"You'd better decide what you're going to do," Jordan said, a pointed tone in his voice.
"About?"
"You know damn well what about. The girl. The one who's not a wolf."
"I'll do what's best for the pack," Damien said dryly. "Don't I always?"
"I'm worried about you," Jordan said. "And I'm worried that you've stopped keeping an eye on Katherine and Kyle."
"I trust you to do that," Damien said, the finality in his voice telling Jordan that that was the end of the conversation.
That night he tossed and turned before falling asleep, memories of the pack and of Julia swirling in his mind. When he finally closed his eyes, he dreamed about finding Katherine in the snow.
In his dream, it was a year and a half ago, and the scars through his eyes had not yet healed. Damien and Jordan had been walking the edge of two territories, trying to avoid either pack. Damien would often stumble over rock outcroppings. He had not yet grown accustomed to navigating with his other senses. The snow made the progress slow going, but they needed to avoid going through any territories owned outright by a wolf pack.
Their plan almost worked, except that the two adjacent packs had been fighting on the border. When Damien and Jordan began to smell the scent of blood and wolves more strongly, they almost turned back. But there was no better path, and the winter had made them weak. Damien's eyes leaked, his fur sticky.
"The scent is strong," Jordan said.
"It could be the fight," Damien said. "That would release more scent into the air. They could already be gone."
"Perhaps," Jordan growled. "I hope you're right."
"If anything happens, run north," Damien said softly.
"And you?" Jordan asked.
"I'll follow you," Damien said. He knew that Jordan was a faster runner, and that there was no way he could keep up. Jordan knew it too, but he kept his mouth shut.
. Although at the time he had been blind, he saw himself now in his dream as though he was an invisible bystander. In bed, Damien twisted the sheets between his hands. He knew what he would see soon, and it wasn't a nice picture.
They stopped to roll against some small pine trees. The sharp smell of the pine might help to camouflage them in case the packs hadn't yet gone far. They walked on resolutely. The scents grew stronger and stronger, and any crackling of a branch stopped them in their tracks. It was slow going. In one narrow passageway, the scent of wolves grew so strong that Damien thought that he might bolt at the slightest sound. There was no other way. They padded through the snow in silence, rounding the corner where the passageway opened up.
It was the scene of the fight. Blood had stained the ground in dark puddles and bright splashes where the snow drifts hadn't yet melted, and the smell overpowered Damien's nostrils. Dead bodies of wolves lay strewn across the clearing, their fur damp with blood and the sweat that had not yet dried from their bodies. As they stepped slowly through the clearing, Damien's paws occasionally brushed against the corpses and he would draw back.
"Recent fight," Jordan said.
Damien sniffed the air, swiveling his head. He thought he scented—he thought he heard—
"Wolf," he said, moving closer to Jordan. "Somewhere close. Do you hear the breathing?"
Jordan paused and listened. Damien's muscles were tense, his body crouched and ready to fight if need be. The breathing grew louder, and then there was a whimper.
"Is that...?" Jordan said.
"What? What is it?" Damien twitched, his tail bristling, his teeth bared.
"It's one of the bodies," Jordan said, and then he trotted away from Damien's side. Damien followed his footsteps towards the source of the breathing noise.
"She's not dead," Jordan said, stopping short of the body. "She's a young one."
The wolf was laying on her side. Damien pushed past Jordan and sniffed over her wound. It was deep. She had been sliced open the entire way across her stomach by sharp teeth or claws. Her intestines were exposed, blood puddling and matting her fur down. Damien could smell her fear.
"Please—"
Damien flinched at the sound. He had not expected her to be able to talk. From the wound, she seemed close to death. She growled softly, a low purr that made its way through Damien's nerves and tore at his heart.
"If you want to eat me, please kill me first."
"Where did the other wolves go?" Jordan asked. "Which direction?"
The female wolf breathed sharply in, wincing in pain.
"We can help you," Damien said. He turned his head to Jordan. "You can help, can't you?" He could hear Jordan beside him, examining her wound.
"You can't help me," the girl wolf said. "I'm dying. I tried to shift..."
"Why? You would die of cold," Damien said, confused.
"That's what I'd hoped," she said. Despite her pain, there was a note of humor in her voice. "Better than dying of this."
"What's your name?" Damien asked.
"Katherine." Katherine lay her head back onto the snow, breathing deeply. "It's almost time."
"What can you do?" Damien asked Jordan.
"You can't do anything," Katherine said. "I saw what happened. I won't live. My stomach..."
"I might be able to help," Jordan said, licking the edge of her wound. "I'm a doctor. What direction did the other wolves go?"
"Northeast," Katherine said. There was a hint of fright in her voice, as though hope had given her reason to fear. "The other pack went due south; that's where their territory is."
