“I set up some alarm wards,” said Stella. “They only go off if a supernatural threat passes through them.”
“What?” Felix looked at her, uncomprehending.
“Felix…” Stella’s voice was neutral, with a hint of tension in it. “Get away from her.”
Felix stared at her, unable to comprehend what she meant. He looked down at Gwen, and then back up at Stella.
“Are you serious?” He shook his head. “Stella, she saved my life. He, Trent, tried to fucking kill me!”
Trent took a step forward, his hand reaching under his jacket, toward a gun shaped bulge on the side of his abdomen.
“Stella, he can’t be allowed back into the tower!” said Trent. “There’s two of them, and we won’t get a better chance. We need to end this, here and now!”
“We don’t know that they had anything to do with it!” snapped Stella.
Felix still held Gwen’s head protectively. He wanted to stand up, to get in Trent’s face, even knowing what a terrible idea it would be, all things considered.
“Stella, what the fuck?” he snapped. “Did you know? Did you know he was going to try to kill me?”
Stella flinched back, a hurt expression on her face. She shook her head, holding one hand out toward him and one toward Trent, as though trying to keep them both from each other.
“I didn’t know!” she said. “He told me he was going to evaluate your condition.”
She shot Trent a frosty glare.
“I did,” said Trent. “And I acted on said evaluation!”
“You pushed him out of your helicopter, Trent,” said Stella, coldly. “If it turns out that they aren’t involved, you’ve still all but declared war on them.”
“Involved in what?” asked Felix. “Stella, what is going on?”
Stella took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She ran a hand through her hair, letting autumn strands fall over her coat.
“Mayor Senhaji has gone missing,” she said. “We suspect that… it may be due to a new supernatural threat.”
Trent made to step toward Felix and Stella turned angrily in his direction. The tips of her fingers glowed with red energy, and he stopped in his tracks. Felix remembered what Trent had told him about Stella being dangerous, and found himself suddenly appreciative of her presence there.
“Look, Stella, I have nothing to do with that,” said Felix. “And neither does Gwen. She’s wounded, it could be a concussion, or something worse. We have to get her inside the tower.”
“Over my dead body,” snarled Trent. He spoke the words in a way that left no doubt as whether he truly meant them.
“Felix…” said Stella. “I’m sorry. I trust you, I really do. But her…”
She looked down at Gwen, the crude bandage tied across her head, her white hair streaked with red blood, and frowned.
“You want me to leave her?” asked Felix. “To abandon her out here, in the snow.”
He stood up, not waiting for an answer, gently taking Gwen in his arms, and turned away from them.
“Felix!” said Stella. “Think about what you’re doing! It’s suicide to stay out in the cold, a storm will hit within the next few days.”
Felix walked away without looking back, his arms tired, and his legs weary.
CHAPTER 15
Felix walked in the direction of the Crystal Caves, less out of deliberate intention and more due to the fact that it was the only other place he could think of to go. Gwen needed help, and he’d encountered the other wolves in her pack their before.
It took him the better part of an hour to make it within sight of the entrance. He was almost at the point of exhaustion, and knew that he’d only be able to keep carrying Gwen for a limited amount of time before his arms gave out.
He took a rest before heading in, sitting down in the cold snow and keeping Gwen’s head supported. He wanted to shake her again, to try to wake her up. It would solve so much, and save him from the lump of guilt that had formed in his stomach.
“Gwen…” he whispered. “Come on, Gwen.”
He didn’t actually shake her. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable, that it would have been like shaking a broken toy. Instead, Felix pulled her in closer to his chest, trying not to think too much about the harsh reality of the situation.
Footsteps crunched on the snow behind him. Felix looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Stella come to reconsider, or maybe Trent baring down on him with a knife. Instead, he saw two white wolves, both on the small side, nearly identical to each other, loping toward him.
“Help…” he said. “I have Gwen! Are you… her sisters?”
The wolves burst into blinding white light, and standing in their places were two young girls, identical twins, from the look of it. They had the same color hair as Gwen, but otherwise looked completely different.
Their features were petite, almost childlike, but something about the expression in their violet colored eyes betrayed their age. Felix was sure that they were at least eighteen or nineteen, but if he’d only seen them from the back or side, he would of thought them a half dozen years younger.
“Please,” he said. “Can you help her?”
The two girls didn’t say anything. They didn’t even make eye contact with him, and both of them fidgeted shyly. They had on matching purple and pink snowsuits. If Felix hadn’t seen them in their wolf forms, he would have thought them to be harmless.
The girls turned away from him and started walking at a pace slow enough to allow for him to follow with Gwen in his arms. They led him past the caves, further out into the distance. A small, jagged cliff stood on the horizon, and it became clear after a couple of minutes that it was where they were headed.
“Is this your home?” asked Felix. Neither girl said anything to him, or even looked over their shoulder back at him. Felix bit back a joke about both of them being the strong, silent type and kept following.
More details came into view as they approached. The snow was cleared out from a section in front of the cave. A massive metal door, the kind that would be appropriate for a bomb shelter or military facility, was inset to the rock of the cliff wall at ground level. A metal snow shovel stood behind it, and seemed oddly out of place.
