by Rosie Harper
Marnie remembered him from when he was younger, skinnier, but still retaining that broad look. He had grown into a strapping man, something she noticed but hated herself for noticing at the same time. Now he looked down at her with that same sort of smug disdain, and Bridget was nowhere in sight.
“Staring at the sun, are we?” Neil asked with a grin.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she sat up, brushing her thick, dark hair out of her eyes. She watched as he tried to move to sit beside her, and then thought better of it. There was a look on his face that Marnie couldn’t place, but it didn’t seem like a good look. Had she done something wrong? Was she going to be the first victim of a new round of Campbell aggression? She hoped not, but if she had to be she wished that it wouldn’t be at the hands of stupid, handsome Neil.
“I came here to tell you something, it’s important,” he said. Marnie ’s stomach turned. He looked so gave, so upset himself, so she voiced one of her greatest fears.
“Is Bridget okay?” she asked. She didn’t hide the tremor in her voice, the sheer worry. Neil’s head tilted as he took notice of it, but said nothing. Instead he shook his head as though unsure of how to answer.
“She is, she really is, but something happened.”
It was worse than Marnie had imagined. Had Bridget decided not to be her friend again? Had she gone back to embrace Campbell tradition? It couldn’t be. Bridget had always sworn that she was never going to end up like that, that she would like people based on their merits and not on their clan. There was no way that Bridget had suddenly decided to throw all of that away.
“What? Don’t just stand there, you idiot, tell me!”
Neil flinched and bit his tongue trying not to answer back. He had to know that Marnie was upset.
“It’s our parents. They found out about your friendship, and they also found out that you know… erm…” Neil tripped over the words, so accustomed to not speaking them in front of anyone outside of the clan.
“I know about the curse. How it’s real,” Marnie finished for him, impatience dripping in her voice. He nodded, looking queasy at the notion that she knew. Too bad, Marnie thought. That gift is probably wasted on you.
“Yes. So they sent her away. To my mother’s family. She’s banished there until further notice, I expect.”
“What!?”Marnie didn’t believe it. He had to have been taking the piss out of her because there was no possible conceivable way that this had been what was happening. Neil didn’t seem to be the type to use his sister to hurt anyone, but then again like her family always told her...you couldn’t trust a Campbell.
“I don’t like it either, you know!” Neil cried. “Bridget was my best friend too, and now she’s gone because she decided to be friends with the likes of a Mackenzie.”
Rage swarmed in Marnie ’s gut, but she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from spitting cruel words at him. He was obviously also distraught at what had happened, and a feeling of strange tenderness rushed unbidden to Marnie ’s heart as she looked at his pain. They were two people missing the same person, probably for the same reasons, so she had better be kind.
“What can we do?” she asked. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and gave a little laugh.
“You?Probably nothing. Like Bridget told me when she left, the only way we could do it is by ending the feud.”
End the feud? That’s it? Of course that was it! Hope flooded the chambers of Marnie ’s heart as she jumped to her feet and began pacing through the heather. Neil watched her as though she had just gone mad, but it didn’t matter.
“That’s all? End the feud? Of course…” she mumbled to herself. “Seems almost too easy.”
“Yes,” Neil said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s way too easy to just end centuries of hatred between the Campbells and the Mackenzies, why don’t we just throw a wonderful party and invite everyone and then we’ll realize that we’re not so different after all?”
“We are different,” Marnie said as though she were getting at something. “Your people can turn into wolves.”
“Hey!” he gave a quick look around the meadow just in case any travelers were passing by. “You can notjust blurt that out, do you understand?”
“Oh yes,” Marnie replied sarcastically. “I apologize for saying that in front of all of these people.”
As she gestured around to indicate that the meadow was empty, and Neil didn’t know whether he wanted to shake her or simply hold her to see if her pale skin was as soft as it looked. He quickly shoved the thought away.
“Either way,” he said. “What can we do, break the curse?”
“Yes,” Marnie replied with a serious look on her face. “We break the curse.”
“Excuse me?”
Marnie once again began to pace around the meadow, trampling heather in her wake.
“We break the curse! If the curse is broken, the Campbells would have no reason to dislike the Mackenzies, wouldn’t they? And for the most part the Mackenzies don’t remember exactly why the Campbells hate us so much, so we simply hate you back because you hate us.”
“That seems needlessly complicated.”
“So is cursing an entire clan for generations for what seems to be no reason.”
Neil ran his hand through his strawberry colored curls. Marnie had always liked them, and until this very moment she thought it was because they reminded her of Bridget. That wasn’t true, for Bridget’s hair was a bright, vibrant red and Neil’s hair had a touch of gold in it. It suited him well, Marnie thought.
But she needed to focus on the task at hand.
“There’s a witch that lives in a cave somewhere to the north,” she said thoughtfully. “I bet she would know.”
“You know about where a witch lives?” Neil asked incredulously. “No wonder the Mackenzies are all a little odd.”
“Says the man who can turn into a wolf.”
