A Unicorn's Legacy

Chapter 4

     I wake up in Alexander’s bed, once again. My belly yelling at me. I sit upright quick. Poop, what happened? The memory of meeting Alexander coming back to me. I look around, phew, he isn’t here with me. That would be awkward. There is a tray of food on the desk. My stomach yelling again. Stupid insides. I get up and wash up in the bathroom. Then I tackle the food. I’ll never get through this without quieting the beast. I need all the concentration I can muster to convince everyone I’m not the person they think I am. 

     After I finish, I wash up again. I need to be at least presentable. I head to the parlor to see if I can find Alexander. As I walk my brain starts asking questions. What if this was all a dream? Maybe I still haven’t met him? What will I do if this is all my imagination? What if I’m still in the woods? I could have stumbled and hit my head. That would mean none of this is real. Oh I can only hope this is just a conjuring of my dying brain.

     All my hopes are squashed when I enter the parlor. He is over at the pool table, knocking the balls around. Poop. He looks up as I enter the room. Poop, it’s too late to escape. He smiles encouragingly at me, “how are you feeling?” He asks. “Better,” I reply. I feel really awkward being in the room alone with him. I don’t know where to put myself or how to start the conversation I know we need to have. 

     He motions me over to the table. “Do you play?” He asks casually. I shake my head. I have never played pool before. I didn’t dare touch any of this stuff without knowing what to do with it.

He smiles again and asks, “would you like to learn?” I’m taken by surprise. “Um, sure,” I say. He takes a  wooden, hollow triangle and gathers all of the different colored balls into it. All but the solid white ball. There is a black ball as well, this is in the center of the colored balls. He pulls the triangle up carefully, not moving a single ball. 

     He gets a stick and hands it to me.  The end of it is way above my head. He takes a bit of chalk and rubs the end of his stick and mine. I raise an eyebrow at this, so he says, “it’s so the tip of it doesn’t slide off the ball when you hit it.” Makes sense I guess? He pulls out a series of shelves from under the pool table, they look like small stairs. He takes my free hand, I feel an excitement at his touch, cool and soft. It feels so familiar, like I’ve felt it before.

     He leads me to the mini stairs and keeps a hold of my hand as I climb up. He props his stick against the table and positions himself behind me. He is so close, I can feel our clothing rubbing together. I suck in a breath as he wraps his arms around me. My body tightens in a way I’m not used to. My heart rate increases a little at this intimate contact. What is happening to me? He puts his hands on mine and guides my motions. I let out the breath I was holding slowly, trying to keep focused.

     His voice is gentle and soothing as he explains what we are doing. "You want the stick to glide across your fingers," he says as he places the small end of the stick over our hands. "You guide with the front hand and aim with the rear." He demonstrates the aiming and gliding. Our bodies touch here and there as he makes the movements. I'm starting to have difficulty swallowing. He shows me different ways of holding the stick with the front hand. "You can choose which way is more comfortable for you as you learn the rest." His voice has gotten huskier as we move against each other.

     He clears his throat before continuing. "The white ball is the only ball you hit with the tip of the stick. The other balls are moved around by hitting them with the white one. The objective is to get the balls into the pockets around the table." He almost seems to be rushing through this part. “When you are the first to go, it’s called a break. It’s important to try and move all of the balls on the first move.” He pauses. “Are you ready to try?”

     My throat and mouth are so dry, I don’t think I’ll be able to talk for a month. Instead, I just nod, trying to swallow. He leans in closer and whispers in my ear, “just relax and go with my movements.” I don’t know how I’ll manage that one but I try my best. He pulls the stick back and then quickly jabs it forward. The movement catches me off guard and when he pulls, I get crushed into him. I have never had this much of me touching someone else. Ever. My nerves are all going haywire at such an intimate contact.

     I watch from somewhere far away as the balls scatter across the table. I feel almost disconnected from my surroundings. All I can sense, is him. The way his arms are wrapped around me, I feel safe, but oddly energized. His smell, a mixture of honey and a cologne I don’t recognize, but I can’t get enough of it. His breath at my ear, making me wish he were kissing it. Time has slowed to a crawl as I realize I might be in trouble. 