The girls walked up to the door. Felix came in closer behind him and realized that neither one rose up more than a hand’s length beyond his waist. He waited patiently, Gwen’s weight feeling suddenly heavy in his arms, as they turned a massive spinning door handle into a complicated pattern. It seemed more like they were opening a combination lock than a door, and Felix heard a faint click as the tumblers fell into place.
It took both girls working together to pull the door open. They brushed snow off their clothes as they stepped inside, making no indication as to whether or not Felix should follow. He hesitated for a moment, and then quickly carried Gwen after them.
The place was totally different from what Felix had been expecting. The first room, other than the concrete walls and corrugated metal floor, could have easily been mistake for a homely living room, only larger.
A massive carpet sat in the center of the room, with a couch and a very old looking TV and VCR combo sitting across from it. There were other electric appliances and outlets, too, though how in the world a place so far removed from, well, the world, got electricity, Felix had no idea.
An L shaped couch filled one of the room’s corners, and doors and hallways jutted off in several directions. Both of the young twin girls took off their snow gear and placed it all into a closet next to the door, which they’d circled around to shut behind Felix and Gwen.
“Breeze? Windy?” A voice came from the door in the back of the living room. “Did you manage to…?”
A woman walked into the living dressed in a pink apron over sweatpants, a t-shirt, and an apron. She had long vibrant white hair, almost down to her waist, intricately woven into a single braid. Her eyes were the same pale blue as Gwen’s, but her face looked older and wiser.
It wasn’t that she looked old. Felix couldn’t have guessed at the woman’s age for any amount of money. She could have been anywhere from 25 to 50 in physical appearance, but judging from just her eyes made him want to expand his estimate out by about a hundred years.
Her body, much like that of Gwen, was a fantastic mix of curves, bust, and butt. She wasn’t quite as alluring in any of those departments, but the way she held herself, the confidence and ease in her body language, more than made up for it.
“Here, follow me,” said the woman, Nalya, the denmother of the white wolves. “Breeze, Windy, bring me the bandages and some ice from outside.”
The young girls immediately went to work. Felix followed Nalya as she led him down a hallway and around a corner.
“How did it happen?” asked Nalya.
“She... was trying to help me,” said Felix. “There was a grizzly bear, and she tried to fight it.”
“Yes, that sounds like my daughter,” said Nalya, in a soft voice. “And you saving her from there, and bringing her back… sounds like my son.”
Felix blinked at her, too tired to object to her mischaracterization. Nalya led him into a bedroom. The wallpaper was pink, with small cats and ponies drawn into the pattern. The bed was similarly girly, which made sense in context.
What didn’t was the wooden stand holding half a dozen Japanese swords of various length, and the locked cabinet next to it that had piles of boxes of bullets stacked on top of it. Felix gently set Gwen down on the bed, accepting Nalya’s help as she cradled the girl’s head.
“Felix,” whispered Nalya. “You should rest on one of the couches in the living room. I will set out blankets and a pillow for you once I’ve taken care of Gwen’s condition.”
“Nalya,” said Felix, preparing to protest. He couldn’t stay with them, not with Trent back in the tower and whatever other chaos was taking place.
Nalya smiled softly at him, her eyes containing a kind of love that Felix had never seen before. She reached out her hand and cupped his cheek. She was almost as tall as he was, and it seemed totally natural for her to lean his head forward and plant a kiss on his forehead.
“We are your denfamily,” she whispered. “Welcome home, Felix.”
CHAPTER 16
The two twin girls, Breeze and Windy, passed Felix by on his way back out into the living room. Now that he was no longer carrying Gwen, his exhaustion seemed to have taken the liberty of hitting him all at once. He sat down on the couch, feeling hungry, thirsty, and incredibly weary.
He thought about the way Stella had treated him, turning him away from the tower as though he was a dangerous monster. He thought of Dani, who he hadn’t seen or talked to in what felt like an eternity. He wondered about how she was holding up.
The one thing that still gnawed at Felix was what Gwen and Nalya kept insisting. It didn’t make sense that he could be a part of their denfamily, or wolfbound, as Stella had called it. He was Felix Honlan, a rather mediocre photographer with a van and a camera and not much else. He didn’t have any memories of being raised by wolves, or even bit by one, if that was how the condition spread.
Felix had almost drifted off to sleep by the time Nalya reemerged from Gwen’s room. She walked over to where he was on the couch and ran a hand through his hair. The gesture should have been off putting, having a woman he’d known for all of an hour violating his personal space, but it wasn’t. He felt comforted by it, and a little disappointed when she stopped.
“I’ll get you some food,” said Nalya. “I was actually baking a cake when you arrived. Dinner is already finished.”
She disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, coming back with a bowl of steaming soup and a massive hunk of homemade bread. She passed both to Felix and he felt his mouth immediately begin to water.
“Rabbit and vegetable stew,” said Nalya. “Gwen is a little picky when it comes to eating cooked meat, but Breeze and Windy prefer it that way.”
Felix smiled at that.
“I noticed,” he said. “Though she does seem to be found of rabbit.”
