of running on four feet.” She stood abruptly and gathered her briefcase. She couldn’t do it after all—face David and the emotions that were bound to be involved in meeting him again. God, she could barely talk about him. Her shoulders slumped and she fought to keep it together. “I’ll take your word about his wellbeing. I think it’s time for me to go. You have your path. He’s free to do as he wants.”
Bianca’s lips thinned. She clearly disapproved, but staying just wasn’t an option.
“Very well, although I didn’t take you for a coward. You will wear the pendant. At least once a year you will shift and remember what it is to be free. If you do not choose the time, the magic will choose it for you. Perhaps, if you listen to your wolf, you will come to your senses.”
Helen ground her teeth together. Nothing like pouring salt in the wound. The Rom were a complex people, and their leaders… Well, she would likely never understand their motivations for what they’d done to her over the last few months. Time to go.
The Grandmother stood and patted Helen’s arm. “I would ask you to have another cup of tea, now that we have finished our discussion, but I can see you will not stay for it. Goodbye, Helen Mathews. May your path be strong.”
“Goodbye. I hope you do well, but forgive me if I have to say I hope we don’t meet again.” That was about the end of the civility Helen had left in her.
“Perhaps. Perhaps not.”
Helen opened the camper door and let herself out. The cool night air felt good after the close confines of the RV, but as she drew a deep breath in, the sound of wolf song, the long undulating calls to the moon and each other rang through the air. She practically raced to her SUV. Getting to it and getting out of the campground became the most important consideration, pencil skirt and heels be damned. Even the laughter of the Rom families she passed didn’t matter.
Apparently, she was a coward.
The SUV sat where she’d left it and she threw her briefcase inside with total disregard for the expensive leather. She climbed in and started the car, shrieking when the headlights illuminated the shape of a half dozen large wolves. She slammed the car in reverse and spun out of the parking spot, and pressed the gas pedal to the floor when she got the vehicle turned around and put into drive.
Long hours later, Helen pulled back the covers and sat on the hotel bed. She’d driven past the place where she’d meant to stop, a nice little B&B, and kept going until her body rebelled and she feared she would fall asleep at the wheel. At least the Springhill Suites by Marriot had had room for her and they were comfortable and clean and quiet.
She kicked off her heels, staring for a moment at the scuffs on the expensive leather. Ruined. Her stomach hurt, her heart hurt and her heels were destroyed. A tear slipped down her cheek and she practically slapped it away. She picked up the phone and called down to room service for some Perrier, some Tylenol and some digestive crackers, then walked to the bathroom and stripped. Everything but the pendant came off. That she’d ke
ep, a reminder, always, exactly as the damn Gypsies probably planned. A hot shower was in order and then a long, long sleep.
She stood under the spray and let the heat pour over her. The hotel shampoo and conditioner weren’t her style but she couldn’t bring herself to be concerned. At least the jasmine body wash helped to ease her muscles. And if she cried in the shower, who would ever know?
Finally she climbed out and dried off and wrapped herself in a bathrobe. A heavy knock at the door reminded her of the room service order and she sighed. She picked up her purse, dug a few dollars from it and opened the door.
David pushed the door the rest of the way open.
Helen gasped and stumbled backward, but he caught her before she could fall. And then the door swung shut and his lips were on hers. His kiss demanded everything from her. And his hands, rough and cold from being outside, ran over her body with an urgency that left her reeling. The money she’d taken to tip room service fell to the floor and she grabbed David’s shoulders and hung on.
He wanted her, demanded her silently to submit to his desire. And if that was the direction his feelings had taken, she’d accept it and him. She’d take everything he’d give her. God knew it could be the last time she’d ever see him. If this was their last night, she’d have him any way she could.
He stripped the robe from her and let it fall to the floor. His eyes, still mostly golden from the curse with only a hint of hazel shining through, burned her with the power of his gaze and she flushed with embarrassment and desire. He’d seen her naked of course, but now he raked her over with his eyes and there was no mistaking his intent to take her now, hard, and no mistaking the fact that she wanted him to.
They’d been apart too long and her heart ached. But thought and regret came crashing to a close as he picked her up by the waist and pulled her against him. She wrapped her legs around his body and he strode to the bed, throwing them both down on the mattress. The breath in her lungs rushed out and he barely gave her a moment to catch it before his mouth and hands made her struggle for air again.
He kissed and bit at her lips, then her neck. His hands made quick work of rediscovering her body, stroking her skin and cupping her breasts only to pinch her nipples tightly. Before she could open for him, he was pressing his fingers inside her, and her cry of surprise and need only seemed to fuel his actions. In moments she cried out as the first orgasm shook her body, but he didn’t stop. He only growled in a strange combination of satisfaction and anger that made her shiver, and she spread her legs wider for him, offering him anything he wanted to take.
He bit and licked at her body, working his way down her stomach in a way that felt dangerous and wild. She shuddered under him, and smelled his skin, that unique scent of David mixed with a hint of what had to be his wolf. Had he come here immediately after shifting? How had he found her so fast?
“David… David!” She cried out in desire as his mouth found her core and he licked and proved until she spun out of control again and the world seemed to sway out of existence.
And then he was on her, thrusting, taking, and erasing the last bit of thought in her mind. She screamed and he howled as they both rushed over the edge and fell.
17
David lay on her, pinning her to the bed, and she could feel his heart racing. She licked her lips. Her mouth was dry from panting. She tried to clear her throat. He gripped her like she might be trying to get away. Not a bad idea. Now they’d have to talk. And there was that cowardice again, something her father had accused her of, but nothing had ever made her believe she possessed. Until now.
