Page 48 of Cursed Wolf

“Are these…wild wolves?” Emmaline remained completely still.

“In a sense. You can let her sniff you. She won’t bite.”

I almost thought she wouldn’t, but my brave mate slowly put her hand out toward Aria’s dark nose. The female wolf sniffed and licked her hand, then pressed her forehead into Emmaline’s palm.

Emmaline jerked her hand back like she’d been burned. “They can’t be wild. She’s asking for pets.”

“These wolves are…different.” I had recited so many explanations in my head for this moment, but nothing else sounded quite right. “They have regular contact with humans but they can still fend for themselves.”

Fallon had come up to my chair at that point and rested his chin on my arm, staring up at me with big puppy eyes.

“Hi there, buddy.” I gave his forehead a scratch and whispered so that only the wolves could hear me. “Thanks for doing this, guys.”

“So…you protect the wolves that live here, in this place where you grew up?” Emmaline tentatively stroked one of Aria’s ears and the she-wolf’s eyes half-closed in utter delight.

“Yes. Ow.” Fallon had playfully bitten me and I yanked my hand away, giving him a glare. “That’s exactly what we do here.”

“So you’re like conservationists?”

“Sort of. It’s more than a job, though. It’s…our way of life. We protect our home and these wolves with our lives. And we’re not bound by any government or laws. Derric’s word is the law here.”

“I see.” Emmaline was full-on scratching Aria’s scruff now, her fear melting away.

And the wolf loved the attention, so much so that her mate was becoming jealous. Fallon left my side with a huff and went over to his mate, where he licked and nuzzled her snout.

“Are these two a mated pair?” Emmaline watched the wolves’ affection with a small smile.

“Yes. This is Aria and Fallon.” Both wolves’ ears twitched at the sounds of their names, which Emmaline noticed.

“Wow. They have names and even respond to them.”

“Yes. The wolves have every right to be here, just as we do. It was their home long before any humans arrived. So we treat them with respect, with dignity, as we do humans.”

Every word I told her was the truth, even though she was hearing me from a different perspective. Watching her intently, I wondered if anything was clicking inside her, if she’d ever arrived at the thought that humans and wolves could be one and the same. If she had a wolf inside, was her animal talking to her yet? Explaining her dual nature?

Emmaline’s face was thoughtful, curious, as she petted the wolves. If she had any wild notions of humans turning into wolves, she didn’t show it.

“The wolf I hit with my car,” she said after a few quiet minutes. “These wolves remind me of him. He was clearly wild but could be so docile. The body composition looks similar too, although he was bigger than this guy.”

Fallon let out an annoyed huff and Aria playfully nipped her mate. I’d specifically asked these two to approach Emmaline in their wolf forms because they were younger, and therefore smaller in stature. Fallon might reach my size one day, but it was doubtful anyone would get bigger than Derric.

Derric’s wolf, the huge and battle-scarred Alpha, was terrifying, even to other werewolves. Even someone as fearless as Emmaline would have run screaming at the sight of him. Sawyer, Orson, and Ruse were risky gambles as well. Not as big as Derric but the size of them could be intimidating.

So that left Fallon, who was always a good sport. Because of Aria, I had a feeling he had a soft spot for humans-slash-latent werewolves. And he’d never say no to head scratches.

“Your wolf may be from here,” I hedged carefully. “The wolves of this territory don’t often leave. But it’s been known to happen.” Such as when they’re following the threads of fate.

“I hope he’s from here.” Emmaline leaned back, taking a break from all the petting. “If he is, then I’m especially glad I released him when I did.” She shot me a guilty look. “I didn’t tell you before, but I may have done it kind of illegally.”

“Emmaline!” I said in a mock gasp of shock. “You? Doing something illegal?”

“I know.” She laughed. “But my colleague wanted him kept and examined. I just…couldn’t let that happen. If they had done that and then found this place?” She shook her head. “They’d bring tons of scientists through here, and then the government and private companies would want a piece. Vargmore would be…defiled. And your way of life would be gone. That would be such a tragedy.”

“Yeah, we’re very protective of this place,” I said. “We prefer not to resort to violence, though we are prepared to do so if we must. If fucking armies came through here, though?” I shook my head. “We wouldn’t stand a chance. So yeah, probably a good thing you illegally released that wolf.”

Emmaline laughed lightly and we sat in comfortable silence for a while. Aria and Fallon lie on a patch of grass nearby, nuzzling and grooming each other. A fierce ache tugged at my chest, and I looked down to see my fate thread practically vibrating. It tugged me toward Emmaline with an almost violent pull.

I know, I thought, rubbing my chest. Human affection was nice enough, but I wanted it all with her. I wanted to groom her fur and feel the playful nip of her wolf’s teeth just as much as I wanted to feel her wrapped around me on the motorcycle.

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