Guardian of Lone Wolf Peak

by Evelyn Winters

  She didn’t even see Nick until dinner and even then, Benji and Emmie kept her locked in conversation. Nor did she have time to investigate the strange shed under her bedroom window. It had not been included in either tour and when she had asked about it, both brothers said a version of the same thing: it was Charles’s woodworking shed, he didn’t like anyone in there, it had dangerous equipment, blah, blah, blah. It all meant the same thing: a dismissal and a warning to keep out.

  On her third day at the Woods family home, she was awoken as she had been on the day previous, with Benji’s eager knocking. Instead of dragging her around the homestead, Benji delivered her into Emmie’s willing hands. With Nathan’s wife still ill, she was keen to have someone to share her chores with. So Kira spent the day collecting eggs, learning how to milk a cow, watering the vegetable garden, and selecting which veg to have with dinner, all the while Benji followed her around like a talkative puppy.

  For the entire day, Nick was like a shadow, near enough to see, but never close enough to catch. She was able to meet his eyes several times, but no amount of silent pleading brought him near enough to speak to. Dinner that night was proceeding like all the others, Nathan disappeared with two plates of food, Benji was running a constant stream of conversation, and Emmie fussed over Charles and his plate. Nick knocked their knees together under the table, it was becoming like a secret code between them, though Kira wouldn’t have been able to explain what it meant.

  She tilted her head, catching Nick’s eyes and a small, secret smile. “I hope I didn’t tire you out too much.” Emmie said before she could start a conversation with Nick.

  Kira couldn’t help the sigh that left her as she turned back to answer. “No, I liked helping. I don’t like being bored so it was nice to have something to do.” She said honestly.

  “Idle minds.” Charles said in warning.

  “Right.” She agreed. “Maybe I could tend to the animals alone tomorrow? I think I learned everything I need to and I’m sure you have more important things to do than babysit me.” This she said to Benji and Emmie, though she hoped Nick caught what she was subtly trying to hint.

  “That’s very nice of you.” Emmie offered with a smile, but for whatever reason, Charles didn’t look very happy with her suggestion.

  “Benji can help you. I gave him a few days off to help you get settled in, you wouldn’t like to know the trouble he can cause if he gets bored.” Charles said and there went her only hope of getting some alone time.

  “You aren’t getting sick of me, are you?” Benji teased, but there was an edge to his voice, a hardness in his eyes that made her think he wasn’t joking. It was a look that made her stomach sink.

  She tried to laugh it off. “Of course not! Chloe would be jealous, you’re my best friend here. I just didn’t want to be a burden.”

  He visibly relaxed at her reassurance. “You could never be that. I know Emmie has appreciated your help,” Emmie nodded eagerly at this, “and Charles and Nathan are more than capable of holding down the station, no one ever comes out here anyway.”

  “Why is that?” She asked curiously and an uncomfortable silence lapsed over the table.

  “There are no amenities nearby and it’s rough, dangerous terrain, we don’t even get many hikers.” Charles finally explained. “I’m sure Chloe already told you not to go off by yourself, it’s far too dangerous if you don’t know the mountain like we do.”

  Kira nodded slowly. “She made me promise.”

  “Good.” He said and that was the end of the conversation.

  Nick vanished up the stairs not long after. He was always the first to leave the table. Charles was next, taking a cold, brown bottle of beer with him to is armchair by the fire and Kira was left to clear the table with Emmie while Benji followed her to and from the kitchen. She let herself get lost in the mindless drudgery of dish washing, her mind wandering as Benji talked endlessly in her ear.

  It was hard to imagine Chloe growing up in this house. Charles seemed so old-fashioned and he was obviously the voice of authority here. Maybe that’s why she left. It was difficult to try and picture Chloe with her ripped jeans and band shirts, cigarette dangling between her lips, helping Emmie with chores or washing up after dinner.

  When the last dish had been dried and put away, Kira interrupted Benji’s stream of chatter. “I’m pretty tired. I think I’m going to turn in early.”

