She Wolf Ch. 06

"You all look tired."

"We are bone weary. Facing MRKX was a walk in the park compared to the beast we faced. His fire was hotter and he had so many ways to attack us. If we had more up on the rim with us some would likely have been killed. With four we had some room to maneuver. Its fireballs were very potent and we needed room to evade them. Even so they did damage. Eagle Claw was badly burned when he couldn't roll away fast enough."

She sighed "But enough of that. There will be time to process it all later. Right now we need rest."

After a couple of days, though, she became restless. "It's no good here. I need my cabin. I need the calm of the woods."

Henry flew them back to where he first picked them up. Lydia and Cliff wanted to return to Ithaca, but Charles and Janet continued to the cabin. A blanket of weariness and depression settled on Celestial. "I just want to be home. I don't even want to paint. I just want to be left alone, well, except for you because you understand."

When they reached the cabin they found two horses tied to the porch rail. As soon as the vehicle doors opened Ray and Hope came around from the back of the cabin.

"Let me guess. You knew we were coming back today. Now."

Hope stammered "I...I'm sorry. I don't mean for us to intrude, but I knew you'd be here and wanted to see how it turned out. Dad and I were watching eagles flying over the trees out back."

"Eagle Claw must be checking up to see if we made it home."

She stepped around to the back of the cabin and held her hands up. One eagle swooped low overhead and then disappeared over the trees.

Ray and Hope helped carry everything into the cabin. Hope was fascinated with the swords.

"Look how nicked they are, especially yours, Janet...er...Celestial. It must have been a hard fight."

"It was. And, as you said, it was waiting, whatever it was. I still don't know what it was. And, everyone was injured, again as you said would happen."

"Are you okay?"

"I am sore and tired, more tired than I ever have been. It's taking a while to recover. Charles was knocked around and we were burned by the blood of whatever that thing was. Eagle Claw was badly burned. The Hawaiian called Shark had a badly broken leg. Everyone else was bitten, clawed, burned or beaten up in one way or another."

"You do look tired. But more than that. Discouraged or something."

"I'm completely drained. I don't even have an interest in painting. Will these evil things never end?"

They were interrupted when they saw out the window that an eagle had perched on the porch railing.

"That must be from Eagle Claw."

Ray and Hope followed Janet out onto the porch, curious.

Janet sat on the porch by the railing and stroked the bird. She showed her hand to the bird. "Are you from Eagle Claw?"

She moved her face close to the bird so she could see the image of Eagle Claw appearing as a reflection on its eye. 'Are you checking up on me?'

'I wanted to be sure you made it home. Are you healing?'

'Slowly. How are your burns?'

'Medicine man has applied a poultice that seems to be working. It doesn't hurt as much as it did.'

'The girl Hope is here. Can you see her standing behind me?'

'I see her.'

'She and her father were waiting for us when we arrived. She said she knew we were arriving back here today and wanted to be sure we were safe. I'm not sure she is completely convinced she sees things that are true.'

Janet leaned back from the bird. "Wave, Hope. Eagle Claw sees you."

"How?"

"Through the eagle's eye."

Hope waved and said "I can't believe I'm waving at a bird."

Janet leaned forward again and Eagle Claw smiled. 'You didn't believe at first, either.'

'No, I didn't. Thank you for checking in. I wish for your quick recovery.'

'You also. Your wounds are not as physical as mine. Your wounds are to the soul and spirit, but require healing as much as physical wounds, even if they cannot be seen. Paint. Painting soothes your soul.'

'I don't even feel like painting.'

'That is what I am concerned about. You MUST do it to begin your healing. Make me a promise you will do that.'

She sighed and nodded. 'I promise. Thank you.'

Eagle Claw's image faded. The eagle blinked, gathered itself and launched up to take flight, circling a few times before disappearing. Janet leaned back against the porch railing with emotions welling up.

Hope furrowed her brow. "Are you crying?"

"No...yes."

"Were you really talking to that bird? What did it tell you that upset you?"

"It wasn't upsetting. Eagle Claw spoke a truth through the bird. My wounds are inside. I must paint to heal, even though I don't feel like painting."

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Everything you spoke was truth. Sometimes truth is unpleasant, but it is true nonetheless."

