Page 49 of Wolf's Whisper

"Morning, everyone." I forced my voice to sound casual. "How come you’re all packed up?"

Regan looked up from his map. "Weather improved. We're moving."

"I want to get out of this cave," Danny grumbled, as she softly kicked a tree. "I hate the forest, I hate the snow, I hate winter."

"O-Only two m-more months until spring," JP comforted her with a kiss on her nape, making her melt into him.

A giant hand squeezed my insides, my stomach clenched. "What did you just say?"

The two looked at each other and then back at me. "I hate winter?" Danny slowly repeated herself, looking very confused at me.

"No, what about spring?"

"Only two more months until spring?"

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no..." I muttered, softly banging my fists against my temples. Could that be right? Only two months before spring arrived? Had I already lost a whole month?

How could that be? Did I really lose that much time fawning over Ashleigh? Oh gods, I was so screwed. Two months was nowhere enough to reach the East and get all the way back to my village. At the speed I was travelling, which had been exactly zero miles an hour for the past couple of days, I would be lucky to even reach Coyote Country before winter was over. Never mind the whole trip back.

"Akira? What's the problem?"

Five pairs of concerned eyes were all staring at me, the faces of my new friends painted with kindness. They cared. Genuinely cared. Would it be the worst thing in the world to tell them what I was trying to do? Maybe they could help? At this rate, I wouldn't succeed anyway, so what was the harm?

I cleared my throat. "So, ummm... In my village, wolves can't shift. At least, not without... The Winter Stone. Or as you called it...?"

"The Wolf's Relic," Ashleigh added thoughtfully. "Go on?"

"Well, once every seven years, one person can break the chains and free their wolf. And this year, I was supposed to be that person. But then someone stole our Stone and now I'm trying to get it back. Somehow."

The group exchanged quick glances with each other, and even though I couldn't tune in, I just knew they were telepathically communicating. At least, the ones that were able to.

"What?" I asked, not particularly enjoying they could have secret conversations without me.

Danny broke the silence. "Who stole it?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Probably Coyotes. So - is why I'm on my way to the East..."

More glances. Damn it, why wouldn't they just speak out loud?

"Why only every seven years?" Darren suddenly asked, his head tilted to the side.

"Because... Because. That is just how it is," I stuttered, wondering why it mattered.

"Yes, but why?"

"I... Well... Just..." I squinted my eyes as I tried to find a good answer, but realised I was drawing a blank. "I... I don't know why..." I admitted, frowning my eyebrows as I racked my brains, wondering if my grandparents ever told me why.

"So it is just a random number?"

"No!" I defensively shouted, earning a weird glance from Darren. I shoved my hands underneath my legs and calmed myself. "I'm sure there is a good reason. I think the Winter Stone only works every seven years. Or something like that. I don't know."

Damn Darren and his smart questions.

"So what does that have to do with spring?" Danny asked, looking just as confused as Darren.

"The Stone only works during the winter. So if I don't get it back to my village before spring arrives, the magic inside won't work anymore and I'll never be able to free my wolf."

Darren and Danny exchanged glances again. "So... Does the Relic, I mean, Stone, only work back in your village?"

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