Chapter 1
I look out across the moon-lit lake water, admiring its placidity and the way the stars of the night and the tall pine trees reflect off the smooth surface of the water before crouching to wash the rest of the mountain lion blood from my face. Out of the numerous species that I hunt, this is by far the worst blood to try and wash from my skin and long, silver hair.
I cup my hands, dipping them into the frigid(to those other than myself) water. The iciness feels good on my bare skin. I relish in its calming caress. Before I can enjoy the water for too long, I hear the old she-wolf that I mind hobbling up behind me, “You’ve missed a spot.”
I roll my eyes, “You’re losing more than your eyesight now, Rana.”
She ‘hmmph’s’ at me before thumping the back of my head with her walking stick.
“Right,” She thumps me again, “Here.”
I refrain from outright snarling at her, but I do give her a warning growl before bringing my hands to the back of my head. Sure enough, my fingers come away with the slick, red substance. I sense her raising her stick again.
I spin and catch it, “I’ve warned you about your stick, woman.”
Her brows shoot up before I see her shiver with the cold of the midnight breeze, “Have you, now? I can’t recall,” She winks.
I roll my eyes again before standing and giving her a sigh, “Come. Let’s get you in by the fire,” I take her arm in mine.
She 'tsks' at me, "For someone whose heart is supposedly frozen in ice, you sure have a funny way of showing it."
I roll my eyes again, "The only thing that this accomplishes is making sure you do not land face first into a snowbank. Goddess only knows that it'd most likely be how you die."
She turns to whack me with her stick again. I catch it and slant my eyes at her. "Don't look at my like that tiny wolf. Your tongue needs curbing."
It's my turn to raise my brow at her, "My tongue? You're the one who lives up her alone."
She scoffs, "And what is it you call what you're doing up here in my cabin."
I shrug, "I sleep here and do the chores for you. I do not eat or bathe here," I also keep an eye over the hag.
If i were not here it is highly likely that she would starve or freeze to death. I am unsure which would come first. If I say that aloud I know I risk another attempted whack with her walking stick. Truth be told, I have come to care for the elderly she-wolf.
I was feral, after nearly ten years on my own, before she found me and managed to coax me inside of her home. She knew my name and knew my lineage. Stories of my parents and bloodline are finally what got me to shift from my wolf form to human.
"Are you listening to me?"
I snap my head up and look at her, "Yes, Rana," I help her up the steps, " I will stoke your fireplace with fresh logs and I will stach several here by the door."
"You are headed out again?" She faces me, a crease in her forehead.
I nod, "I will leave out in the early hours of the morning and be back in the late afternoon."
"Where are you going?"
"To the fresh spring at the Southern Mountains. Is there anything I can bring you?"
"Quail, frost berries, and Briar root," She says, looking a bit smug as I close the door behind us.
"If you knew I was going to visit the Castle of Fell, why did you not just say so?" I visit once a week, with or without her knowing is of no constitute to me.
The Castle of Fell and Fell Mountains are my home. I pay homage to my ancestors once a week and my visit still gives me a sense of being in a pack , versus this feral Rogue Ker that I have turned out to be. Sage growls, every slightly, "Who are you calling a Rogue Ker?"
I roll my eyes, "You know my feelings on the matter. I have no qualms about who we are. However, Alpha cannot be an Alpha without a pack, Sage. And there are none of our kind of breed left in this world."
She seems to sadden, ever slightly, at my words,"We may be the last Winter Wolf of Fell, but we are not the last wolf."
"There is no pack that would accept a feral wolf. Let alone a feral, Alpha, she-wolf who has no pack. Please, I do not wish to discuss this in any more detail right now."
Sage slinks back into my mind and resumes watching from her "perch".
Rana shrugs, "The same reason why I haven't said anything about my knowledge of you venturing out there once a week by yourself even when I have told you of the dangers."
I huff, "Rana, this is my forest. The only predator in here is me. The humans to the west do not care to venture into these woods that are snow covered nearly year round."
She sighs and rolls her eyes, "You need to bathe. You reek. You smell of mountain lion musk. Water is drawn in the basin in your chambers.Use some soap this time."
"And you smell of old lady, fire wood, and cotton. Do you hear me complaining?" I jest with her. A corner of her mouth twitches up into a smile before she hobbles off to her chair by the fire, leaving me to part into my chambers and soak in a bath.