  “I’ll walk you up.” Benji said at once, Kira’s heart sank.

  “Sleep well.” Emmie added sweetly.

  Kira walked up the stairs like she was going to the gallows. Was she never going to be able to get rid of Benji? Could she ask him to keep his distance without coming off as rude? How long before she got overwhelmed and snapped at him? She honestly did want a friendship with him, in moderation his company was even enjoyable, but somehow, she had a feeling Benji had a different idea about where their relationship was headed.

  When she finally reached the door to her room, she turned to say goodnight only to see Benji finally silent, staring at her with hooded eyes. Uh oh, I think I know what he’s thinking about. Her hand desperately searched for the doorknob as Benji stepped closer.

  “I’ve been waiting to get you alone all day.” He said, his voice pitched lower. He crowded closer, her back hit the door as their bodies bumped together. His head was lowering towards her, lips slightly parted and blowing warm breath across her lips when her hand finally closed around the doorknob.

  “I-I’m very tired.” She stuttered out and slipped away into her darkened bedroom. She closed the door firmly behind her, leaning against it with a sigh. What I wouldn’t give for a lock.

  There was a shape rushing towards her in the dark. A pair of warm hands were clasping her face, and then suddenly lips were pressed against hers with a bruising force. For the second time in less than a minute, she was crowded back up against her bedroom door. This time, there was no escape from the kiss that was forced upon her mouth. Lips moved against her own, a hot, wet tongue prodding at their seam.

  Her first thought was Benji, but how could it be when she just closed her door in his face? Her fingers found the light switch and she flicked it on. Able to finally see, a sigh escaped her, and she sank into the kiss. It was Nick.

  Nick was holding her face and kissing her with such an overwhelming force that she had no choice but succumb to it. He kissed her like he was trying to breathe life back into her lungs. Her fingers fisted in his shirt, drawing him closer, closer, closer, until she could feel every inch of his body pressed against her own.

  She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, she was consumed by his kiss, his touch, his scent. Nick was everywhere, he was overpowering her senses, but that was okay because he was kissing her and she was kissing him and it felt right. Like everything that seemed wrong with this house, this family, didn’t even matter anymore as long as she got to have this.

  Her lips parted under his insistent mouth and the kiss turned warm and slick and wonderful. She was dizzy and gasping for breath when Nick’s hands suddenly fell from her face. He took two quick steps backwards and suddenly her body was cold, her hands empty. She leaned her head back against the door and tried to keep her eyes open as she caught her breath.

  Nick was standing a few paces in front of her. He was panting, eyes ablaze, his lips red and wet. His shirt was crumpled, the fabric stretched from her desperate pulling. His raven hair was sticking up wildly, though she didn’t remember pulling her fingers through it. He looked so unbelievably handsome standing there that desire throbbed through her like a second heartbeat. She reached for him, beckoning, but he started shaking his head.

  “I shouldn’t have done that.” He said, his voice was hoarse, thick with emotion.

  “I wanted you to.” She tried to reassure him. “I still want you to.”

  “No, I can’t.” He said gruffly and then continued much softer, “not with you.”

  He pushed her out of the way, seeming to take great
care not to handle her to roughly, and slipped out of her room, shutting the door softly behind himself. And suddenly, Kira couldn’t catch her breath, but unlike before, it wasn’t because of dizzying arousal. This time, it felt like there was no oxygen left in the room. I guess he must have taken it all with him.

  Chapter 6

  Once she had pulled herself together, Kira went through the motions of getting ready for bed. She brushed her hair, changed into her pajamas, flossed her teeth, but the whole time it was as if she were doing these things in a dream. Her thoughts were with Nick. What did he mean ‘not with you’?

  She flicked off the light and sat on the edge of her bed, illuminated only by the ghostly pale glow of the moon, full, and shining high in the clear, fall night. She didn’t know how long she sat there thinking about Nick and what his words could mean, but when she blinked back to full awareness she could hear two pairs of muffled footsteps crunching in the snow.