     I get snapped back into reality as he steps away and clears his throat. I feel like I just lost a piece of myself. I almost wimper. Oh, no. What is wrong with me? I blush at the directions my thoughts were taking. I don’t dare to look at him, so instead, I just stare at the table. Half studying the new layout of the balls to try to get my hormones roped back in. When he speaks again, it startles me a little.

     His voice has an odd note to it as he says, “you got in 2 stripes and 1 solid.” He clears his throat again before resuming, “that means you should try to get the striped balls into the pockets.” He continues to explain the game as I half listen to terms like ‘scratch’ and ‘bank shot’. Once he is done telling me the basics, he shows me how to access mini stairs all around the table for any shot I might have.

     Now it’s my turn to try to get a ball into a pocket. I study the table and choose to move around to the side. I get myself positioned and hit the white ball with the stick. The ball I was aiming at almost goes in, stopping millimeters before the pocket. Poop. “I guess you’ll have to hit it a little harder next time,” he says to me softly, with a little chuckle. I glare at him, then stick my tounge out. He laughs heartily at me. “Lets see you do better,” I say annoyed. He gets a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he says, “okay.” 

     He proceeds to get all his balls in the pockets with just a few shots. Then gets the 8 ball, in the pocket he said out loud he’d get it into. Then just as casually, gets the rest of the striped balls in. I can only look on in amazement. How did he do that? He sees my expression and chuckles again. “Don’t worry, with practice, you’ll get better. Would you like to play again?” I shake my head no, still in awe of what he was able to do.

     He puts the sticks away against the wall, as I get down and push the steps in. Then he looks at me and asks, “are you ready to learn more about why all of this is for you?” I look at him a little panicked. He sees my expression and jumps right into reassuring me. “You don’t have to stay after learning everything, but I would be ultimately grateful if you'll at least find out what I already know.” The sincerity in his voice is comforting. I guess just learning some stuff can’t be all that bad. Right?

     “Okay,” I finally say. He nods and then walks over to the wall. He pushes on a section and it clicks and opens just like the hidden door upstairs. He motions for me to go in first. As I step through the door, I find myself in a massive library. Most of the books in here look hundreds of years old. There are a few chairs in a semicircle near a small table. There is a lamp between each chair. I walk over to the nearest bookcase. All of the books in front of me are in a different language. I have no idea which one.

     Alexander walks over to a bookshelf near the middle of the room and pulls off a few books. They are huge and old.  He brings them over to the table and sets them down gently. He made that look like they weighed nothing. “How much do you know of supernatural creatures?” That question catches me off guard. “Um, you mean like fairies and werewolves?” I ask, confused. He smiles as he answers, “yes, like fairies and werewolves.”

     I sit down on one of the chairs, before saying, “I suppose I know what most people know? I have read some fiction novels with those types of things in them. I might have heard a scary story or two.” I am fidgeting as I say this, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. “Why?” He looks at me with a strange look on his face. “Well,” he starts, then pauses for a second. “They are real. And what is in these books should prove it.”

     I start to giggle, quietly at first. The more I think of what he just said, the funnier I find it. I can’t help myself, soon I’m laughing so hard I’m almost crying. I finally look up at him. What I see in his eyes sobers me instantly. “What? You’re serious?” I say incredulously. “How naive do you think I am?” He gestures to the books. “If you’ll just read, you would understand.” He says. “Please, indulge me just this once?” He pleads when he sees I’m about to argue.

     I sigh and say, “fine.” I reach for the book on top and pick it up. Holy poop this is heavy. I have a hard time not dropping it. The binding has intricate artwork, looking worn, like it has been handled a lot. The title reads ‘Supernatural Creatures and Where You Can Find Them’. The paper looks strange and feels a little like silk. I have never come across a book like this before. As I look through it, I realize it goes in alphabetical order. Starting with abominable snowman and ending with zombie.

