Page 209 of Evil Hearts

“But you are not a wolf.” I run my hands down her body to emphasize howunwolflikeshe is. My claws snag in the woolen cloak, and I recall what she sang when I entered the glade.

Away and gone at the end of night, hidden and cloaked from all in sight.

“Ah.”

It is no wonder she avoided the path and held no fear for the monsters in the woods.Sheis a creature of these trees and glades as much as I am. Kin to my kind, whatever I may be.

“I can only wear this form when I wear the cloak,” Czerwony explains. Her hand twitches toward the standing stones. “And the shift only occurs within the circle.”

“If I were to remove your cloak elsewhere?”

“I would be a wolf until I returned here to don my cloak.”

“Interesting.” The curiosity in my voice is unmistakable. Czerwony leans against my arms, studying me shrewdly. She should not be surprised. It is my duty to know what lurks in my wood. How else am I to warn the villagers and protect the beasts? “I think you know my next question, Czerwony.”

This time, her smile is bright and broad. I ease my arms away and hold out a hand for her cloak. Soft wool drapes over my arm, and before my eyes, she transforms. Her mane of auburn hair clings to her back and rushes down her arms and belly, her face elongating and body dropping forward. The wolf she becomes is large and graceful, a match to my own brute strength.

I gather the cloak in my hands, careful not to snag any more wool, and tuck it under my arm. She patters away as I crouch low, hesitating when I stretch out my hand for her to sniff. I wait, aching with the knowledge that her trust is fragile, especially in this form. There and then, I make a new vow—to earn and treasure her unwavering trust in whatever form she decides to take.

Slowly, Czerwony pads closer, sniffing my hand before sweeping her tongue across my palm.

I scruff her ears and run my hand down her back. Her fur is as soft as her skin, and she leans into my touch. A low whine builds in her throat, so I scruff her ears again and stand.

Czerowny bounds to her feet, yipping happily and prancing around me in a circle before sitting proudly. Her mouth falls open in a lupine grin, and I cannot help but smile at the sight before me. A phrase from my childhood surfaces from depths I refuse to swim. Words that must have been spoken whenever I did something good as a pup.

“My, Czerwony.”My Czerwony.I grin at her, playfully showing her my fangs, and she yips in reply, paws dancing. “What big teeth you have.”

A whisper crawls across my mind, less than a breeze through the trees bringing me her rasping, lovely voice.

All the better to eat you with.

Heat suffuses my body. I straighten, clearing my throat as Czerwony puffs her chest. She looks pointedly at the cloak in my arms, her meaning clear.

I waste no time in draping it across her back, and within mere moments, Czerwony tackles me to the ground.

THE END

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