The She-Wolf and the Raven

Chapter 17: Wolves

One day when Sigmund and Sinfiotli were hunting, they came upon a strange house in the dark wood. When they went within they found two men lying there sleeping a deep sleep….And beside the sleeping men he saw wolfskins, left there as though they had been cast off. Then Sigmund knew that these men were shape-changers—that they were ones who changed their shapes and ranged through the forests as wolves.

Sigmund and Sinfiotli put on the skins that the men had cast off, and when they did this they changed their shapes and became as wolves. And as wolves they ranged through the forest, now and then changing their shapes back to those of men. As wolves they fell upon King Siggeir's men and slew more and more of them….

Sigmund was made angry…He looked on Sinfiotli where he lay, and the wicked wolf's nature that was in the skin came over him. He sprang upon him, sinking his teeth in Sinfiotli's throat.

Sigmund went searching for the herb he saw the weasel carry to his comrade. And as he sought for it he saw a raven with a leaf in her beak. She dropped the leaf as he came to her…..Sigmund took it and laid it on the wound he had made in Sinfiotli's throat, and the wound healed, and Sinfiotli was sound once more. They went back to their hut in the forest. And the next day they burnt the wolfskins, and they prayed the Gods that they might never be afflicted with the wolf's evil nature again. And Sigmund and Sinfiotli never afterwards changed their shapes.

oooooo

When Leah looked at Isaac, she saw the pale blue of a winter's sky when the sun breaks through the clouds and reflects off the muted snowy blanket over the Olympian forest. She knew those eyes. She'd grown up staring into that same shade of blue, though those eyes were so worn by years that they could barely see.

Granny Grace, while her winter blue eyes could barely see, could still weave a basket better than anyone else around with her nobbled, arthritic fingers. She lived with the Clearwaters-those five years before the end, before she crossed over the "Sacred Rivers to the Land of the Dead." She walked as hunched as a wild pear tree and sometimes she forgot to put her fake teeth in before breakfast. But when it came time to pray, she shook with all the enthusiasm as only the most devout Indian Shakers could and filled the whole house with her fervent pleas. Anytime one of the Clearwaters came down with a cold, Granny came in with her rattles and cries and prayed day and night for Jesus to heal them, shaking more violently than the earthquakes Granny always feared would bury the Res in water someday.

Seth was too small to remember much of her, but it was Leah's job to look after her. While her parents worked, Leah was in charge of making sure Granny ate and was kept from being alone. As a kid, she found it rather dull, especially as Granny liked to repeat her stories again and again and kept asking Leah what her name was and who her parents were. But now, now she treasured it. It was as if she was initiated into one of the secret societies of days long past and allowed to hear the songs few others still heard or knew.

Granny's mind was as sharp as a bear trap and if she sometimes couldn't remember the names of her great-grandkids, she could still remember every family that once lived on the Res, every chief, and every old story her grandmother had ever told her as if it were yesterday.

Leah wished she'd asked more questions, learned more words, sung more songs. But she had been a stupid kid back then-more concerned with Saturday morning cartoons and riding her bike than realizing how brief her time with Granny really would be.

And Leah really hated weaving baskets.

"My grandmother used to tell me about what it was like before," she remembered Granny saying. Her nobbled hands shook as she pulled the dried grasses and bark through her fingers without looking once at her flawless work. "She knew where all the old longhouses stood. She remembered where to find the wild onions and the hops down on the prairies, how deep to dig for empress clams and how to eat the keyhole limps from Red Sand beach. She knew which plants give spirit power to women to help them gain as much success gathering their foods as any of the men who whaled, fished, or hunted. She knew the old songs, the ones I have now forgotten. I have learned my own songs."

It was her blue eyes that remained a topic of hushed scandal within the closed door conversations in the family. When her Quileute mother and Quinault father produced a child with fair, hazelnut hair and winter blue eyes, rumors spread like wild fire through dry pine needles.

There had always been legends of a Swedish logger, a family's disapproval, a vanished sister, and the widowed mother's tears. Most of the truth behind the legends remained lost in the ocean of old memory, hidden and only spilling forth its secrets to future generations through Granny Grace's eyes.

Granny never bothered to ask such questions. She said those weren't her songs to sing.

By this time, Granny's brown hair had turned as white as whale bone and her rasping voice could barely carry a tune, but it did not stop her songs. She closed her eyes and hummed another of her Indian Shaker songs, tapping her foot in time to the tune and lost in her own memories. When she opened her eyes, she caught sight of Leah, grinned, and asked Leah her name and which family she belonged to.

"My father is your grandson," Leah answered again, knowing Granny would not remember the answer.

