Norse Wolf Rising Rosie Chelsea-Black

7

"Ouch" The palm of my hand hurt, the burning sensation must have been the reason I woke up with a start. Sitting up, my eyes search my surrounds. Nose flares open but the pain in my hand begins to distract me for a few seconds. The scents I can smell are usual for the Bayou however they are not as intense as usual. It is then I see the crystal blue eyes staring at me with concern. She lowers her snout to lick the palm with the burning sensations. My head lowers to allow my eyes to follow her actions. It is then I see the mark I thought I would never see again. The image is of a wolf howling but the intricate design is Celtic with strange symbols surrounding it. Yet in the centre of the wolf is a script I recognize, 'ᚠᛖᚾᚱᛁᚱ'. Running the tip of her tongue over the script she whines while her body shudders.

As my mind is trying to process the current situation, my body is feeling loss and my soul feels as if I have died. My left arm reaches out towards her, sinking my hand into her fur, loving the softness of her black fur. Ástríðr's fur is tough but still feels as soft as silk. It is then the memory of the little girl stroking my hair flashes before my eyes and I withdraw my hand from her fur. Snapping at me with anger in her eyes, she positions her body next to me. Using her snout to throw my hand in the air, I can't help but laugh. Nanuq and Nuka do this when they demand attention. Stroking her fur, now I know I have permission, I sit there trying to process but it is obvious with the tension still lingering in the air, time is not going to allow this to happen.

"I am sorry for the urgency of this separation my dear girl." Snapping my head to look at her, my body scurries away as if I have just witnessed the murder of a family member and need to get away from the murderer. The sadness in Ástríðr's eyes broke my heart, it was then I realized my reaction was stupid, this wolf would never harm me.

"I'm sorry Tri." Using her nick-name was the right move, her eyes changed from sadness to glittering with happiness. "All of this is overwhelming, just a stupid human reaction. Of course I am used to wolves talking to me on a daily basis while they stand in front of me." Thankfully the sarcastic humour is not lost on her, she yips her joy before licking the length of my face. Thank goodness she forgives me.

"What does this mean Tri?" holding my hand for her to see the mark she snarls then lowers her body onto the ground, where she lays on her belly with her front paws stretched out in front of herself and her ears stand erect and coned making sure she is able to hear any change in the sounds of nature surrounding us. Her eyes glare with hatred at the palm of my hand she and begins her story. Oh I should explain, one of the reasons for my freak out, she is talking with a human voice. Yes human voice, so picture this, I have a black wolf sitting across from me moving her snout but a human voice is leaving that snout ... NOT a howl or a growl, a human female voice. The voice sounds as sweet as sugar, my ears are seduced while my mind is tormented by trying to process this phenomenon before me.

"That is the mark of a wolf I never thought to see, hear or know of again. Baby," she uses the nickname my father used when I was about to emotional jump off a cliff so I knew this couldn't be good. "This is the mark of your destiny. Now do not ask questions you know you are not ready to hear the answers to." My mouth opens to argue but she shuts me down with a dominance I didn't know she had. "YOU. WILL. OBEY. AND .LISTEN!" The snarl followed, a snarl I NEVER thought would be directed at me. My body is more scared than I thought, I felt the liquid leave my lower body, man that is embarrassing.

"I apologise Ástríðr." Hanging my head in shame, drawing in long deep breaths my body, mind and soul do the best they can to centre themselves. Allowing the beautiful nature surrounding us to calm me my head finally rises to allow our eyes to hold onto each other.

"Forgiven." Nodding her head indicating everything is forgotten she continues to give me as much information as she can. "That is the beginning of the end. It is the symbol of a great wolf OR an evil wolf, depending on your point of view. His name is written in the centre of the image which will eventually lead to a binding rune. I will not speak his name. When we are joined I will not think his name so do not question me about his name or even who he is." She draws in her own breath, I can see the anger and hatred within her blue eyes. Blue eyes that are no longer sparkling or the shade of a Mediterranean sea. Instead the blue is as dark as the night sky with dots of white that look like stars. The fur on her back, the hackles, are rising to look like a mohawk. She doesn't hide her emotions. Obviously I am going to have to read between the lines for some of this story.

"The words the male uttered to you are ancient Norse, Elder Futhark is the correct terminology. It is the first language of the Ancient Norsemen and gods. That male is a wolf." Her head shakes as if she knows the words on the tip of my tongue. "He is not a shifter, the Norse wolves are not shifters. Their lineage determines whether they are demi or full gods. But Norse they are. That is all I am willing to say, just know he is bad news and he wants YOU Rosie. You and I are one we have been over the centuries. I am not just a wolf that you inherited, I am YOU. I have finally found the human body I was meant to connect with but sadly your grandmother banished me." The pitiful sound leaving her mouth reminded me of a pup crying in pain after being nipped by her parent. "I know this is a mystery you wish to solve. One day you will my girl but for now understand this. Those Norse wolves travel in packs, they are chaos. They are the reason for all the wars, murders, thefts. Anything evil in this world ..... they created it. They seduced the human they control to cause the chaos for the human world to see. They don't even hide in the shadows, they roam the world for all to see."