     It takes me several hours to get through the whole book. Alexander brought me a large bowl of fresh fruit once my stomach started to make noise. I ate it as I continued to read. By the time I am done, my legs have fallen asleep from the weight of the book. He sees me struggling to move around under the weight of it and lifts it easily off my lap. How does he make it look so effortless?

     “Any questions so far?” He asks. I think a few seconds. “Assuming all of these are real,” I say as I motion towards the book, “why is there so little information on unicorns?” I continue without waiting for a reply to my question. “It only says that you can’t find them because they are extinct. Why are they extinct?” I look at him curiously. He then mumbles something about unicorns as he goes to the far side of the library. 

     He opens a glass case with a pure white book in it. As he gets closer, the book almost seems to glow. He hands me the book. When I touch it, I get this strange sensation. A familiarity flows over me, but with an overlaying sadness. I look at him sharply. “It holds all the known history of unicorns.” He says, looking forlorn. I look down at the book I hold in my hands. 

     The binding feels like I’m touching the softest horse ever created. It gives me shivers, running my fingers over the cover. I almost feel like it’s a memory. I open the book. The pages are a pearlish color, they shimmer, even in the low light. The writing, an elegant, flowing script. It’s all so beautiful I just want to cry. I’m so taken in by the sight, it takes me a minute to finally focus enough to read. It doesn’t seem possible that what I find in the book, is history, not fiction.

     The Moon Goddess, Luna, had a human lover, Demetrius. He got turned into a vampire one night while she was resting. When she visited him the next night, he put a spell on her. What he didn’t realize, is being a goddess, his spell didn’t completely engulf her free will. He demanded she make him completely invincible. She could tell how black his heart had become, and she didn’t want to make the change permanent. 

     The only thing that came to mind, was to make a magical creature whose blood, when drank, could grant him this. With the binds of the spell and the pull of her pure heart, she created him a unicorn. He was furious with her when she presented her gift to him. She quickly explains her reasons to him when he grabs her hair and goes to bite her neck. 

     If she made him completely invincible, the gods and goddesses would trap him from jealousy. This way, yes his invincibility has a time limit, but a horse like creature is big enough to not drain by accident. It also has the benefit of immortality so it can be around forever. It will also satisfy his need for blood. Now he doesn’t have to waste time hunting for unwilling food. 

     He grudgingly accepts her gift but casts her aside. He had no use for her anymore. What neither of them realized is the power of the creature she created for him. He did realize that if word got out to other vampires that he had the key to fix a vampire's weaknesses, then he would be constantly fighting poachers. So he had a special stable made, just for his beloved unicorn. 

     Despite his best efforts to keep his gift a secret, word of this magnificent creature spread like wildfire. At first it was just curiosity seekers that tried to get a look at the unicorn. Over the years, curiosity turned to jealousy. It was eventually discovered, that unicorn blood is beneficial to all bloodbound supernatural creatures. 

     Creatures that use energy can feed off of a unicorns energy continually as long as they don’t take too much at a time. All parts of a unicorn can be used in spells, such as ground up unicorn hooves, blood, skin and even the horn. The unicorn horn is the most powerful spell ingredient, because it turns temporary spells into permanent ones. Fairies even used the hair to make ropes that couldn’t break. 

     Soon, all the country, humans as well as supernatural beings, were trying to take the unicorn for themselves. Some had good intentions, while others just wanted it for greed. What no one knew, was the moon goddess gave the unicorn a brain that could process situations and make rational decisions and an instinct for staying alive. She didn’t want her precious creation to be used carelessly.

     Eventually, a mob formed to take the unicorn by force. Demetrius realized he couldn’t fight all of them off, so before they could completely surround his place, he let the unicorn go. Then prepared to fight as many of them as possible to give his precious gift more time to get away. Without the unicorn nearby, he couldn’t borrow it’s magic to help him fight. 

