Chapter Eight
How long had it been? A week, maybe a couple more days? Still, the feelings were as prominent in his heart as if it had been a lifetime. And now, he was going to leave her. Simon sighed sadly, thinking about the goodbye that was approaching much too quickly. He would be allowed to stay until evening the next day, long enough to tell Kaluwa happy birthday and then be gone. What would she be turning again? Twenty? He was fairly certain that was what she had told him, but he would check with someone else in the wolf camp just to make sure. Most of the guards had quickly taken a liking to her so he assumed one of them was bound to know. Twenty years old… I never knew she was older than me; she looks too young… The young human thought absentmindedly, staring off into the trees and watching the snow melt with agonizing slowness. He could only claim seventeen years to his name and he thought that had been an accomplishment, but to live by yourself and claim twenty should be awarded a medal! Well, maybe not that much, but a celebration at any rate.
Almost instantly he smacked his forehead. Of course there were traders coming in so they wouldn't be able to have a celebration yet, but surely they would after the traders had left. Wouldn't they? Oh well, he didn't have time to think about that, he needed to finish Kaluwa's gift. The small wooden fit easily in his hand and was already looking wonderfully real. Carving away some excess meat from the small wolf's tail, Simon blew out hard and sent wood shavings drifting out onto the wind. He looked over the little trinket and smiled, pleased with his craftsmanship. At least his father had managed to teach him one thing.
"What's that?" Kaluwa's dispassionate voice carried to him over the few yards still separating them as she quickly closed the distance. However, remote and casual that it was, to Simon it was like music.
The young man jerked his head up, green eyes instantly searching for the goddess like woman whom accompanied the sweet voice. Straight away he found her and a smile spread across his face as he stood and hid the wolf carving behind his back. "It's a gift." He replied coyly, willing to go to any lengths to hear her beautiful voice for as long as he could.
"Why are you making a gift?" The lupine angle asked, cocking her head as she came to a stop a mere few feet away from him. Just the nearness of her figure was enough to send his head into a dizzy spiral, a desperate need crashing over him to take her in his arms and hold her. It felt almost as if he was drowning in his love.
"Well, there's a special occasion and it just seemed like something where I would give a gift." He shrugged, trying to cast it off as nothing special knowing that would only intrigue her more.
"What occasion?"
"Well, it's someone's birthday." Simon's voice was hesitant and he could visibly see the tensing of Kaluwa's body and the way she narrowed her eyes distrustfully.
"No." She said coldly, used to this argument by now.
"Kaaaal, come on—"
"No! No gifts, and that's final." Her growl cut him off instantly, the sharpness of it surprising him almost as much as the sudden feral glint in her golden-amber eyes. But as quickly as her anger had come, it was gone. The wolf-girl's features softened, a small smile curling at the corners of her lips. But it was all fake. She could feign happiness but the sadness in her heart would forever linger in the flames of her eyes.
Simon sighed and smiled. "How about we go for a ride then?" The young hunter suggested somewhat shyly.
Kaluwa laughed, the sound of her mirth comparable to the sells of bells chiming or the soft tinkling of glass. "Simon, you know the ground is too wet and slick this time of year. The horses would slip and the danger is just too high right now." She replied, a mild tone of chastisement to her voice. The young man's face fell slightly and he gave a small 'Oh' with a bowing of his head. The young lupine goddess quickly felt guilt's aching throb in her chest at the look upon his face. She bit her lip and quickly found a solution. "But, we can take a walk instead?"
A smile lit the young man's face and he nodded his head quickly, turning to hide the small carving that he tucked inside his cloak. "Let's leave now then." He proposed, taking Kaluwa's hand and tugging her after him into the woods.
