Wolf Marked by Alexis Calder

11

“Hello?” A voice I would now recognize anywhere called into the tent.

I stood. “Alec?”

He opened the flap. “I would ask if you’re decent, but it’s not like I didn’t carry you naked for three miles.”

“Wait, what?” That was news to me. “You said I was a wolf when you found me.”

“You were, as was I, but you shifted back as soon as I growled at you. You gotta work on your wolf’s ability to stand up for herself,” he said.

“Well, that would have been helpful information when we first met,” I said.

“Not really, you couldn’t do anything with it. I’m going to wager you still couldn’t. Sheila said she wanted to have you work with Greta.” He held up a pair of boots. “She also said you needed these.”

The black combat boots in his hands were practical, sturdy, and looked like they could do some damage if I ever needed to kick someone while wearing them. Basically, they were my dream shoes. I crossed the tent and took the shoes from him. “Thanks.”

A quick glance at the tag let me know they were exactly my size. I wasn’t going to question my good luck. There was also a pair of thick socks stuffed into one of the boots.

I sat down on the chair and got to work sliding my freezing feet into the socks and then I started lacing up the boots.

Alec cleared his throat.

I stopped mid-tie and looked up at him. “Would you like to sit?”

“No, I should go. There’s lots to do,” he said.

“Lots to do at the camp with no alpha and no rules?” I smirked.

He looked like he almost smiled. “Us feral wolves have to get back to work eating babies or whatever else your pack thinks we do.”

I rolled my eyes. “First, they’re not my pack anymore. Second, I don’t know what you do in your free time.”

“I’m not going to tell you what I do, but I promise, I don’t eat babies.” He winked.

“You’re something else, you know that?”

“Thank you,” he said.

“Anything else you want to share about our first meeting that I might want to know?” I finished tying the first boot. “I usually like to know what happened to me while I was naked.”

“Trust me, there was nothing intimate about it,” he said.

“Ouch. You know exactly how to make a girl feel special.”

“Saving your life wasn’t enough?” he asked.

I tied the other boot then stood and grabbed the shirt he’d lent me. “It is. And once again, thank you for saving me. And for the shirt.” I held it out to him.

He moved closer to me and took the flannel. For a moment, he stood a foot away from me, just gazing at me with those gorgeous two-tone eyes. They sucked me right in and I couldn’t help but stare back. They really were the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen.

“I should go,” he said.

“Okay, bye,” I said, still not dropping my eyes from his. The seconds seemed to drag by as we stood there, locked in each other’s gaze. Finally, he broke away and turned and walked out of the tent.

I let out a breath and realized my heart was racing. There was something about Alec that drove me completely crazy. If I was going to stick around here, I was going to have to be careful. He was bad news, that was clear. Plus, he was the leader. Even if they didn’t use the term alpha, that was what he was. I could feel a magnetic pull toward him. It had to be the pull to the alpha that other shifters talked about. I never felt it in Wolf Creek but I must be able to sense it now.

The tent flap opened, and for a fraction of a moment, flutters filled my chest with wishful expectation. They fell flat when Sheila walked through the door. My shoulders slumped.

Sheila lifted a brow. “Disappointed that I’m not someone else?”

“No, of course not,” I said.

She nodded to the boots. “I see Alec came through.”

“Yes, thank you for securing that for me,” I said.

“I didn’t do anything in that regard, he was already asking around on your behalf,” she said.

“Probably ready to be rid of me,” I said.

She shrugged. “Could be. But I heard he was trying to find you a cot, too. So, he must not be counting on you leaving too quickly.”

“Well, that’s very kind of him,” I said.

“He’s got a nice guy streak. He just doesn’t let it out often. Especially not around people he just met. You’ve made quite the impression on him,” she said, her tone playful.

“I’m not sure I like what you’re insinuating.”

“You do know sex is normal, especially after a shift,” she said. “Plus, there’s the whole perk of being a shifter and not having to worry about STDs.”

“I got sex-ed in school, thanks,” I said.

She shrugged. “I’m just saying, nobody would judge if you and Alec…”

“That is not going to happen,” I said.

“Suit yourself,” she said. “Sometimes I wish I liked dick so I could see what he’s like in bed. I’m just not into it.”

“Well, you’ll have to ask someone who isn’t me for a review,” I said.

She laughed. “Maybe I will later. Greta is expecting us.”

“Now? I haven’t even washed the blood off and it’s been days since I’ve eaten a full meal.” I would kill for a shower and a hamburger about now.

“Greta first,” she insisted. “It’s far better to bathe in the evening when there’s not a crowd at the lake. Unless you want a crowd.”

“No, thanks. I’ll wait.”

“Good. Then it’s settled.” She opened the tent flap and stepped outside.

