The Wolf You Feed
Chapter One
** Under Your Spell had been my most popular story so to date, so I decided I really wanted to make a sequel. This story is picking up about a month or two after the end of the last. Rowan decided she needed to see her home one last time before she got too far along in her pregnancy. Since there was a chance they might find a lot of useful supplies there, Daryl agreed to take her. Carl and Enid are traveling with them, along with some familiar animal friends and some new ones.
I don't want to neglect my other WIPs, so updates may not be as fast as they were for Under Your Spell. As always read, enjoy and review. I own nothing from the Walking Dead or the novel The Plains of Passage, sections of which served as my inspiration for this story. Some plot points will be similar, but the words and original characters are all mine. **
Tank and Morgan came dashing out of the woods, covered in mud and muck from whatever fresh mess they had managed to entangled themselves in this time. Rolling on top of dead walkers to cover themselves in the scent was a favorite pastime for both animals. Rowan felt the soft rush of air on the side of her neck as Daryl breathed an audible sigh. The dogs constantly getting dirty and smelling terrible wouldn't bother him so much if Rowan didn't give in to Tank's whining and let them both crowd inside their tiny tent every night.
"Maybe we can find a creek to swim in before we stop for the night," Rowan suggested. Daryl held the reigns in one hand but he used the other to pull her closer to him. His hand dipped under the loose fabric of her shirt, the rough pads of his fingers grazing over her stomach. He could only tell the difference in her body when she was naked. A small hard lump just above the silky hair between her legs. But even with her clothes on, he knew what was there. His baby, growing strong and healthy inside her.
She was used to the movements of the horse by now. The way the animal's back rose and fell as it walked, pressing their bodies closer together and then a little further apart. The insides of Daryl's strong thighs touching the curve of her hips. They walked some of the time, to give the horses a break. And they also took turns riding. But her favorite was riding double with Daryl behind her. She felt secure in his arms.
Carl and Enid were riding double on the other horse. Comet. They named the animal for how fast he could run. Comet was a young stallion, light tan in color. His mane and tail were even lighter in color than the rest of him. On his back, Enid rode behind Carl, his beat up sheriff's hat on her head to keep the sun off her face. She had her arms around his waist, her long legs dangling down behind his, which were resting in the stirrups. Her chin was resting on his shoulder. Rowan smiled. She knew the two of them liked to whisper to each other while they rode.
The horses showed no signs of getting overly tired yet. But as Rowan glanced over at the other couple and the large saddlebags attached to either side of their horse, she felt a smidge of guilt for riding double on horses that were already carrying so much for them. She leaned forward, smoothing down the mane of her horse and giving her a friendly pat on the neck, the stone in her wedding ring catching the sunlight and sending out millions of tiny sparkles into the air.
"Good girl Molly," she told the animal, who returned her affections with a high pitched whinny. She leaned back into Daryl's chest. "Do you think we ought to get down and walk a while?"
"Soon," he told her. He didn't want to tire the horses out either, but they were sturdy animals. He was letting Molly walk at a pace she was comfortable with. She would be alright to carry them a while longer before she started to get tired. And he liked riding double with Rowan. He could smell her hair and rub his hands over her legs and stomach.
The first few days it was him and not Molly that needed a break from riding double. Having a hard-on inside his jeans and being jostled around by a horse for hours was about as uncomfortable as it sounded like it might be. He had almost rubbed his business raw before he figured out he better try and keep control of what he was thinking about while they were riding together. This was easier planned than accomplished, especially with her firm backside pressed right up on his dick, rubbing against it everytime the horse took a step.
Her shirts and sleeping attire were still loose and baggy. But since they were doing so much riding, Rowan had taken to wearing either a fitted pair of jeans or a thick pair of fringed buckskin pants, also fitted. The sight of her, all wrapped up in clothes that actually hugged the curves of her hips and ass had really been doing a number on him. She had been trying to gain a little weight since she found out she was pregnant, and he swore every extra bite of food she ate went straight to her damn tits. He would have never guessed that a pregnant woman's body would look so appealing to him, and honestly it made him feel almost bad. Like he was some kind of pervert. Not bad enough to stop looking though. She was his wife after all. He could look at her all her liked.
