Asanni

by J. F. Kaufmann

  “Are you hungry?” I asked, assessing her carefully. She looked weary, but not hurt.

  “Not really. I’m thirsty, though.”

  I poured water in a bowl and placed it in front of her. She drank and then, with a girly movement, cleaned her muzzle on her front leg.

  “Astrid, I’m going to change, too. Would you like to watch?” I said.

  The golden eyes looked at me for a few moments. “Yes.”

  I started removing my clothes. Astrid tilted her head and fixed her amber gaze on me. “Now I’ll finally see you naked, and I won’t remember a thing. Rotten luck!”

  I laughed. “I see your sense of humor didn’t stay trapped somewhere there with Ms. Spock.”

  “Lovely. I’m very pleased,” Astrid said as I took off my underwear. A smile lingering in her eyes traveled to her lips. She bared her long, white teeth in a semblance of a smile.

  My change was longer and far less dramatic. It felt rather like a mild growing pain. It tickled more than it hurt.

  “I’m sorry to spoil your fun, Astrid, love, but here I am.”

  I always transformed from the bottom up, ending with my hands, fingers and head. That kept me in an upright position until the moment I could easily lower myself onto my front legs.

  I glanced at Astrid. Her eyes were wide open and filled with love.

  “Jack Canagan, I sincerely apologize for telling you that I didn’t want to have puppies with you. Now I’ve changed my mind. Can we start now?” She paused and tilted her head to the other side, still assessing me. “Generally speaking, we can do it as wolves, can’t we?”

  I laughed. “You think about sex all the time, Astrid. Well, providing we are both in wolf form, yes, we can do it, but just for fun. We don’t reproduce in wolf form... Wanna go outside? There is a little pond near here. Let’s go there. You can see your reflection on the surface.”

  We walked out side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder. I was right: she was almost as big as I was. I’d never seen another female werewolf so big, not even close. Her werewolf power was proportional to her physical size, and that meant it was also enormous.

  I usually liked to run in my wolf form, and sometimes transformed just to do that. But tonight I was happy to have a stroll through the woods with my girlfriend. It was our first date.

  “Astrid, are you tired?” I asked her again. She was quiet, but her heart thumped in a strong, healthy cadence.

  “Oh, I’m fine,” she reassured me. “Actually, better than ever before. I have much more energy.” She turned to me, baring her teeth. “You understand I’m trying to give you a smile, don’t you? You are the main reason that Astrid stopped fighting me, her wolf side. She’s been prejudiced, and she’s ashamed of that.”

  “Don’t be silly. That’s an order,” I said, smiling, unable take my eyes off her.

  I heard her earthy, deep laugh. “You can’t order me, Jack. But you can always politely ask me, and I’ll consider everything you say.”

  “Well, technically I can. Alpha males outrank Alpha females. I’ve already explained that,” I said, anticipating her reply.

  “I’m an Ellida, I outrank everybody!”

  “You are also my mate, which means I’m the boss. Technically.”

  “If that’s what you want. So you won’t ask me to play reverse roles, ever?”

  “Oh, here we are again, more naughty thoughts. May I ask something personal? When did you, ahem, last time...?”

  “You may not! None of your business, that’s all I’m going to say.” She giggled. “Jack, when I flip-flop back, please tell me what we were talking about tonight, just in case I don’t remember a thing. I’m enjoying it so much.”

  “You won’t believe when I tell you how horny you are, but I’ll do my best.”

  WE STOPPED by the little pond. The night was quiet, with a tiny breeze that rustled the tips of the pines and spruces. The sky was cloudless, and the moon shone bright, a round silver swell on the sparkling ink-blue horizon.

  Astrid turned to me and locked her dark eyes with mine. “Jack, what do you see in my eyes?”

  I looked deeply into her two dark pools, losing myself in them. “I see myself, love.”

  “That’s the right answer,” she whispered, and turned her head toward the smooth, motionless, watery mirror. For a long while she stared into her reflection, tilting her head occasionally from side to side, to catch a better glimpse.

  “I am pretty,” she said quietly, and then I heard a soft chuckle, “even my nose doesn’t seem too long anymore.”