"Ah! My grandson? It is very good. Does he remember how to sing like a man?"

"I think so," Leah answered.

"Few remember. My grandmother used to ask, 'How's a man to be a man? He can't hunt, go to war, whale, share potlatch, or be a real chief. The longhouses have been burned and the bounty of the sea is taken by others. How can a man learn to sing?'

"My husband and sons used to say that manhood meant working a 'civilian' job, leaving the Res, becoming 'American' and learning new songs. They could travel off the Res, vote, and learn their letters and they said they could someday become like the Ho-kwat, if they tried hard enough.

"I never learned my letters. I do not know these new songs and I have forgotten many of the old ones. I do remember digging for onions. Sometimes learning the songs sung by others is as difficult as finding the center of an onion. There is always one more layer to work through and peel back before you 'arrive' at the center. A man may spend his whole life searching to peel back another impossible layer of an onion until he finds the very center and discovers it is empty. His search may prove as hollow as the core of a rotten tree. That is why I will sing my own songs," she said and she gave a wide, wrinkled grin. Then she broke out into another song, this time in a mix of Quileute and English. Leah didn't understand the words. Granny explained it was a "song about Raven," but no more.

Granny didn't remember too many of the tales of Deer or Skatefish or Thunderbird, but she did remember the tales about Raven. She never learned to read, but she memorized all the Bible stories. She liked the tale of Jacob and Esau the best.

"Jacob is like Raven," she explained. "He was full of tricks and mischief, just like Raven. Do you know the tales about Raven?"

Leah had long before this given up explaining that Granny had told her the same stories so many times Leah had memorized them. Instead, she let herself get lost in the way Granny's voice rose and fell like the creaking of a weathered canoe on the sea.

"It was back in the day when animals were people and people were animals," she said. "It was then that Raven walked with the Quileute. Now, Raven is not worshipped because he is too human. Raven is the most flawed. He can be too greedy and too generous, too helpful and too selfish. Raven brought the sun for all to share in its light and also first brought death. His excesses must be balanced. Wisdom must be learned and he can do both great good and great evil. In that way, he is the most human.

"The Quileute of the past owned goodness no more than the Ho-kwat. If we think we are born good, that it's in our blood and people, we are fools. In the same way, we are not born evil. We learn and make decisions and have the chance to grow, as Raven did. All peoples, Quileute, Quinault, Makaw, Ho-kwat, we all can do great good or great evil, and it is not enough to learn new songs or be planted in the land or be born from a people that makes someone good or evil. But I don't know a lot about that."

Eventually, Granny's stories and songs joined the "long ago" with Raven, and all that remained of her blue eyes was the way the rare winter sun shone through on a first snow over the Olympic forest.

Leah never did manage to weave an acceptable basket. She wished she had. She never learned to sing Raven's song, but she always remembered how Granny's eyes glistened as she sang it.

Now, as Leah looked upon her own children, she wondered what songs they would learn to sing. Raised in the forests, growing faster than humans-how would they integrate into human society? Would they ever be accepted? They were Raven's children, as much as Granny Grace had been. They blurred the edges between categories and worlds that defined both in new ways.

Years ago, in that snow-covered meadow, she had voluntarily stood her ground against the kings of the Cold Ones in order to protect another impossible child. The half vampire, half human offspring who should never have existed but did anyway turned the paradigms of Cold Ones, humans, and wolves on their heads and made them reconsider everything they thought they knew about the "enemies." Even if Sam and Jacob had not agreed to fight alongside the Cullens, Leah would have joined anyway because it was the right thing to do. The child should not die because her genetic parents were "supposed" to be incompatible and because she blurred the lines between vampire and human.

She fought for Renesmee to be allowed to exist in the same way she would now fight for her own children. Was Renesmee "vampire" or "human" or "both"? The answer to that question would redefine all three categories and had profound implications for her own children. Would her children be accepted by both sides of their kin because of their background or despite their background? Was it worse to be loved because they were "Midgardian" or despite being "Midgardian"? Would they be able to move beyond the label while not denigrating the importance of the label?

The Aesir were a proud people, not unlike her own had once been. Yet they were separated from their land, their tisqati, and that could remake everything about them. In her days and days with Thor, she recognized the look he carried in his one good eye. It was the lost, empty gaze of a man uprooted from his manhood, who found the world he was raised to lead in to be gone, replaced with a world he had little understanding of how to thrive in. Immersed in ever-concentric onion rings of expectations which could pull ever tighter like a noose instead of a means to growth, the the center remained hollow and empty.

