behind him and he stopped to look at her.
She dropped her rabbit and sat back on
her haunches, panting. Apparently there
were limits to the pup’s boundless energy.
Nash dropped the leg of his deer.
Almost home, he barked.
She melted into her human form,
scowling at him. “I’m tired, Uncle Nash.”
It’s going to start snowing soon. We
need to hurry.
“I can’t. I’m too tired.”
Climb up on my back. I’ll carry you
for a bit.
Her face broke into a wide smile.
“Yeah!”
She picked up her rabbit in one hand
and scurried up onto his back. She lay
along his back on her belly, draped her
arms around him and rubbed her face
against the back of his neck.
Better change back to Wolf. You’ll
freeze.
“Your fur is warm,” she murmured
drowsily.
He didn’t argue with her further. She
would change back on her own if she
became cold while she slept. With
fatigued jaws, Nash grabbed the deer
carcass around the neck and continued
through the forest towards village.
By the time they reached home, it was
snowing heavily. Carsha’s small Wolf
body was curled up between his shoulder
blades, covered in a fluffy blanket of
frigid white. Rella met them on the front
porch. Nash dropped the deer carcass at
the bottom of the steps.
“I was starting to worry about you
two,” Rella said, tugging her cardigan
more snuggly around her body.
She’s asleep, Nash woofed quietly.
Rella chuckled and retrieved her pup
from Nash’s back. “You actually wore her
out. Impressive.” She started back
towards the house, Carsha curled up in her
arms. Nash stood there indecisively. Rella
held the door open for him. “Just put the
deer up on the porch. I’ll dress it a little
later.”
He pulled the carcass up the steps and
left it in the corner of the porch. He shook
the snow from his fur and stepped into the
house. Lark and Lord sat on the sofa
reading from schoolbooks Nash had given
them. Both appeared injury-free already.
“Uncle
Nash!”
Lark
greeted
enthusiastically. He set his book aside and
jumped to his feet. He was very much like
his father. It made Nash miss Cort even
more. Lord was closer in temperament to
Nash. Lord offered a semi-smile before
returning his attention to his book.
“Did you get a bear?” Lark asked
eagerly.
I only had Carsha with me. It took a
large
pack
of
Wolves
working
cooperatively to take down a bear.
“Oh, right!” Lark agreed. “Did Carsha
get anything?”
“She got a fine, fat rabbit,” Rella said.
She laid her sleeping pup on the floor near
the hearth, and then held up Carsha’s
rabbit for her older brother to see.
Lark whistled appreciatively.
“Keep it down, Lark,” Rella said.
“Your sister is sleeping.” She tousled his
stark white hair as she walked past him,
carrying the rabbit towards the kitchen to
be dressed.
“What did you get, Uncle Nash?” Lark
asked.
“Why don’t you go out on the porch
and look?” Rella said. “I swear between
you and Carsha, there is never a moment
of peace in this house.” She was smiling
to herself when she disappeared in the
kitchen.
Lark raced to the door and flung it
open. Lord set his book aside and
followed. They went out onto the porch,
leaving the front door wide open.
“A twelve point buck!” Lark said.
Nash trotted after them and closed the
front door behind him with his teeth.
“Nice buck, Uncle Nash,” Lord said.
“It’s awesome,” Lark said. “I wish I
would have been there.”
Next time.
“Oh yes!” Lark said, tightening his fist
and making a motion of victory. “We’ll
get an eighteen point buck and a grizzly
bear.”
Nash made a sound of humor, his Wolf
laugh.
“Don’t be an idiot, Lark,” Lord said.
“Uncle Nash is good, but he’s not that
good.”
“I’ll be with him. Don’t forget that,”
Lark said, patting Nash’s broad head.
“Like that would make a difference,”
Lord said, hiding a smile.
Lark scooped a large pile of snow
from the porch railing and hit Lord in the
face with a snowball. Lord’s mouth
dropped open. He scooped up some snow
for a retaliating blow. Lark ducked and the
snowball hit Nash in the side of the head.
Lord’s eyes widened. “Oh, sorry,
Uncle Nash.”
Nash growled, though his tail was
wagging, and knocked Lord backwards
with a solid nudge of his nose. Lord
stumbled and fell off the porch into the
foot of snow on the ground. Nash jumped
on top of him, his paws on the boy’s
shoulders. He licked Lord’s entire face,
while the boy giggled, wriggled and tried,
with spectacular failure, to get away.
