Page 66 of The Wolf Professor

Disappointment roiled in his gut.

He stared at the passing landscape, a fairy land of snow drooping off heavy branches, sunlight glistening on white slopes. The sled sped on and still, he could not feel his wolf’s presence pumping through his veins.

Nothing. Nada. His heart remained disengaged, his wolf silent. Surely if a part of his roots were here, up in the mountains, he would sense that, connect with it?

Finally, after an hour of huddling into their warm pelts as the landscape hurtled past them, Ivor drew the dogs to a halt. Looking out, Max saw they were at the opening of a cave, under an overhang in a high cliff wall. It was a very deep cave, with light flickering from inside the entrance. A labyrinth of tunnels lit by sconces led deep into the mountainside.

Ivor helped them to disembark.

A woman emerged from the shadows, her thick, dark hair running down her back to her waist, her furs slung over her in a lattice pattern, strapped tight with a leather belt. She strode over in her big snow boots and kissed Ivor on both cheeks. “How have you been? How are the younglings?”

“Growing fast. And eating us out of cave and home.”

“Good, good. As it should be. Who have you brought to see us; I wonder,” she mused, but there was no surprise in her voice as she turned to greet them.

Something in the woman’s demeanor made a latent energy stir deep inside Max, and finally, he sensed his wolf move in him. As if waking up from sleep, he felt its presence, enough tosharpen his sense of smell. Suddenly the scents of wood bark and burning peat, of the pine needles underfoot, were in sharp focus.

Max flexed his shoulders and stood to his full height.

Now the woman came closer, her nostrils flaring, scenting him. Her yellow gaze traveled down his body, and she smiled.

“Hello Maximillian, son of Alec. We have been expecting you.”

She embraced him with strong, warm arms, and he felt himself yielding against her powerful chest. Gods, he hoped Charlie wouldn’t take it the wrong way that he felt such a strong compulsion to return her embrace.

They stayed like this for long moments, clasped together.

And when she drew away, Max said hoarsely, “Who are you?” His eyes searched her face; the familiarity in her steady topaz gaze was so strong, it seemed to reach into his very soul.

“I am Perdita, leader of the Felcin wolves. And your father’s twin sister.”

As Perdita led them deeper into the cave, Charlie glanced at Max’s handsome profile, lit up by the flickering wall sconces. It was perfectly composed, except for the jump of a muscle in his jaw that betrayed his underlying tension.

He had insisted she join him in the cave, be beside him, even though at first, she had resisted. “Charlie, I want you at my side. There is nothing to hear that I wouldn’t want you to know.”

Perdita had also gently encouraged her. “You are part of this too, Charlie. As Max’s mate.”

Charlie’s heart jumped at those words.

As they moved deeper into the cave, its intricacy and beauty took her breath away. The rock formation on the arched ceilings was like honeycomb, and in places natural light shone through fissures, sending prisms of sunshine into the cave.

They passed many entrances, some with evidence of occupants, chatting, and even a lilting music drifting from one—a stringed instrument, a lute maybe. But the music was nothing like Charlie had heard before. Each entrance had skins strung up outside, and along the hallways were delicate structures, almost like spiderwebs, that caught prisms of light and reflected them around in a kaleidoscope of colors. Charlie guessed they were mirrors of a sort, to bring more light into the caves.

She hadn’t ever considered that the homes of wolves out in the wild mountains could be so beautiful and sophisticated.

Really, Charlie Sullivan. You thought you would just turn up here on a wind-blown mountain, maybe find a grave, get to speak to some shaggy looking old wolf on a ledge…

She almost laughed at her own naivety.

Finally, they entered what appeared to be a meeting room and Perdita motioned for them to sit around a stone table. A small, spiky-spined creature with long claws brought them steaming hot aromatic drinks.

“Soon, other family will join us, but first, we must speak about your father,” Perdita explained. “Please ask what you wish, and I will tell you all I know.”

For a moment Max was silent, then he said quietly, “Why did my father reject my mother?”

“Reject? I guess it wasn’t that simple.” Perdita sighed. “Your mother was a free spirit; you of all people should know that.”

Max’s soft laugh bounced off the cave walls. “Oh, I do.”

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