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Don’t. That feeling was immediately followed up by a vision of both wolves stretched across Bel’s living room floor as rugs.
“You’re not funny,” Bel said. Ozzie cawed loudly and to Bel, it sounded like a laugh. Yes, he was sure Ozzie thought he was quite amusing. “Behave, or I’ll send you to check on Rafe.”
Ozzie cawed again and Bel was hit with a slightly distorted image of Rafe wildly waving a sword in Ozzie’s direction while shouting nonsense sounds. The meaning was clear—Ozzie took great joy in driving Rafe crazy. Sending him back to Bel’s twin was not a threat.
“Behave all the same. I want them gone. Not hurt,” Bel grumbled.
Ozzie shared nothing more than wry amusement, as if he were humoring Bel. That was just lovely. Bel sighed and continued to slowly pick his way through the undergrowth. Dead and frozen leaves crunched under his feet and a bitter, cold wind swept between the trees. The woods were silent except for him, but he could feel the other animals watching him, questioning what he was doing out there in the darkness. Crazy human.
Bel couldn’t disagree with them.
But he wasn’t stupid. Halfway to where he could sense the wolves pacing, he reached out with his powers and called over a couple of bobcats on the prowl for their dinner. Cats were complicated for an entirely different reason, and he wasn’t a fan of using them if he had other choices. Cats were too independent.
Most of his commands were actually requests, and many animals were content to follow them. Cats, on the other hand, too often decided they didn’t care what he wanted. He had to bear down with his stronger will to make them follow, and Bel never felt good about that.
However, tonight he was willing to try it with these wolves. He needed something that could hold the large creatures at bay if he happened to be misreading them. If he were lucky, the bobcats wouldn’t be needed, and he’d be able to convince the wolves to move on peacefully.
Ozzie cried out suddenly and launched himself off Bel’s shoulder. There was a feeling of disgust around the image of a bobcat. The pair of cats had moved in closer to Bel, and Ozzie had finally noticed them. The raven flew ahead and selected a high perch from where he could safely watch the action.
Always nice to have an audience.
With his hands tucked into the deep pockets of his coat, Bel stepped cautiously into a small clearing. The wolves were there, hidden among the trees and deeper shadows. They were watching him. He was sure they were also aware of the cats, but Bel was keeping them back, away from the clearing. They were not meant as a threat. Just a warning that Bel was not an easy target.
“We need to talk,” Bel said firmly, trying very hard not to feel utterly ridiculous. It wasn’t like the wolves were going to be able to clearly articulate why they were sticking close to him. And he wasn’t going to be able to explain why he wanted them to leave. He just hoped they could reach some kind of understanding so they could move on.
Since stepping into the clearing, he’d gotten feelings of cautious hope and relief, but the fear had not left or eased. In fact, Bel was fairly certain that the fear they were feeling had nothing to do with him.
There was a soft rustling, and the larger of the two wolves stepped beyond the trees and into the clearing. His fur was completely black except for the fat flakes that were spotting him and slowly melting. He was enormous. Possibly even bigger than when Bel had seen him a couple of months ago. Maybe his winter coat had come in.
He remained on the far side of the clearing, his head down but his nearly black eyes pinned on Bel. Seconds later, the other wolf emerged. He was smaller in height and girth, but still an impressive creature with white-and-gray fur. The second wolf hung back, just behind the larger wolf’s shoulder, but his body pressed close.
Bel stared at them, trying to sort through the barrage of images and emotions coming off them, but not much of it was making sense. The whole thing didn’t make sense. He’d spoken to and used wolves on several occasions in the past. They were intelligent creatures but always easy to understand. This…this was almost like chaos.
“Look,” Bel started, forcing his voice to remain hard, “I know you had an arrangement with that other vampire, but you’re free now. You don’t need to stay with me. You can seek out your own kind.” While he spoke, he sent the wolves mental images of running free with other wolves.
The black wolf looked over its shoulder at its companion before turning to Bel. Tension pulled tight in the silence, and Bel clenched his teeth to keep from speaking. He had to give them a chance to understand they were free. He had nothing to offer them.