In those she met on the street and passed on the wharf walking to their boats, Leah heard the long lost song of a misplaced people, the soul loss of the uprooted, the erased sagas of those who no longer carried the pen, and the meaningless syllables of a language no other tongue still remembered. Those were the eyes of fathers who did not know how to help their children learn to sing, the eyes of men who felt robbed of strength and buried their intangible griefs in a bottle, tearing back what power they could through the bruises on the flesh of those they could never hope to be enough for.

But they were not fully colonized yet, but time would tell who would be the colonizer. Would the Aesir seek to overcome the Midgardians or the Midgardians dominate the Aesir? Was the newly placed guard at the gate of New Asgard there to keep the Aesir in or Earthlings out? did it matter? The Aesir were strong and their spirits were not yet broken. They had yet to swallow the lie of their inferiority or gratefully embrace their own servitude, but what would occur over generations when technological innovations muted their battlefield advantages or they outgrew this little plot of land? Would their children be forced off this land for their "own good" and made to assimilate to the ways of life of their new home?

Was it better to be forgotten and erased from history-like Tutankhamun and his chiseled out name- or preserved forever in the shadow of defeat? Like a death mask on a departed royal, salvage ethnography of the day preserved forever the corpse of a bygone era. Was it better to be remembered for what was now lost or for what remained?

Leah could not help but ask, as she looked at the small town on the sea, who was uprooted so the Aesir could claim this land as their own?

oooo

True to Fenris' prediction, it was barely 9am when a fist pounded on their door and a voice called out to them from outside the house.

"Lady Leah, may I enter?" came Thor's voice. She shuffled in, still groggy after her sleepless night. Her hair was now a mussed mess from leaving in her elaborate party hair. She refused to change out of her t-shirt and jeans into any of the dresses that the handmaiden had left for her to use. She opened up the door with a yawn.

There stood the King of Asgard. He wore a grey and orange plaid sweater that was at least one size too small and missing a button in the very center. Bare feet protruded from under his pineapple pajama pants. His golden hair was tangled into a matted mess of braids that made Leah's hair appear neat in comparison and a pair of cheap sunglasses rested on his head.

"I have come bearing gifts, Lady Leah," Thor boomed with a wide grin as he held up his burdens for her to see. "I brought pizza and beer and a worthy challenge for us all to display our warrior prowess with."

"Ummm, thanks?" Leah answered as she moved out of the way for him to enter. He placed his boxes on the table near the door and before she knew it, she found herself off the ground and spun around the room in a tight embrace.

"Where is my brother?" Thor asked as he put her down and looked around the room.

"Out. He needed some time last night and he hasn't come home yet."

Thor considered this and shook his head knowingly. "Ah, yes. Loki is prone to melancholy and often seeks times of solitude. He is especially desirous to vanish after feasts as he is no lover of revels, unless he can use them as the theater for some mischief or another. Did you enjoy our festivities last night?"

Leah gave him a slightly forced smile, though it was hard to keep it from growing genuine at the warmth emanating from Thor's expression.

"Yeah. We had a really great time. The kids loved it."

"I am glad of it. Tell me, where are my nieces and nephews? Are they too wearied from their exertions to receive visitors?"

"No, they will be excited to see you. They, uh, they don't really like being inside much. They prefer spending their time outside. Come on. I'll take you to them," she said and she led the way through the house to the small courtyard that opened into the forest.

"Kids," she called out as the edge of the courtyard. "Your uncle is here and he has food."

She dropped her voice to a whisper. "No beer for the children, please," she said, just in case.

"As you wish," Thor said. "Do they dislike it or does it turn their young stomachs?"

"Ummm, no. It's, uh, they are too young."

"Is this a Midgardian custom?"

"Maybe?"

"Will they partake of pizza?"

"Oh, they'll like that."

"And might we also practice our skills at questing through the warrior-practice tool you call X-box?"

Leah raised one eyebrow. "Sure."

"Then all will be very well!" Thor said with a wide grin.

They soon saw evidence of a flurry of swinging pine trees and dust in the distance. Five wolves appeared running at full speed. The King of Asgard was then knocked on the ground under a pile of wolves. Each surrounded him with jubilant excitement and covered him with their tongues and noses. Thor let out a booming laugh that shook his sweatered belly and knocked his sunglasses on the ground where he lay. He got up and with a loud shout, he charged the largest wolf. He pushed through both Isaac and Sarah with ease until Isaac growled and charged him again. With the joint efforts of Sarah and the little ones, they succeeded in knocking Thor to the ground again. He only stayed on the ground for a few seconds before he skillfully maneuvered out of their hold and he was on his feet before they could catch him again. With an impressive leap, he pulled a tree limb off a tree with one hand and waved it before them all.