"You said Eagle Claw spoke truth."

She nodded. "I didn't want to hear that truth, but it had to be said. Eagle Claw is a true friend."

Ray touched her shoulder. "We'll go and leave you to your thoughts. We won't bother you again, but we'll talk at The Hen's Nest one morning."

"I like having the watchers back."

"Right now I don't know if I have the energy to run tonight, but you can be assured we are here. If anything is wrong I'll feel it and we'll handle it, weary or not. That's part of my responsibility."

The horses and riders made their way down the long driveway from the cabin to the road. Janet and Charles sat on the porch, silently holding hands. When they went inside she looked over her studio setup and halfheartedly gathered materials together. She wasn't hungry and as the sky darkened went into the bedroom and threw herself on the bed. He stroked her hair until she slept.

Charles felt the need to shift to Fang and run. Running stretched his muscles and he found long ago that stretching his muscles helped them heal. It seemed like forever since they had been to the rock ledge overlooking the valley. Leaving the door not quite closed he trotted down the porch steps and broke into a run, following the familiar paths until he reached the rock ledge and leaped up on it. He scanned the valley and howled his presence, knowing a certain girl was listening for it.

It was a more leisurely trip back to the cabin taking a roundabout way, stopping and sniffing around her old den and other familiar places. Nothing had been disturbed.

Nosing the door open he returned to the cabin and nudged the door closed. He considered a moment and decided not to shift back, but jumped up onto the bed beside her. In her sleep she stroked his fur and snuggled up to her wolf.

In the morning she felt a bit better and went about putting up canvases on easels, setting out paints and sketching some ideas. He insisted she eat something and she did, reluctantly, anxious at last to get to work. All day she kept at it. The more she worked the better she felt. Depicting the beauty of the night in a new location stirred something inside her, and by evening she had the beginnings of three paintings and a sketch of a fourth.

He knew enough to leave her to concentrate on her work, so spent the day in town picking up supplies for the next few days. On the way back he stopped to get some readymade food for the evening.

She was almost cheerful when he returned. She had painted furiously all day so he took her by the arm to make her sit and eat. Afterwards she painted another hour before she stopped to catch her breath.

"Eagle Claw was right. I needed to do this. I have so many ideas in my head, but I like these three right now."

"You've never done a tropical landscape before. I like how they're shaping up. What's this other one over in the corner? Another monster?"

"Just as I felt the need to paint MRKX at his worst, I want to always remember that beast. Right now it's only sketched out. I'll paint it after I finish the others."

He studied the sketch more closely. "Wow. The two-headed beast and the four of us standing on the crater rim facing it. You and I holding swords, and I recognize Eagle Claw and Shark with bows and spear. The setting reminds me of the cover of a fantasy novel. It doesn't look like an even remotely fair fight. Looking at this someone would say 'well, too bad for those folks. They're toast.' They'll never understand the power of Celestial."

"Not Celestial alone. It took all of us. With only three we would have been overmatched. With five or more someone would have been killed. We were the right ones with the right weapons."

"Thanks to Hope."

She put down the paintbrush she had been holding. "Yes, thanks to Hope. It seems she's now a member of the team. She's not lycan, so she can't fight, but it looks like we'll need her to point us in the right direction."

"Hmm. I hadn't thought of her like that, but that's exactly how she'll fit in. We'll have to discuss that with her."

"AND her father."

"Yes and her father."

"I think I'm done for the day, but now I'm energized. What do you say we go into the bedroom for a tussle and then go run and howl at the moon?"

Charles pulled her to him and kissed her, whispering "Welcome back."

At last there was time for play. They rolled on the bed as wolves, nipping at each other until mating. Both shifting to human, he caressed her still-healing body until she moaned. A quick shift to wolf and he used his long, warm tongue, licking nipples and nuzzling between her legs. She laughed as she opened for him and his golden eyes locked on hers as he lapped at her until she came with a shudder. Her eyes closed and she rubbed him behind the ears. "That feels so good. I'd like to savor the feeling right now, but in the morning I'm going to give you a licking you'll remember forever." Fang stretched out and laid his head on her chest and she sighed as she stroked his head. "You'd better get some sleep tonight big guy because you're getting a workout in the morning. I'm going to give you a licking like you've never had before."