  We sat beside the pond, on the soft, rustling dry grass.

  Astrid fell asleep. Her head rested peacefully on my shoulder. She inhaled slowly, and I could see her strong chest rising with each breath. I breathed in her scent until I was almost dizzy, and then, glancing at the moon above, closed my eyes and ran to find Astrid in my dreams.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Jack

  ASTRID THOUGHT I’d been overprotective and she was often annoyed. When I sensed four vampires closing in on us, for a brief moment I was angry with her. “Do you still think I’m exaggerating!?” I wanted to yell. Or maybe I did. I felt unbearable, paralyzing fear, like never before.

  And then the cold rage took over.

  SHE SENSED them, too. We still couldn’t see them, but two of them were coming from behind, and the other two were approaching us from the cabin. According to their smell, they were relatively young male vampires. Some leftover trash from Warren’s legions, I was sure.

  “Astrid, can you run?”

  “Not fast enough.”

  “Stay in your wolf form…”

  “I can’t change back before tonight… Jack, they came for me. They need me alive. You run and bring help.”

  “No goddamned way, Astrid! I’m not gonna leave you here!”

  Then we saw them. They looked like ordinary young men in their jeans, wind jackets and sneakers, the two from behind joining the other two in front of us.

  “The red dog must be the bitch,” said their leader, a tall man with a stiff, expressionless face. “She can’t throw her spells in her wolf-form, but be careful. The bitch is huge, and we need her alive and unhurt. Which means we need to get rid of the dog first.”

  I pushed the panic back, and concentrated on them. Four vampires wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t have Astrid beside me. She couldn’t run fast enough, couldn’t hide, and didn’t know how to fight.

  “I can fight, Jack,” she said as if she could read my mind. Her voice was calm.

  I let out a low, threatening snarl.

  “Your babysitters aren’t coming,” the tall vampire said. “They have their hands full of cardboard boxes. They should drive that truck straight to Copper Ridge.”

  “Seth may accept it as your dowry,” a vampire on his right side said, laughing at his own joke.

  My heart jumped. “Astrid, they don’t know about Tristan and Liv!”

  Astrid smirked. “It seems so. But then, Liv and Tristan don’t know about them, either.”

  I wasn’t so sure, although I couldn’t explain why.

  They were coming closer to us. “Stay behind me,” I ordered and put myself between Astrid and the vampires.

  “Listen! What do I call you, witch or bitch?” the leader said, and his soldiers laughed. “Why don’t you just come with us, and I promise we won’t touch your boyfriend. He’s free to go.”

  “I’m going to rip your heart out before you touch her!” I growled.

  “Jack, please don’t let anything happen to you!”

  I could hear Astrid’s rapid heartbeats. Her voice lost its unnatural calmness that’d been there just a moment ago. She was terrified, not for herself, but for me.

  Suddenly, my inner senses caught a faint feeling of Liv and Tristan speeding toward us. Not their scent, not their sight. I felt them coming. This hard-to-describe inner sensation was an arbitrary skill I could rarely count on, but it had happened to help me here and ther
e in times of great peril.

  I knew Liv and Tristan had just left Rosenthal, and with their great speed, they would be here in about ten minutes.

  My eyes quickly scanned over the vampires. They didn’t seem to sense we were soon about to have company.

  I continued walking toward the vampires in a slow, steady pace, with Astrid just a half step behind. The vampires stopped advancing, assessing our positions. I turned slightly to Astrid and her head came into my peripheral vision. Astounded, I caught a glimpse of her dark-blue, wizard eyes.

  “It looks like the asanni has joined the team,” she said in a light, almost humorous voice that sent shivers down my spine.

  Dear God, what was she trying to do?!

  “Damn it, Jack, I’m not leaving you here! Where is their weak point? Where should I aim!?”

  “I’ll take the leader and that chubby one on the left. They are the strongest. You must run! That’s an order, Astrid! Run now!!!” I was now yelling at the top of my lungs, as if the sheer volume of my voice would make her change her mind.

