The Reincarnated Wolf

My New Life

[EMELDA POV]

I wanted to argue. I wanted to protest them cutting off my hair. I’d always hated how thin and frail my hair was. Now that I had thick beautiful hair, I didn’t want them to cut it all off. But it is hair. It will grow back. And they were right. It is safer to travel as a male in this messed-up world.

“Wolves can tell a shewolf by their smell though,” I mentioned.

“We are sea fae. Our sense of smell is also incredibly strong. We can smell fish deep in the ocean from the boat here,” Adam said.

Sea Fae? I didn’t know what that meant.

“Your scent is perplexing kid. You smell like your surroundings. It’s like you don’t have a scent at all,” the man at the bow explained.

“Oh.” was my intelligent response.

I didn’t notice Adam disappear back into the boat’s cabin until he returned to the deck. He was holding a few rolls of bandage wrap. He awkwardly glanced away from me. He looked ashamed to meet my gaze.

“You should probably…um…wrap…your…” He cutely stuttered while holding the rolls out to me. I blushed, realizing what he was suggesting.

I nodded and ran into the cabin to bind my chest as best as I could. Luckily, this shirt was baggy enough to hide the small wrinkles of the bandaging. I noticed a small mirror on the wall near a table in the cabin. I gasped at the reflection.

My face was the same. I looked like me, but at the same time, I looked very different. My eyes were indeed a dark crimson…almost maroon. Like that wolf. I thought. My hair had been cut into a shaggy boyish cut. It wasn’t the best cut, but it would pass. My hair was so white. Like that wolf. I thought again. But where was that wolf?

I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk to that wolf again anyway. If they were devouring my soul or body or whatever, I couldn’t tell. I felt better than I ever have physically. I actually felt like walking wasn’t exhausting. I stared at myself longer.

I could pass as a young teenage boy, maybe. Maybe thirteen. That would give me a few years, maybe. My voice already sounded raspy from the saltwater. Hopefully, I can keep this up. I’d need to remind myself to move more like a boy not like a dainty girl raised as royalty. I let out a hard sigh before heading back up to the deck of the boat.

“You’ve gone from princess to obnoxious preteen boy,” the man at the bow teased.

“You’ll need a new name kid,” the man steering said.

“What about Ren?” Adam blurted out.

“Ren? Like your dog?” The man at the bow laughed.

“He’s named after my gran. Renee, it means reborn.” Adam explained himself.

“To name a werewolf after your pet dog is bold,” The man at the bow said through his laughter.

“Ren. I like that name,” I said calmly.

The three men looked at me with surprised looks, then laughed. They went back to doing their boat duties, I think. The banter between the three of them made my heart feel so empty. Do I have a heart?

I placed my hand on my chest and barely felt a rhythmic thump. It didn’t feel right. It felt feint. Maybe it’s because my life is being consumed by that scary wolf spirit. I mean I’d been brought back from death. I saw my heart literally outside my body before everything went dark. Yet here I am in a boat with three good Samaritans.

I watched the three of them move with practiced ease. They looked so happy and content with their lives. I wish I could have that, but I will never have another moment of peace again.

“We’re getting ready to dock.” Adam’s gentle voice interrupted my internal sulking. I didn’t even notice how close we were to shore.

“Oh. What do you need me to do?” I asked, standing up. I wanted to offer my help.

“Stay out of the way while we tie up the boat,” the man from the bow of the boat said. He was a bit blunt, but at the same time he was funny.

All I could do was sit patiently until they gave me the go ahead to dismount. Adam served as my guide to the royal pack’s building. He held my hand firmly, and I wanted to protest at first. However, the port was crowded and full of stalls selling all sorts of food and things. His hand was a lifeline, helping me weave through the mass of people. I’d never experienced this number of people crammed into an area like this.

Luckily, the building was close to the docks. It was unassuming and matched the same costal architecture as the surrounding buildings. Only the small symbol of the royal wolf pack indicated we were in the right place.

“I can’t go in there with you,” Adam said when we stopped. I looked at him nervously. I assumed he wouldn’t be able to join me, but I still didn’t want him to leave. He was someone with a naturally reassuring presence.

“Do you think I’ll ever see you again?” I asked him.

“I sure hope so,” Adam said with a sad smile. Then he continued. “Ren, if you put a shell to your ear, you can hear the ocean.”

“Yeah, yeah, my dad used to tell me that when I was little,” I teased.

“Well, what you may not know is that if you whisper into a seashell the ocean will hear you.” He said, then placed a small shell into my palm.

The shell was a beautiful pale peach color. It was smooth and barely a few inches long. I smiled at him, unsure of what he meant, but I appreciated the gift.

“So, if I whisper in this will you be there to listen?” I asked with a soft laugh.

Adam smiled mischievously and nodded. His eyes were shining, or maybe it was how bright the daylight was. He gave me a brief hug before motioning towards the entry to the building. I took a deep breath then exhaled before entering.

[REN POV]

The inside of the building was almost bare. It looked abandoned. Just a lonely foldable table sat at the back of the room with some pamphlets piled on it. I moved cautiously to the table. I wasn’t too confused that there weren’t a bunch of people around, considering wolves are nocturnal, and it is the middle of the day. But, I was surprised there wasn’t at least a security person, or secretary, maybe.

As I reached the table, I was amused to see a handwritten message scribbled on a piece of paper.

“Be back at 6.” I read the note out loud.

A clock on one of the barren walls reads just pass 10. Looks like I will be waiting. The room had no chairs or seating of any kind. There were only two doors in the large room. There were no windows. The front door that I entered from and a locked door under the random clock. Yes, I did check to see if I could open it. Probably a dumb thing to do, but I wanted to find somewhere to sit or something to do.

For some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep. I’d found a spot to sit on the floor with my back against the wall. I was next to the entry in case I needed to leave. I thought maybe getting some sleep would help time pass, but my mind wouldn’t let me. The room was becoming more annoying than the abyss of death.

At least when I was dead there wasn’t the annoying ticking sound from the clock. The lights weren’t too bright, thankfully, but they did produce a constant buzzing noise. I decided to spend my hours waiting to rehearse my story.

My three rescuers helped me come up with a believable tale to weave. For the past three decades there have been territory disputes between packs all over. There have also been wars between different species that have ransacked a lot of pack lands in Era, a country on the other side of the ocean entirely. The wolves there are more mysterious since they’re from so far away. However, due to wars and land disputes, the sea fae have seen an influx of refugees from Era, and not just the wolf kind.

My story would be that I was part of a small tribe deep in the vast forest that covers Era. The forest there is apparently teeming with magic. This could help explain my odd hair and eye coloring, since red eyes are usually an indicator of a rogue wolf. Luckily, my eyes look nothing like the red of a rogue’s eyes. They have no iris, no pupils, just red spheres.

I would say that my pack was attacked when I was young, so I don’t have a lot of memories of my tribe. This would keep me from having to come up with the name of my pack, or what the land was like, things like that. After the attack, I was transferred around by the trade. It is common for orphans to be traded among different professions and people to work for them.

Adam suggested I emphasize being in a trade I was already familiar with. I was embarrassed to admit that most of the trades I learned weren’t common for orphaned pups. After going over a few trades that I have learned over my life, the trio agreed on my foraging knowledge. It was true that I’d followed the pack herbalist and healer around like I was her shadow. Adam even said that knowing a few random trades would help me convince them I’d been traded multiple times.

As to how I got here to the mainland of Devos, I would explain that I was recently traded to a fishing crew. Due to my lack of ability to catch on to fishing, they brought me to land and cut their losses. It seemed believable…enough…maybe…