The First Wolves

24. SPIRITS, STORIES AND STARGAZING

Otto’s and Rufus’ wolves stopped running just before the tree line broke. Sniffing the soil, they tried to anticipate any danger in the clearing where a farmhouse sat, seemingly inviting them closer. The muffled beating of paws on the soft earth alerted them to the safe arrival of more pack members. Rearing up on her back legs, Ewa, Iselda’s cream wolf, gracefully shifted into her human form.

“I can’t smell any humans, but I can hear cows in the barn. Shall we investigate?” The Gamma suggested while throwing a tunic over her head.

“I’ll come with you,” Rufus insisted, but it warmed his heart to feel Ivy grip his hand, reluctant to let him go.

Both of them were holding some ambivalence towards the farm house that was made eerier by its silence, but looked tempting because of the shelter it had the potential to provide. They walked to the door and found a plank of wood nailed horizontally across the door frame, and a stone carving of a man and a woman on the step. It was perplexing. The entrance had been barred, nobody was inside. The chickens clucked and scraped at their wooden prisons, but the animals had been abandoned. Rufus peered through the windows, but saw no indication of life or family. William and Ewa had confirmed that death had been the last guest at the house.

Without the Alpha, Luna and Beta present, the final decision rested with Iselda. She could feel the doubt and uncertainty warring with the confidence she tried to project as the pack’s Gamma. What if someone came to care for the animals? It may endanger them. It was times like these that she felt like an imposter, playing a part that was available because the true, worthy Gamma had died. She would forever be the understudy, practising her lines because the words to lead didn’t come naturally to her. When Rufus had finished describing what they had seen, Holda shook her hands as if something sticky was attached to them, trying to shake off her excitement that was misplaced given the circumstances.

“The house will be safe, and the barns too. The typhoid has killed the people living here. Their family will take them to the crematorium field. The figures at the door are for the census that will be taken once the plague has passed. The barred entrance is to warn other humans that the farm house is contagious, and that they should stay away until it has passed. Wolves can’t catch these illnesses, we can stay here for a week or two.” Holda concluded, knowledgeably.

“How do you know this?” Iselda asked, needing all the facts before committing to a decision.

“When I first arrived at the pleasure house there was an outbreak of typhoid in the lower streets of the town, after the river flooded. They used the same methods there, and then had the wolves handle the bodies when they realised we couldn’t catch the disease.”

The simple truth was that they had very few other choices, and with the pups fighting to keep their eyes open, the decision was already determined.

“We need volunteers for the first watch, and ranked members to take shifts. We will need guards on the ground, and in the trees. We want no surprises. We will switch every six hours to keep us alert. We will stick to the barn, and not disturb the resting ghosts in the cottage. I’ll be on the first watch, Jerrick. You can lead the second watch, once your family is settled. Hopefully, our other members will have joined us by then.” Iselda organised them, and the pack immediately adhered to her instructions.

Jenny helped the other she-wolves, who were still weak and agitated from the mines, to settle. Offering them dry straw and distributing the water that they had brought, most of the women paired up so that they could share a blanket. Little Bruno was whispering to the other orphaned pups who were shaking their heads and pulling their blankets up to their noses.

“What’s going on here Bruno?” Holda questioned the cheeky pup, foreseeing trouble before it happened with the experienced eyes of a mother.

“The younger pups think the barn is haunted because Gamma Iselda said we shouldn’t disturb resting ghosts. Now they are too frightened to sleep. I was telling them there are no such things as ghosts, but they don’t believe me.” Bruno explained with the confidence of a child that could only be acquired once they had reached double figures in age.

Holda smiled at the pups, each wide-eyed, looking at her to confirm that the words of the leader amongst them were true. She looked over at Jenny who was feeding June, and gave a little shrug about how to chase away the fear of the pups who had been carried away from life-threatening danger only hours ago.

“You are right, there are no ghosts here, Bruno. However, you have all heard the story of the first wolves, so you should know that a ghost is a person we need to remember, not someone we need to fear.”

She had a gentle smile on her face, knowing full well that the only pups who would know that story from her homeland were her own.

“Do you want me to remind you of the story passed down by my ancestors?” Holda asked.

