Page 6 of Father of the Wolf

Acair nodded thoughtfully. “They are the closest clan and have strong numbers. Who do you feel should go?” In this, he deferred again to his youngest brother. Besides the gift of sight, Sgrios had traveled further than the others, even if mostly in wolf form. They knew he had made contact within the Bear Clan.

“It will have to be one of us. The young should not cross territorial lines by themselves without an invitation, especially now. There is turmoil within their clan. One of you will have to go.” With a low growl and a sly look, he added, “I am not welcome at the present.”

Athair understood he should be the one to go, and he accepted the obligation without argument. “Acair, you must remain here. You are needed to organize the young and stay close in case they need you. I will go to the Bear Clan. I will also take one or two with me. We should divide the young ones as much as we can.” They were all quiet for several minutes. “I will take Rath and Dàn with me to the Bear Clan. Rath, to give him relief from Allaidh, and Dàn, in the hope that we may find him a mentor.”

“There are two towns not far away.” Acair said.” We will send a pair to each. Romach and Molach to the east. Leth and Lasair to the south.”

“Not the girl,” Sgrios protested. “We cannot risk her loss.”

“She will not mate within the clan. Lasair is strong and sensible, and you know how protective Leth is of her. He will never allow his sister to come to harm.” Athair waited for Sgrios to argue further.

Yet to his surprise, Sgrios instead offered, “I will take Reultan and Díon to hunt with the pack. Both could use the experience.” Sgrios had never taken others with him on his journeys.

They all looked uneasy about his decision. Acair said, “So it will be. Sgrios, we need to discuss your experiences outside our home so I may prepare the young ones. We must be sure they know what to expect and how to protect themselves.”

* * *

Hope felt very lucky to have such a good friend. Steve is wonderful. She repeated the mantra, Steve is wonderful, and reminded herself of her best friend’s many virtues. He’s supportive. He’s optimistic. He’s fun to be around. He’s always there for her. He really is wonderful...

Steve was a complete pain in the ass! He was driving her nuts. She wished she had a radio to help drown out his big-brother act.

He was currently lecturing her on her choice of waiting alone in the dark in the middle of the night in town. This had followed the lecture on how she should have taken better care of her leg and told their boss where to stick the extra shift. His exact words had been, “Grow a backbone, would you?” Followed by, “Stand up for yourself and make your own decisions.” And then, “They need you more than you need them.”

“I can’t believe you went down that alley alone! What were you thinking? ‘Hey! Single woman here, come and get it’?”

“Knock it off, Steve. You know very well the clinic isn’t in an unsafe area. We’ve worked there for years. The crime rate is nearly non-existent.”

“You should have called me.” He glared at her, and finally she understood. The awkward idiot was scared for her.

“I just wanted to see if the dog would come to me.” She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze to reassure him. “You know how quickly strays move on. I had to at least try before it left the area.”

“Still—” He glared at her again but relaxed at least a little where he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t want to argue over this, Steve.” He wouldn’t normally dare lecture her quite so long and hard, but the hospital had wanted her to spend the day under observation. Which meant she was trapped and unable to escape his lectures. Steve hadn’t shut his mouth since she’d awakened. For all she knew, he might have been lecturing her while she slept, too.

“What you need is a man to take care of you.”

“What?” Where had that come from?

“You heard me. You need a man. When is the last time you even had a date?”

“That, my best friend in the world, is none of your business.” It had been a while since her last date. A couple years, in fact. The time just slipped by when she wasn’t looking. She had no time for dating in her busy life. She had her elderly grandmother and a bunch of house cats to keep her company. What did she need with a man?

“I’m serious. I could hook you up with one of my friends.” At her undisguised horror, he said, “Hey, they’re not that bad!”

“Yeah, they are. And no, I don’t need a man right now. I’ve got the clinic to finish before I’ll have any time to relax.” The clinic was her dream. She was planning an animal hospital located at her home in the country. Yes, as much as she looked forward to being her own boss, that wasn’t the main reason behind her plans. Maybe if she didn’t have to commute to work, she wouldn’t feel so helpless against her fears. At least that was what she hoped.

* * *

Dàn sat quietly at the edge of the stream, watching the easy flow of the current. If only life were that easy and could just take you wherever it wished. Inevitably, the right choice would be made for you. Good or bad, it would be the right one. Sometimes there would be a split in the current offering two options, but mostly you would simply be in the path. Flowing within. Never seeing the whole. Never seeing the choices, what was missed or what was to come.

Most could follow that philosophy, trusting in fate or God or any other belief that took the control and concern from their hands.

Dàn knew he’d never have that choice.

Even now the weight of knowledge, of seeing the stream and its many currents, clenched like a fist on his heart. He wondered what choices he could make to drive the current to the best path. Would it be as simple as dropping a stone into the stream? Digging one out of the stream bed? Or perhaps skimming one over the surface with a skipping pebble?

What if he chose wrong? His decisions would affect all those around him. Would his choices save or sacrifice those he loved?

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