That evening down in the valley Elizabeth finished up in the kitchen while Janet and her father finished bedding down the horses and heard a howl. Then another. Hope smiled. "I'm glad they're both back. I can't wait to see what she's painting. She's healed."

"Yes, I believe she is." He looked up at her when he noticed her silence. "What's that look you've got? I'm afraid whenever you get that look."

"It's not bad, I don't think. She's going to ask me something. I'm not at all sure whether I'm ready to do what she wants, whatever it is, because it will involve some responsibility."

"You are a very responsible young lady. So you know what she's going to ask?"

"She wants me to be on their team, to help them. Not in any way I could get hurt or anything, but to help them like I did with the Hawaii thing."

"I know who Celestial really is inside and what she stands for. I can't think of anyone better than you to do that."

"But what if I'm wrong sometime?"

"Celestial knows everyone is wrong sometimes, but she believes in you. So do I. I know you're only fifteen, but you apparently have a gift. Your gift does come with responsibility, but I believe it only appeared in you when you were ready to handle it."

"I know they'll be at The Hen's Nest tomorrow morning."

"Then you'd better get to bed because apparently you're going to meet Celestial there."

"You know, this is just so weird. She wants me to keep her secret, but I couldn't tell anyone anyway because they wouldn't believe me."

"I know some grown men who didn't believe it when they saw it with their own eyes, so yeah, it sounds too fantastic, like it's something you read in a book. But you have a secret, too."

"I have to be careful with it. I'm glad there are some who know and believe in it. If I started saying things at school they'd think I was a witch or something."

"Maybe Celestial knows what you are going through and how confusing it is, but she knows you need someone to tell things to, someone who sees how her gift and yours can work together. If she really does ask you tomorrow I'll support you."

They walked toward the porch stairs and Hope thought of the wolf howls and smiled to herself. Yes there are secrets, but the most precious one to her is how a she wolf carried her out of a burning house, and that act changed everything in her life. Now she gets to return the favor by helping the wolf. 'Oh, yes', she thought. 'I'm keeping that secret.'

EPILOG

Janet and Charles had a leisurely breakfast. It was a rare weekend trip to the cabin. Usually during the academic year she painted in the studio she had at their home in Ithaca, but occasionally she felt the urge to paint among the familiar surroundings of the cabin in the woods. Soon after breakfast Janet felt something. It wasn't evil. It wasn't something out of place particularly. The only way she could understand it was to paint it, and she went at it furiously. Charles knew when to leave her alone.

After a couple of hours she paused with the brush hovering over the canvas. "Something is happening with Hope."

"You think she sees something involving us? Since she's been on the team she has helped us head off trouble before it starts."

"No. We can communicate and I hear something but can't understand it. She's confused."

Charles laughed "She's sixteen. She's supposed to be confused."

"True, but this is something serious for her. I can't decipher what she's trying to tell me. That's never happened before."

"If she's trying to reach you I suppose we'll hear from her sooner or later. It's bound to become clear."

Hope paced her bedroom floor. Images flooded her head, some involving her. But what did they mean?

Suddenly she had to sit on the bed. She KNEW. But how could it be?

She raced out to the office where her mother and father were poring over ledgers for the farm. Startled, they looked up.

"You've got that look. What is it?"

"I need to see Janet. Now."

"We're kind of busy right now. It's Saturday, so there's no school tomorrow. If it's that important take Sunshine and ride up. But it's hunting season, so take the pistol with you. We don't want some animal running away from hunters to come after you and Sunshine. You're a good shot. Goodness knows, you've practiced enough. Is there some danger up there?"

"No. Nothing like that. It mostly involves me, although I'm not at all sure I really know what it is. I'm hoping she can help me figure it out."

Hope strapped on the sidearm and saddled her horse. "Let's go, Sunshine," she said as they set out at a canter. On the side of the road they slowed to a walk and kept ears and eyes on alert for approaching traffic.

By now Sunshine knew the way up to the cabin and automatically headed up the drive. Suddenly Hope felt likr she'd been kicked by a horse. She pulled the reins and felt her heart pound. Quickly dismounting she had to lean against a tree to catch her breath and steady herself. No, it couldn't be, could it?