  She crept to her bedroom window, peeking out. Below, Nathan and Charles were standing beside the wooden shed. They must have been speaking in hushed tones though, because she couldn’t hear a word they were saying. It was a risk, she knew that, but she was also desperate to solve at least this one mystery.

  So, slowly, Kira curled her fingers around the latch and pulled. The window slid open just a crack and nearly silently too. Ice cold mountain air slithered through the little space, chilling her under her thin nightshirt, but it carried with it the voices of Charles and Nathan. She knelt on the floor, pressing her ear against the opened slit at the bottom of the window. There was no mistaking Charles and the quiet authority he was able to convey when he spoke.

  “Haven’t you been feeding it?” He demanded quietly.

  “Why is it always my job to feed the damn thing?” Nathan hissed. “Besides, it’s hardly my fault it looks so bad, it can’t feed good with that muzzle on.”

  “You know Nick doesn’t approve. He won’t come near the thing and Benji has been busy with that girl.” Charles said. “And don’t you dare try to lecture me about the muzzle. If I didn’t muzzle it, that girl would hear it howling night and day. Someone clearly doesn’t know when to give up.”

  “I don’t know what Chloe sees in him.” Nathan said, randomly seeming to change the subject.

  Charles scoffed. “I know exactly what she sees in him, I just don’t know how she’s going to break him.”

  That seemed to be the end of the conversation, the silence between the two brothers broken only by the crunch of their boots in the snow as they walked back around to the backdoor. Kira waited until she heard the doors to their rooms open and close before she peeked out the window again. The shed was still locked, but it sounded like they might have some kind of animal in there. She slid the window shut and pressed her hand over her freezing ear, it was like touching ice and it burned as it slowly heated back up. Mystery solved I guess.

  But as she tucked herself into bed and tried to will herself to sleep, it just didn’t sit right with her that they might have some poor animal locked up in there. She always had a tender spot in her heart for animals, ever since she was little. She couldn’t bear the thought of one suffering in that shed, locked away, alone and cold. Don’t forget underfed, her brain supplied unhelpfully, Nathan admitted that he hadn’t been feeding it.

  Knowing she wouldn’t get any rest with that thought rolling around in her head like a loose marble, Kira slid silently back out of bed and started pulling on her clothes. Nathan had mentioned a muzzle, so she if she had to guess it sounded like it was probably a coyote or wild dog. She knew that Emmie had saved a bowl of roasted chicken from dinner, surely no one would notice if she took a few pieces.

  She peeked out into the hallway, it was dark, the only light was from the moon filtering in through the window. She counted the doors she would have to pass to get to the stairs, Benji, Nick, Nathan, Charles, they were all closed, and she could see no lights on from the bottom crack. So, as quietly as she could, she started down the hallway. Her heart was racing in her chest and she would freeze in place like a little rabbit at the slightest sound.

  She eventually made it to the edge of the stairs and gripped the banister tightly, trying to remember if any of the stairs creaked before she began her descent. There was a sudden burst of noise, a muffled scream, from behind Nathan’s closed door and Kira clutched at the banister with both hands to keep from falling in her fright. She looked over her shoulder, staring hard at the closed door. If Nathan or his wife came out she was finished, she’d have to lie and say she was getting a glass of water. But as she stared, heart beating loudly in her ears, a sense of wrongness came over her so abruptly that for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Why was Nathan’s door the only one that had a lock on the outside?

  There were no other sounds from behind the closed door. Throwing caution aside, she ran down the stairs, sliding on her socks into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed as many pieces of cold chicken as she dared to take at one time. She slipped on a pair of Emmie’s boots as she still didn’t have any of her own and slipped out the backdoor. The cold air bit at her skin through her thin jacket as she walked gingerly through the snow. Now more than ever, she was grateful that the boys kept the path around the house shoveled, the snow would nearly be up to her thighs otherwise.

  Charles and Nathan kept the shed locked, but you didn’t grow up in a household like hers without learning a few skills. She slid the bobby pin she had smuggled out of the house in her coat pocket, and set about picking the lock. The metal was freezing in her hands as she tried to hold the padlock steady. Her fingers were starting to burn like she was holding them over an open flame by the time she heard the soft ‘click’.