"Show me your valor, young warriors!" he shouted and then spread his legs in a defensive stance, log in his hand. All five gave playful growls and circled around him. They drew their ranks closer and closer in on him and as one, they charged.

They did not relent until all were covered in mud and dust and fur and smiles.

ooooooo

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Sarah shouted when she burst into the house a few hours later, now back in her human form.

"What Sarah?" Leah asked. She put down the stack of plates onto the table to prepare for pizza and turned to her excited daughter.

"Did you know Uncle Thor makes lightning?"

"What do you mean?" Leah asked.

"He makes it come down from the sky! He just lit a tree on fire! You have to see this!"

Leah followed her daughter out the door and back to the edge of the wood. Sure enough, a fifty foot tall pine tree was engulfed in flames. Thor stood with his hands outstretched, his one good eye glowing an eerie white. The sky overhead was no longer filled with light and sun but darkened by rapidly gathering storm clouds. The clouds burst into a downpour, only over the tree, and extinguished the flames. With another motion of his hands, a bolt of lightning crashed onto the ground behind him before he lowered his hands. As he did, the clouds vanished, his eye returned to its normal appearance, and the sun came out again.

"See!" Sarah said.

"That is certainly not what I expected," Leah remarked.

"Later, he said he'll teach us how to fight with a sword."

"Wonderful," Leah said without any inflection in her voice.

"Uncle Thor, can you turn into a wolf?" Sarah asked as she bounded back towards her uncle.

"I am not gifted in the arts of shifting forms," Thor asked. "As far as I know, my brother is the only shape-shifter in all Asgard so gifted."

"Wait, you mean not all your people can phase?" she asked, her surprise evident on her young face.

"No. There are many who are skilled with magic, but none as powerful as Loki. My brother is the most powerful mage in the Nine Realms and the only mage I know who can easily shift forms at will."

"Oh. I thought there'd be more wolves like us here. Mama's family has lots of wolves in it, but none of them know how to become anything other than wolves or people. But dad can change into all kinds of animals and he's been teaching mama. Soon, he will teach us."

"I know of no more capable of an instructor," Thor answered.

"Come on. Let's have lunch," Leah called and she didn't have to tell them a second time. The wolves eagerly left their games and play outside to fill their hungry stomachs.

oooo

The now-empty pizza box lay discarded on the floor where the little black Báyak happily chewed on the edges, punching little holes into the cardboard. Tcâli was already asleep below the table, snoring softly. Thor waved his hands in the air to passionately illustrate his tale to the rest who sat spellbound and listened as he regaled them with his battle stories.

"Then I took my ax, Stormbreaker, and cut off the murderous villain's head with one mighty swing," he said. "The Mad Titan lay bested on the floor of his hovel, never to rise again. Well, that is, until we went back in time and an undead Titan of the past followed us and we had to best him all over again. It just goes to show you, young warriors, that death does not always lead to permanent victory and resurrections can bring both good and evil.

"Even this undead Titan proved no match for our faithful team of warrior-companions. As the most valiant of Midgard coalesced on the sacred field of battle, our numbers but few compared to the dark lord's unfathomable horde, it was then that we thought we would lose all hope and surely wake in Valhalla. However, not even so great a foe could withstand us when the heavens opened and all who once were lost came to life again and came to our aid. My heart has never so despaired and rejoiced in a single day as upon that day!"

"What happened then?" Sarah asked as she leaned on her elbow in anticipation.

"The Man forged of Iron used the sacred relics I spoke of to best the Titan through his own means and all vanished as ash on the wind. The fate the Titan first inflicted on the good people of the realms was now meted out to him and his dark followers. We were freed, Midgard and the rest of the universe put to rights, though at the great cost of the life of the hero who so sacrificed himself."

"Wow!" she said. "Can you tell us another?"

"Of course!"

Thor continued sharing stories with them till the sun nearly vanished from the window. Then he allowed a heavy pause to overtake him. He grew thoughtful and his attention shifted from his young audience to their mother.

"I have spoken my fill of tales. It is time to hear the tales of another warrior," Thor said. He leaned back on his chair in satisfaction and placed both hands on his ample middle. He turned to Leah and winked. "Lady Leah, it is rare my brother boasts of the prowess of a warrior on Midgard. Perhaps you have one of your own adventures to share with us?"

Leah opened and closed her mouth in surprise. She pulled her cup of tea a little closer to her and stirred it as she considered. She slowly sipped her tea once before she nodded.

"I guess. Well, there was once a time our pack fought a great battle against an entire army of bloodthirsty Cold Ones. Some call them vampires. They are people who were once human but now drink human blood and have supernatural strength and skills.