“Cut it out, Uncle Nash.”
Lark, valiant savior of his older
brother by five minutes, leapt from the
porch onto Nash’s back. Nash moved just
enough to unsettle the boy. Lark tumbled
into the snow.
“It’s cold!” Lark cried.
Nash began to lick his face as well.
Lark giggled, but he didn’t try to get away.
He held Nash by the ears so he wouldn’t
stop. Rella came out onto the porch. She
had a knife in one had to dress the deer,
but paused to watch the three of them with
a sad, nostalgic smile on her face.
“You two are going to freeze,” she
said, when she noticed her sons’
shivering. “Come get out of those wet
clothes if you insist on playing in the
snow.”
Nash released the two boys. They
climbed to their feet, wiping their uncle’s
wet kisses from their faces.
“I’m going inside,” Lord said, rubbing
his hands briskly over his arms.
Lark was already taking off his
clothes. “You’re boring.”
Lark took his Wolf form and dashed
between the trees, kicking up snow as
white as his fur. Nash chased after him,
tumbling him when he caught up with him.
Lord watched them play-fight from the
porch.
“He’s hopeless,” Lord told his mother.
Rella smiled and pretended not to
notice when Lord started to remove hi
s
clothes. Lord leapt from the porch as a
boy, but hit the ground with four paws. He
jumped into the brawl without hesitation,
growling his fiercest. The twins ganged up
on Nash, biting hard enough to hurt, but
not enough to break the skin.
Rella watched while she gutted the
deer. It wasn’t long before all three
Wolves were resting in front of the porch
with their tongues lolling. Rella tossed
them pieces of fresh liver and other organ
meats. They gobbled up the morsels,
growling over the tastiest bits, until the
pups began to grow sleepy. The snow was
still coming down heavily. The boys
cuddled up on either side of their uncle for
warmth.
“You two had better get in the house,”
Rella said, almost done with her task. She
had a large pile of steaks, roasts and other
cuts of meat heaped beside her. “As white
as you two are, if you fall asleep in the
snow, we won’t find you until spring
thaw.”
They climbed to their feet and headed
for the house, heads hanging low with
weariness. They shook the snow from
their fur, went inside and curled up with
their sister in front of the hearth. Nash
remained behind, watching Rella as she
finished her task.
Several moments passed before she
spoke. “Have you thought about what I
asked you before you left?”
He didn’t respond. He had thought
about it, almost as much as he had thought
about Maralee. He loved Lark, Lord and
Carsha as if they were his own pups. He
couldn’t imagine loving anyone more. He
wasn’t sure why he hesitated in becoming
a permanent part of their household.
I need more time to think about it.
She nodded, not looking at him. “Are
you going to stay in your Wolf form
forever?”
Yes. He stood and headed for his own
home, across the way.
“It won’t make you a better man,” she
called.
He paused and glanced at her over his
shoulder.
“There is nothing wrong with you,
Nash. If she couldn’t accept you as you
are, then she doesn’t deserve your love.”
No, he thought. She deserves better.
R e l l a continued, her voice barely
perceptible over the howl of the wind.
“And if you can’t accept yourself as you
are, then you don’t deserve hers.”
This gave Nash something to think
about the long hours he spent in solitude
while the blizzard confined him to his
house.
CHAPTER 24
Jared entered the small dining room,
glasses fogged, disheveled hair damp with
melting snow. Maralee sat slurping
chicken soup while Phyllis watched with
an uncompromising look on her face. He
gazed at Maralee over the top of his
glasses and smiled.
“You’re finally eating something,” he
said.
Maralee scowled.
“You just have to have a firm hand
with this little miss,” Phyllis said. “Make
sure she knows who the boss is and she’s
right cooperative.”
More like harp and nag until she’s
willing to do anything for a moment’s
peace, Maralee thought darkly, taking
another sip of the thick, rich soup.
“So that’s the secret,” Jared said,
pushing his glasses up the bridge of his
nose.
“Would you like a bowl of soup,
Doctor?” Phyllis asked him with a cheery
smile. “It’s got chicken, dumplings,
carrots, potatoes, and sweet onions. Me
mum’s best recipe.”
“That sounds delicious. I would like
some, thank you,” he said with a pleasant
nod. He took the vacant chair next to
Maralee.
Phyllis stood to retrieve another bowl
of soup. She winked at Jared as she
passed. Maralee wondered if there was
some sort of secret between them.
