The Dire Wolf's Mate (5 page)

Jamie hadn't shifted back to human in all those years, Rain. He's the kindest, gentlest soul I've ever met, and the things they did... We found the records.

I think he probably needs some time. He wouldn't ever want to hurt you, and I think he believes that if he completed the mating bond, he would be destining you for a life of torment, bonded to him. I don't think he realizes that the only way you're going to be completely happy is for him to complete the bond."

*

It was absurdly easy for her to settle back in to village life. Sleeping in her own bed again meant that she slept deeply for the first time in the nearly three weeks since she'd left. Her garden wasn't as run down as she'd feared; she'd had help in making sure it was watered and the ripe vegetables taken away instead of left to decay. She'd received several offers of dried and canned foodstuffs in exchange for the vegetables the other villagers had had their children pick.

"We told them what was happening," one mother explained, "and they wanted to do something to help. You had a bunch of tomatoes that needed picking, especially. They made a little line and picked the tomatoes and then made another little line in Millie's kitchen and processed them into tomato sauce. It was adorable. I think we're going to have them do something like that more often - not that we wished your grandmother any ill will, mind you. We're so sorry for your loss."

And since her Awakening, she could see everyone much more clearly. She was acclimating herself to the dragons and the fey, and found herself playing with the shifter cubs and listening to Millie lecture on the different kinds of fey and Romhilda on the different types of earth magicks.

The only thing that was missing was Jamie.

"He'll come back," Jim assured her, but the looks she received from the others were downright pitying when they thought she wasn't looking.

*

She hadn't taken Hiram for good long day's ride in quite a while. She'd exercised him regularly since returning to her cottage, but she hadn't taken the trails away from town.

She decided that the late summer day was as good as any for that. She'd seen a copse of elderberry trees a couple hours ride from town and decided to try her luck going to pick some.

The baskets she borrowed from Millie, large baskets made to be draped on either side of a horse. Myra had packed her a lunch in exchange for some of the bounty. It took very little time before she was saddled and ready, and once she had urged Hiram farther into the trees, she inhaled deeply, content.

She had missed this.

The berry trees were laden with fruit, birds perched in their branches and eager to eat them. She filled her baskets quickly, staining her hands purple, and then she laid her picnic blanket in a sunny spot while she planned how to divide up her bounty - jelly, syrup, cordial, pies - and when she could come back for more. She was halfway through the bread and cheese, and reaching for a slice of apple, when she heard the hunters.

They weren't quiet, must have been heading home or just enjoying the day, but she could hear them clearly, make out the guffaws of laughter when one of them told a particularly dirty joke about what they wanted to do with their "old lady" when they got home.

She hadn't even realized that hunting season was open, let alone that they would be trying to hunt in the afternoon instead of during the gloaming hours; but when they came into view, she realized that they weren't carrying rifles. There were three of them; two of them with a bow and quiver full of arrows strung to their backs, one with a handgun at his hip.

She cursed herself for not thinking of asking her teachers if they knew of any protective magic she might possess.

Her hand reached for the knife she kept at her belt - one looked up and saw her at the same time she closed her hand around it.

"Well, well. Look what we have here, fellas."

She knew that smile, though she'd never seen that man. That was the smile she'd rescued Beth from in Colorado Springs.

"I'd like to be left alone, please," she called out clearly.

*

She could predict their movements before they made them, which made it somewhat easier to struggle, but there being three of them made it less than ideal. The short one wasn't as into the idea of brutalizing a woman found in the forest, but his desire to fit in with the others made him unwilling to fight them over it.

When the man with the gun cocked it, pointed, and roared, "Enough!" Rain knew she was in trouble.

She could feel energy welling up inside her, but she had no idea how to harness it. She did the only other thing her fear-fogged brain could think of: she drew in a deep breath, opened her mouth, and howled.

The ringleader laughed. "Was that supposed to be intimidating, girlie? Because I think we need to work on teaching you some manners."

The answering howl that split the air, however, had the short one looking around uneasily. "Come on, guys, we should just go."

"We ain't going nowhere," said the one holding her arms.

"Leave. Me. Alone," Rain enunciated.

"After you show us a bit of fun," the leader leered.

The growl came from behind him. He turned around slowly.

Jamie was there. His hackles were raised. He growled, low and deep and sonorous.

He pounced.

*

Jamie wouldn't let anyone near her, not even the children. He growled at Jim, and Rain pulled sharply on one ear. "Don't do that," she muttered.

He rolled his eyes at her and turned to nip at her leg.

She pulled the other ear. "Don't do that, either!"

"What happened?" Myra called from a safe distance away.

Rain's hands began to shake, and she clenched them in Jamie's fur. "Guess I'm not as okay as I thought," she murmured to him, and he nuzzled against her hip. "Deer hunters," she said finally. "Three of them. They were - " she side eyed the children playing within hearing distance. "They weren't very r-respectful of women."

Jim gasped. Myra covered her mouth in shock.

Jamie herded Rain inside and into her bed and jumped up with her, his head resting on her chest and one paw stretched out over her stomach to keep her down.

*

When Jamie came back, he stayed back. He dogged her every footstep, and eventually he let the children approach her again, and Myra and Millie and the other women. He looked at the men with suspicion, even Jim, and Myra told her not to worry about it, that Jamie would be back to normal again once the memories of the hunters had a little time to fade.

"It's the bond," she said. "You'd get a little more peace if he would complete it, but for now he's fighting his instincts to bond and really hanging on to those instincts to protect. It'll come out in the wash soon."

She was right. A few weeks meant that Jim could get near her again, and then one by one, the other men from the village. Finally, Jamie started herding her out the door and over to one of the other women's houses during the daytime and disappearing into the woods when he knew she was in company. It didn't seem to irritate him when he came back to find her firmly ensconced in her own kitchen in the evening, prepping supper.

The late summer faded into autumn, and the leaves blazed red and gold and orange, before the trees began to lose their clothing, crunchy brown rustling beneath little feet as the children made leaf piles and jumped into them.

Autumn winds blew sweet and soft, then gustily and bitingly, and before Rain realized it, she was a month away from Christmas, and realized that she should probably think about what to give the new family she had collected.

She looked up from the scarf she was knitting one evening and frowned. She'd finished her supper preparations an hour earlier; was only waiting on Jamie to come through before she put the pan on the stovetop and cooked it through. He was late.

She set aside the scarf, intent on walking across the way to see if Myra knew what he was up to, and before she could shrug her way into her coat, she heard a quick "rap tap tap" at the door.

She unbolted it.

On her doorstep stood a man she'd never seen before. He couldn't have been older than thirty, she thought, with a richly stubbled face and hair that couldn't decide if it was black or if it was brown. His eyes were gentle, and kind, and intelligent, and he placed his hands deep in pockets of trousers that were far too short on him.

"Jamie," she breathed.

"May I come in?"

From the Author:

Thank you so much for reading
The Dire Wolf's Mate
! Look for more romance with a touch of magic to come in 2014.

This story was so fun to write – even with an outline, I wasn't quite sure where it was taking me. Rain barged into my head completely uninvited, and insisted that I tell everyone how she'd met Jamie. Jamie, on the other hand, was a bit more shy. He does need a bit of coaxing!

If you enjoyed this title, please consider leaving a short review at Amazon. It would mean the world to me, and your reviews greatly help other readers to find it.

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Thanks again!

Kay

Also By Kay D. Smith

Sheath and Knife
-
Based on the centuries old ballad, Sheath and Knife is the short story of a brother and sister who loved each other too much, and the devastating consequences which followed.