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Kennedy…
Sitting on the steps of the farmhouse, Kennedy untied her shoes. Her stupid feet were swollen. After rolling onto her back, Kennedy stuck her legs straight up into the air. Her body hated her for sleeping night after night in a bathtub, a small one. Terry had taken Rig inside to make the introductions to the others on the farm. Terry had given the family a warning before they’d started their drive, but it was still an adjustment to face a Wolf in person.
Bringing a Wolf home was poor manners from what Kennedy could tell. Their reputation was that they caused trouble, but so did she. She flexed and pointed her feet. Her toenail polish was chipped to shit. A manicure would make her feel almost like a regular person. Not that there was a nail tech within an hour’s drive.
To her far right, Kennedy heard a large animal moving and sat up. Mounted, Snow sat on a pretty bay at the tree line. The girl lifted one hand and slid carefully off of her horse. Barefoot, she was almost silent as she approached Kennedy. Crossing the grass, she made less noise than a rabbit might. Snow held her finger to her lips as she took nervous glances toward the house.
Kennedy stiffened her back. She was in no mood to deal with any of the mountain bullshit. When Snow got closer, the girl whispered, her voice a thin thread through the air. “Please, is my cousin, okay?”
Flexing her jaw, Kennedy tightened her teeth against each other. She had little to say to this girl. She didn’t want David’s name in his cousin’s mouth.
Snow extended her hands. “He won’t answer my calls, and Ba and the elders won’t tell me anything. Is he alive?”
“If he is, that is only because your actions weren’t successful.”
Snow’s face crumpled, and she gripped her hands together. “They said they wouldn’t hurt him.”
“And me?” Kennedy fought to control her rising anger. “Did they say they wouldn’t hurt me?”
Pale as the moon and slim as a ghost, her hands trembled. “Please, I’m begging you.”
The front door to the farmhouse burst open behind Kennedy, startling both her and Snow. Before Snow could flee, Rig was down the steps and had the girl pinned to the grass. “Who are you he hissed?”
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“A friend,” she whimpered.
“No!” Bellowed Terry as he followed the Wolf down the stairs. He’d known her since she was a small child. Focused on both the Wolf and Girl, he barked, “Hold.”
“If you hurt me,” Snow said to the scarred wolf above her. “I’ll forgive you. I deserve it.” Rig drew back slowly, one hand gripping her wrist, keeping her pinned to the earth.
Terry stared down at the girl, rigid with emotion. With her free hand, Snow signed, “Sorry.” Over and over.
The big man’s hands opened and shut, forming into fists. Terry turned away from the girl and the Wolf and walked toward Kennedy. Without a word, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. When he turned toward the mother’s room in the farm’s barn, Kennedy let her body go limp over his shoulder and wound her arms around him.
The family that had gathered on the porch went back into the house, closing the door on both the Wolf and the desperate girl.
Rig…
He growled at the little creature. “Why are you here?”
“I put my cousin in harm’s way and I wanted to apologize.” A hot tear slid down her cheek. “Is my cousin dead?”
“What’s his name?”
“David.”
“He lives. With his honor intact. He is helping my people find a human who will be culled.”
“Is intentionally harming humans?”
Rig leaned down, not even sure why he was threatening her. She was maybe seventeen. It took courage to come here like she had. He lowered his voice. “The humans are hunting us.”
Shock moved across her face and her concerned horse took a few slow steps away from the shelter of the trees. Rig had never seen a horse close up. Most of his life had been spent in urban areas. They were larger than he had imagined them to be. The animal whickered softly, as if questioning her.
“Don’t hurt my animal.” The girl raised her free hand and offered it to the worried horse. The creature stepped toward them until its nose settled against her palm. This girl was fearless. Rig was beginning to think the things he had been taught about bears might be flawed. This little creature was no coward. Her eyes were the palest blue he had ever seen. Snowflake, deep winter ice blue. The color of safe passing lake freeze. Glacier blue. He stopped himself before he reached out to touch her cheek.
“Go home, Snow.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I am a Wolf. We listen. Always.” He released her wrist and drew back from her. “You have your answer… go home.”
She wriggled backward away from him and rolled to standing. Lyth. He’d expected bear women to be clumsy and slow. Certainly not so pretty.
When she asked him, “What is your name?” he glimpsed her chipped tooth. A frailty, something real.
He answered her, “I am a ghost. I lost my name when I died and the wind gobbled the letters up.”
His words made her shudder. Her slender hands wound into her horse’s mane and she swung up onto the creature. The two looked like they belonged together, moving as one. A strange longing settled upon him as she disappeared into the trees. What would her moon pale hair feel like between his fingers? She was just a child. Guilt chewed at the edges of his ribs. He took a deep inhale, just to feel the discomfort.