Just a Wolf

Evan

The more she speaks, the more I love the sound of her voice. It is low, even, soft, the inflection so muted that she sounds like she is trying to soothe us, calm us, even as she describes the most horrifying tale of abuse I have ever heard. She must have learned this as a survival technique, the ability to keep her voice so smooth, a way to appease the beasts that have violated her for so long, a way to keep the damage to a minimum.

Amelia has brought a notebook, of course, and is taking diligent notes, even as tears are streaming unchecked down her face. Dom sits next to her, listening quietly, and I can tell that her grief hurts him more than what he is hearing from Corinne.

But it is Corinne’s words that are tearing a hole in my heart. I am going to destroy these rogues. They have hurt this sweet girl, used her, abused her, taunted her, forced her to commit crimes, forced her to offer her body to them in exchange for food, and shelter, and safety. They would torture her for fun, hurting her until she begged for sex instead, because at least that hurt less.

I am sickened.

She also gives us the details we need, though, the information that our leaders will require, all written down in Amelia’s tidy handwriting in her notebook. We know the number of rogues, along with their names and original packs. We have a basic understanding of the tunnel system they have been using. It is incredibly extensive, an otherwise undiscovered system of caves and lava tubes that they have been utilizing to move about, sometimes able to travel miles underground, emerging near roads and small towns. It is remarkable, and slightly disconcerting that this valuable natural resource was discovered by rogues rather than by a pack such as ours or River Moon’s.

Assuming that the data she has given pans out, I am optimistic that she might be granted some kind of reprieve by one of our packs, the ability to try to join us. Or at the very least to have her rogue status revoked, so that she is not at risk by merely being in our territory. Almost all land is claimed by one pack or another, so the rogues have basically no choice but to violate territorial boundaries. But it is settled law that if they are captured doing so, they can be summarily executed.

I think I know enough about River Moon, judging just from my friends in the pack, that their leaders would never consider this for any rogue who was non-threatening. And in Corinne’s case, who is actually being useful.

I am optimistic that something can work out for her.

It is very late by the time we have finished talking, and Corinne can’t think of anything else to share with us. I think that she has finally stopped feeling wary about us, and more and more has eagerly mentioned details that we hadn’t even thought to ask about. She seems very tired though, and I don’t want to keep her from the tent we have brought for her any longer. The fire has died down to glowing coals, a few lazy sparks occasionally drifting overhead. Amelia runs her finger over the pages she has written, checking to see if she can think of any other questions to ask. Theo is sitting deep in thought, his arms crossed, staring into the softly smoldering embers.

Amelia closes her notebook. “Corinne, there are some apples and bagels in the basket for your breakfast tomorrow. You should probably bring it into the tent with you overnight so that raccoons or bears don’t try to get it.”

Corinne only nods, not seeming overly alarmed at the mention of wild animals. She’s a wolf, after all.

Theo looks up from the fire pit. “We’ll share this information with our leaders, and let them know what you want. I can’t make any guarantees about what they will do, but I do believe that they will at least not target you. I think you will be safe.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, not just to him, but to all of us. But most of all, I think, she means it for me.

I hate to leave her out here all alone. “Will you be all right out here tonight?” I can’t resist asking her.

A wry smile comes to her face. “A lot better than I would have been otherwise. I would have been here with nothing but my other clothes, and now I have all this stuff,” gesturing to the tent, the fire, the chairs, the food. Yes, I have to remember that she’s a rogue. She’s managed to survive for years like this. She’s safer here, alone, than she was with the rogue pack.

She looks back to Theo. He is the highest ranking person here, as assistant to the local pack’s Beta. We have described our positions to her, so she understands that none of us can make any of the decisions that are needed to truly help her. “Should I just wait here?” she asks.

He nods. “Yes. We’ll try to come back out tomorrow night, to talk some more.” We haven’t told her that there is already an expedition planned for tomorrow to explore one of their caves, but she obviously knows now that we’ll be searching at some point.

We don’t really have much to carry back with us. Just the clothes on our backs. Amelia has her notebook. We’re leaving everything else here. But we don’t want to shift, it’s more trouble than it’s worth to arrange our things to carry with us as wolves, just to run two miles a bit faster. And besides we’re going to need to have a conversation. We’ll just walk.

Amelia gives Corinne a little hug when she tells her goodbye, and whispers something into her ear. Dom and Theo start heading back with Amelia, and I say, “Go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

They don’t question my desire to say goodbye to Corinne privately. When they have left the little grove, I move closer to where she has been standing while she says goodbye to them.

“Are you all right?” I ask. I know that this has been overwhelming for her.

She looks calmer than I would expect. No tears come to her eyes. At night, with only the light from the burning embers, their color is cloaked in darkness. She gazes up at me, her face composed, and says, “I am. Thanks to you.” She reaches out and takes my hand, the first time that she has touched me voluntarily, and lifts it to her face. I don’t try to control her movements, or what she is doing, in any way. She has had enough of men forcing her to do anything. She brushes my fingers lightly across her cheek, then releases my hand. “Good night,” she whispers.

I would have lingered if she had asked, but I think she wants to just go to bed. I suppose that sleeping bag sounds very good right now.

“Good night,” I say back to her, then turn and jog to catch up with my friends.

My inner wolf has been quiet, and before I get to the others, I want to get his opinion. “I like her,” I say silently.

“I can see that,” my wolf replies.

“Do you think she could be our mate?” I ask.

“No,” comes back in a casual tone, as though this is obvious. “There is no mistaking it when you meet your fated mate.”

I sigh. If only she was. I would have liked to try to pursue something with Corinne.

“You still can,” my wolf says. “I won’t stop you. Someday our mate might come along. Until then, do what makes you happy.” He sounds very neutral about it.

Hm. Well, I suppose I’ll just have to see how things develop. Not everyone meets their mate. And not everyone gets the chance to meet someone that they like as much as I already like Corinne. Would it make me happy? I think it would. I know I would like to try to make her happy. But I’ll have to put that aside for now. We have things to take care of.

Theo

Evan only hangs back for a couple of minutes, and has caught up to us very soon. We have to plan while we are walking back. “I’m sure a lot of people will have gotten back to the packhouse by now,” I tell them. “We have a big day planned tomorrow.”

Amelia nods. “We need to coordinate something. We have to tell our bosses before you all leave to go to the cave.”

I had considered trying to keep Corinne a secret until after tomorrow’s expedition, just in case she is lying. But if Amelia thinks we should inform the leaders, I’ll trust her.

She apparently can tell what I’m thinking. “I am sure she’s telling us the truth,” she says. “And I think it will work out better for her if the leaders know going into the trip tomorrow what she has told us, so that they can confirm it. If we only tell them afterwards, it won’t have the same impact. I want them to find her to be as useful as possible, not add her information as an afterthought.”

Oh.

“Uh, yeah, you’re right,” Evan says. “So how do we do this?”

Amelia shrugs. “I don’t know about Dark Woods, but in River Moon it is the leaders’ assistants who set their schedules. We should all just schedule a meeting for our bosses in the morning, before anything else happens. They won’t think anything of finding a meeting on their calendars. They’ll show up whenever we tell them to. We can just tell them everything then.”

Dom lets out a little laugh. As a mechanic that probably sounds a little strange to him. “So who’s actually in charge here?”

Amelia giggles. “Oh, not me, that’s for sure. I’m just a wolf!”