Sheila wasn’t going to take no for an answer so I followed her silently out of her tent and back toward the common area. It was full now. Kids were running and screaming, adults were sitting in circles of chairs, others were cooking or playing various games. Things around here looked like they were pretty mellow most of the time.

“Who is this Greta?” I asked.

“She’s like the camp grandmother,” Sheila said. “She’s the oldest shifter here and she knows everything. An afternoon with her is better than years in a classroom. And she’s dying to meet you.”

I never met my grandmother. Or my grandfather. And from what I’d heard, my grandfather went crazy and killed himself. He didn’t seem like he was throwing down knowledge to younger generations. What might it have been like to have elders I could have learned from?

My stomach twisted in nervous expectation. I was excited about meeting Greta, but worried I wasn’t going to be good enough. I wasn’t exactly a normal shifter. “You sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” Sheila paused in front of another green tent. A few boxes of pink flowers in neat rows were set up on either side of the entrance. It created a comfortable, welcoming vibe.

“Go on, she’s waiting for you.”

I hesitated, staring at the canvas tent flap.

Sheila gave me a gentle push. “It’s okay.”

Taking a deep breath, I walked forward. “Hello?”

I was greeted by the warm glow of flickering candles sitting on every hard surface. Unlike Sheila’s mostly temporary looking furniture, Greta’s tent had an actual bed, a solid wood dresser, and a little table with wood chairs. In the center of the floor was a red and gold rug. The whole place felt warm and inviting.

An older woman was sitting on one of the chairs next to the table. She rose when she saw me. “You must be Lola.”

“Yes, that’s me. You’re Greta?” I asked.

She smiled, creating deep creases around her eyes and mouth. Her hair was white and tied up in a bun on top of her head. A few loose wisps framed her lined face.

“Come in, please have a seat,” she said.

I followed her to the small table and took the chair next to hers. Without warning, Greta grabbed my face, her paper-thin skin felt cool against my cheeks and my eyes widened in surprise.

“I need to get a good look at you,” she said as she held a hand on each of my cheeks.

My eyes darted around the room as I sat there in uncomfortable silence, letting her hold my face. She moved closer to me, her nose inches from mine, her eyes narrowed.

Just as I was about to do or say something very rude, she released me. “Just as I thought.”

“What is just as you thought?” I asked.

“Your wolf is ready, but you are not,” she said.

“I’m sorry?” None of that made sense. If I could have shifted long ago to escape from my own personal hell, I’d have done it.

“You held off the shift,” she said. “It’s not good for your wolf.”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” I explained. “I was cursed.”

“Yes, yes, I heard. But curses only have power beyond a generation when we let them.”

“What does that even mean?” I asked.

“Were you the one who was cursed?” she asked.

“I couldn’t shift. I never even felt my wolf.”

“But was the curse placed directly on you?” she clarified.

“No,” I admitted.

“The shifter who was cursed would likely never break it, but for it to pass onto future generations, the cursed wolves have to buy in, they have to believe they are cursed,” she said.

“You’re saying this was all in my head?” I asked. “That’s insane. Don’t you think I’d have shifted if I could?”

“I don’t know, you tell me,” she said.

“My mom wasn’t the one cursed either and she’s never shifted. Not once in her whole terrible life,” I said.

“That’s because she gave up, and she taught you to give up,” Greta said.

My mom had given up. But she did that long before I was born, didn’t she? I realized I didn’t know the exact timeline of the curse. Was it before or after my mom had her first shift? I’d always assumed she’d never shifted but what if she had and then she stopped?

From my earliest memories, I recalled being told I’d never shift. That I was cursed, broken, no good. I’d been told it wasn’t even possible before I ever tried. But that wasn’t right. You couldn’t try to shift. The first shift happened. It wasn’t anything done on the part of the shifter.

“If that’s the case, why didn’t I shift at the full moon like everyone else?” I asked.

“Because you didn’t want to,” she said.

“Sure I did. If I could shift, I wouldn’t have been so weak.” I would have given anything to be able to protect myself.

“You had a plan in place, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah. I was going to run,” I said.

“Your plan was to run. To be human. Not to shift,” she said.

She was right, of course. I’d given up on shifting nearly a decade prior. “I don’t understand.”

“Witch magic has limits. Especially on us. It’s why they hate us. We are their creation so we can resist. You must learn to overcome your fear and embrace your true self,” she said.

Easier said than done. “How?”

“I will help you, but it’s not going to be easy,” she said. “The question is. Do you want to be able to shift?”

“Of course I do.” It was an easy question to answer. She was right, I had resigned myself to a life without shifting, but given the choice, I’d take it. College could wait a while. I needed this.

The tent flap opened and a kid who looked about ten ran in, breathless. “Greta, please come quick. It’s my dad.”

“Take me to him,” Greta said.