“Pita, it is wonderful that you have found your Papa!” Dorina said with genuine excitement. “I knew not of your father’s whereabouts, but there are many things you must understand so we could not−how you say? Drop upon you and tell you are wolf and born in the night of a cursed Gypsy girl…”
“On me.” Pita interrupted.
“What?”
“You cannot drop on me, not upon me.”
“Ah…” Dorina inhaled then breathed out in a loud sigh. “Story told you were whisked away in the night and disappeared from Romania with the Americans.” Dorina took another breath then, “We know not what became of you until you come to our house. I know the man in picture as we talked, but I not know your true papa as I have told.”
“Okay…okay, but Dorina, I need you to tell me everything you do know. Niko is missing perhaps hurt or in danger. Tomas and Stefan—he’s my father—want me to get on a plane back to the States and wait until they find him. I will not leave. Not while Niko is missing.” She paused, sliding down the crude cabinets to sit on the cabin floor. “I must know all you can tell me about what’s going on here. I need to find Niko.”
“Such brave girl,” Dorina said almost to herself. “I will tell of all I know, but not on phone. A moment please.”
Pita heard a door slam and some muffled noise then Dorina came back on the line.
“Tomas just walk in. I talk to him and call you back.”
“Dorina, tell Tomas I am not leaving. Tell him I need him to stay here so we can gather the wolves to search for Niko. Call me soon, please.”
“Yes, child. I call you soon.” The line clicked dead as Dorina disconnected.
Pita paced the small cabin for some time before finally settling down to sort her thoughts. She recalled the terms Lupa and Alpha. Alpha she understood. That is the top dog, the leader, but Lupa? What is that? She is the Lupa to Niko they mentioned in earlier conversations. But what exactly did that mean? She needed to know everything before the pack gathered. Instinct stirred in the back of her mind and told her that she must pull the pack together in Niko’s absence. Moreover, that it was her responsibility; only then would they get Niko back.
Pita jumped as the shrill sound of the old telephone lanced through her thoughts cutting them off as she dashed for the phone.
“Pita, this is Dorina. I am on my way to cabin. Tomas bring me with him to help you.”
Pita let out her breath. “Great. I’ll be waiting. Please hurry.”
The line clicked off again.
Damn! I wish she would stop doing that.
****
A little over two and a half hours later, Tomas and Dorina arrived at the cabin. The late afternoon sun cast a purple-orange hue across the sky as the three sat on the porch with cups of steaming spiced tea.
“Where is Stefan…my father?” Pita asked Tomas pointedly as she rocked the teacup back and forth making tiny waves in the amber liquid.
“He is searching for the truck that took Niko. We must determine where they took him. Stefan is our best tracker.” He stared out across the dooryard into the darkening forest beyond. “Pita, mama tells me you will not leave. Is this true?”
“Yes. We must gather the pack. Instinct tells me we must do this for the greater good. How can I go back to Mystique knowing Niko may need my help? He draws a part of me that I never knew existed. There is a power, a force that flows between us. I need to know what it is. You have told me I am the Lupa. What does that mean?” Pita looked from one to the other of them.
Dorina sat hands folded in her lap, her teacup abandoned upon the scarred table beside her. Her eyes stayed focused on her lap. Clearly, she would let Tomas do the explaining. Pita pierced him with a stare that said a silent, well?
“As Lupa, your function within the pack is to stand by the Alpha male. Fight beside him, support him. Niko is the Alpha, as you know. The pack has been scattered for several years. We thought it best to stay anonymous in light of gross hunting and destruction of wolves in Romania. Between Romania’s overpopulation of natural wolves and the hate and fear of shifters, we have found it difficult to co-exist and thought it better to fade into the background.” Tomas explained. “Now we gather and fight back for the survival of the pack. Our numbers dwindle. Many of the pack fear shifting at all. We must shift; it is our nature. Some have gone mad, others were trapped and killed.”
Pita glanced at Dorina. She solemnly nodded confirming Tomas’ explanation. “It is how my husband died,” she whispered. A tear slid down her cheek and her lips trembled. “It is why my sister fled to United States. Her husband is shifter. I not see or talk to my sister in many, many years.”