He rolled off her and laid on his back. They both stared at the ceiling. “I’m sorry.” The words came out in unison followed by a long few minutes of silence.
He spoke first. “I was angry at you. I shouldn’t have just barged in here. And then, you looked so good. I wanted you so much—”
“You don’t have to explain. And you certainly don’t have to apologize. I wanted you too.” She couldn’t look at him. “I know you hate me for what the Rom put you through. The pain and the humiliation of being an animal. Eating God knows what. Subjected to Danior’s anger and sadistic leadership. I don’t blame you. I saw how repulsed you were when I changed and how you pitied me. I know you probably came here for some closure. You can tell me how much you hate me. I take full responsibility. And when you find out the rest, you’re going to hate me more.”
“The rest? What did you do, Helen?” He rolled onto his side and stared at her. She could feel his gaze on her face and she closed her eyes.
“I… I gave them the mountain resort. Not all of it. Of course none of the land you bought. I purchased more under it and on the other side of the mountain. They needed a place with so many specific requirements, I couldn’t find anything else in the month they gave me. It doesn’t mean you can’t build what you want there,” she said quickly. “Just that it might be smaller, and you’d have some neighbors…but they aren’t there all the time and the wolves might actually bring in some tourism—”
“I don’t want tourists.”
“Oh… Of course you don’t. I’m sorry.”
“And this? What is this? I felt something from it.” He fingered the chain on the wolf pendant.”
“Part of the deal. I gave them a place to camp, a way to add to their path, and they freed you, freed both of us really. No being hunted.” She sat up, and then stood, her back to him. “The necklace is a reminder. So I don’t forget the Rom. At least once a year I have to change and become the wolf. I know you don’t want to see that again. I know you don’t want me near you long enough to see me as an animal or to remind me of what you’ve been through, all because you tried to help me.”
She turned back to him. God, he was gorgeous. The sheets only covered his hips. But his eyes had turned dark and his lips were pressed tightly together. His hands had bunched into fists. Looking at him was a mistake.
“I’m not angry because you used the land. I told you to do it. I don’t even want the retreat there anymore. I fell in love with the old place again when we were there together. And I’m not angry because they brought me to the wolf. Yes, it was painful. Yes, Danior is an asshole, although he saved me more than once and taught me a lot. I’m angry because you left me, damn it! You left me there, in a form I had no idea what to do with, with people I didn’t know, and no idea of what happened to you and no way of knowing what you were going to do or what they might do to you.
“I don’t hate being a wolf, I love it. Maybe you don’t, maybe all you still see is the animal, the beast, but over the last month I have experienced so much… I don’t even know if you got to see everything I have. You’ve never run with a pack…” He fell back on the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. “God, Helen. I don’t know where you got the idea that I was repulsed or that I pitied you. I was upset over the amount of pain I saw in you when you changed. And now I know firsthand how the pain is mixed with power and pleasure. I never pitied you.” He threw off the sheets and stood. “I never pitied you, I envied you!” Now he was shouting.
Helen froze. She stared at him, a beautiful male god in his anger. He’d put on even more muscle mass during his time in the woods, something she couldn’t help notice. She shook as she replayed his words. “You aren’t angry at me?”
“Yes, I am, damn it! But for all different reasons.” He walked to her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. Then he groaned and rested his head on top of hers, the wolf pendant trapped between them. “I’m still angry that you left. That you didn’t tell me about how you felt. That I told you I loved you and you ran away.”
She listed to his heart beating. “I love you.” She pulled away, catching his hands in hers. Slowly, keeping her eyes on him, she led him back to the bed.
“I love you,” she repeated herself. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s just that you scared me,” he muttered. He looked into her eyes. “I was afraid you weren’t coming back.”
/> Ah. Her heart twisted and she fell so much further. “I was afraid you wouldn’t love me anymore after everything. Hearing you say you loved me at Danior’s workshop, I convinced myself you only said it so that they would let me go. That you were pulling your Boy Scout routine. The knight in shining armor.”
“For you, always. But it was still the truth.” He kissed her. The wolf pendant buzzed between them. He leaned back, looked at it again. “The Rom drive a hard bargain. I wonder what it’s going to take to get them to make us another one?”
Now she grinned. “Well, I did happen to get a good look at the map of their path. There might be something we can negotiate.”
He laughed. “Perfect. C’mon, wolfgirl. Let’s try this again. Say it with me. I love you, and I am never leaving.”
“I love you. And I am never leaving.”
His lips met hers and the exhilaration over the freedom she’d experienced on her first run through the woods as a wolf returned. This time she wouldn’t run alone.
Epilogue
Pine needles, moldy old leaves, mud, and the scent of something small and furry tickled her nose. She waited, frozen, and he heard the tiny rustle that must have caught her attention. Then she leaped, pounced, and killed. Mouse. Perfect snack, although she’d never admit it to anyone except him. Maybe not even then, although he knew how much she liked them. He grinned at her and she grinned back, her long muzzle filled with teeth and a lolling tongue. Her fur ruffled in the breeze and he walked to her, nudged her with his shoulder. Time to go back.
Running. This was the part he liked best, breaking into the long loping run that ate the distance between them and home.
The cottage was home now, their territory, at least as wolves. There were times when their other forms interfered and they lived elsewhere, in places the wolves didn’t care for. Here on the mountain they had the big wooden den, comfortable for both their forms, and the woods to run and hunt.