"Anyhow, this one time, an entire army of Cold Ones was created with the single purpose of getting revenge. They call came against our small town to try to kill one human girl, not much older than Sarah, but much, much weaker. Her mate had killed the mate of another vampire and in revenge, the army came against our town. Usually the Cold Ones and the wolves are sworn enemies, but we allied together to fight against this army. The battle came on fast and hard and it was all rock-like limbs and teeth and fur and snow and smoke," she said. She allowed herself to grow more animated as she spoke and saw the bright, eager eyes of her listeners. The ending of one story quickly evolved into the beginning of the next as they pressed her for more of her "battle sagas".

"Another admirable victory then!" Thor said as she finished her story of a chase through British Colombia one spring . He raised his can of beer and tipped it towards her. "A toast in your honor, good lady." He emptied the entire can in one swallow before opening up another. "Lady Leah of the Land of Clear Waters, Warrior Maid of Midgard, it will be an honor to lift my ax on a battlefield with one such as yourself in days to come. Your valor is rivaled by none but the Queen of Asgard," Thor said with a slight bow in her direction.

"Uncle Thor, do you know any stories about our dad?" Sarah asked.

"Enough to fill up all the eddas on Midgard," Thor said with a broad grin. "Has he ever spoken of the time he helped me retrieve my hammer after it was stolen?"

"No!" she answered.

Thor laughed-a contagious, full sound that reminded Leah of Christmas or graham crackers or cinnamon tea. Then he leaned forward on the table to begin is tale.

"Well, you will enjoy this. The number of times I have proven myself a fool and have required my brother's cleverness to escape a trial are more than can be counted. This time, I had behaved foolishly again and I sought out my brother to assist me…..," Thor began. The children did not let him finish until long after night had fallen and covered all the windows of the house in shadow.

oooo

"Hey Seth!" Leah said. She sat down on one of the steps leading up to the front of the stone house and turned the volume up on Thor's giant phone so she could hear her brother's voice. She heard a groan in response and she laughed.

"Oh, stop whining. Eight in the morning is not so early. Come on. You know you've missed me."

"Yeah, yeah," he managed to say, though his response was punctuated by a loud yawn. "How's Norway?"

"Mountainy and a cold sunny. No clouds, but lots of ocean. It's a pretty small town…Ok, bigger than Forks, but smaller than Port Angeles. I guess the best word for it is 'quaint'."

"Nice. How are the in-laws?" he asked.

"Uh, not exactly what I expected. The pups are having a blast. Lots of space to run and play and the people here are, how can I put it? A bit more durable so they can rough house more. They've spent nearly all day, every day playing with their uncle since we came. He's pretty much a big kid. He loves teaching them fighting techniques and what he calls 'the mighty warrior challenge' that is Xbox. He's been playing video games with them for hours."

"That's Fenris' brother?"

"Yeah-the one we came to see. He reminds me a lot of Uncle Bob- you remember Aunt Veronica's first husband? Yeah. Thor is a lot like him."

"Thor? Seriously, that's his name?"

"Yeah."

Seth laughed. "I guess they take their mythology seriously. Please tell me he wears a Viking helmet, carries a big hammer, and occasionally throws thunder bolts at people."

"Ummm, yeah, kinda. I mean, I don't know anything about Norwegian mythology, but I don't think it matters since all the people here aren't originally from here. You remember they came here as refugees."

"You told me. So they are aliens who name their kids after local mythological deities. Ok, so back to Thor…"

"Yeah, his helmet isn't exactly horned, though Fenris' is, but not exactly the stereotypical Viking way. Thor carries around a giant ax and not a hammer. He actually does make thunder and lightning and rain though. It's pretty impressive."

"No way!"

"Yeah, then his wife, Sif, is pretty kick ass. You'd like her. She is hardcore. I'll bet she could give any of the pack or Cold Ones a run for their money. Technically Thor and Sif are in charge of this little community of exiled aliens. I guess they ruled on their home planet too, before it got destroyed."

"That sucks. So their whole planet is just gone?"

"Yeah. They lost a lot of people."

"How is Fenris taking all that?"

"Well, he…uh….How can I put this? He..."

"You are stammering. Spit it out."

"Fine. He disappeared a couple of days ago and we haven't heard from him since. I guess it was a little hard for him to find out that his home planet is technically gone now. He also found out his dad is dead. I think it stirred up a lot of things for him and he needed some time to sort himself out."

"Can't say that I blame him. So, you are just chillin' with his bro?"

"Pretty much. They had a big party the first day we arrived. Apparently it was kinda a big deal that Fenris is still alive. They thought he was dead."

"Now that sounds familiar. A sibling mysteriously falling off the radar for years making everyone believe they are dead? You two are made for each other."

