Red and the Wolf (Future Fairytales)

by Kate Rudolph

  Red teetered on the edge of indecision for another minute before she dropped her bag where she stood, gave her grandmother a hug, and left the room. She headed straight for Wood’s quarters, but wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer the door. She tried the handle anyway and found it unlocked. When she walked in, the place looked trashed, like he’d left in a hurry. His closet door hung open and most of his clothes seemed to be gone. Direct transport off the colony only happened a few times a month, but there was a twice daily shuttle that ran colonists to the luxury resort 300 km away. From there getting transport to Earth was simple.

  Red went back to her room and found the communicator and tried to call Wood. He didn’t answer.

  Even knowing that it was unlikely anyone would tell her anything, she went to the guard station and asked if there was any exit log last night or early in the morning for Wolf or Wood. The first guard she spoke to told her they couldn’t give that information out. But the second was a woman that she had done her initial orientation with and who knew that she and Wood had been dancing their way towards a relationship. She took pity on Red and checked the logs, letting her know that both Wolf and Wood had left on the early-morning shuttle to the Mars luxury resort and neither of them had scheduled a return to the colony.

  With that information in hand, Red returned to her room. She collapsed onto her couch and played with her communicator, unsure of her next move. She could hop on the next transport and be at the resort in a matter of hours, but it was more than likely that Wood and Wolf were long gone, off to settle matters however they were normally settled for people who could turn into animals.

  She imagined how disappointed Grandma Sylvie would be when she learned that they’d missed the men’s departures by a matter of hours. Her grandma would probably yell at her to chase after Wood, to do whatever it took to find him. But Red didn’t have the resources. Not the money, not the information, nothing. Maybe a private investigator could find Wood, given enough time, but this was between them. She didn’t want to bring some stranger into it.

  So all Red had was his communicator code and the faint hope that he might listen to his messages. She called him again and didn’t let herself be discouraged when he didn’t answer. Maybe he was busy or temporarily out of signal range. Eventually her message would make it to him, and then it would be his decision. He would call her or come back or stay away forever, and there was nothing more she could do about it at the moment.

  “I know what happened last night was crazy, but I wanted you to know that I’m not scared of you. I’m not sure I understand, but I want to know more. I want to thank you for saving my grandma. And me. And I want to see you again. Please come home, Wood. I know that you have things to do, but just let me know everything is okay. And when you’re ready, we’ll talk. I’ll be here.”

  There was more she wanted to say, words sitting on the tip of her tongue that could tip the scales of their relationship. But Red wasn’t going to let them out, not yet. Not until they were standing face to face and she could see Wood for herself, see that he was still as much a man as she’d always known, even if sometimes he happened to be more than human. She could find a way to accept that. She knew him. She cared for him, and she wanted him more than she could ever imagine wanting a person. He only needed to come back, and then everything would be okay.

  Her communicator beeped and she practically jumped out of her seat, but when she read the screen she saw it was nothing to get excited about. All it confirmed was that her message had been received. Whether or not Wood listened, she wouldn’t know. She just had to wait, had to find a well of patience she’d never needed before, and hold on for dear life.

  Chapter Eight

  An entire week crawled by and things returned to normal for everyone. Everyone except Red. She checked her communicator incessantly in the vain hope that Wood would call her back, but as hours turned into days and days turned into a week, she began to truly doubt that she’d ever see him again. The longer she went without seeing him, the harder it was to believe that what had happened to Grandma Sylvie had actually happened. Could Wolf and Wood really have transformed into winged wolves right in front of them? She knew what she’d seen, but as her grandmother’s injuries healed and no word came from Wood, she started to wonder if her mind was somehow playing tricks on her.

  And Grandma Sylvie wasn’t any help. Once her injuries had cleared, she’d hopped out of bed as if nothing had happened and seemed content to pretend that everything was fine. She didn’t want to talk about Wolf at all, and her only questions about Wood were to ask whether or not he was coming back. Nothing about what he was, only where and when.

  Red would have gladly taken an answer to any of those questions. To try and keep herself sane, she threw her body into her work, spending even more hours than usual in the greenhouse, taking on some of the manual labor that was usually left to the various helper bots. If she exhausted herself every day, she couldn’t dream at night. The dreams were the worst part, fantasies and nightmares all mixed up that made her heart beat too hard out of desire and fear.

  She almost tried to call Wood again, every day. But it was one thing to leave a single message asking him to come back, a message that laid her heart out there and told him what she wanted, what she needed. Calling every day, every hour, just made her seem desperate. If anything, it was more likely to scare him away than bring him flying back to the colony.

  Flying on a space shuttle, not using his wings. She assumed that he still needed oxygen and that his wings would be of little use in the vacuum of space.

  On the eighth day after Wood’s disappearance, she got up extra early, her sleep interrupted by dreams that even her exhaustion couldn’t overcome. She did her best to wipe the tiredness off her face, but anyone looking at her would see the bags under her bloodshot eyes and know that it had been several days since she’d taken a good night’s sleep. And it was sure to be several more, weeks probably, until she claimed another one. She’d only known the guy for a few weeks, shouldn’t getting over him take less time than all the days she’d known him? It didn’t seem fair to pine.