Pita remembered Sasha’s story about why her parents left Romania. Another lie. How her father’s cousin had been attacked and killed by wolves. Subsequently, he felt the wolves stalked him, so he fled taking the family across an ocean to America. The reason she did not want me to speak of wolves to him was that he might just spill the beans. Makes sense. How many people in my life are involved? Just who can I trust? It seems total strangers are more worthy than my closest friends.
“Beware in whom you trust.” Floricita’s words drifted through her mind. “Boy, did she nail that one.” She mumbled under her breath.
“Okay, so how do we gather the surviving shifters? And where and when do we have this meeting?” Pita chewed her index finger nail. “The full moon will wane soon. I have only shifted completely once; my sense is that I will shift again tonight. Could you show me where Niko disappeared and where the gathering place is designated, Tomas?”
“Yes, to both. We will roam the forest tonight and gather who we can. Those we find will, in turn, find others.” He glanced over at Dorina. “Will you be okay here, Mama? You will be alone.”
“Yes, I will be fine. You must…how they say? …do what you must.” She picked up her teacup and gingerly took a sip. “Beware the gypsies.” She added after swallowing the tea.
“The gypsies fear the magic that created us. They call it muló and believe us to be wolves animated by the souls of the dead bent on revenge.” Tomas explained.
“Like a curse? Witchcraft?”
“Of a sort,” Tomas answered. “The curse of the marhime, they call it and believe us cursed of the unclean.”
“I don’t understand.”
Before Tomas could answer, the night air crested with the song of wolves. Pita felt an excited chill pass through her and gooseflesh rise on her arms. She felt drawn to the wolf-song. The howls danced upon the air like a canine opera. One howl erupted, then another joined creating a hauntingly beautiful melody and others seemed to answer in harmony. Pita stood and walked to the edge of the porch. “That is the most awesome sound I’ve ever heard.”
The treetops brightened with a silvery glow as the full moon rose above the forest. The tug began deep within; her beast had awakened. Pita felt the pull of the shift like the magnetic pull of the tides. Turning to Tomas whose eyes already glowed amber, she whispered. “Its time isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He all but growled as he began the shift. “Mama, go inside, now. We must go.”
Dorina gathered the teacups then without another word stepped inside and gently closed the door behind her. Pita turned to face Tomas as the tightness engulfed her body. Her eyes widened and fear tickled her extremities.
Chapter 40
“Relax, Pita. Let it come. It will become easier each time. I will leave you for a few minutes. Disrobe quickly; otherwise your clothes will be shredded.” The last he said with a comforting grin, then he stepped off the porch and disappeared around the corner of the cabin. Pita heard his low muffled moan, then her shift hit her and her attention turned inward, bent to handling the bone crunching metamorphosis as her flesh melded into fur. She quickly pulled off her sweater and shucked out of her jeans and underwear tossing them to a nearby chair just as her spine curved and shortened. A brief flash of pain shook her to the very core, and the next moment she stood on all fours
scenting the air.
Whoa! Not so bad. Unlike the previous shift, this one was markedly less painful. The sound of bone crunching and popping along with the horrendous pressure proved unnerving. However, she could handle it—not that she had a choice in the matter. The scent of damp earth and dried leaves invaded her senses. The images of the forest came in sharp, clear hues of reds and blues. A million sounds assaulted her ears. Her brain categorized them so she listened to only those she chose, the rest she blocked. Awesome.
Her ears perked and the fur on her back bristled at the crunch of dried leaves, then a large black wolf appeared at the edge of the porch. In her mind, Tomas’ voice beckoned, “Come, we must go.” She relaxed and moved off the porch and to his side.
They trotted side by side into the shadows of the forest. The night air caressed her fur as they broke into a full run. Pita’s heart beat hard and fast, her breath came out in soft white vapor pants in the crisp evening air. Muscles bunched and relaxed as they continued deeper into the forest.