  “NO! Where are they weak?! Tell me!”

  “Neck! Break the neck! Watch out for your throat and don’t let them bite you! Watch out for weapons! Take that one on the right wing!”

  Then I heard her murmuring something in her wizard’s tongue.

  “Jack, jump and roll over me!”

  “WHAT?!”

  “DO IT!!!”

  I knocked her down and we rolled several times, moving away from the vampires. They were so surprised by our unexpected movement, they looked almost comic.

  When we separated, two identical wolves stood in front of them.

  “What!? What’s that!? I told you to grab him first!” the tall vampire screeched. “She’s a witch! Look what she did! They both look like him! Which one is she!? Take them both! Take them both!!!”

  Inside my head, I heard Astrid’s soft, calm voice.

  “The hell you will... Matri Agni nauh mehakhal khetar... Matri Agni nauh mehakhal khetah...”

  Every single hair on my body shot upright.

  I understood enough of Prakhart to know what she was murmuring. Fire spell. Mother Fire, be my shield… I’d heard this spell once or twice before, during the war with Warren. Only the most powerful wizards could use it safely. Oh, God!

  “Astrid, no! NO!!!”

  “IT’S SHOWTIIIIME!!!!”

  Bursting into flames, Astrid charged toward the enemy with great speed. The two vampires on her right stood petrified as a huge, fiery blue-orange ball launched itself toward them.

  Astrid had told me she could create an illusion of fire, even real fire-balls, but that was child’s play compared to this. God Almighty, what was she doing!?

  As I catapulted myself onto the biggest one, the leader, I saw one of Astrid’s targets dropping to the ground. The other one pulled out a knife and zigzagged toward the woods. Astrid followed him.

  My vampire was strong, and we struggled for a while, but my blood was boiling and it didn’t take me long to find his neck. The bones cracked between my jaws. I didn’t let go until my teeth tore his head off.

  I turned around and jumped on another one. He was dead before I broke a sweat.

  My teeth still sunk into his bones, I lifted my eyes to scan the suddenly quiet battlefield.

  Two dead, one on the ground in unknown condition. The last one had almost reached the woods, only to be stopped by Liv. She didn’t need to fight him physically. The strength of one of the most powerful Tel-Urughs was in her eyes. She looked at him, and the next moment he collapsed soundlessly on the grass, like a rag-doll.

  “It’s over, Astrid.”

  I looked around and stopped dead.

  Astrid lay motionless on her side, her red fur covered with blood.

  “Astrid?!”

  My heart froze. My brain turned to stone. My lungs stopped breathing.

  I’d had several close shaves in my life, yet I had always somehow managed to escape. Oh, God, tell me you didn’t save me then just to kill me today. I won’t live without her. I can’t…

  Everything stopped and I was sure I did die for a moment. And then I heard the fast, fluttery beats of Astrid’s heart.

  And my own heart started pounding again.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  BY THE time Jack reached Astrid’s limp body, Tristan already knelt beside her. He pulled out the knife from her thigh and passed it to Liv.

  She sniffed the blade. “Tranquilizer. He didn’t want to kill her, just to incapacitate her.”

  Jack immediately changed back to human form and crouched down to his motionless bond-mate.

  “Will she be okay?” Jack said. His voice was sounded raspy and parched.

  “She’ll be okay, Tristan said calmly. “She lost some blood but the wound’s already healing.”

  “Why is she unconscious?”

  “Sleeping juice, blood loss, the energy she used. That’s exhausting. She fought, did she?” Tristan said, smiling. “What a girl!”

  “Liv, bring me some clothes from the cabin, please,” Jack said. He lifted Astrid’s head and placed it to his lap. “My God, I thought you were... Oh, Astrid, don’t do that to me ever again!”

  He looked up at his friend. “Tristan, you sure she’s okay? I couldn’t hear her heart for a moment.”

  “Her heart never stopped, don’t worry. You were scared, Jack, that’s why you didn’t hear it.”

  “She used her wizard powers in her wolf form—”

  “That’s fantastic!”

  “And she cast a Fire Spell, Tristan! Turned into a damn torch in front of my eyes!”