Done with their exploring for the time being, Tank and Morgan trotted along on either side of the large black horse that Rowan and Daryl were riding. Then Morgan decided he wanted to be on the other side, near Tank. instead of walking around behind Molly, he darted across in front of her, making the horse balk and almost stumble. Daryl gritted his teeth, trying not to get angry at the giant dog that was still technically just a very big puppy.
"I'm sorry we couldn't bring Lily," Rowan said, wrapping one of her slim hands over the tops of his as they relaxed over the reigns again. Daryl felt the anger rush out of him as quickly as it had come. Rowan feeds the good wolf. He smiled, wondering how she always seemed to know just what he was thinking. He had spent so much time training Lily. She was his favorite hunting partner and he had been excited to take her out on the road with them. But the day before they were ready to leave, Lily had gone into heat. He supposed he ought to be glad it didn't happen out on the road, but it was still disapointing not to have her along.
Rowan's father agreed to watch Lily and keep her away from the other dogs until her heat was over. With one condition. That they take Morgan with them. The big white dog drove the man crazy. So now instead of being on the road with his well trained hunting dog, they were on the road with an obnoxious puppy that seemed to find some new way to be annoying about every five seconds.
"Listen," Carl said, waking Enid from the state of half sleep she had been in resting against his back. Her head popped up and she adjusted the hat on her head. "I think I hear water."
Rowan cocked her head to one side. She didn't hear anything at first, but once she concentrated on the sounds around them, she heard it as well. The quiet rushing noise of moving water. She could smell it too, just the subtle change in the air around them. Cooler and more moist than it had been a few minutes before.
"This way," Daryl called to Carl, nodding his head to the left. He started off the dirt covered road they had been walking on and into the woods. They found the sorce of the noise quickly. A waterfall that was rushing down from higher above, splashing into a small lagoon that led off into a smaller creek. With Rick and the others, he had driven through Virginia, heading North up from Georgia to get to DC. But they had stuck to main highways and roads as much as they could. Daryl didn't have much time to get a feel for the type of land they were passing through. Now he had plenty.
The first thing he realized was that they had been smart to bring the horses instead of riding bikes. Besides the fact that they were much quieter, the terrain here was no much more uneven than where he was from in Georgia. The horses could climb a rocky hill with packs on their backs, where taking the motorcycles up would have been a total nightmare. The plant life in the forest was slightly different, and even the types of squirrels varied from the ones he was used to. Despite the unfamiliar terrain, Daryl liked being out in the woods again. He felt like he could really breathe out here. Not that he minded living in Alexandria, but the small yards and big houses felt constricting.
"Think we should camp up top?," Carl asked. Daryl nodded. If walkers came at them, it would be much easier to deflect them off the top of the cliff than it would be to fight them with their backs against a wall. He swung down from his horse and then kept his hands on Rowan's lower back as she did the same. They walked from there, taking their time finding a way up to the top that was a gradual enough slope for the horses to climb.
The small group had packed and unpacked enough times in the last week that they could set up and tear down camp without a lot of talking. Everyone knew my now what their jobs were. Daryl got the tents popped up, while Rowan and Enid unpacked the horses. Carl took the dogs with him while he collected firewood. Then he dug out a small firepit and got a fire going. The girls got water from the small river that led to the waterfall and suspended it over the fire to boil.
They had travelling food. But there was no way to carry enough to last them the entire trip. So they had been living mostly off the land as they rode. When they broke camp that morning, Enid had spotted a flock of wild turkeys when she got up to pee. They had been lucky enough to snag two of them, so Daryl didn't need to go hunting after they set up camp. Instead he helped Carl spit the birds over the fire. They left them to roast while they washed up in the creek.
The girls bathed upstream from the boys, but they kept each other in sight for safety reasons. Rowan coaxed her dogs in, hoping some of the stink from whatever they had rolled in earlier in the day would rinse off. The horses needed no such encoragement. Freed from their bags and saddles, they drank from the moving water and rolled around in the shallows, scratching their backs and cooling themselves off.
