Wolf-Way (Wolf of my Heart)

by Linda Palmer

  The creak of the back door made me turn in that direction. Rhyan walked in. He came over to me and stuck his fingertips into the front pockets of his jeans.

  "Hey."

  "Hey." I patted Bella, a Tennessee walker, then left her stall.

  "So what's this linking thing?"

  "Do you remember me saying I was sort of psychic?"

  "How could I forget?"

  "One of my gifts is reading memories. I call the process 'linking' and it's actually a little like a one-sided mind read. I mean, when we're done, I'll know a lot more about Rhyan Knox."

  He winced at the very idea. "And my reason for allowing this?"

  "I think I can help you."

  "What do you mean?"

  I hesitated, suddenly not so sure I wanted to tell anyone the truth.

  "You started this," he softly reminded me.

  "Yeah. Okay, here goes. I should be in line to be the next shaman. I have some powers, and all, but I just don't want to do it."

  "Are you telling me that you can end the curse?"

  "I'm telling you I think I can."

  "Why didn't you say something?"

  "I didn't know what was wrong. In case you've forgotten, you haven't told me shit about yourself."

  "Telling you I'm a wolf should've said it all."

  "Around here, that is not a curse. It's a birthright."

  "Forgot that."

  "Yeah, well, you've got to trust me if this is going to work."

  "You said you thought you could end the curse. You don't know for sure?"

  "No. I've never done anything like this, and I'm honestly not sure how Chief does it."

  "Hm. He'd probably suspect if you asked him outright."

  I grabbed Rhyan's arm. "Listen to me. Chief has no idea that I have powers. I mean none. I absolutely, positively cannot ask him how to do this, and you can't mention it, either. I'll have to figure this out by myself."

  Rhyan gave me the funniest look.

  "What?"

  "You've kept this secret from him?"

  "Yes."

  "Isn't that a little deceitful?"

  "It's a lot deceitful, and don't you dare judge me! I have my reasons."

  "Believe me, I'm in no position to judge anyone."

  "Good. So are we going to do this or not?"

  "A few more details would help. As in, what, when, where? That kind of thing."

  "I'll tell you as soon as I know. I promise."

  "Then I guess I'm ready."

  I looked around the barn. "We'll climb that ladder to the loft." I walked to the ladder and began to climb it. Rhyan followed. In seconds, we stood in the ankle-high hay, illuminated by dust-sprinkled slivers of sunlight. I sat on my heels and motioned for Rhyan to do the same. When he did, we faced one another with our knees touching. I put my fingertips to his temples. "Now close your eyes and focus on a recent memory."

  He clearly struggled not to grin.

  "This is serious!'

  "Okay. All right. I'm sorry." He closed his eyes. "How recent does this memory need to be?"

  "The last twenty-four hours ought to be fresh enough. It will serve as a portal to the older ones."

  "I can't believe I'm doing this," Rhyan muttered.

  I closed my eyes, too, and then opened my mind to his. At once, I got a vivid mental picture of me standing in the kitchen in my half-tee and low-slung jeans, with my hair hanging to my butt. My concentration instantly shattered.

  "Think of something else."

  Now I saw me at the kitchen table in sleep clothes, my nipples straining against Levi's undershirt and my wet hair in a messy ponytail.

  "Rhyan, please."

  "What's wrong?"

  "I need you to think of something besides me."

  He sucked in a shocked breath and pulled back. I opened my eyes. "What?"

  "You really are in my head."

  "I told you I had gifts."

  "There are gifts and then there are gifts. Reading minds is freakin' weird, and I'm not sure I want you to know me that well."

  I huffed my exasperation. "Fine, then. Forget this. Hit the road." I got up.

  Rhyan grabbed my arm. "Don't go."

  I looked down at him. "Do you trust me or not?"

  "Not, but don't take it personally. I haven't trusted anyone in years." He shook his head. "But I need your help, and if I have to bare my soul to get it, then I will." He patted the hay.

  I dropped down and got into position again. "Think about your car being stuck in the snow."

  He did, and I saw Chief hooking up the wench mounted on his four-wheel-drive pickup truck. Seeing him through Rhyan's eyes, he looked different. I wasn't sure how since he had the same long gray hair pulled back with a rubber band, the same weathered skin, the same height and body build. I realized that Cam watched from the sidelines as Chief pulled the car free. He looked different, too. More wolfy. With effort, I focused on a point beyond that scene and located other memories that drew me back through time.

  I saw Rhyan with a teenage boy and Hispanic girl. Jonah and Andee, he called them. The ethereal glow of her skin told me she had powers. I remembered her as the witch who'd tried to cure him. She summoned in the forces of nature, which resulted in a subtle change to Rhyan's very being. I felt hope surge, only to be replaced by keen disappointment when he realized the wolf in him remained.

  I saw an older man, very distinguished looking. Titus. I heard him yelling at Rhyan and felt his sharp punch to the gut. Rhyan's resulting fury consumed me as it had him, but he did not fight back for some reason.