The pups all cheered with excitement, their eyes fixed on her with anticipation, and sleep was long forgotten.

“After Goddess Selene had created an army of protectors for the humans, after she had gifted them with mates to honour their courage and renewed their purpose by giving them pups, she noticed that her son and his mate, the first wolves she created with her own love, were living longer than all the other mortal wolves. The threats that had endangered the humans were becoming a rarity. The wolf, she considered her son, had never been defeated in battle, he had been victorious and she was proud of all his achievements that he had done in her name. He had been made from her own love, grief and loss. She hadn’t realised that when she had created the first wolf she accidently gave him her own immortality. Time moves differently for the Gods, years are of no consequence, but the first wolves had outlived the people most important to them. Theo and Thalia, the first werewolves created, went to the hill top where it was rumoured that the moon would occasionally kiss the earth. He called out to his mother, pleading that she would hear his cries as his mate howled next to him for her attention. Saddened by the sorrow of her first born, she answered his call, determined to heal their pain. Awed by her presence, he asked if it was finally their time to join their family in the Elysium fields. The ancient wolves had longed to see their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends who had all passed to the next life before them. They told their mother that there was no more for them to do on earth. Not for the first time, Goddess Selene considered how immortality wasn’t always a gift, it was enough to simply be remembered by those who were left behind. With a gentle kiss upon Theo and Thalia’s brow she withdrew her gift of endless life, and upon the highest hill top, at the moment that the moon caressed the land, the first wolves joined their families in the Underworld. Astounded by the wisdom she had gained from her only son, she lit up the sky with a constellation that depicted a sleeping wolf, to honour Theo and Thalia’s heroism on earth. That is where their wolves rest as their human forms feast with their family. Look through that window, and you will see it.”

The pups ran to the hatch in the roof, eager to see the sleeping wolf. With some help from the other pack members, they all managed to find the honour that the moon Goddess had bestowed upon their species.

“So you see, being a ghost is to be the brightest star in our memories, it means we were loved.” Holda concluded, pleased to see her words had banished their fears. When the last eyelid settled, she sought out Otto. After all, for many years she had thought that the next time she would meet her mate would be in the glow of the afterlife.

Following the thread of their bond, she found him a little distance away near a running stream. He held out his arm, so that she could lean against his chest as they enjoyed the reassuring sound of water gently floating over the grey stones.

“I could smell fresh water, so I thought I’d get a head start and investigate.” He told her.

Kneeling down, he cupped the water in his hands and brought it to Holda’s lips. She fervently shook her head, wanting him to satisfy his thirst before her own.

“It is the honour of my life to care for you, these years apart has only made that need in my heart stronger. Drink, my darling,” She smiled, feeling adored, and drank deeply from his hands.

When she had finished, Otto returned to the stream drinking the water, and splashing it over his face.

“I’m worried about Anna, I feel like she is keeping a secret from us. She always dresses alone, and wears more clothes than she needs. Do you think she is hiding something?” Holda asked her mate.

“I assumed it was because she is still so young, she has been around humans so long that she has picked up their habits. She seems happier than before, and smiles more often,” Otto replied, not having noticed her behaviour to be strange considering where she had been.

Nodding in agreement, and considering that she could be over reacting, Holda turned to head towards camp, but Otto grasped her hand and pulled her chest against his own.

“We have a rare opportunity where we are alone, Holda. I need to have you. I need to be inside you. Tonight was a stark reminder of how quickly circumstances can change. I need to know that we are the constant on this ever fluctuating journey of chance. I need to know you need this too”, Otto’s voice was hoarse with desire, and Holda felt her body react to him.

