Silvia POV
The wolf looms in the alleyway, his fur almost blue-black. The streetlights behind him tip his dark fur with a glow like fire. He looks like he's just escaped from hell. He stalks closer, his lips drawn back from his mouth in a drooling, growling snarl.
Silvia Ironwolf, the hunter mindlinks, You have been avoiding me.
That's all the invitation Fer needs. I feel her push at me and I know this is her time. I glance at Luka--all of his attention is on the dark wolf--before the sweet-pain of my shift takes over and then I am Fer, standing with my tail and head held high, my paws planted firmly on the asphalt. She is unafraid. I am unafraid.
Or so I tell myself.
I do not know you, says Fer and I'm so proud of how fierce and low her voice is, You have terrorized this child. Explain yourself.
I have a message for you, says the wolf.
They say you see the attack fir
Silvia POV We stare at the pages before us. Luka has drawn us. Me and Fulvio. I look up and see the Witch--Esme--watching me with a smile. "I like your piercings," she says. I want to fall into bed and sleep for five years. My feet are still bleeding. I'm in a ripped and bloody pink waitress uniform. I've been attacked by the biggest wolf I've ever seen. Then rescued by another biggest wolf I've ever seen. And discovered my downstairs neighbour is a seer and his granny is a Witch. The same Witch who was at my Naming. Who is now complimenting me on my piercings. "Thanks," I say as she continues to grin at me. "I can't wait to find out how you're using your precious gift," she says. My precious gift! If my feet weren't so damned sore I'd run over there and ... I look down. My feet are still bleeding! I look behind me and see that I have left bloody foot prints in Luka's apartment. I look at his mom who has gone f
Silvia POV Fulvio changes back into his clothes after his shower and we find ourselves once again in front of Luka's apartment. I've changed into jeans and a t-shirt as well and brushed my hair out so it's more like I used to wear it. I'm not wearing any make up. In the bathroom mirror I stared at myself for a long time, wondering at this person I was seeing. It was like seeing an old friend after a long, long time. My eyes huge and dark, my hair falling in waves around my face. A little older and sadder than I once was. I try not to think about how Fulvio looked at me when I came out. He had that hungry look again and I didn't hate it. Fulvio knocks and we hear running footsteps and then the door is flung open. It's hard not to be happy yourself when someone looks that happy to see you. Luka is smiling and chatting already, telling us about the dinner his mom has made. I interrupt the flow of words to ask if he has a
Vuko POV That night I llie in bed and I stare up at the ceiling. It should be simple. Frey tells me that he knows where Silvia is. I go to fetch her. Happily ever after. The end. But it's not. I'm now Alpha of the pack responsible for her banishment. Oh, and she's been banished. But more confusing even is that tonight I feel like I saw Ana for the first time. Now I can't get her out of my mind. Ana is smart and funny. She challenges me. She's caring. She has incredible strength and agility--I have seen her run. I have seen her wolf, Akira, run. I've always known all of this. But now I have also seen that she is beautiful by any measure. She has the pale blue-tinged skin of all of her pack. Huge green eyes framed with thick black lashes. That froth of white hair around her head like river foam. Now I have seen her as female, with curves and smells that are intoxicating ... I groan and rubbed my fists in my eyes. Stop! I told my
Vuko POV Something no one tells you about Quests. There's a lot of walking, trudging, lumbering, plodding, slogging ... ... by the time the sun shimmers at the horizon behind me and the crescent moon dips below the horizon before me, I have thought of every word I know of to describe really, really, really boring walking. There is absolutely nothing here. I think of the stories we told each other when we were pups. About wraiths that lived beneath the sand of the Barren that would pull you down into their nests. They would paralyze you and then their grubs would feed off you, slowly eating you alive. That was a favorite. There are the roaming packs of wilder-scorpions, creatures that are half beast, half scorpion. Where the beast's tail should be is a scorpion's sting that will cause your skin to turn black and then they eat you alive. Then there was the one about the tumbleweed spiders. Their bodies transparent so all you see is ripples on t
Silvia POV Over the next week I decide Esme is the worst teacher I've ever had. And I didn't like any of my teachers back in the Wildlands. Now I've matured and suffered and I can see that maybe I wasn't the easiest student to teach, blah blah blah. The truth is I prefer to learn on my own. Since I was a pup I would grit my teeth and go completely rigid whenever an adult tried to make me do something I didn't want to do. Then when Fer announced herself at my Naming, I realised I was not the only one digging in her heels. If I'm obstinate then Fer is impossible. I like Esme. She's funny. I love the way her bracelets jangle when she moves (not silver, gold! She says 'moon gold' which I assume is a metaphor). I love the way she can go from sitting with her feet up to standing in full warrior stance. I asked her where she learned her fighting techniques --mostly to distract her from trying to teach me---and she said from the wind. I really can't
Silvia POV "You heard me," says Esme, "We need to figure out how to defend this city from a werewolf pack attack. You are the apex predators here. You need to get organized." "Can't you do something?" I say. Esme sighs and rolls her eyes. "I'm a witch not a nuclear weapon, Silvia." "Fine," I say, "Then can you teach me. You know, with the iron." "Silvia," she says, then she turns to Fulvio, "Fulvio, you are werewolves. You need a pack." This stings more than I want to admit. My pack rejected me. And I have vowed to myself that if I ever get the chance, I will reject them--and any other pack-- right back. I turn away, ready to leave. I even make it as far as the door when Luka calls me. "Silvia, you have to see this!" he says, "Please!" It's not fair. How can I say no to him. I'm that childish though that I even drag my feet as I go back to the living room. Fulvio is putting the coffee table back in the
Silvia POV Esme had called us the apex predators. But looking around the Diner at 11pm on a Thursday night with the rain falling outside and me, Fulvio and Esme standing anxiously waiting, I don't feel like an apex anything. Luka had begged to be allowed to come with us but in this Esme and Valerie had been in agreement. Absolutely not! Not until we knew what we were dealing with. The night sky is cloudy, covering the crescent moon. I wonder if my plan wil work. I pray to the Goddess that it will. And then I prayed that it won't. What will I be starting? Cook is standing in a corner of the kitchen, facing the wall and flipping imaginary burgers on an imaginary grill. This was Esme's contribution. She enchanted Cook to think it was just another night at the Diner, flipping burgers. He's going to be surprised though when the enchantment wears off and he's not drunk. That's how he ends all his nights. His liver will thank us. I'm
Vuko POV When I approach, no guardians come out. I walk beneath the high road and the vibrations of the hundreds--maybe even more--of machines on it rumble through the viaducts below. The passages are dark and dank. I sense shapes moving within them and the smell is foul. But human. There is nothing for me to fear here. Still no one stops me. It appears that anyone may pass into the city as long as they can pass the Barren. It's lazy, I think. What kind of leadership leaves its defences to chance. Once I'm through the viaducts, I know I am in the city itself. I know this because it's like an assault on all my senses. Lights flicker in the darkness and I'm distracted by them because I can't tell what is a threat and what is not. Cars rattle and screech past overhead, there are shouts and cries, the babble of voices, and discordant music emanating from around corners and inside edifices. A thumping bass accompanies a missing melody. A trumpet s