The moon slipped behind a passing cloud and the landscape darkened. They approached an old service road deep within the forest. Tomas trotted ahead of her and then turned back to signal she should follow but keep her distance. Snout to the ground, Tomas sniffed and cautiously moved forward along the farther edge of the old road. Pita followed several feet behind. So enthralled with watching Tomas investigate the area ahead of her, she jarred when his voice suddenly sounded in her head. “Here.”
She loped across the dirt tract and joined him beside a ditch that appeared to be six or seven feet square and about eight to ten feet deep. Multiple claw marks in the sides disturbed the freshly shoveled ditch and in the bottom lay the remains of the trap’s covering of branches and leaves. Niko.
Tomas edged around the hole, nose to the ground, scenting.
Pita noticed several large human footprints at the end nearest her. She stepped over and sniffed around a bit herself. Pita picked up Niko’s scent immediately but the other was unfamiliar. She gave a low yip for Tomas to follow and continued to track until it faded to nearly nothing. The trail continued several more yards along the road then disappeared but they did find vehicle tracks dug deep into the dirt road’s surface.
“We follow.” Tomas growled.
“Yes.”
Together they moved along the road in the sharp cool light of the moon one on either side of the tire marks.
****
About three quarters of a mile further, the dirt track spilled onto an asphalt roadway. Dirt that had collected in the tire treads left a trail for them to continue following. Too soon, even that disappeared, leaving Tomas and Pita frustrated and motionless in the middle of the moonlit road.
Pita glanced around noting nothing but dense forest. The roadway ran north and south. They knew the truck headed north but to where? She turned to Tomas. “Continue?”
He gazed silently ahead several seconds then nodded in agreement. Each took a side of the road. They trudged forward, careful to look for any telltale signs that the vehicle had left the roadway. Pita paid special attention to the foliage, checking for broken shrubbery or tire grooved treads through the weeds and grassy areas. The only scent aiding them now was the faint odor of gasoline. Periodically, Pita spot-checked Tomas’ whereabouts, and she noticed he did the same.
An owl broke the serenity of the forest with its sharp hoots. Pita glanced about trying to seek out the owl. Then she saw it, not the bird, but the dying glow of a campfire. She wondered for a moment why she had not smelled it on the air then realized the light wind blew in the opposite direction. Off in the distance the embers burned gold and orange. Pita let out a low rumbling growl to grab Tomas’ attention.
She saw him several yards up the road on the opposite side. He turned his massive head towards her. Pita took several steps in Tomas’ direction then turned back and pointed her nose in the direction she wanted to go taking several steps that way, then turned once again back to Tomas. He had gotten the message and headed toward her. Good. She continued in the direction of the campfire sensing Tomas’ approach.
Once beside her, his voice slipped into her mind. “Fire.”
“Yes.” She eased into the unfamiliar role of commander. “We go.” She glanced sidelong at him. He nodded his big wolf head once and moved into the forest. Because Tomas knew the woods better than she did, Pita followed his lead, adrenalin coursed through her veins causing her nerves to vibrate like tightly strung guitar strings. Find Niko. Please, find Niko. She silently prayed. Tomas said nothing, though she knew he’d heard her thoughts.
Tomas took them a wide circle around the camp. On approach, Pita caught wisps of many odors, food cooking on the open fire, horse dung, sweat, and urine. A dog barked in the distance. Tomas stopped.
“Dog.” He moved, in almost total silence, forward to the edge of the meadow. Sure enough, Pita saw the dog straining at a long rope attached to a tree. “Good,” said Tomas.
Several men sat around the fire. No one seemed to pay any attention to its antics. A covered wagon and an old truck were parked behind the men.
“Vehicles.” Tomas nosed toward them. “We go ‘round.” He raised his nose in the air and sniffed. “Wind wrong direction.”
Pita followed as he made his way several yards back into the forest and silently circled around to the back of the vehicles. As they moved into the wind, Pita’s long snout quivered to a familiar scent mingled with a less familiar one. She nudged Tomas. He’d already picked it up.
“Careful. Quiet.” He urged as they moved closer.