  When Red opened her front door she froze in her tracks.

  Wood sat across the hall, legs drawn up and arms acting as a pillow where he rested his head, eyes closed. She must have made some sort of noise since his eyes blinked slowly open and he tilted his head up, his face breaking into a cautious smile when he saw her. Then his eyes narrowed and he shot up, taking a step towards her, hand outstretched as if to reach for her. Then he seemed to think better of it and pulled himself back.

  Red’s stomach dropped and she knew she couldn’t keep the naked longing off of her face. It was too early in the morning and her defenses were lowered from exhaustion and a burning desire to know exactly what had happened. And Wood was right there. She closed her eyes, blinking them hard to make sure that he didn’t disappear. She didn’t want to add delusions to the list of things wrong with her right now.

  “You look tired.” It wasn’t the first thing she wanted to hear Wood say to her, but the low rumble of his voice grounded her, as if her feet were suddenly on solid ground after a week of walking on a trampoline.

  “So do you.” Not the wittiest comeback, but it was true. His own eyes were red rimmed and his clothes rumpled. The stubble on his cheeks made him look a little dangerous, as if he was some outlaw looking for vengeance. Red couldn’t decide if she liked it better than when he was clean shaven, but she’d let him grow a whole damn beard if only he didn’t disappear again.

  “It’s been a long week.” He was frozen in the middle of the hallway and Red was glad that it was so early, she didn’t want anyone interrupting their reunion.

  “Have you been out here all night? You could have knocked. Or gone to your room.” The corridors could get cold and the ground was too hard to sit comfortably for a long time. But Wood had been out there, waiting for her. It had to mean something.

  Wood’s eyes bore into hers
, as if he was trying to read something in her expression. “I wasn’t sure I would be welcome.”

  Red’s eyebrows shot up. “I thought I made that clear in my message.”

  His brows furrowed. “It got corrupted. I couldn’t be sure if you were asking me to come back or telling me that you never wanted to see me again.”

  “Did you really have to wonder?” They hadn’t known each other for long, but Red had been clear about what she wanted from him. Everything.

  “After you saw what I could do, who I really am…” Down the hall a door slammed and Wood clamped his mouth shut.

  They couldn’t have this conversation in the hallway. “Come in, I can make some coffee. And you can answer questions.”

  Even though he must have been waiting for the invitation, Wood hesitated. “Are you sure? If you don’t feel safe…”

  “For God sakes, Wood, you protected me and my grandmother! I know I’m safe with you.” She reached out and curled her hand into the fabric of his shirt and pulled him forward. It startled Wood so much that he stepped without resistance, even if they both knew that she couldn’t force him to move if he didn’t want to. “Now sit on the couch and don’t move. If you take off again, I’m going to hunt you down and… and… I don’t know what, but you won’t like it.”

  She was invigorated for the first time in a week, her exhaustion evaporated and hope coursing through her veins. Wood was here! He wanted to talk! He’d waited for some unspecified amount of time outside her door! But she had to get a hold of her excitement. He might not have come to pick up where they left off. But whatever his reason for being with her, Red was going to be happy for now.

  She almost spilled their drinks as she placed them on the table in front of the couch. Wood was wedged up against one side and she was certain that if there was another place to sit in the room he would have. A part of her wanted to sit close next to him and cuddle up, but there was something on his mind and she knew there was going to be no moving forward in their relationship until whatever he had to say was cleared up. Besides, she had her own questions, and if she started touching him, she didn’t think she’d be able to stop.

  “So,” she said, sipping nervously at her coffee.

  Wood traced the rim of the mug with a finger. “So.”

  They sat silently for a moment, neither quite ready to take the first step to talk about what happened. Finally Red took a deep breath and dived in. Nothing was going to happen until one of them did something. “So Wolf’s name is more literal than I thought.”

  Wood placed his drink back down on the table and pressed his lips together and tried not to smile. “He’s always been full of himself.”

  “I mean, I guess it’s good he didn’t call himself Alpha or Fenris or Remus or something like that. Wouldn’t want to be ridiculous.” If someone had told her a week ago that she’d be joking about this, Red wouldn’t have believed them. But Wood was right here which meant she was safe, and suddenly she could deal with it all.

  “Alpha is a title that even he would not presume to claim,” Wood said seriously. They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, their bodies canted towards one another, and tension coiled tightly in Wood’s frame. Whatever he was about to say, it wasn’t easy for him to speak of it. “I had to remand him into custody of the nearest clan. That alpha and her council will judge him and mete out punishment.”

  “Her?” Why that was the word that Red clung to, she wasn’t sure. “So there are female werewolves?” She hadn’t thought about it one way or another, but as she asked, she wondered why there wouldn’t be. “And are they always alphas?”

  “There are roughly the same number of female and male shifters. That’s what we’re called, not werewolves. And the alpha is determined by the clan, gender doesn’t matter, only strength and leadership capability.” He shifted in his seat, as if he was going to stand up, but seemed to think better of it at the last minute.