"Shut it, hairball. I already apologized for that."

"Yeah, yeah. So, are they all wolves too?"

"No. Apparently just Fenris."

"But they can make lightning?"

"No, that's just Thor."

"Seriously, Lee, the guy is named Thor and makes lightning. He has to be somehow related to the Thor that was running around with the Avengers. You know-buff guy, red cape, helping overthrow the crazy alien invasion in New York."

"Oh, I remember some of the footage of that! I was a bit caught up in all that drama with that other coven then, you remember? The one in Alberta that gave us so much trouble. Yeah. Jacob had us running some crazy patrols that year. Anyhow, those giant whale things and bug guys were a lot more what I expected aliens to look like. These ones just look like regular people-though a bit archaic when they are in their party-wear. They definitely feel different than regular humans, but they don't look so different."

"Ok, but did you happen to get out enough to see any of the news footage on the Avengers?"

"I do remember seeing pictures of the Avengers. I didn't get much farther than Captain America's rather glorious ass. I vaguely remember the dude with the cape and the hammer. That can't be the same guy though because that guy was hot and Thor is, well, Uncle Bob in his PJs."

"You should look up footage from the Avengers and the battle anyway-just to be sure. It'd be pretty stinking awesome to be hangin' out with an Avenger."

"You mean it would be awesome for an Avenger to get to hang out with me, right?"

"Sure, sure. That's what I meant," Seth said and Leah could almost see him roll his eyes through the phone. "Are you gonna make it back in time for the wedding?"

"It depends. Like I told you, if you play "Who Let the Dogs Out" during any part of the ceremony or reception, then I will boycott."

"But Jacob's gonna do it. He's gonna have all his groomsmen walk down the aisle to it."

"That's Jacob. He's an idiot. You, on the other hand, have more dignity. However, I will pay you to play "Monster Mash" when the Cullens arrive."

Seth laughed. "I'll leave that one to Jacob too. I'm pretty sure I'd like to keep all my limbs attached for my wedding."

"Wimp."

"Spoilsport."

"Nerd."

"Pest."

They both fell into fits of giggles until Leah could hear Lily's voice in the background, calling to Seth.

"Sis, I gotta go," he said.

"I know. I know. We should be back just in time for the rehearsal dinner."

"You better be. Love you."

"Love you too, Sethy. "

Seth hung up and Leah smiled to herself. She could still hear Thor working with Isaac and Sarah. He yelled at them to shift to wolf forms again and try to double team him. Out of curiosity, she took advantage of the quiet moment to run a Google search of Thor, the Avengers, and the Battle of New York.

She wasn't quite prepared for all that would uncover…or the familiar grin and green cape that came along with some of the footage. She momentarily lost her breath and stared.

ooooooo

Leah took herself down an empty street and sat on a bench overlooking the sea. She watched the waves in a pensive, troubled silence. She needed to think, she needed to clear her head. Fenris, as usual, underwhelmed her with his less-than-detailed description of his "one unfortunate incident with conquest and tyranny." Having a history of leading an invasion to conquer the world was kinda one of those details she wished she'd known before…then again, it's not like she chose him.

Stupid imprint bond.

She grit her teeth and grimaced as she was overcome with just how cliché this all seemed. Was she always doomed to inhabit a stale stereotype, recycled and expanded from the "Sea to Shining Sea" of Manifest Destiny to the "Nine Realms" and the intergalactic theater of alien-human interactions? Was there any other role for her to fill?

She fell back into her long-established means of dealing with her problems. She sought out Seth. She pressed "redial" on the phone she still carried and gave a sigh of relief when Seth picked up again.

"Leah?" Seth said as he answered. "Everything ok?"

"No," she said. "No, it's not."

She heard him whisper to someone around him, a door slammed, and his voice came back on, closer than it had been before, as if he were in a smaller room.

"What's up?" he said.

"You were right. He's the Avenger guy. He's just lost an eye, got a different weapon, needs a haircut, and added a lot of weight."

"What!? Seriously?! That's awesome! Wait-so what's the problem?"

"Oh, besides the fact that my imprint's brother was once considered the Norse God of Thunder and was worshipped as a deity by the pagan barbarian hordes of northern Europe?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds even cooler. Please tell me I get to meet that guy someday?"

"Yeah, whatever. Seth, I'm being serious."

"So am I. I totally want to meet him."

She groaned and Seth, perceptively reading her mood as he always did, grew more serious.

"The problem isn't with Thor."

"No. It's not."

"Is it Fenris?"

"Seth, is it possible to imprint on the wrong person?"

"You know the legends as well as I do, Lee."