  I saw the night through a wolf's eyes. I witnessed a savage attack by a pack on a boy I recognized as Jonah from the first memory, the witch's companion. It happened at a campsite on a cliff. Bitten and bleeding, Jonah fell a long way down to a lake. I felt Rhyan's anguish at being party to such violence.

  I saw other crimes. An armed robbery. A beating. A mugging. I saw flowing blood, broken arms and legs, multiple bruises. I shared Rhyan's horror, shame, and helplessness. I also felt his fear.

  I saw a high school track meet and a charismatic guy with a wide smile and a wad of cash in his hands. He offered Rhyan a cigarette and invited him to a beer bust. Though Rhyan knew he shouldn't go, he went.

  I also saw a man with Rhyan's nose and mouth hitching up a battered aluminum fishing boat. He grinned and waved as he pulled away from a small mobile home, one of many in what looked like a trailer park.

  I saw a beautiful woman with coal black hair and Rhyan's green eyes, laughing as she dropped him off for school. A tween-age girl in the back seat of their older-model red car waved and blew kisses at her big brother, who actually blew some back even though a couple of the friends walking up gave him hell for it.

  Suddenly I could take no more.

  Chapter Five

  "OhmyGod-ohmyGod-ohmyGod." I threw my arms around Rhyan's neck. "I am so, so sorry." Tears filled my eyes and splashed onto his face and neck.

  Rhyan rose enough to hug me back. His mouth covered mine. On our knees with our bodies pressed tightly together, we kissed and kissed and kissed. My head began to swim. I swayed. He instantly pulled back, breathless and shaking.

  "You okay?" Rhyan brushed my hair out of my eyes.

  As if. Somehow, I managed a nod.

  "Sure?"

  "Yeah."

  "Good. Tell me where Mick Williams lives."

  Huh? I shifted gears. "How do you know him?"

  "Your memories, of course. That dude needs a serious ass kicking for trying to get in your pants."

  My heart stopped dead. Oh my God. The link went two-ways.

  Two freakin' ways!

  How could I not know that?

  How?

  My horror must've shown. Or maybe Rhyan could feel how my heart now thudded against my rib cage.

  "You didn't realize I'd be able to see inside your head."

  "No."

  "Would you have linked if you had?"

  I didn't
know how to answer. "I might've given it more thought, but in the end I probably would've. I needed insight into your character. Now I have it."

  "So what's the verdict?"

  "You're kind and gentle and loving and--"

  Rhyan make a choking sound.

  "But you are!"

  "Obviously you didn't see all my memories."

  "I saw enough. I know the hell that guy put you through."

  Rhyan sat back on his heels again. "I can never make up for the stuff I've done."

  "It wasn't your fault, okay?" I framed his face in my hands so he'd look me in the eye. "You had no choice."

  Rhyan shook his head to show he'd heard enough. "I can't believe Chief won't give you your money. Especially since he knows you want to major in physical therapy. It's not like you can get the classes you need where you're going now."

  "He's doing it to keep me in my place."

  "Well, it's petty and mean."

  I sat back and crossed my legs campfire-style. "I saw you at a track meet. Are you a runner?"

  "I participated in every sport my high school offered. Football, basketball, track, gymnastics, swimming."

  Wow. A guy after my own heart.

  As if I needed another reason to fall for him.

  I shifted gears again. "Does your dad fish a lot? I saw a boat."

  "All the time. He's a guide on the Red River. Hunts, too."

  "Did you ever go with him?"

  "Sure. My dad's the best. Really cool." Apparently lost in his memories, Rhyan picked at some of the hay on which we sat. "So what now?"

  "I'll research tribe lore and go through Chief's books, papers, notes--anything I can find. Based on what I learn, I'll make a plan and contact you. We'll do whatever it is we need to do."

  "How will you get me?"

  "Do you have a cell phone?"

  "Not at the moment. I'm a little strapped for cash."

  "Then we need to set a time and place to meet so I can give you regular updates. How about Wednesday night sometime after nine, right here?"

  "Works for me. Where did you say Mick Williams lives?"

  "I didn't, and I won't. Forget him. I can take care of myself. Um, Rhyan?"

  "Yeah?"

  "About those kisses..."

  Rhyan held up a hand to stop me. "It's okay. That linking thing was sort of like sex with clothes on." He gave me a half grin. "The kisses were just after play that didn't really mean a thing."

  "Oh."

  He froze, eyes wide. "You thought they did."

  "I--no. Of course I didn't." My cheeks began to burn. Embarrassed, I got up and brushed hay off my jeans.

  Rhyan jumped to his feet and grabbed me. Once more, his lips covered mine. This time his tongue teased them open. Going with it, I jumped up to wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He staggered backward slightly, bumping his head on a rafter, but never let me go. And that kiss? It just got deeper, wetter and better.

  "Tehya! Are you in here?"

  Cam. And already inside the barn. Rhyan set me on my feet. I pointed to a shadowy corner of the loft. He nodded and soundlessly left me. I made lots of cover-up noise walking over to the edge to show myself.

