Soulmates Ch. 05

They stayed like that til Brother Wolf in human form appeared behind Maria and which Eric growled at him. Eric pulled Maria to his side and slightly behind. "She is my mate. I won't have anyone else but her. Take my wolf so I can be with her as a human, I want to age with her so I won't have to watch her age while I say young."

Brother Wolf arched a brow. "You would really give up your wolf for this human?" He moved his hand slightly and a mist started to be pulled from Eric and his wolf appeared between them.

Eric took a deep breath seeing his wolf in front of him and nodded. "I love Maria just as much as my wolf does." His wolf came up and nuzzled his hand then went over to Maria and she scratched his head softly as he whined. "If it means I separate from my wolf to be with her then so be it. Release me of my curse."

Brother Wolf then looked at Maria. "And you, human. Would you allow him to give his wolf up?"

She shook her head. "No. Eric and the wolf are one. One can't survive without the other. I would prefer to leave with no trace than to have him give his wolf up."

He walked towards her and softly asked, "You would leave and not return to him?" Brother Wolf watched her curiously.

She nodded. "He can't give up the wolf for me. I'm not worth it. Because I love him so much, I would leave so he wouldn't have to change."

Brother Wolf smiled then moved his hand again as Eric's wolf went back inside his body. "A good choice you made, brother." He howled. Once the howl had ended, he looked at Maria. "The spirit world need a favour of you, young pup."

Maria looked over to him. "What could they want from me?"

Glowing started to fill the forest behind Brother Wolf. A white wolf and a man with bear skins around him appeared and carrying something in his arms. The white wolf growled at Eric and Maria before it charged towards Maria. Maria started to back up quickly and screamed when the wolf lunged at her.

Maria's eyes went wide as the wolf entered her body. She fell backwards onto the ground and started to pant, holding her chest. Her senses were quickly awaken and she could feel the wolf pacing around in her mind before calming down. Once her wolf was calm, she blinked and sat up, she softly said, "Wow".

Eric helped her up. "Are you alright?" Holding her head between his hands, looking deep into her eyes.

She nodded a little. "I'm fine. I think..." She started to get hammered with all new sences and slowly started to register all the new things she could feel, smell and sence. "She's an old spirit and had been waiting til it was time to bond with me. She said she's been watching over me since I was born." Then she gave a soft laugh. "And that she's sorry for making me yell out Wa'ya all those years ago. She didn't want you to leave us."

Eric hugged her tightly and kissed her softly. "I love you so much, Maria."

Then there was a clearing of a throat with made both of them look up quickly. Brother Wolf stepped forward. "She will explain everything to you. Trust her completely, she is a old spirit and knows what she's doing. She'll never lead you down the wrong track."

Maria listened to Brother Wolf and her spirit. "I won't ever doubt her."

Brother Wolf smiled then motioned the other spirit over to them, then he said, "This is Brother Bear and has a favour to ask of you both, and your families."

Brother Bear when over to them and showed the bundle in his arms. "His parents died and he's alone. He's the last of my people that walk this land. The bear you killed will be his spirit bear when he gets older. So.. ". He looked down at Maria to see if she knew where he was going.

Maria gently took the baby from Brother Bear and smiled as the baby grabbed hold of her finger. "We'd be honored to teach him."

The wolf nudged the bear and they looked at each other. From the facial expressions, it was easy to tell they were having some sort of private conversation The wolf growled as if pointing out something important and the bear nodded. "Alright, brother." Rolling his eyes.

Brother Wolf grinned at his win. "Call him so it can be done now. He'll still have to call you when he finds his mate, so it won't be the last time we see him."

Eric only guessing what the conversation was about. "We'll come up here each month from now on so you can watch his grow into a man."

Brother Bear nodded and stepped back and roared. He looked back down at the baby as a grumbling came from the forest, he took the baby from Maria and nodded to the bear. The bear charged and leaped, it's spirit bonding with the baby. Then he handed it back to Maria. "There's not many left of the spirit bonded, that's why I spoke with Wolf about you two taking on a cub. We have watched Eric living both modern and traditionally and we knew he was the right choice to be the cubs guardian."

Maria smiled holding the baby as he wriggled. "We'll be sure to be good parents to him and that he learns who he is from the very beginning instead of hiding it."

Brother Bear nodded, he lightly placed his hand over the child's eyes before moving away, changing back into his bear and started to walk back into the forest before disappearing from sight. Wolf watched him go and sighed before looking back to the new young family. "He is Cherokee so teach him well, brother and sister."

Eric watched the little bundle. He couldn't believe his family grew so quickly in one night and nodded. "We'll make sure he learns the way of the warrior, brother." Gently playing with the child's hand and grinned when the baby grabbed his finger. "We'll make sure he learns who he is and how to harness his gifts."

When the moon reached its peak, the baby started to shift, he wriggled around til he appeared in his bear form and growled a little. Maria's smile beamed watching him, but she felt her wolf pacing back and forth. "My wolf wants to do the same thing."

Eric smiled, placing his hand on her lower back. "We'll see what Richard and Dee thinks about doing some babysitting."

Just as he mentioned their names, Richard, Dee and Ulisi came back into the camp. Brother Wolf nodded to them, leaving the new family together. He walked over to Richard and Dee. "If you weren't bitten all those years ago, I would of made you both wolves." He walked away and shifted into his wolf and ran back up into the stars to where he came from.

Both vampires were shocked with what they were just told and smiled to each other before going over to Eric and Maria. Richard arched a brow. "A baby bear?"

Maria smiled. "Instant family. His parents died so Brother Bear asked us to care for him." Handing the baby to Richard. "Uncle Richard and Aunt Dee are gonna look after you, darlin'. So be a good boy for them."

Richard went wide eye hearing what she just said. "Hang on a sec." But felt a shift and looked down to see the baby shift back into his human form. "Wow."

Dee smiled brightly and took the baby from Richard. "Just to cute." And walked away from Richard.

Eric smiled watching Dee dot on the baby and then looked over to Maria and softly kissed her as he undressed and shifted into a large gray wolf and whined at her. She moved the other side of him so her family couldn't really see her as she undressed and whimpered as she let her wolf step forward. She listened to what her wolf was telling her and nodded to herself as she completely relaxed.

Pain shot thru Maria which made her fall to the earth with her eyes closed tightly. She felt her bones shifting and re-shifting. The pain seemed to be endless and she cried out which slowly turned into a howl. Slowly, she began to open her eyes and stare at the ground, panting and looking at two large white paws. She lifted one and then the other, then looked back at her body to see white fur, then her eyes went wide when she saw the large bushy tail as it started to wag. Standing up slowly and started to move her muscles and walked out from behind Eric's form and softly whined to get the others attention.

Dee looked up at the whine and went to look back down at the shifting baby then quickly looked up again at Maria as a white wolf. "Beautiful."

Richard's smile was bright. "Congrates Maria."

Ulisi walked over to her as a large dark gray wolf which was nearly black and brushed against her before Eric yipped and the three wolves took off into the forest and lead them towards the main buildings of the reserve. Once they were in the clearing of it, he howled along with Maria and Ulisi.

Everyone inside headed towards the closest window and looked outside to the three large wolves. Charlie smiled to himself as people started to talk amongst themselves. He then called everyone to the main room and started to tell them stories of old about their people and the connection to the wolves.

After a while, the three wolves took off into the forest to hunt.