Reacting to his words, she pulled his tunic over his head. She recognised that the years between them had made her bolder. Otto breathed in deeply, inhaling her mouth-watering arousal. Unexpectedly, she pushed him against the stump of a tree that had recently been cut down, and cast her own tunic on the floor. Watching his open-mouthed reaction, making her arousal pool between her thighs, her mate looked ready to pounce on her, but she had other plans. Invading her tongue into his mouth, she explored the soft plump skin inside. Listening to her body's urges, she nibbled his jaw line, and then sucked on his ear lobe, causing him to grip onto her arse cheeks until there were white impressions left behind. She climbed over his thighs and placed her feet on the stump behind him. Confidently, her throbbing walls slid down his shaft, and the cry of pleasure that escaped him made her eager to hear more. Using the power in her legs, she lifted herself from ball sack to head, before dropping back down with increasing speed. Otto had always loved making love to Holda. From their first time to every time after, he had always taken the lead, but this primal need she had for him was exciting him more than he thought possible. Desperate to have her continue, he tightened his muscles, and circled his hips beneath her. She cried out in pleasure as his c**k massaged every nerve inside her dominating vulva. Giving in to her pleasure, she gripped onto his shoulder blades, and cried out her orgasm as it dripped onto his testes and thighs, coating his shaft so that it looked like it gleamed with polish. Lifting herself off his body, she turned, leaning her back against his chest and allowed him to invade her wet cavern once again. With her feet now on the ground, she was faster this time, taking him in repeatedly in shallow bursts, while he hooked under her arm, and held onto her heavy bouncing breasts with one hand and strummed his thumb over her clit with his other hand. She tightened around him, and Otto couldn’t tell which of them was in control anymore as they both slammed against each other with equal passion and desperation. The release from his slit was overpowering. It drained him. Filling her hole up with his seed until it dripped through the gap, was nothing short of erotic. He held her tightly, burying his head in her shoulder, and lapping at her mark that was forged long ago. There were no words that could fully convey the experience they had both given to each other, so they stayed in each other’s arms letting their spirits be restored. Letting the world forget about them for a little longer before their return to camp.

Huddled together outside, their voices soft and low, each mate comforted the other. Jerrick, Jenny and their pup, each nuzzled into each other’s chests with Jerrick’s arms wrapped around them like a huge silk bow as he cherished his treasures, they gently rocked to the motion of the breeze. Holda sat between Otto’s legs, her back against his chest, he was her support in every way that the concept could be interpreted. His light kisses on her hair felt like heavy showers of adoration. Andre and his mate were whispering back and forth. She was very shy and didn’t really talk to others apart from Holda, who she knew had been rescued on the same night as her. They were very sweet together, satisfied with only each other, the world a blur around them. The newest fated pair, Rufus and Ivy, had adopted a more tender position. She rested her head on his thigh, stroking his forearm, while he sat crossed-legged, running his fingers through her iridescent hair, and his thumb over her forehead. They were sitting in silence, but it was clear to see that the love between them was already intense. The temple in the forest had been the first place they had felt safe in many years, it was as if the moon Goddess had been watching over them, but the warning to leave had reminded them that the life they had could only be assured if they left the country for good, and that danger made them hold their loved ones tighter, and for longer.

Unexpectedly, a grey wolf raced across the field, rushing towards a cream she-wolf. Shifting with urgency, Iselda and Ewan faced each other with concern marring their faces.

“Have Conri and Fidella arrived yet?” Ewan asked, stumbling over the provisions he had carried that were now at his feet.

“No, and your father and Winnifred haven’t arrived either,” Iselda added to his concerns.

Pepin would never leave Winnifred. He had made it clear that she was his family. If they were in trouble, they would be together. Ewan was sure of that.

“Knowing the matriarch, you’ll be lucky if your father hasn’t been sold back to the humans.” A nasty she-wolf from the House of Heaton contributed.

“Lydia, Winnifred is a valued member of this pack, and I will not have you spreading rumours about her character. If you have nothing of value to tell us, I suggest you go and check on the pups and make use of yourself!” Iselda halted her effort to besmirch Winnifred.

“Yes Gamma” Lydia replied, but her expression was far from respectful.

“I don’t understand they were supposed to leave right after me. The humans didn’t come like we thought they would. Instead, they fired blazing arrows into the camp. The smoke was so thick I couldn’t see anything, I had to keep running forward, or risk potentially needing rescuing.” Ewan informed them.

“We need to put a search party together, we’ll set off before day break.” Iselda directed, encouraged by the number of volunteers.

The remaining wolves began to pray for the safe return of their missing pack members. The concern they felt was immense. What is a pack without its Alpha and Luna? What would they be with Conri and Fidella?