     He soon got overwhelmed with the massive amount of humans and supernatural creatures. They set fire to the stable while he was distracted fighting a group of powerful vampires. They captured him but he was still under the effects of the unicorn’s blood so they couldn’t kill him yet. He was imprisoned for a week, then tied to a stake, near dawn. When the sunlight caressed his body, he burned up until he was nothing but ashes. 

     No one that was left knew what had happened to the unicorn. They had searched the ashes of the stable, but found no trace of the majestic beast. Demetrius refused to say what had happened with the unicorn, determined to take his secret with him. They searched and searched for years before someone finally saw the unicorn.

     Fortunately for the unicorn, no one could keep sight of it for long, no tracks could be found to follow. It was reported that fairies were helping it stay hidden, but no fairy would ever admit to even seeing the unicorn. After hundreds of years passed, along came Galigus. He was born of a vampire father and witch mother. He had powers almost equal to the moon goddess. He had heard of the legend of the unicorn as a child and devoted his time to researching the fabled beast. 

     He not only found the unicorn, he was also able to trap it magically. He performed all kinds of inhumane experiments on the unicorn to find out the limits of its power and abilities. All the experiments done to it, and their results, were listed in the book. Looking at all the gruesome and horrific experiments made Isabelle start to cry. She wasn’t even aware of the tears flowing out of her eyes.

     The door to the library suddenly opens with a loud bang, startling both occupants. In bounds a tall, muscular young man with boyish features. He is already talking excitedly before the sound of the door jumps them. “I heard we have found her. Where is she? I'm so excited!” He is talking so fast all of his words are running together. He stops talking and moving into the room as soon as he sees Isabelle. His jaw drops and his eyes sparkle even more than they did before. 

     He runs over to Isabelle and scoops her into a bear hug as he twirls around with her before anyone can react to his entrance. “Oh my god I can’t believe he found you! This is the best day ever!” He inhales between his words finally and continues “oh, you smell so good. Like the cupcakes my mom makes for me on my birthday.”

     “Quintin!” Alexander says sharply. Quintin stops and looks down at Isabelle’s terrified expression and puts her down quickly. “I am so sorry Milady! Please forgive me! I just got super excited when I found out you were here!” He gets down on one knee and bows his head as he says this. “Quintin, she doesn’t believe she is the one yet. I am showing her the books now so she can read for herself.” Alexander tells him.

     Quintin jumps to his feet and starts rambling again. “I’ll leave you to it, no one can concentrate with me around. I’ll be running laps around the mansion to burn off this energy. I’m so excited!” Before he is done talking, he has already run out the door. Isabelle just stares at the door he just came in then out of. Alexander takes in Isabelle’s shocked expression and takes her hand in his. “Please excuse Quintin. He is still young and has a hard time containing his emotions. As you can probably tell, your arrival has caused a lot of excitement.”

     Isabelle turns her face towards Alexander as he is speaking. Then turns her head slowly back to the door. Eyes still wide with shock. “Is he always like that?” She whispers, as if talking to herself. Alexander smiles at her gently and says, “well, no. He is usually very energetic but I have never seen him this hyper. Shall we get back to reading? Or would you like a break?” 

     She looks thoughtful for a few seconds before replying, “I think I’d like to continue.” Then sits back down as Alexander closes the library door. Isabella picks the book up off the floor where it had landed when she got bear hugged. Then she flips through the book, skipping the horrific experiments done to that poor creature. Reading them felt like hell, as if she was experiencing everything that was being chronicalized on the pages. It isn’t something she wants to repeat. 

     The Moon Goddess couldn’t find her beloved creation. When Galigus magically trapped the unicorn, it made the creature impossible to find through any type of magical detection. She looked everywhere. Following every lead, asking the good intentioned supernatural creatures to help her, it still took several years before she could finally locate the unicorn. 

     The Moon Goddess knew Galigus was very powerful, word had spread quickly about his abilities. She knew she would need help in fighting him. All kinds of creatures wanted to help get the unicorn. Most had good intentions but some did not. The Moon Goddess didn’t care about their reasons for helping, she was just grateful to have a small army by her side to fight Galigus. 

