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I crawl toward the gun, breaths coming out rapid and panicked. Just as I’m about to grab it, there’s a rustling and a white paw touches my hand. My heart drops to my stomach.
Slowly lifting my head, I peer up at the wolf, and it stares down at me. Its eyes are silver, and there’s a patch of silver on top of its head. The wolf doesn’t snarl nor growl at me like I expect though. It cocks its head instead, as if it’s wondering why I’m reaching for the gun.
I stare into the wolf’s eyes, and a vision fills my head—one I’ve never had before.A pack of wolves. A baby wolf, running in a field. The wolf being fed by a faceless woman in all black. She pets the wolf. The wolf is happy—I can feel its happiness coursing through me. A memory it’s fond of.
“Willow, the gun,” Caz demands, snapping me out of whatever trance I’m in.
The wolf breaks our stare, turning its head to growl at him again.
My brows dip as the wolf stands in front of me, as if on guard, and Caz glares at it, confused.
“Is it…”
“She’s protecting me.” I say the words without fully understanding them.
Caz’s eyes narrow a split second as he keeps his focus on the wolf. “How is that possible?”
“How is what possible?”
“You’re not even from Vakeeli.” He steps back, blinking.
The wolf walks around me, sniffing at my legs and feet, before deciding to sit next to me. I lift a shaky hand and stroke its fur, and it rests it’s chin on its front paws.
Caz walks forward and starts to pick up his gun, but the wolf bares its teeth and growls at him. He raises his hands, a guiltless gesture to show he’s not trying to harm her, and she stops growling, allowing him to pick up the gun and put it away.
“This is strange. Not everyone can have a wolf.” He studies her a bit more. “But she’s protecting you, which means she’s yours. Have you been to this world before and don’t remember?”
“I…don’t think so.”
“Maeve.” Caz combs his fingers through his thick bed of hair. “She mentioned something about this—the Tether. Seeing you before, years ago, but it wasn’t reallyyou. Perhaps…” Caz’s voice trails off as he loses himself in thought.
“How did you get your wolf?” I ask, standing cautiously.
“My mother bonded him to me when he was a pup, only I didn’t know it then. Not until he came to me when I was nineteen. When I became monarch.” He pauses. “She used to be like Manx in a way—could make her own elixirs, created remedies to help protect and heal people. She also had this way with animals. She could bond them to humans forever, so that they’re willing to protect that human at all costs. My mother, and others who could manage it, would create these bonds for their children mostly, as a way to protect them when they couldn’t be around.”
I can feel my brows pulling tighter together as he speaks. “When I looked into her eyes, I saw a woman in all black feeding and talking to her. Do you think…” I pause. “Do you think that could’ve been your mom?”
“Perhaps…” He stops talking to shake his head. “No. It’s not possible, unless…unless sheknewthis day would come. Unless she knew the woman you were before.”
“What do you mean?”
Caz locks on my eyes. “It wouldn’t be possible unless she knew you’d end up here, in Vakeeli.”
“How would she have known that?”
Caz doesn’t answer, and I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t want to, but because he genuinely doesn’t have the answer. Instead, he turns around with his back to me. “We should keep moving.”
“What do I do about the wolf?” I ask.
“There’s nothing you can do. It’s here to protect you, so it’ll follow you from here on out. Well, while you’re in Vakeeli, I assume.”
I glance down at the wolf, and her silvery eyes meet mine. I’m not sure what it is I feel, but when my eyes connect to hers again, a warmth courses through me, and there’s a squeeze in my chest, one that demands I protect her at all costs too. She whimpers, then licks the back of my hand.
I follow Caz as she walks by my side. “What should I name her?”
“How do you know it’s female?”
“She looks like it. Plus, when I was on the ground, I didn’t see a penis, so…”