With shaking knees she led the horse up the drive and met Charles coming down towards her.

"Janet's expecting you and is worried, so I came to meet you. Is this about Janet or is it Celestial?"

"Neither, it's me."

"Look at you, you're trembling. That's not like you." He put a reassuring arm across her shoulders and squeezed. "Come on, I'll walk up with you."

At the porch steps he took the reins from her hand. "You go inside. I'll see that Sunshine gets some water and a little treat."

Hope found Janet just stepping back from a canvas. When she didn't speak Hope approached to look at the painting in progress, and gasped.

"That's me, isn't it?"

When Janet nodded Hope looked closer and gasped again. "And that's a wolf with me. I know what it means. I was so confused but realized what it meant as I came up the drive. Me and the wolf. We're meant to be together in this picture aren't we? Yet the wolf is not you."

"Yes. I sensed your confusion and felt the need to paint. This is what came out of it. I know what it means now, too. Sit down and let's talk."

Hope plopped in a chair and Janet pulled another up close to her.

"Tell me what you think the painting is about, Hope."

"That's me in the painting. The wolf is a lycan I'm going to marry. That's why we're together. That part came to me on the way up here."

"For some reason I don't understand I was led to paint those two figures in that spot together. That clearing is a favorite place of mine. I tell you what. Let's take a walk and I'll take you there. It's a bit of a hike on two legs, but I can lead you and Sunshine along paths I know. I'll go as Celestial and we can get there in fifteen or twenty minutes at a leisurely pace."

Janet shifted as Hope hopped onto Sunshine. The horse's head came up when the wolf appeared, but Hope patted the neck of her mount. "It's okay Sunshine. She's one of the ones who saved us."

At first Celestial led them at a trot, but slowed when the path narrowed and tree limbs overhung it, making Hope duck under them. Hope gasped when they rounded a curve and came upon a meadow. "This is it! You painted us standing right over there." She quickly slid out of the saddle and stood where Janet had painted her standing.

Celestial shifted. "I love this place. It's especially beautiful at night."

"I recognize it from some of your paintings."

"You can leave Sunshine here to graze. Come with me to another special place."

Hope followed Janet a short distance to her ledge. Janet shifted and jumped up, shifted again and offered a hand to Hope. There was just enough of a foothold that, with Janet's help, Hope could scramble up to the ledge. Her eyes widened when she sat and observed the view. "This is where the watchers sit. You can see the whole valley from here. Our farm is right over there. Is this where you saw the fire?"

"It is. We raced down as fast as we could."

Janet let Hope soak up the scene for a few minutes.

"Hope, I thought this would be a good place to talk. It is so peaceful here."

"My...knowing...and your painting imply I'm going to marry a lycan. I don't know what to make of that. I think I'm a little bit afraid. I'm too young to think about marriage and all."

"Remember how we talked about people being afraid of what they don't understand."

"Yes. That includes my...gift as you call it."

"That's right. Here's what shaped up in my mind as I painted. I don't know where, when or how, but you will meet a man who will turn out to be lycan. You may or may not know that at first. Your match will be a special one." Janet turned toward Hope. "Have you ever wondered why Charles and I have no children?"

"Uh huh, but I thought it rude to ask."

"It's because it is very difficult for lycans. My grandmother had my mother and said it was a terrible ordeal because she had to stay human for the entire nine months. We can control our shifts, but there is a force of nature that allows us to stay in one form or another for only so long before nature takes over and we shift unconsciously. Grandma had to force herself to stay in human form. She and grandpa mated as wolves and had a litter of pups also. It was easier to remain wolf for the entire time because the time was much shorter. You've heard of Gray. Your dad has met him. He was one of grandma's pups and as far as we knew the only one that was lycan. The others were just wolves, just like my mother was just a human. As Celestial I can't afford to take the risk of being out of commission for so long. Grandma was pack leader, but had nowhere near the power I have. My increased power seems to enable me to face more powerful foes."

"Like in Hawaii."

"That...thing...was the largest and most powerful foe I've faced. Thanks to your sword and Great Bear's gifts to me I was able to defeat it. I have to be ready at any time for something else. I don't like it. I'd rather just paint, but I'm here for a reason."