Molly was prancing around, nipping at the dogs and at Comet. Tossing her wavy black mane and snorting. Rowan knew what her horse needed. A good run. She headed out of the river, pushing the water off her body with her hands and ringing out her hair. She pulled on a pair of underwear and one of the long loose tshirts that she wore around camp and slept in. Then she whistled for Molly.
The horse came rushing over and Rowan grabbed her mane, swinging herself up onto to horses bare back. Then she kicked her heels in and leaned forward, giving Molly the signal to run. The horse didn't need to be told twice. She took off at a full gallop, staying close to the edge of the shallow river at first, but then veering away once the woods opened up and there were not as many large trees in the way. Rowan clung to the horse, her thighs holding tight and her hands gripping the coarse black hair of her mane. She could feel her own hair, whipping in the wind and flying out behind her. When they finally slowed down, Tank was able to catch up with them. His tounge was hanging out the side of his mouth and he was panting.
"God damn it all," Daryl cursed. He hated, just hated when Rowan took off on the horse like that. He had told her what felt like about a million times not to do it. One of these days she was going to end up riding right into a herd of walkers. Carl was shaking his head and Enid was laughing. Morgan was still running around, snapping at the dragon flies that were buzzing around the river like he had no idea anything was even going on.
To Daryl's relief, Rowan came trotting back a few long minutes later. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wide with excitement. With her long black hair, the same color as the black horse she was riding, she looked for a moment like some sort of mythical creature. A centaur. Half woman and half horse.
She used the pressure of her legs to guide the horse, leading it over until they were almost on top of Daryl. The way Rowan was looking at him made him realize he was standing there naked and he reached down to grab a pair of shorts out of his pack and pull them on.
"Come on," she said, extending her hand down to him, "you've got to see this." Before he knew what he was doing, Daryl found himself caught up in her enthusiasm for whatever she wanted to show him. He swung himself up onto the back of the horse, gripping her waist. Rowan signalled the horse to go, but a little slower this time. Daryl was not a fan of riding at full speed without a saddle, which made her smile since she knew he rode his motorcycle much faster and without a helmet.
When they neared the edge of the drop off, Rowan slowed the horse to a stop and swung her leg over Molly's head so she could drop to her feet. Once Daryl was down, she took his hand and pulled him towards the edge. Down in a grassy valley below, there was a whole herd of horses. Some of the older animals might have been domestic once, but now they were wild again.
"Look," Rowan said, pointing a finger, "there's even little baby horses." Daryl looked where she was pointing, seeing a few small horses mixed in with the herd. There was a small black and white patchy one that was easy to pick out from the rest due to it's distinct coloring. The horses were beautiful. Watching them gave Daryl a tingle down in the pit of his stomach. Happiness tingled with a weird guilt. The outbreak made this possible. Animals were taking back over, resuming their natural behaviors. This land was their's again. Just like Rowan was his. Without the outbreak, he never would have met her.
As Daryl slipped his arm around Rowan's waist, he felt the wind shift. The breeze carried Molly's scent down to the herd. Several of the horses popped their heads up, suddenly alert when a moment before they had been grazing peacefully on the grass. One large grey and white dappled horse seemed more interested than the rest. He reared up, snorting and trying to make himself look even bigger than he was.
"I bet that one's the lead stallion," Daryl said. His words made Rowan glance nervously at Molly, who seemed much more interested in the herd of horses below than she had been a few moments before. Her eyes were wide and she was flicking her tail, her ears flattened back against her head. Rowan approached the horse, running her hands over her soft hair to calm her. Then she wrapped her arms around the horses neck and hugged her. She felt Molly's leg come up, dragging her in closer as the horse leaned the head into her, hugging the woman back.
Tank started barking and then Rowan heard Daryl adding his voice to the racket. That's right! Go on and git! Ain't stealin' my horse! While watching the horses had felt almost magical, Rowan was glad to see them go after that big male had been looking at Molly with such intensity. Not only did they need Molly, to ride on and carry their things, Molly was her friend. She didn't want to lose her to a herd.