Page 100 of Wolf's Chance

A little? It was a propertown. It wasn’t a few scattered homes; it was streets and deliberate town planning. I’d expected…I wasn’t sure what I expected. Shacks? Huts? Neanderthals that lived in caves or dens?

“You were thinking log cabins, right?” Caleb’s suggestion was a lot kinder than what I’d actually been thinking, so I agreed with his assumption rather than admit my ignorance. “Because of what you drew earlier?” he asked curiously, cautiously.

Remembering the large log cabin in the sketch, I went with it. “Sure.”

If he thought my answer was short, he didn’t comment, but his grip tightened fractionally on my wrist. “You don’t need to keep hold of me. I won’t run away,” I told him softly.

“I might.”

The low admission made me look at him in surprise, but he was staring right ahead, and when I pulled my wrist free, lacing our fingers together, he didn’t look at me. He didn’t even blink, but he let me hold his hand, and that said more than words could.

Cannon took us through the street, and as I looked around,I noticed there was no one else on the street. Instinctively, I knew that was because of me. I was human and I was a threat to these people just by knowing they existed.

The house Cannon took us to had three simple steps that led up to it. The door was open, and I thought it was strange but also suited this town. The house had wooden floors, and that was all I noticed before I was led into a room that looked like a library.

Caleb led me to a couch, and I sat, but he remained standing. An older man was on one chair. His eyes had a coating, like heavy cataracts covered them, but his focus was on me despite his impairment.

“You smell of fresh air,” he told me simply.

“Um.” I was blushing and I wasn’t sure why. “I was just outside,” I told him.

He smiled widely, teeth white and even. “So light,” he murmured. His attention shifted to Caleb, who was still standing. “Still dark.”

Caleb’s top lip curled into a sneer. “Still shit at using full sentences,” he snarked back at him.

The old man laughed, and I saw Caleb relax and smile too. “Caleb,” he said fondly. “It’s been too long.”

“I didn’t know it was you that they asked for,” Caleb told him casually.

“We thought you may not have come if you knew,” Cannon said, his tone light, but I saw his eyes held a warning.

Caleb sniffed, looking away. “Never knew Blackridge and Anterrio had such a close connection.” He looked between them. “Your mate?” Cannon nodded once and Caleb sighed. “I bet that’s a story,” he murmured.

Unexpectedly Cannon laughed, the other two males in the room smiling too. “You have no idea.”

Caleb looked down at me. “That’s a definite sign to never ask.” His tone was trying to be light, but I think he was deadly serious.

Caleb talking to me brought the older man’s attention back to me, and I shifted under the weight of his stare.

“I’ve looked at what you draw,” he told me bluntly. “You have a gift.”

Was he telling me I was talented? “Thanks.”

He frowned, letting me know I’d misinterpreted. “It’s an honor and a curse,” he clarified.

Of course it was. Why would it just be a good thing?

“And how do I give it back? This gift?” I asked him. He considered the question, and I hoped I hadn’t offended him. He seemed nice, a little quirky, but he was polite and seemed harmless.

“Well, that’s why I’m here,” he told me. “I shall ask Luna and see what the Goddess has planned for you.”

I choked on the wordGoddess, but he seemed completely at ease blaspheming, and the others all appeared to become more serious when the word was bandied about.

“Luna’s your, um, Goddess?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Doc’s frown, but he said nothing to contradict anything.

“We are children of the moon,” the old man said. “Luna rules us.”

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