Neil could detect a hint of envy in her voice, but decided against pursuing that line of fascinating questioning for another time. Part of him, of course, did not want to break the curse. He loved being a wolf, but then he remembered the terrifying look on his father’s face at the notion that others might find it out, and the heartbreak that came upon members of his family when they realized that their beloved children were about to turn sixteen, or Bridget’s fear of the pain. He knew it wasn’t just about him, and for peace between the clans he would be willing to give up his wolf.
He turned to Marnie.
“Fine, meet me here tomorrow at dawn. We’ll fix this once and for all.”
Marnie grinned back at him, the excitement of adventure sparking in her eyes.
“You bet we will.”
Chapter 3
It was easier than Marnie thought to escape from under the eyes of her parents, but then again that was mostly because her parents had no idea about her friendship with Bridget, so why would they notice her sneaking off yet again? It was times like these that she was pleased about her out-and-about lifestyle...maybe she wouldn’t ever have to get married. Wouldn’t that be a relief to never have to change?
Dawn was a beautiful time in the highlands, with spills of golden light coming from over the hills. She loved it at this time; she only wished that she could love the company.
Neil wasn’t terrible, the sheer fact that he had warned Marnie about Bridget being sent away had raised her opinion of him substantially. There was just something about him that curled her toes, almost infuriated her in a way that she couldn’t explain and did not feel about anyone else. Who was he? Why was he? She didn’t understand why he was like a splinter in her finger, small and piercing and driving her mad.
To distract herself from her own distraction, she decided to ask him questions about his curse, and was pleasantly surprised to see that he had no trouble answering her. Bridget had always been too nervous to say much.
“So can you only change on the full moon?”
Neil shook his head. “Not
always. I can change whenever I’d like to, but when the full moon comes I have to make the change.”
“Whenever you want?”
“Yes, whenever I want.”
“That’s amazing,” she breathed, before shooting a look at him in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a curse.”
“I don’t think it is,” he replied. Marnie looked surprised, and he laughed at her look. “Why would I? It’s freedom, you know?”
“I don’t.”
“Of course…”
“But I wish I did.”
Neil raised an eyebrow. “Do you?”
Marnie laughed nervously, suddenly flustered by his attention. “I do. I don’t understand what my ancestors were thinking cursing you with that. Imagine all the stuff you could do as a wolf?”
“I don’t need to imagine it,” he replied. “I live it.”
“Do you still have the same thoughts as a wolf?”
Neil shook his head.
“Not exactly,” he replied. “I’m still me, but the thoughts are different. They’re simpler. I have instincts as a wolf I don’t have as a human.”
“That’s fascinating,” Marnie said, and she meant it. Neil looked at her again with his large blue eyes, confused at her sudden attention. Marnie had never liked him, and he had never liked Marnie, but here they were strolling to some cave in the north, chatting about his wolf side, and she wasn’t afraid of him. She wasn’t disgusted, and in fact it seemed as though she wished that it could happen to her sometime.
He didn’t know if he would wish that on her, but she wanted it so badly that part of him wanted to.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked after a long pause. Marnie looked around her and shrugged.
“I’m going off of instinct,” she admitted. “We know of a witch in the north caves but we don’t often go there. Something is drawing me in this direction though.”
“Maybe it’s some residual power from your ancestors.”
Marnie laughed. “Don’t tease me, I would not be able to handle the disappointment.”
They jested and jibed at each for until the sun grew low in the sky, and Marnie was surprised to realize that they had already walked for a day.
“Let’s stop here by this cave,” she told him, grabbing his hand without thinking about the implications of it and pulled him over.
“I’m not sure…” he said softly. “I think there might be….get behind me!”
Before it fully hit Marnie, Neil grabbed her by the wrist and tugged him behind her, moving to pull off his shirt. Her eyes grew wide.
“What are you doing!?” she cried, but he shushed her and shrugged out of it. It was only then did she realize that deep within the caves she heard a long keening wail.
A wolf’s howl.
“Are they people you know?!” She cried at him, moving as far away from them mouth of the cave as possible. Distantly she could see the shadows of the creatures, and it chilled her to think of what would happen if she were not in the presence of a man who could shift into something to protect her. They had not even brought weapons.
Neil cried out under the sound of contorting bones a gingery brown fur sweeping over him. It wasn’t as grotesque as Marnie was expecting, but it still wasn’t very pretty to behold, she watched with a horrid fascination, before the bundle of bones, fur, and claws jumped to its feet and bared its teeth at the wolves who had just come to the mouth of the cave.
They seemed to know that he was different, for they sniffed at the air and whined and circled each other before the strongest of them attacked. Marnie gasped as Neil grabbed one by the jaws and threw him aside, and as exciting as it was, it terrified her all the same. Could she do such a thing?
She also could not help but be touched. He was protecting her.
It wasn’t precisely a fair fight given the fact that Neil had the intellect of a human man inside of the powerful body of a wolf, but in spite of that Marnie watched in horror as blood was drawn, the panicked “yip!” of pain when one of the stronger wolves swiped at him.