  "Up here. I heard something rustling around. I thought it might be Mr. Marshall's cat again."

  "Was it?"

  "No, but I wish it had been. I saw some rat poop."

  Cam laughed and walked over to the ladder. "Chief was getting worried."

  "Was I gone that long?" I climbed down the ladder.

  Just as I reached the next to last step, Cam stepped up close and hugged me from behind. "Damn, you smell good."

  "Why, thanks." I tried to twist free and ended up face-to-face with him. He moved in for a kiss. I ducked and jumped to the floor. "Ready?"

  Cam groaned. "What's up with you? Most girls--"

  "I am not most girls."

  "Which is actually what makes you so hot. Don't you see anything you like?" He spread out his arms and turned around slowly for my inspection.

  "Stop it!" I as good as growled, the next second, changing my mind. "On second thought, let's do this. You want to know what's holding me back? I'll tell you." I looked him right in the eye. "I don't date wolves."

  "You seemed to like that other wolf well enough, and he didn't bother to keep his eyes to himself, either." He sniffed. "Why is his scent all over you?"

  "I don't know, and I don't care. Forget him. He's long gone by now. I'm talking about wolfy you."

  "So you really meant it when you said I was too much for you?" He laughed and tugged a strand of my hair. "Tay-Tay, baby, relax. You're good enough for me."

  Oh my freakin' gosh. "You're such a prick!" I shoved him with all my might and charged the barn door before he got his balance. He still caught me before I got there, lifting me right off my feet from behind.

  I squealed.

  He walked us straight into an empty stall. Pinning my tummy against a bale of hay, he pushed my hair aside so he could nuzzle my neck from behind. His hand slid under my shirt to squeeze my breast. I gasped in shock and tried to get away.

  Shuffling sounds came from the loft. Rhyan on the move. I twisted my head to see for sure. He stood at the top of the ladder, his face flushed, his hands in fists.

  "No!' I screamed, warning him to stay put. I managed to turn just enough to knee Cam in the groin.

  "Fuuuck!" He released me and doubled over.

  "Let me by!" Frantically waving for Rhyan to go back into hiding, I pushed Cam hard and darted out the door. I ran as fast as I could to the house. All that snow didn't help, but I still made it inside before Cam left the barn. I locked the door behind me.

  "Tehya?"

  Furious, trembling, I stomped into the living room. Chief's eyes flew open wide. I could only imagine how disheveled I must look. "What the hell happened to you?"

  "Cam, that's what. If he ever touches me again, I'll neuter him!"

  Chief jumped to his feet. "What'd he do?"

  "He attacked me in the barn, that's what." I moved toward the hall.

  "I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you, but I'll have a word with him. An apology is definitely in order."

  "Ya think?" I turned to face my grandfather. "I can't believe you're training him to be shaman."

  Chief sighed. "I have no other choice. He's got abilities. I know you know that."

  "Of course I know it. Who doesn't? He brags about it constantly. But he has no respect for anyone or anything, especially women. Shouldn't a shaman be more than a few magic tricks?"

  "I said I'd make him apologize."

  "Something you'd never have to do if you'd be a better role model. He sees you treating me like a second-class citizen. He thinks that's how it's supposed to be."

  Chief's expression hardened. "I know you think I've been tough on you, but I have my reasons."

  "I'm not Lorie Rainbolt, okay? I'm Tehya, her only daughter. You can't keep punishing me for stuff I might do."

  "I just don't want you to make her mistakes."

  "Marrying my dad was not a mistake."

  "He was ten years older. He had children."

  "I am not having this conversation." I whirled and left him just as Cam began pounding on the kitchen door. A quick look over my shoulder revealed Chief's momentary indecision. Then he went to let Cam in...exactly as I'd known he would.

  I walked into my bedroom and locked the door, wedging my desk chair under the knob to make extra sure I wouldn't have to face either of them again that day.

  Chapter Six

  "Tay-Tay? Er, Tehya? Will you please open the door? I need to apologize."

  "Apology not accepted. Get lost, Cam."

  He banged on my door some more. "But Chief wants you to come out and cook lunch."

  "Tell him to make himself a sandwich." I scooped all my undies and socks out of the dresser drawer and stuffed them into my duffle. I threw jeans on top of them, then added every T-shirt I could get my hands on. That left t
oiletries, most of which were in the bathroom down the hall.

  I waited until I heard Cam leave before opening the door a crack. With the hallway momentarily clear, I tiptoed to get my stuff, fortunately kept together in a shower caddy. I heard Chief and Cam talking in the kitchen when I came back out. Safe behind my locked door again, I put the whole caddy into my bag, which I hid in my closet.

  I went over my hastily concocted plan to escape. If I could've called Rhyan to move up our meeting, I would've. As it was, I couldn't really do anything until Wednesday, which meant Oscar-quality acting on my part so Chief wouldn't suspect anything. I realized that I might as well start now.

  Steeling myself, I unlocked the door and walked to the kitchen.

  "Oh my God!" I exclaimed with exaggerated surprise, eyeing them both. "You guys do know where the bread is!"