“When did you wake up?” Jared
asked, watching her stir her soup.
“Less than an hour ago,” she said,
taking another sip of soup from her spoon.
“Twelve solid hours,” he said
approvingly. “Was it a sound sleep? Did
you have any nightmares?”
“No nightmares. I slept very well,
thank you.” She watched the carrot she
was pressing down with her soup spoon
bob back to the surface.
“I’d ask you if you’re feeling better,
but I can tell you’re not. Perhaps if you
talk to me about—”
“No,” she interrupted and purposely
changed the subject. “Phyllis told me you
checked on me four times throughout the
day. Are you always such a devoted
doctor when there’s a blizzard raging
outside?”
Jared blushed and glanced down at his
hands. “Uh…”
Phyllis burst into the room, saving
Jared from having to respond. Maralee
glanced up. The woman had done nothing
but talk about Jared’s obvious attributes
while she’d been supervising Maralee’s
eating. What was she up to?
“Here you are, Dr. Sabin,” Phyllis
said, setting a large bowl of chicken and
dumpling soup in front of him.
“Thank you, Phyllis,” Jared said with
a smile. “This looks good. I’d say it
would be the perfect thing to warm me up
if I weren’t already hot for some reason.”
He put a finger under his collar and blew
out a breath.
Maralee ignored the both of them. “I
wonder if the storm will delay the post,”
she said distractedly.
“Most certainly,” Jared said, taking a
sip of his soup. “There are two feet of
snow on the ground already and it doesn’t
look like it will let up anytime soon.”
“So you should stay here tonight,
Doctor,” Phyllis said. “Your office is
closed now and I’d hate to think of you
having to go out in the storm again.”
“It’s not so bad,” Jared insisted. He
glanced at Maralee who was holding a
spoon of soup halfway to her mouth as she
stared into nothingness. “Of course, I am
still worried about my patient. Maralee?”
At the sound of her name, she started
and dropped her spoon into her bowl with
a splash. She ignored the droplets of
creamy broth that flecked her cheeks and
the front of her shirt. Jared reached for his
napkin and used the corner of it to collect
the stray droplets on her face.
“Oh.” Maralee turned away from him,
and reached for her own napkin to rectify
the damage. “How clumsy of me.”
Jared’s brow wrinkled with renewed
concern. “I will
stay for tonight, Mrs.
Smithy, if you have a room available.”
Phyllis smiled. “Oh yes. I have a
perfect room for you, Dr. Sabin, right next
door to Maralee’s.”
Maralee looked from Phyllis to Jared,
confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I think I should keep an eye on you,”
Jared said. “You seem quite withdrawn
and preoccupied. It might be something
serious.”
“If you’re going to say I’m mentally
unbalanced, then I’d probably have to
agree.”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Jared
said. His look of concern made her think
otherwise.
“Have you ever been in love, Dr.
Sabin?” Maralee asked him bluntly.
The man blushed. “I-I’m not sure.”
“If you have been, then you’d be sure,”
she said. “The man I’m in love with isn’t
who I thought he was. He’s a bitter enemy.
Our families have been pitted against each
other for centuries.”
“Sounds quite dramatic.”
“I love him with every fiber of my
being,” Maralee said, “but I hate him for
all I’m worth. If that doesn’t give a girl a
right to stare off into space without
everyone fussing over her like she’s some
fragile, broken, little bird, then I don’t
know what does.”
“So you want me to leave you alone,”
Jared said.
“Yes!” she said emphatically, happy
he was finally getting the message.
“I can’t do that in good conscience,
Maralee.”
Phyllis interjected, “What harm is
there in letting someone care about you?”
There had been a time when Maralee
had wanted only that. Her lonely
childhood and years of traveling the
continent with nothing but her sword had
weaved a basket of bitterness around her
heart. Only Nash had been able to free her
of its stifling burden, and now that her
trust had been so utterly betrayed, she
doubted she’d ever let anyone close to her
again. The loneliness she had endured was
far easier to deal with than the pain of
loss. She knew she had to bury her pain, at
least from the plain sight of others.
Otherwise, she feared they would always
look at her with maddening concern.
“I guess there is no harm in it,”
Maralee murmured. She finished her soup
diligently, trying to remain alert and keep
her wits about her. Whenever her thoughts
would start to stray, she would blink hard
and sit up straighter in her chair. “I
believe your delicious soup has worked
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