  “Shifters.” Red tried the word out, tried to imagine Wood as anything but a man, and even though she’d seen him shift it was hard to do so when he was sitting right in front of her, looking like anyone else. “Sometimes your eyes get reflective. Is that because…”

  He nodded once.

  “But otherwise you look human. Are you an alien?” She’d written out a list of questions she had for him and once she got in thirty deep she ripped it up and put it in the incinerator. But just because she’d destroyed the page didn’t mean that she didn’t remember what she wanted to know.

  “I am human,” Wood insisted. As if to belie the claim, his eyes caught the light and flashed back at her. “You’ve heard of humans being abducted from the planet, yes?”

  Red nodded. There were always stories about it, reasons for people not to walk alone at night. She wasn’t sure how much she believed it.

  “It’s been going on for thousands of years, practically since humans evolved. The universe is so old and vast that I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that dinosaurs had been abducted.”

  “Dinosaurs, really?” That stretched Red’s imagination.

  But Wood’s eyes had lit up. “Yes, really. Why not?”

  Red couldn’t think of an answer to that, but she wasn’t going to let herself get distracted by the thought that somewhere out in the universe, surviving T-rexes might be walking around.

  “But humans, that’s what we’re talking about. This was thousands of years ago, as best I can tell, sometime around when the pyramids in Egypt were built. Maybe even before that. My ancestors were abducted by a race of aliens dedicated to experimenting on certain species. And over the course of their work, they created the shifters. They honed us into the perfect predators, those who can hide among humans and attack with bodies they’d never expect. But our creators were too good at their work.” Wood paused, meeting her eyes with a faint smile.

  “Your ancestors revolted and killed them all, didn’t they?” Red didn’t need a textbook to figure that part out.

  Wood’s grin blossomed into a full smile. “Yes, that’s right. We claimed our own destiny and formed our own society. But as I told you the last time we spoke, it is highly regimented. There are the strong and the weak and nothing in between. I wanted more for myself, wanted to live as a man, not a beast. I come from a different clan than Wolf, but I recognized him the moment we met.”

  “Can you always recognize another shifter?”

  Wood nodded. “It’s in the scent. We can’t hide from one another.”

  “Scent?” Red tried to breathe deep to make sure she didn’t smell, but the only thing she took in was the scent of coffee that was permeating the apartment.

  “Better than a normal human’s. We’re fast and strong, enhanced in ways you might not expect. Though I turn into a wolf, our creators took various animals into account when they transformed my ancestors. Those strengths still live on today.”

  “Like how?”

  Wood thought for a moment. “I can jump very high and very far, much further than a wolf or a human. My tree climbing skills could amaze you.”

  “Like a leopard?” Red tried to remember as many facts as she could about predators, but a dozen thoughts piled up at once and it was difficult to sort them out. “What about speed?”

  Wood nodded. “Yes. Very fast.”

  She could run down enhancements all day, but that wasn’t the important part. “And what about Wolf? You said he was going to be punished. But… I don’t understand what he was trying to do. What was all that claiming bullshit? And why didn’t you tell me beforehand? I get that you didn’t think I’d believe all this shifter stuff, it’s kind of hard to imagine without seeing it for myself. But why not say something else? Is there a rule against it?”

  “No,” Wood replied, voice going dark. “I wanted to protect you from it. I should have said.” Now he did get up and started to pace across the small room. “My desire to live as a man should not have interfered with your safety. But Wolf triggered my instincts to… I was blinded
by things that I should have controlled, and you paid the price.”

  Red was on her feet before she realized it and standing in front of him. “Grandma and I are both okay,” she assured him. “Freaked out, but okay. I’m not mad at you, but I need to know what’s going on. If we’re going to…” she trailed off, not wanting to get ahead of herself.

  “If we’re going to what?” Wood reached out as if he couldn’t stop himself and tilted her head up. There wasn’t much space between them, but they were both frozen, unable to close the distance.

  And then Red remembered how their last encounter had ended. “You said you wouldn’t be able to walk away from me again.”

  Wood’s eyes drifted closed and his face contorted in pain, as if he were fighting an inner battle that Red couldn’t see. He took a step back and let his hand drop. “Wolf wanted to claim you as his mate.” He forced the words out, like he had to speak around a boulder in his throat.

  “Mate?” Red’s mind stuttered to a halt. “Like… mate mate?” It was something she’d only heard of in stories, the towering alien claiming the simpering human female.

  “A side effect of our enhancements. There are some people that shifters are drawn to very strongly. And when our instincts are driving us, we show how truly inhuman we can be.” He took another half step back but didn’t seem to be able to make himself move any further.

  “And that’s why Wolf was doing what he was doing? Because he couldn’t control himself?” The excuse made her sick to her stomach.

  “No,” Wood spat. “We are still men. We still have the power of reason, of control, no matter how much our instincts are stirred. If we are rejected, we need to walk away. That is as it should be.”

  “Should?”

  “Some clans do not see it so. They believe that the stronger has the right to claim the weaker without regard for their wants.”