"Yeah, yeah. The legends that say the imprint bond is for the good of all involved and was designed by the Transformer to complete us and make us stronger and better protectors."

"And nudged into place by Guardian Spirits who make sure we find the one we are meant to be with. no matter how far we wander."

"What if I don't believe it?" she said, raising her voice unintentionally to that of a shout. "What if the imprint bond is wrong? What if its dumb chance and then we can get sidled with a lifetime of being glued to the wrong person? What if our imprint is one-sided and doesn't ever embrace the same bond? Look at Jacob-he got stuck with a half-vamp. What if one of us full on imprinted on a vamp? How could that be rationalized? Or, for arguments sake, let's say our imprint is actually a world-conquering alien who led an army to invade the earth. I mean, cause that sounds like the ideal person for a Quileute protector to be irrevocably bonded to, right?"

"Leah…," Seth said in a softer tone. "What is this about? Did Fenris do something?"

"Seth, Fenris' family knows him as Loki… Yeah, he was there at the Battle of New York too-fighting against the Avengers."

Seth whistled under his breath and allowed a thick, empathetic silence to envelope them both. He lowered his tone to a somber whisper as he spoke next.

"But you care about him, Lee."

"When does what I care about matter for anything? Fenris has never wanted anything to do with me. Since the day he discovered I am not just a wolf, he's fought tooth-and-nail to get away from me and to break the bond. I can't even blame him. I don't want it either. I don't even know what to do with this."

Seth failed to answer and she was glad of it. She knew there was nothing he could say to "fix" this or change anything, but his stable warmth on the other side of the line was enough to ground her and remind her that she wasn't alone, no matter what happened next. She was suddenly overcome with a sense of homesickness like she had never had before and she just wanted to be back with her mom and brother, in the safety of the Res.

Seth cleared his throat and she could almost hear the softly hinted humor in his voice. "Wait-if I'm understanding you properly, are you telling me you imprinted on an alien that the Norse considered the God of Mischief and Chaos?"

"Yep."

"So…wouldn't that make your kids demi-gods? Like Hercules and Achilles and Percy Jackson?"

Leah snorted and broke into a smile. "I guess it would."

Seth gave a jubilant "whoop" through the line. "Hero or villain, that's still epically awesome, sis."

"You're an idiot."

"And we share a gene pool."

Leah laughed again before she let her smile fade and she dropped her head into her hands.

"In all seriousness, sis, I think you are overthinking this."

"You would."

"No, hear me out. There's gotta be a reason you two were drawn together. I know, you've fought everything about being a wolf since day one and I will admit, you've had a rougher time of it than the rest of us. It's downright sucked sometimes, but maybe this is a time you gotta just let go and relax and trust your instincts. Stop fighting your inner wolf and just roll with it. Have a little faith."

"If you try to shine any more optimism onto this, I'm gonna get a sunburn."

"Or you can wallow in misery and insist your glass is half empty and the world is still against you."

"Like you'd let me, you cheery bastard."

"You love me."

"I do."

"You gonna be ok?"

"I guess I have to be."

"Maybe eventually. You don't have to be ok right now though. With all the crap the last few years have thrown us, it's ok to not be ok for awhile."

"Thanks, Sethy."

"Come home soon?"

"I will."

Leah hung up and clasped the phone in both her hands. She closed her eyes to let the scent of the sea wash over her and the sound of sea birds overhead calm her more.

oooooo

"They say she is a shape-shifter as he is," an Aesir woman said to her companion.

"No!" answered the second woman.

Leah had decided to walk through the village again before making her way home. She had not gone more than a few blocks before she stopped to look inside a bookstore window. The words of the conversation from a doorway around a corner could just be heard and without intending to, she began to listen. The two women could not be seen, but Leah kept her head down in case they noticed her presence.

"And the children were born as wolves and wield magic," said the first.

"All know wolves cannot be trusted. It's in their nature."

"It's fitting for the Prince. He cannot be trusted any more than a wolf."

"What of his Midgardian consort?"

"What of her? She cannot be much other than a temporary diversion. She neither wore his colors at the feast nor carried his ceremonial dagger. She has none of the marks of his house upon her, therefore he has placed no claim upon her or their progeny. It has long been spoken-Midgardians are but a breath through grass and they will be buried long before they can be remembered."

"Surely she is not purely of Midgard. Can you not feel the magic that flows around her and her young?"

"Mayhaps she is a sorceress or a descendent of the fey which used to dwell in these lands. Whatever the source of her magic, it does not change the realm of her birth. Midgardians cannot help but be as they are and they are no more suitable for marital alliance with the Aesir then a goat is for a lion. Besides, from what I hear, I do not know if she even qualifies as consort."

"What is this?"