Unable to keep myself sat upright, my body falls for me to land on my back. Eyes regarding the night sky, my lungs draw in a long breath. I hold the breath for the count of ten then release, this is repeated a few times before I allow my big girl panties to take over. Rolling onto my side, arm is bent so that my head rests on the injured palm. "Trust is something we have built between us, I trust everything you say. You know it will be even harder for me to not ask questions, it is not in my nature to enter into a situation blind Tri." Our eyes hold each other while emotions are shared through body and facial expressions. There is a fire in her eyes that seems to grow stronger with each second that passes.

"These men are taking the children, who DO resemble you my girl. Do not deny it any longer for this is partly why they are able to continue on their quest. You will find these girls, but know they are torturing and killing girls with your likeness as a way to bring you into the fold. This is only the start of what is to come. Now we are bound together, they are not only jumping for joy but they are playing with you. They want you to join their pack. THAT is all I will tell you, the rest is to come when the goddess is ready for you to know."

There is no time for me to ask or say anything because she has vanished in a blink of an eye. Unable to comprehend the speed of her disappearance I feel her within me, settling down in the corner of my soul she has adopted. I can feel her shuddering with tears. The loss flowing through my soul is one of a mother losing her child to something she was unable to stop. This is not how I saw our conversation going, the way she re-joined with me was underwhelming yet I am grateful it was that simple.

"I am sorry for the reason you are crying Tri. I will take this more seriously, when we return home I will talk with Jeremy, this is not just two cases as I was trying to make it. We will get on top of this I promise"

******

The ground pounding under my paws, the air betraying her location and my heart beating faster than a sports car. All indicators of a great hunt, she thinks she is clever changing direction with each kilometre she runs, has she forgotten our eye sight is nothing but perfection, the tip of her perfect white tail guides me like the north star guides the sailors on the sea. The perfume that is her scent is as intoxicating as the mead we drink back home. My body comes alive when this white wolf is in my presence, not only does this dead heart beat hard and loud but it beats stronger than Mjölnir when Thor throws it hard onto the ground when angry.

This wolf is the love of my life, there is no way she is going to escape my clutches. The b***h cast a spell over me so she will suffer the consequences before my brothers discover the change. If they discover this change they will either kill me or kill us both, either way she has doomed us to a life together.

"Stop now wench, you will be mine tonight and accept it!"

Her body is strumming for mine, I can taste it, hear it and feel it. She sings for me to claim that luscious body.

"Baby, you couldn't handle me if you caught me" It's those eyes that pulls me short. The predatory growl is heard from here to Asgard, she is MINE.

Turning her head from me, she runs deeper into the Carpathian Mountains where she is obviously hoping to loose me. I know her game, it's the same that every bloody female likes to play....... hard to get. She just forgets I already have her.

There is water ahead where I know she is going to slow her paws in order to drink from the water, that is where I am going to take her as mine. Her head lowers, the succulent tongue delicately licks the glistening water, droplets falling from her mouth as she drinks with a regal manner becoming of her. She is after all a princess in her pack. The moment she steps away from the pool of water she senses me behind her. Growling I pounce and sink my teeth into the back of her neck, lock my jaw and roll us a few times until her struggling has ended. Her submission is my reward and I will TAKE it.

"AHHHHH what the f**k!" Waking up my body is sweating and thrumming, my mouth tastes of blood mixed with fur. The organ known as a heart is beating too rapidly considering I have just slept eight hours. Resting my left hand over my heart I slowly draw in deep breaths to try and calm myself. Processing the dream, I hope it was a dream, with the way my body and senses are acting it feels as if it was me running in the forest trying to hide from the black wolf. With my left hand over my heart, my mind sorting things out and my lungs carefully drawing in air, my right hand reaches behind me and rests on my neck. My finger tips carefully touch on my flesh searching for any puncture marks, dry blood, anything to tell me if I was in the forest and bitten by another wolf. Thankfully nothing. That was one hell of a dream, or was it a desire of mine manifesting in a dream?

Reaching into the bedside table my fingers search for the notebook and pen. Once found I rest against the headboard of my bed and write this dream in my journal. Ever since the first strange dream I had as a kid, I have been keeping a dream journal in the hopes of finding answers one day. Since nanny's death my dreams have not only been vivid but extremely realistic, realistic enough for my body to take on the reactions when I first wake.