saw?” He
asked, stroking my hair.
“There were six or eight wolves. Normal
ones. But there was one big one the size of Dodge!”
“What color was the big wolf?” asked
Zane, back in human form.
“Black. Why?”
Jasper explained. “The Majs’ armies are
shifters, like us. The difference is that we turn into cats and
they turn into dogs.” He spat out the word. “There are three big
wolves that are the size of Dodge; one brown, one grey, and one
black.
The brown one is Damian. You won’t see
him, he always stays in his keep and sends everyone else out to do
his dirty work.
The grey one is his second in command,
Rainen. She is a very powerful sorceress.
The black one is her son, Ream. He is
still young and his powers as a sorcerer are
undeveloped.”
“So what does it mean, then, that he
was here?”
Zane and Jasper looked at each other.
“If they sent Ream to supervise this little mission, it means that
they really wanted what they were after.” Jasper’s voice was
quiet.
I shivered even though the day was
starting to warm up.
Zane asked the next question. “You
yelled Phlann’s name when you woke up. Why?”
“The black wolf was coming at me and
Phlann pushed me out of the way. He was getting ripped to
shreds...” I whispered.
Shanus grumbled. “Serves him right for
falling asleep.”
My eyes widened and I glanced at
Phlann. He looked miserable.
Just then, one of the blue birds came
back. Both Zane and Jasper listened intently. They looked at each
other.
Dodge stomped his foot,
annoyed.
“Now you know how I feel,” I told
him.
Jasper crushed me to his chest and
kissed the bridge of my nose. “You are amazing, my love,” he
whispered in my ear.
“I’m glad you think so,” I grinned up
at him. “Now maybe you wouldn’t mind letting the rest of us know
why.”
“Our campsite was destroyed. There are
dog prints everywhere. And from what the animals have been telling
the birds, Ream is with the pack.” He leaned down and kissed me
softly. “Were it not for you, they would have gotten the better of
us.”
“If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t be
in this situation in the first place.”
“Shush, now. You didn’t ask for
this.”
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t have you
guys getting killed just because of me. Maybe it’s best if we head
to see Queen Melana.” I looked around at all of them, hoping for a
little help deciding.
Phlann turned to me. “What do you think
we should do?”
I thought hard for a minute, but only
managed to give myself a head ache. They were all looking at
me.
“Could you guys give me a minute? All
this staring is making it hard to think.”
“May as well go find some breakfast.”
Zane shifted and bounded into the trees.
“Should I go as well?” inquired
Jasper.
“Of course not. You help me
think.”
“What would you like me to
do?”
I smiled up at him. “Just what you are
doing now.” I leaned my head against his chest. He pulled me closer
and set his chin on my head. I tried closing my eyes to focus, but
thinking about it didn’t help. I had no facts to base my decision
on, so I went with my gut feeling.
I looked up at him.
“So?”
“I still think we need to go to the
Wedelves.”
“How would you feel about the Wedelves
coming to you?”
I jumped at the voice coming from
behind me.
“Hey, Hayden,” sang a musical
voice.
Jasper stood, pulling me up with him. I
whirled around. “Tara!” My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. “Is
that you?”
She laughed. “Yes. It’s me.” She turned
in a little circle so I could get a look at her.
I slowly walked up to her and stared.
The eyes were the same caramel color they had always been. Her hair
was no different. But her skin...
“Holy shit! Your skin is green!” I
fought back the urge to poke her.
She laughed and waited for me to snap
out of my trance.
I looked her up and down, taking in all
the details. She was wearing light colored buckskin pants that
tucked