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‘I feel privileged,’ I admitted. ‘I came here to apologise and came away with something else entirely. But Iamsorry.’
The female dryad waved away my apology. ‘It is done. The elder tree sees no insult from you.’
I pointed to the sapling on the ground a few feet away. ‘I brought you an apology tree.’
The female smiled. ‘We will take care of her.’
‘I will speak with the wolves and make sure that no further infractions occur. If one of my wolves steps out of place, you must call me directly and I will resolve the issue.’
All three nodded, eerily synchronised.
‘We will be coming to the park, to hunt later.’ I didn’t want to ask permission, but they needed to know. I didn’t want them to think it was an invasion.
‘So mote it be. Enjoy the renewal of the hunt,’ the female dryad intoned.
As she turned to leave, I cleared my throat. ‘I would like permission to bring the pack here, if I may, to make a point.’
The three dryads exchanged long looks before the female finally nodded. ‘It may be done on this one occasion. But if any treat the elder tree with disrespect, there will be repercussions.’ Her voice was heavy with warning and I inclined my head in acceptance.
With that, she turned and walkedintoa tree at the clearing’s edge. It subsumed her – she literally disappeared into it. I let out a strangled gasp. Both dryad men followed suit, sinking into two trees next to hers and disappearing. Right: magical realm, dryads recharge in trees and their bodies can somehow combine with the organic material of a tree. Who was I to judge? I have a wolf in my head.
I touched the elder tree one last time. ‘Thanks,’ I whispered. I stepped out of the ring of leaves and walked towards the edge of the clearing, where Joyce was waiting for me, eyes wide. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘That took a lot more time than I expected. Are you still okay for childcare?’
‘No problem.’ She gave me a hesitant smile. ‘I rang the neighbour and asked her to give the kids dinner and start their bath.’
I blinked. ‘What time is it?’
‘6.30pm.’
‘Shit.’ I pulled out my phone; I had fifteen missed calls from Manners.Shit.
I called him. ‘Alpha,’ he answered, his tone courteous. He must have had company, otherwise I suspected he’d be swearing at me. Fifteen missed calls don’t usually make for a calm and collected conversation.
‘I’m already at Black Park. I’ll meet you all at the main car park,’ I suggested.
‘Very good, ma’am,’ he said. ‘I’ll arrange it. We’ll park on the road and walk in to meet you.’
‘You’re mad at me, aren’t you?’
‘Absolutely,’ he responded, his tone still even and respectful.
‘I’ll explain everything later.’
‘Indeed.’
I bit my thumb and rang off. He wassomad at me. ‘Hey,’ I said to Joyce, ‘what should we do with the sapling?’ I didn’t want my apology tree to die; that seemed like bad juju.
She smiled. ‘Just leave it here. One of the others will find the perfect place for it. You don’t need to worry about tending it – we’ll look after it.’ The affection in her tone was unmistakable. Dryads really do love trees. If they’d all had an experience like mine, I could see why.
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘You can take my car home and I’ll wait until the pack arrives. Someone will give me a lift home later.’ She hesitated, her duty as a dryad warring with her duty as a mum. ‘Go,’ I insisted. ‘It’s fine. Thank you for all your help today.’
‘I’ve never in my life seen the elder tree commune like that for so long. That was amazing. Was it … uplifting?’ She was curious and envious in equal measure.
‘It was,’ I admitted. ‘It was amazing.’ I couldn’t even begin to explain the experience, but it felt like a vast weight had been lifted from me. Something in me was … looser, like someone or something had untied a knot that I hadn’t known was there.
I passed Joyce my keys. She climbed into my car and gave me a friendly wave as she drove off, leaving me to await my pack and a very grumpy Greg Manners.
Chapter 14