Neil accidentally threw one Marnie’s way, and she cried out in surprise as it rolled onto his side and shook itself off in front of her. For a moment it stared up at her, something like anger in its eyes, but it did not attack. At first Marnie did not know for sure, but once she looked into the amber eyes of the creature she knew not to be afraid. She reached out as though she were going to touch the snout of the wolf in front of her, only to call out to the others. Two stopped immediately, although one was still grappling with Neil. Marnie took a step forward before she stopped herself, what could she do exactly? The wolf that Marnie assumed was the leader called out to the others. They all looked up.
They all looked at Marnie.
They all began to back away.
Neil turned his shaggy head to look at her, his wolf eyes way too human. She looked at him helplessly, completely unsure of why all of a sudden she seemed to be able to talk to wolves. He made a little huffing sound with his snout and moved back to his clothing. Marnie turned her back dutifully , struggling desperately with her own curiosity and desire to peek at what he looked like turning back.
“What was that!?” he asked once he had a mouth that could speak properly. Marnie shook her head.
“I don’t know, I mean, I just knew that it wouldn’t hurt me. Maybe it’s my magical side coming out.” She laughed self-consciously, but he did not join her in the laughter.
“Maybe,” he said seriously. “Maybe the magic isn’t so dead in the Mackenzies after all.”
Marnie shook her head, but didn’t say anything. Yes there was a change going in on her, but she didn’t want to admit it. It would be too disappointing if she ended up being wrong.”
“I suppose here is as good as anyway,” Neil said. “Especially since I don’t think those wolves will come back.”
Freed from her reverie, she looked over at Neil who was beginning to collect some kindling for a fire, the wound on his arm had already healed, but maybe it only belonged to the wolf part of him. Suddenly she became terribly aware that she was going to be spending the night next to a boy. In spite of all that had happened with the wolves, it struck Marnie as almost comical for that to be her concern.
“You better be a gentleman,” she said suddenly. Neil laughed.
“Lay with a Mackenzie? Please,” he replied, but there was a pause in his voice that made Marnie give him a second look.
They sat side by side at the fire, eating some bread and cheese that Marnie had packed for the journey. Neil chewed slowly, as though he were cautious about the food. Marnie swallowed the bread in her mouth and continued the questioning.
“Do you prefer the taste of meat?”
“Always, but not because I can turn into a wolf,” he said with a laugh. “Don’t you like the taste of meat.”
Marnie shrugged. “Of course I do, but maybe it’s different when you’re a wolf.”
“You’re awfully interested in becoming a wolf.”
“I’m interested in interesting things, don’t you think it’s interesting?”
It was Neil’s turn to shrug, and he did it with a rare grace. “We are raised with this knowledge, so when it comes you’re half dreading it half expecting. I was terrified on my sixteenth birthday. I thought I was going to become a demon.”
Marnie wrinkled her nose. “Hadn’t you seen other people in your family transform?”
Neil shook his head. “It’s not that way, we don’t like doing it, the scariest time in the village is around the full moon. My mother doesn’t change, she’s from a different clan, you see, and she tells me that all she can hear at night is the howling when we all go away.”
Marnie could remember the howling too, the first night she had spied on Bridget. They usually kept to the valley on the other side of the village so they wouldn’t attract the attention of the Mackenzies, not like the Mackenzies would think anything other than the fact that the Campbells were a bunch of nutt
ers. Then again, maybe more Mackenzies could be like her.
She watched the fire play across Neil’s face, suddenly realizing how close she was to him. He radiated a heat that she had never felt in another human being, and she supposed it was mostly because of the mysterious change. His eyes were still a strange shade of golden, she wondered how long it would take for them to turn back to blue. It didn’t matter to her, the gold suited him. There was a look on his face, a confused look, as though he was just seeing her for the first time.
“Marnie...I…”
She silenced him with a kiss.
It was a gamble, because up until then she could have sworn that he hated her, and she would swear even more that she hated him, but he threw his arms around her and deepened the kiss, and Marnie was terrified that her heart would burst out of her chest and fly.
She had never kissed a boy before, and if kissing anyone else was like kissing Neil, she was planning on making a habit of it. He held her close as though never wanting to let her go, and her heart beat in a crazy rhythm as she began to untie her blouse.
Neil’s eyes grew wide as she began to shed her clothing. “What are you doing!?” he asked.
“Shut up,” she replied. “Shut up and take your clothes off before I change my mind.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Just like a Campbell,” she said with a bit of a grin. “To look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Now is not the best time to be talking about horses, don’t you think?”
He didn’t think twice, which was to his credit. Naked in the firelight, Neil looked up at Marnie as though he were looking at her for the first time. Perhaps in this context it was true. Marnie felt like she was dreaming, here she was about to give up her virtue to a Campbell of all people, but as he took her hand and lay her down gently on the blanket he had laid out to sleep, she knew that her frustration had had nothing to do with hatred. She had hated him because she had wanted him.
He was gentle when he entered her, still looking surprised to find himself where he was, she merely laughed and pulled him close, kissing him as he rocked inside of her, and when he brought her to a terrific crescendo she cried out and didn’t care if the entire highlands could here it.