  Despite having some idea of what was on the other side of that closed door, Kira was still shocked when she pushed the door open and laid eyes on the wretched creature within. It wasn’t a wild dog, or a coyote. A shaggy, emaciated timber wolf was tethered to a spike driven into the dirt in the center of the shed. Its coat was as black as the starless sky and beautiful, despite its unkempt state. The leather straps looked too tight, digging into the snout of the poor creature, but what gave her pause was the wolf’s eyes. They were startling cerulean blue and they stared at her with clear intelligence and unease.

  Aware that if any of the brothers looked outside their windows she would be caught, Kira stepped inside the shed, closing the door behind her. The wolf didn’t back up, didn’t try to get away from her, it didn’t show any signs of fear aside from the obvious wariness in its eyes. Maybe they’re trying to domesticate it, she reasoned with herself, but that seemed a poor excuse for the cruelty they had inflicted on it. She dug the baggie of chicken out of her pocket and tossed a few pieces towards it. They landed in the dirt, but the wolf made no move towards it.

  “It’s okay.” She murmured gently. “I’m not going to hurt you. You can eat.” The wolf tilted his shaggy head, seeming to ponder her words. After a moment, it padded forward, sniffing at the pieces of chicken breast. It looked back up at her and if it had been human, she would have sworn he was looking at her unimpressed.

  That’s when it hit her, the problem that should have been obvious. “The muzzle.” She said aloud, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. Of course it can’t eat with that thing on, she berated herself, but still she hesitated. In order to take it off, she’d have to get close, close enough that once she undid the straps, nothing would stand in the way for the wolf to take a chunk out of her arm.

  It didn’t look very vicious though. It hadn’t growled or lunged at her once since she walked into the shed. She watched the animal for a moment, but it just gazed solemnly back, neither one of them moved a muscle.

  She let out a little huff of air, it was visible in this temperature. “Okay, okay…” She finally said. “If I take that thing off, you can’t bite me in the face, or anywhere else for that matter. Do you understand?” She asked and momentarily wondered if she was going crazy talking to a wol
f like it could understand her.

  Amazingly, it lowered itself back on its haunches, sitting patiently as she made her way slowly over. The wolf was bigger up closer, his head reaching her waist. He still didn’t move beside huffing warm breath at her through his nose. Even though the animal was calm, that didn’t mean Kira was. Her hands shook as she raised them towards the large, powerful creature, but he continued to hold still as a statue.

  Her fingers eventually came into contact with the tight, leather straps, and she worked as carefully as she could to undo them without pinching. When the muzzle was off and held safely in her hands, the wolf swiped his tongue over the back of her hands as if in gratitude. She practically leapt away from him, her back hitting the wall of the shed. He watched her, eyes shining with what she swore was mirth, and then lowered his head towards the chicken pieces she had thrown down. His tail wagged like a dog while he ate and when he was finished, he looked back up at her, tilting his head curiously.

  “I, uh, don’t have anything else.” She said, once again questioning her decision to talk to it as if it actually understood a single word she was saying. “But I’ll come back tomorrow night and I’ll bring as much as I can.” She added. She didn’t know how much wolves his size were supposed to eat, but she could guess it was more than a handful of chicken pieces.

  He huffed softly, as if in reply and made to lay down in the dirt. Suddenly remembering the muzzle she held in her hands, she stepped forward. “Oh, I have to get this back on you.”

  A growl cut through the air between them. It was low and sent chills racing up her spine, gooseflesh broke out over her arms and even sweeping as far down as her thighs. The wolf was lifting his lips, flashing his large, pointed teeth at her. Its bright, blue eyes were narrowed, hackles up, claws sinking into the dirt to find leverage as if he were preparing to lunge. Her eyes darted to the shackle on his leg and the short chain that kept him tethered. Will it really hold? If he comes at me, will it really hold?