     What nobody expected, is the amount of unicorn enhanced magic protecting the area around his imprisoned beast. Most of the protective magic the Moon Goddess put onto the group was gone by the time they reached the building where the unicorn was being held. The battle against Galigus was long and brutal. Seventy nine percent of her army perished. The mortal body of the Moon Goddess didn’t come out unscathed, but Galigus eventually wore out enough for her to send him to meet Hades.

     When the unicorn was eventually reached, the Moon Goddess cried at the sight of her beloved creation. There were deep scars all over the unicorns flesh. The hair had been shaved short. The horn was cut off about an inch from the head. Both front hooves were completely removed. It was missing an eye, both ears, several teeth, and a section of its tongue. She couldn’t even imagine the torture her unicorn went through.

     Once the creature was unshackled, the Moon Goddess went right to work to ease its pain. She sent the spirit of the unicorn to her realm for safekeeping. Then she used the last of the magic stored up in her mortal body to transform the rest of the unicorn into a book. She didn’t want the history of her creation to be lost to time. 

     She vowed to the rest of the supernatural creatures alive after the battle, that the unicorn will come to them in the future. She would rule over them as their queen. Peace and prosperity for a thousand years will beset all who follow her reign. With the last of her words still in the air, the Moon Goddess’s mortal body disintegrated into dust. 

     Isabelle looks up from her reading, eyes wide with wonder. “Is this the book mentioned?” She says, gesturing to the book in her hands. It seemed a little weird that the history in the book included its own creation. Alexander looks at her with a somber expression and replies, “Yes, the cover is made from the skin, the pages from the hooves, a rib for the binding. Written in the blood of the unicorn. Hair is used for the stitching holding it all together.” 

     He points to the book, “the next part is a lot more recent. I think you might find it quite familiar.” Isabelle looks back down to the book and turns the page. What she reads on the next pages completely astonishes her. She rereads them several times to make sure she is not imagining the words on the pages.

     According to what is written, a child will be born on July ninth, on a year ending in seventy nine and at a time of one minute past midnight. This child will be pure in soul, but weak in body. There will be no cure for what ails the child. The spirit of the unicorn will enter this child on the eve of her fifth birthday. From there the child will never have another ailment. Most will be jealous of the purity of the soul within the child, but another pure soul will protect her. 

     Isabelle recalls different memories as she reads, the text is generalized to a point, but she still sees her life written in the words. How can this be? It is not possible for her to be the one. As she reads to the end of the book again, more words start to write themselves. Isabelle stares at the new forming words in horror. 

The chosen one will seal her fate by saving the life of the king of creatures. Once this is done, no one can change the course of events to any other outcome. Peace will reign for a century soon after she ascends the throne.

     “How is this possible?” She whispers. Looking up at Alexander with total disbelief at what she just witnessed. He looks at the book and the new passage written. “Well.” He says, “it looks like the book just told us the future. I didn’t know it could do that.” He looks genuinely surprised and completely serious as he says this. Isabelle starts to shake her head emphatically. “No. This just isn’t possible.” She has a hint of desperation in her voice. “You’re playing some sort of trick on me.”

     She jumps up from the chair, dropping the book to the floor. “I need a break from this,” she said quickly as she runs to the door. She starts to get panicky when she can’t open it. Alexander calmly strolls over and opens the door for her. She rushes through the parlor, to the foyer. She isn’t sure where to go from here so she heads for the front door. Her brain, working on overtime, trying to process everything.

     I just need some air. Yes, fresh air. That will clear all this fantasy out and bring me back to reality. None of this can be true. It just can’t be. As she runs out the door, she bounces off a solid wall and ends up on her butt. “Oof,” comes out of her mouth as she lands on the porch. “Oh my goodness! I am so sorry! Are you okay?” The wall happened to be Quintin and he is now trying his best to apologize. He reaches down and pulls her up by her hand until she is standing on her feet again. 