"I have it on good authority, from both the guards and the house keepers, that the Prince has yet to visit his lady, night or day, since his arrival. From what I know of the hearts of men that does not bode well for the prospects of the lady."

"The King is quite taken with his new relations, they say. He's scarcely left them a moment's peace since they arrived."

"You know that matters little. Our King's heart has grown soft to those our people once ruled and he forgets the place of the Aesir in the Nine Realms. They say he would have gladly taken a Midgardian woman as wife and so tainted the bloodline of his heirs."

"Aye. Better a sturdy Aesir woman, if you ask me. Though magic-wielder and trickster, Loki is still a prince and an Aesir man. The Aesir widows in need of new husbands are many and if our King produces no heir, the line of succession will fall to the Prince and his legitimate offspring. It is better for all that the Prince marry an Aesir."

"Well, if the rumors are to be believed, some say the prince himself has no more Aesir blood than the Midgardian," said the first woman, now dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

"No!"

"I heard it from Sharla who heard it from Lady Dinir who heard it from the housekeeper of the King. She said that one day, when the King were right tipsy and full of his cups, he spilled his heart over all his affairs with his lost brother to the housekeeper. The King himself said the second Prince is no son of Odin at all but was taken in by the All-Father on account of his shape-shifting magic. They say that none but the All-Father and All-Mother have seen his true form."

"Where...?"

"You will not believe if I tell you."

"Tell me!"

"Jotunheim."

A stunned gasp followed. "You speak treason, my friend. If the King hears such allegations against his brother, it will be your head."

"Not if the rumors be true."

"But they cannot be. The All-Father would not take in the young of Asgard's greatest enemy! They are deficient in their very nature. The Jotun cannot be trusted."

"Nor can our Prince. They say it's because of his actions on Midgard that the Midgardians have turned against us and it is on his account we must hide like shamed peasants instead of walking as in honor as we once did in these parts. The Aesir were once welcomed and worships as deities by the Midgardians. Some say, we should be recognized as the superior beings we are and be given rule of Midgard entirely."

"That was long ago. The people have changed."

"It makes little difference. They are but ants to our boots and it will only be a matter of time before Asgard is recognized as Ruler of the Nine by all."

A door shut and a truck drove past and the conversation ended without Leah moving once. She never saw their faces or where the pair of women disappeared to, but she had little wish to. She left the bookstore window with very little knowledge of what books had even caught her attention and she walked slowly towards the outskirts of the town.

When did her life become forged of monsters and men, gods and spirits, heroes and villains?

She decided she didn't want to be a human for awhile and subtly shifted into wolf form. She took to the forests and gave her legs the freedom to run as they so longed to do. When that failed to fully satisfy, she turned into a falcon and soared even higher till she could see the distant fjords lined by grey mountain cliff sides.

More than anything, she wanted to go home.

ooooo

. Author's notes:

Myth from Padraic Colom's Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths (1920)

Ho-kwat: White Drifting-House people-Quileute term for people of European descent. They came on white drifting houses (ships), hence the name.

Onion analogy: C.S. Lewis uses this analogy in The Weight of Glory to describe the challenges of finding acceptance in a social group. I have incorporated it here.

Indian Shakers: The peoples of the Pacific Northwest developed their own interpretation of Christianity in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century that involved both traditional religious concepts of spirit guides and personal religious experiences with Christian ideas and formed what became known as Indian Shaker churches. These grew in popularity despite disapproval from the Ho-kwats. (This is roughly the same era as the Ghost Dance movement which saw a similar attempt to revive local communities through a hybridization of native religious ideas and prophecies of how to transform communities in the future.)

Granny Grace's blue eyes: blue eyes are a recessive gene…both parents have to have it in their gene line. I am tapping into the story of Swan and Mary Anderson (a Swedish logger and his "Indian woman") as described in the Gonzaga Law Review's articled entitled "Crimes of Passion: The Regulation of Interracial Sex in Washington, 1855-1950" by Jason A. Gillmer. In their story, Swan "married" Mary and they bore two children before his death. Upon his death, Swan's family from the Midwest came (and were scandalized by his marriage) and put the eldest daughter in an orphanage (much to the mother's heartbreak). They let her keep the younger one and return to the reservation. Later years led to legal debate over Swan's property and if his eldest daughter could inherit it-based on whether the pair were ever "really" married.

The changing definitions and statuses of children of both European and Indian alliances is especially fascinating when compared to different gendered perceptions of such alliances (compare with this article which delves deeply into views of European women marrying Indian men: Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies Vol. 29, No. 2/3, Intermarriage and North American Indians (2008), pp. 106-145 Published by: University of Nebraska Press. Jstor.)