They ran through the slushy snow like children, for a moment leaving everything behind and simply living. Simon laughed with that woman as he had never laughed before, it was if he hadn't truly lived until her face had appeared before his eyes. Now, he was so consumed by his feelings for her that if she asked it he would cross mountains to be by her side. But he couldn't stay… No, thoughts like that he pushed far away, back into the depths of his mind. The sound of water reached their ears and the gorgeous young woman led them to a small stream of melted snow. They knelt down and scooped up the freezing water, letting the icy liquid quench their thirst from the run they had just shared. When they had both drank their fill, they lay back in the snow, staring up at the bare trees and laughing without reason. Happiness simply making them giddy. It was Simon who finally spoke through his laughter.
"So I guess I'll be returning tomorrow won't I." He began, hoping anxiously that she would say something along the lines of asking him to stay.
"Yes." The young woman replied reasonably while the man lying beside her mentally reassured himself that she had never been very eloquent if she didn't have to be.
"Back to my village…" He prompted; still hoping the request would come from those lips just begging for him to kiss them.
"Where else would you return to?" She asked, still thinking on the obvious side of the conversation.
"I don't know… I was just – I don't know…" Simon's dejection must have shown in his voice for as his already hushed voice softened even more, his lupine goddess sat up and studied him briefly.
"Stay." She said simply, watching him with her calculative amber eyes.
"I—I…. Um, that is…" He was at loss for words, of course this is what he had wanted but never had he actually expected it to happen. Now that it had, the poor boy didn't know how to react.
"That's what you're wanting me to say isn't it?" Kaluwa said in the most impersonal voice Simon had heard her use. He quickly realized she had seen through him all along, she knew his feelings; she just hadn't wanted to hurt him by turning away. "You want me to ask you to stay because you love me. Close your mouth; don't look shocked that I know. After all I am a wolf." When he didn't speak she continued. "Did you know that there are different smells your body has for different emotions? When you're scared, when you're angry, when you're sad or upset." She paused for a moment, watching his face. "When you see the one you love."
"You've known all this time…?" He asked timidly and more than a little embarrassed.
"Of course. I am—"
"A wolf I know, but you've known all this time and you never told me?" He cut her off, for the first time not wanting to hear what she had to say. Not wanting to her excuse. She ducked her head slightly, something like shame and uncertainty crossing her face before she was able to check her emotions. Simon scoffed at his own ignorance, running a hand down his face as he sat up, drawing a knee closer to his chest to help him balance. "Well, I guess I must seem like quite the fool now huh. All this time…" He let the sentence drop, shaking his head and standing. Kaluwa stood as well – a worried expression on her face – and reached out to try and place a soothing hand on her friend's shoulder. The young human, however, simply shoved it away, the once sweet magic of her touch now nothing more than a teasing game she played with him. "It's getting late. Let's head back." Simon was surprised at hardness in his voice and even more surprised at the wince it triggered from the young wolf-girl, whose hand she had yanked away.
Kaluwa watched Simon for a moment before nodding her head dismally and turning to lead him back to the Frektane camp. "Yea, I guess so…" The woman couldn't understand her own feelings, she knew it wasn't love or lust she felt for this human pup but when he was sad or upset in any way it made her feel that she needed to protect him. It made her feel that she needed to destroy whatever made him hurt inside, but right now that 'whatever' was her. She was bewildered and hesitant and it showed as she led Simon back to the camp, her nostrils flaring every once in a while when she stepped off track and she needed to remember where they had come from.
Finally, they reached the point where Simon could tell how to get back to the campsite and he shoved past her, striding forward at a brisk pace. He would have kept walking in that manner too, if Kaluwa hadn't suddenly frozen, her golden eyes flaring dangerously as her head turned slightly to the right and her ears strained to catch every sound. The young man stopped, and watched her strange behavior warily, glancing around him with immediate paranoia. "Kal what—" The young woman raising her hand was enough to silence him without further protesting. He absentmindedly shuffled closer to the wolf-girl's side, not knowing what to do but the longing to be nearer to her overriding his memories of their previous argument. She hardly even noticed.
With sense of rushing, fur rippled across Kaluwa's tanned skin and she took off into the trees wearing the form of a large, black she-wolf. Simon could only look after the darting views he could see of her until she disappeared completely from his already limited view, and with her absence came fear. This was a wild place, and he had just lost his one protection…