  “Holy shit! There’s only a handful of wizards strong enough to use that.”

  Liv came back and tossed a pair of jeans at Jack. “Why are you surprised? It was clear from the beginning she was a mighty wizard.”

  Jack put the jeans on and then gently lifted Astrid in his arms.

  “Holy smoke, isn’t she big!” Tristan said. “She impresses me all over again.”

  “When is she going to wake up, Tristan?” Jack asked.

  “Soon, Jack.” He looked at his wife. “Can you take care of this mess, honey? I’ll go with Jack and Princess.” He pointed to the unconscious Tel-Urughs. “Shall I take these two with me?”

  “Bring that trash to the cabin. We’ll have a little chat later.”

  Liv grabbed the severed head of the leader and lifted it up. “Tristan, do you recognize this one?”

  “Frank Sotto, one of Warren’s lieutenants.” He turned to Jack. “Do you remember him?”

  “Didn’t have the pleasure until this morning,” Jack said. “I heard about him, though. They called him ‘Mad Frankie’.”

  “Well, it’s ‘Dead Frankie’ now. We should’ve hunted him down long ago. Shit happens when you are too soft! Bastard!” Liv said, throwing the head to the ground.

  Tristan grabbed the two unconscious bodies by the collars of their shirts and dragged them unceremoniously to the cabin. “Liv, shall I leave them sleeping?”

  “Just don’t kill them, Tristan, before I talk to them. I can always do that later,” Liv said with a sneer, baring her perfect white teeth.

  JACK CARRIED Astrid to the cabin. He gently lowered her down on the bed and sat by her side. Tristan took her pulse, checked her temperature and dressed the wound. Almost unnecessary—her strong, healing blood was dealing with it at an impressive speed.

  “We got a phone call from Copper Ridge,” Tristan said. “Our informant said Frank showed up at Copper Ridge a few days ago. The other three came a day after him. Our friend tried to keep an eye on them, but only this morning she figured out they weren’t there anymore. She phoned us immediately.”

  Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “Damn it. It seems they’d tagged Alec, and then followed us. And I didn’t have a clue.”

  “Jack, Liv and I checked the entire area. It was all clear. They weren’t here before you two came; Liv would’ve tracked their s
cent. Tel-Urughs are good at covering it, but not good enough to fool Liv. We only found traces of human scent, which is normal, but not even close to here. Liv masked Astrid’s scent, because Astrid still doesn’t know how to do that.”

  Jack’s hand gently stroked Astrid’s thick fur, stopping every once in a while on her chest to feel her heartbeats. They were strong and steady.

  “They masked their scent darn well. I smelled them just a moment before I saw them. Normally, I’d have sensed them within a five-mile radius. God, they knew when she was most vulnerable,” Jack said softly.

  “That’s a not big secret, Jack.”

  “I need to see Darius Withali as soon as possible. That lunatic of his father must be stopped before he does some serious harm again.”

  “We’re ready, Jack.” Tristan let out a deep breath. “Jack, it was Rowena who called. She tipped us off.”

  “I thought it might have been her.”

  “Now I’m going to find some food for Astrid. She’ll be hungry when she wakes up.”

  A FEW minutes later, Astrid stirred and opened her eyes. They were still blue. Astrid the Wizard stayed close.

  “Jack…” He heard her soft voice.

  A big lump swelled in Jack’s throat. “Hey, love… I’m here. Everything’s fine,” he said and cupping her head between his palms, kissed her warm, soft muzzle. “I’ll be the first werewolf to have a heart attack, you little rascal.”

  “Ah, first my red dress, and then this.” She laughed weakly. “I fought well, didn’t I?”

  “Like a true Alpha, and a great wizard. And if you ever do that again, I’ll throttle you. You ignored my direct orders.”

  Astrid lifted her head and sniffed the air. “Tristan and Liv are here.”

  “They got a call from Copper Ridge. Liv stopped the last attacker, the one that knifed you.”

  “I dropped my shield too early. I should’ve paid more attention to that knife. What about the first one?”

  “He’s alive. Bit burned, though.”