"We need to get her somewhere warm," Jordan said. "I need to be able to shift. This is going to be delicate work."
"There was an empty cabin a few miles back," Damien said. "I could carry her."
"You'd shift into human form?"
"Can you think of another way?"
Jordan paused.
"No. Alright. Let's go fast; you'll freeze to death if we don't. Do you remember the way?"
"I'll just follow you back."
Damien breathed in and shifted, feeling his fur dissolve. He quickly pulled on the cloak he kept in his pack, but he had nothing for his feet. No matter. He bent over and picked up Katherine, making sure to press her wound tightly so that her intestines would not spill. She yelped as he picked her up. She weighed nearly nothing.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"My stomach—" Katherine said.
"I'll hold it." Damien clutched her tightly to his chest. She grabbed his wrist, her fingers slippery with blood.
"Help me," she said. Her voice was scared, and Damien realized that she was younger than he had thought. A teenager. "Don't let me die."
"We won't," Damien said, although the front of his cloak was already soaked in blood and he wasn't sure he was telling her the truth.
"Thank you," Katherine said, nuzzling his arm. He began to walk.
Here the dream departed from reality. That day, Damien had carried Katherine over three miles of snowy terrain to an empty cabin nearby, and Jordan had worked for hours to clean and stitch up her wound while Damien had warmed his feet back from the threat of frostbite. They'd caught food and lived there in fear for two weeks, until Katherine was healthy enough to walk. She'd insisted on coming with them, and they agreed readily. A female in the pack was more than welcome.
Ever since they'd saved her life Katherine had clung to them and obeyed Damien without any hint of protest. He and Jordan had brought her back from the razor thin edge of death, and she was theirs forever, loyal to Damien's pack, if you could call three straggling wolves a pack.
In this dream, though, the wolf in his arms shifted back into human form as he walked through the snow.
The human form was not Katherine's. It was a different girl, one with fiery red hair and bright green eyes. She reached out one hand and touched his eyes, and suddenly Damien could see again. He turned his head down toward her in awe. Her eyes found his and a sense of pure peace swept through his body.
"You're the one," she said. "You're mine."
Damien's eyes opened. His hands clenched at the sheets on top of him and he breathed slowly until his heart stopped pounding in his ears. It was her. He knew it was her. And at that moment, lying in bed with the traces of his dream still floating through his eclipsed vision, he was not sure whether or not he had truly woken up.
CHAPTER NINE
Julia
Julia woke up from sleep and for a terrible second thought that the events of yesterday might just have been a dream. Then she remembered the touch of his hand on hers and sighed with renewed pleasure at the happy thought that reality had for once exceeded her expectations. Her life had been a series of tragedies and disappointments, and she was due for something positive.
She brushed her teeth with her cell phone balanced on the edge of the sink, waiting for him to call. She ate breakfast staring longingly at the screen, hoping that it would light up with his name, even as Granny Dee made small talk with the guests who were staying at the bed and breakfast. When he finally called Julia jumped out of her seat and was outside on the porch to answer it before the second ring.
"Hello?'' she said.
"Hi, I'm calling for a sexy librarian; I think her name is Julia?"
Julia laughed and sat down on the porch step.
"Hi Damien," she said, the name coming off of her tongue as sweetly as if she were tasting an exotic fruit. "It's early to get up, isn't it?"
"Were you asleep when I called? I waited as long as I could."
"No, I was up!" Julia blushed at the thought of Damien waiting in anticipation. "What are your plans for today?"
"Well, I was hoping to take a sexy librarian out on a date," Damien said. "If she's free, of course."
"She's free," Julia said, fanning herself with her free hand. "Free all day."
"Wonderful! I wanted to do some hiking, but it's so hot outside. Someone at the cafe told me that there was a lake next to the state park around here. He said it was good for swimming."
"That's right near my house!" Julia said, catching herself gushing. She didn't want to sound too eager, did she? God, she didn't know how to flirt, especially over the phone.
"Perfect. Can I meet you at your place? Sorry, my guide isn't going to be able to drive me after noon or so—she has work to do later today. But if you don't mind being my escort, she can drop me off."
"Of course! I don't mind at all."
"I can be there in an hour or so. Sound good?"
"Sounds great!" Julia couldn't keep the goofy grin off of her face as she ran upstairs and changed into her hiking clothes. Or should she wear a dress? It wasn't a long walk to the lake; she didn't really need hiking gear. She changed into a sundress and sandals. Perfect. She had already put on mascara before she realized that they would be swimming. Once she'd wiped it all off with makeup remover, she put on waterproof mascara. Then she realized that Damien wouldn't be able to see her anyway. She smacked her forehead and looked at herself in the mirror.
"Oh well," she said, sighing to herself. "I feel pretty, and that's what matters most."