     “That was my fault Quintin,” Isabelle says when her brain catches up with what just happened. “I didn’t look as I was coming out of the door.” Quintin adds quickly, “are you sure you're okay? I can get Matilda if you think something is broken. Oh everyone would kill me if I hurt you!” Isabelle chuckles at Quintin. “No, I didn’t break anything. I don’t need Matilda.” She looks thoughtful as an idea crosses her mind. “Would you like to take a walk with me? I’d like to wander for a bit but I don’t want to get lost.”

     “I would love to walk with you! But I’m afraid I’ll annoy you with my constant chatter. I am already on thin ice with my pack. If I mess this up I’ll get kicked out! I can’t be a lone wolf. The shame would be the end of me.” As he talks, his voice starts to change. By the end he is whining like a chastised puppy. Isabelle shakes her head at him as his voice changes. “As long as you don’t mind that I’m not paying attention to what you’re saying.”

     At his curious look, she explains. “I need some time to process everything. I need you with me to make sure I can make it back here safe when I’m ready.” She pauses then adds, “I probably won’t even know you’re there, talking or not.” She tries to smile convincingly so he won’t feel hurt by what she says. He seems to think about it quickly, given the flash of emotions across his face. He smiles after a few seconds and then says, “OK!” She replies, “great”. As she smiles genuinely at him. 

     She turns around quickly and starts marching off in a random direction. The movement startles Quintin as he stands there and watches her walk away for a few seconds. Then he shakes himself out of his stupor and hurries after her. By the time he reaches her to walk with her, she is already off into her own thoughts and doesn’t hear a word he says. 

     After a little bit of aimless wandering, Quintin stops talking and watches Isabelle. She really is so deep in thought that she doesn’t actually see where she is going. Her hand only comes up to push branches away when she walks past them and they touch her face. She kind of looks like a fawn, stumbling through the woods. Awkward and adorable at the same time. 

     Isabelle surprises Quintin by suddenly stopping to say, “Quintin, when you were talking earlier to me on the porch, I thought I heard you say ‘lone wolf’ and ‘pack’. Does that mean you are a werewolf?” Her question catches him off guard. “Umm, yes?” He answers, not understanding her unexpected questioning. She raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you one or not? It shouldn’t be a question,” she admonishes him. He answers cautiously, “yes, I am a werewolf.” 

     She gives him a pensive look before asking, “can you show me?” Quintin jumps back in surprize. “I.. but.. um.. why?” He stutters as he dances from foot to foot like he has to pee. The sight of him being so nervous makes her chuckle a little as she starts to explain. “Before today, I didn’t know supernatural creatures actually existed. They were just fantasy. I am still having a hard time believing it to be true.”

     She looks at him imploringly, with big innocent eyes. “If you show me, I will believe it to be truth.” She pauses for effect. “But if you won’t or can’t, I will believe it to be lies.” He looks at her with a shocked, wide eyed look. He whispers just barely loud enough for her to hear, “but if I change, I won’t be able to change back.” She replies, “and why is that exactly?” Quintin blushes so bad his neck turns beet red. He now refuses to look at Isabelle. “It’s because I’ll be naked,” he whispers even quieter.

     “Oh, well then don’t change back. Stay a wolf.” Isabelle suggests as her cheeks turn pink. “Well, maybe.” Quintin says as he contemplates her words. He sits down on a rock with a big sigh. “It’s just that.” He pauses, contemplating on revealing what happened to him recently. “I had a human girlfriend about a year ago. It didn’t work out so well.” His shoulders slump as he remembers what happened. “We had been dating about 8 months and we were really connected. Like, I thought we were soulmates, connected.”

     Isabelle sits next to him as he continues. “One day, as we were taking a stroll, I thought I would reveal my true nature to her. She kept telling me that nothing could change her feelings about me.” He looks up to the sky and takes a deep, steadying breath before continuing. “I tried to prepare her before I changed, even reassuring her that what she was going to see is still me.” As he twists his hands nervously, Isabelle puts her tiny hand over his, “What happened Quintin.”