Chapter 41
While they approached the vehicle and wagon, one of the men rose and moved toward the whining dog. “Shusshhh!” he hissed at it. He tossed the supper scraps at the dog’s feet.
Relief washed over Pita as they neared the truck. The dog, though a good distance away, would be busy, for at least a little bit, too occupied with the food to pay any attention to them. The men also were distracted with each other and some sort of beverage—the pungent smell of alcohol permeated the air. They became louder and more animated the more they drank.
The strong odor of wet fur hung heavy on the night breeze. Pita’s heartbeat picked up its rhythm. She recognized at least one scent. Her ears perked. She heard heavy, stressed panting but not of just one animal at least two. Over the sides of the truck bed, she made out the lines of a large wire cage. A low growl emanated from its interior then another, not loud enough to be heard above the guffawing men at the campfire but perhaps loud enough to be heard by the dog. Pita turned but could not see what the dog was doing, so she read that as a good sign. It must still be engrossed in the food. Tomas rumbled a growl back and then to Pita, “Niko and Stefan.”
They rounded the back of the rust weary truck where the tailgate should have been and Pita felt her heart squeeze. Niko and Stefan lay hunched together in the cage. “Are you hurt?” she communicated.
“No. Angry as all hell.” The velvet timbre of his voice slid into her head. She bared her teeth but not in menace. Pita smiled and glanced at Stefan who nodded his wolfish head in agreement.
“Pita,” Tomas’ said.
She turned towards him.
“I change. You go into woods. Hide yourself.”
“No.” She stood firm, head lowered, ears back in challenge.
“Yes.” Niko’s voice caressed, “Go! Too dangerous, hurry.”
She looked from Niko to Tomas then loped off into the forest, not willing enough to barter time arguing and endangering all of them further.
Pita wedged herself into the underbrush and watched from the edge of the tree line as Tomas shifted back to human form. She marveled at the graceful movements of his change. The darkness didn’t allow Pita to see detail. In this case, it seemed a good thing since none of them had any clothing hidden away. Anger kept her rigid and alert.
Tomas approached the truck bed and cage containing both Niko and Stefan, but the dog began barking, loud and insistent. Pit
a glanced toward the campfire where the men still drank and insulted one another in a mix of English and Romanian. She watched one of the men glance at the dog then turned quickly back to see what progress Tomas had made, she saw him unlatch the cage. Her canine head pivoted back to the campfire.
She stood instantly at alert bumping her head hard on a low branch. Shaking off the impact of pain, she saw the man, shot gun in hand, move quickly toward the vehicles and the dog. A low rumbling growl escaped her meant to warn Tomas. He glanced her way as he began to shift once again. The man saw him! Pita took off out of the underbrush, snarling and growling, drawing the man’s attention away from Tomas who was still in mid-shift. The dog barked and growled in earnest pulling at its restraint.
Pita crouched several yards away between Tomas and the man, ready to pounce with teeth bared in a warning snarl, growling furiously. From the corner of her eye, she saw two wolves jump from the back of the truck and circle around behind the man. Then she noticed the other three men, though none carried weapons, approaching. She barked out another warning. Niko and Stefan backed off and turned into the cover of the trees. Meanwhile, she realized Tomas had completed the shift into wolf form and stood stock-still, his eyes locked in a stare down with the man holding the shotgun. Pita backed off, still snarling at the man. He raised the gun and sighted Tomas, but confusion clouded his face. He turned catching Pita’s movement, and then pivoted his aim back at Tomas. Pita knew the man didn’t know which wolf to shoot first and took advantage of the his confusion. She ran toward him and leapt. Tomas barked a warning but too late, she was already airborne.
A flash of blue light, a thunderous explosion, and then nothing.
****
Pita awoke to the sounds of struggle. Men grunting as blows landed. Then silence. She tried to sit up but collapsed, whimpering. Excruciating pain. Fire burned through her right shoulder, down her right leg and into her chest and back. Then she realized two things; one, she was still in wolf form and two, she had been shot. Shit.
Curse Of The Marhime Page 18