He ate a spoonful of the soup and almost shuddered with pleasure from the taste. Nalya went back into the kitchen, coming back with a small dinner tray, which she set in front of him on the couch, a cup of water, and an unlabeled bottle of beer.
“Here,” she said. “Eat over the tray. No need for you to get crumbs everywhere.”
“Right,” said Felix. “My bad.”
He ate bread and soup and drank the entire cup of water in a few rushed gulps. Nalya smiled and dutifully left to refill it for him. He also tried the beer, which was strong, tasty, and clearly the result of a successful homebrew.
“Now,” said Nalya. “I’m sure you have questions for me. I don’t mind answering them, Felix.”
Felix drained the rest of his soup and sat back on the couch, satisfied and better able to focus with a full stomach. He nodded.
“I do,” he said. “Nalya… None of this makes any sense to me. How can I be a part of your denfamily? I’m not, I mean, we aren’t… related, as far as I know, right?”
Nalya smiled. She walked over to the spot next to him on the couch and sat down, pushing up until she sat with her shoulder and breast pushed against him. She watched Felix carefully, as though she could read every mannerism and expression.
“We are not related by blood,” said Nalya. “None of us are, except for Breeze and Windy. We’re related by something much deeper than that, much more meaningful.”
Felix shook his head slowly, more out of confusion than objection.
“There are very few of our kind left,” said Nalya. “You were not born to be wolfbound, Felix. Very few are.”
“Then how…?” Felix frowned. “You picked me, didn’t you?”
“We picked you as much as you picked us,” whispered Nalya. “You chose to join our denfamily in those first few moments in the crystal caves, whether you knew it then or not.”
“But… what does that mean?” he asked.
“It depends on the choices you make from here forward,” said Nalya. “But regardless of what you pick, I will continue to be your denmother, as Gwen and the twins will be your densisters.”
Felix cringed internally. He scratched his head and managed half a shrug.
“About that,” he said, in an embarrassed voice. “Gwen and I, well, we sort of…”
Nalya let out a small laugh, the sound of it light, charming, and vaguely condescending.
“We do not have hangups over our sexuality as regular humans do,” she said. “We’re far more flexible about that type of thing.”
The couch felt a little smaller to Felix after hearing her words. Her hand had drifted onto his chest, and Nalya watched him almost expectantly, not saying anything, reading his reaction. Felix nodded slowly.
“Okay,” he said. “That’s, uh, good to know.”
“Yes,” said Nalya. “It is.”
She stood up from her spot and walked back into the kitchen, taking all of Felix’s dishes, except for the beer, with her. Felix picked up the bottle and slowly sipped at it, feeling all of his muscles crying out for sleep. He finished the beer and buried his head into the pillow, closing his eyes.
CHAPTER 17
“Wake up, Felix.”
Nalya’s voice was soft and hot in his ear. She slowly shook him by the shoulder and Felix opened his eyes, taking a moment to adjust to the darkness of the den.
“Nalya?” he whispered.
“Gwen’s condition is getting worse,” whispered Nalya. “The wound… it is not healing as it should be.”
Felix sat up sharply at that. He blinked, his eyes making out Nalya’s form in front of him. She was wearing a loose night robe, and kept one hand resting on his thigh.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked
Nalya nodded slowly.
“There is a draught I can make for her,” she whispered. “It would go a long way toward restoring her strength. It requires… some
of your essence.”
Felix nodded.
“Whatever it is, I’ll do it,” he said. “Gwen saved my life. The least I can do is return the favor.”
“The essence I speak of…” Nalya’s hand ran up Felix’s thigh, coming to a rest on top of his erection. “Comes from here. Can you do that for me, denchild?”
Felix felt his cock hardening under her touch. He was a little ashamed of himself, and confused by the way Nalya and Gwen spoke of his place within their family, and their relationships.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s no problem.”
Nalya’s hand stayed where it was. Felix had slept in his boxers, and the thin fabric wasn’t enough to block out the soft touch of her fingers, and the warmth of her hand.
“Do you need help?” whispered Nalya. “From your denmother?”
Felix started to say no, but her hand was already moving, sliding his boxers down, running across his hard cock. He groaned as Nalya’s fingers wrapped around his erection and began to stroke.
“Oh,” he whispered. “Jesus. Nalya, I can… do it.”
“Are you sure?” There was a hint of amusement in Nalya’s voice, as though she enjoyed teasing him. She stroked her hand up and down several times in the silence that followed.
“Uh…” Felix tried to reiterate his objection, but the words had been replaced by the soft pleasure of Nalya’s movements.
“Just let your denmother take care of you,” whispered Nalya.
“Quit saying that,” he snapped.
Nalya brought her mouth in close to his cock, still stroking with small, gentle movements. Felix felt something soft, wet, and hot slide it’s way from the base of his shaft to the tip of his cock. He shivered with ecstasy, the sensation incredible and intense.
“Do you like your denmother’s tongue?” whispered Nalya. “Does it feel good against your hardness?”
Felix moaned. He grabbed onto the side of the couch as Nalya returned to slowly stroking, keeping her face close enough to his erection for him to feel her hot breath against it.
Winter Spire: Den of Desire Page 6