     He takes another huge breath and releases it slowly before continuing, “After I changed and she turned around…..she freaked out.” Isabelle takes a breath to say something but Quintin interrupts her. “No, you don’t understand.” He jumps up and starts to pace, “She literally lost her mind. She is still in the special hospital for insane people.” He drops his head in shame as he whispers, “It’s all my fault”, as tears run down his face.

     Isabelle walks over to him and places her hand on his arm. “It’s not your fault, Quintin. There was no way of knowing she would react like that.” He looks at her with red, tear filled eyes. “Everyone has already said that. It doesn’t help me get rid of this guilt. I believe with all my heart that it’s my fault and there is nothing I can do about it now. That is why I can’t change for you, I wouldn’t be able to live anymore if it happened again.” 

     Isabelle looks straight into his eyes. “I am not her.” She starts to say when Quintin interrupts with “but”. Isabelle immediately puts her hand up to stop him. “Just hear me out.” She says. “Now, I realize I have been quite adamant that I am not the queen you guys have been looking for. I am still not certain that I am. But if I am the person you say I am, I won’t freak out when you change. If I lose my mind, it will prove beyond a doubt, that I am not.”

     Quintin takes a minute to process what Isabelle said. Before he comes up with an argument, she says, “If you believe with all your heart that I am your queen, then you will show me. If you have any doubts. Any whatsoever. Don’t show me.” She pauses for a second before continuing, “I will turn around and rest over on this rock. The next step is up to you. I will wait for you to come around in front of me, if you are human, I will know that I’m not the one.”

     Isabelle walks over to a nearby rock and sits down. She waits patiently for Quintin to decide what to do. After a few minutes, she hears some strange rustling and some popping sounds. Then eerie silence. She barely hears the footsteps as she catches a glimpse of dark brown and blonde fur. Her breath catches as Quintin comes into full view. Her eyes go wide with astonishment as she sees the whole wolf for the first time. “Oh, you’re so beautiful!” she exclaims. 

     Quintin is so taken aback by her reaction, he actually looks comical. Isabelle starts laughing at him. “If only you could see your face!” She says as she laughs so hard her stomach hurts. That leads to him looking wounded to the core, which makes her laugh harder. By now she is on her hands and knees, holding her tummy as tears stream down her face. The more wounded he looks, the harder she laughs. 

     When she finally stops laughing and wipes her face, he asks “Are you finished?” She answers, “yes.” Quintin instantly looks astounded, causing another round of laughter. The annoyed look that follows makes it worse and she starts begging him to stop making faces. She again gets herself under control enough to ask, “Why do you keep looking surprised?” He looks straight into her eyes as he answers honestly, “Because you can understand me in this form. Most humans can’t.” It’s now her turn to look surprised, “really?”

     As he nods his head, she begins to understand the significance of what has just transpired. Before she can start asking him all the questions that are now flooding her mind, Quintin’s gaze sharpens as he whips his head towards where they came from. Alarmed, Isabelle asks, “what is it? What’s wrong?” Quintin says “Shhh,” as his ears twitch back and forth like a satellite dish trying to pick up a channel. 

     “Grab onto my fur and grip with your knees,” Quintin tells Isabelle as he sits in front of her. “We need to get back now.” Isabelle just looks at him questioningly and repeats herself, “What’s wrong?” Quintin frowns at her, “just follow my instructions and I’ll explain on the way.” As Isabelle reaches out and grabs two fistfulls of fur, Quintin stands up and her legs tighten across his ribs. 

     He starts off at a trot just to make sure she is secure enough to not fall off as he tells her that he heard sounds of a battle. Before she can ask any questions, he takes off like a lightning bolt. She hangs on for dear life as Quintin speeds through the woods, darting around trees. Within minutes, he stops dead in his tracks at the edge of the clearing, almost throwing Isabelle over his head. 

     The battle that is unfolding in front of them is like nothing Isabelle has seen before. Her eyes are immediately drawn to Alexander, who is battling with the biggest werewolf she has ever seen. “Take me over there NOW!” She commands Quintin. Her heart is racing as he bolts towards the one person she now feels like she can’t live without.