It wasn't until Aunt Sarah closed the door behind us that I realized I was barely breathing. A wolf's gaze, even in the human body, pierces to the bones. A dozen of their gazes I, like a bag of bricks, carried on me. Not only I was relieved to be behind the wall from them. Seeing this, maybe my aunt will remember why I don't belong here - with or without a mate.
My aunt's cottage was small - a living room, a kitchenette and a bathroom on the first floor, three small bedrooms - on the second and an attic. The largest bedroom of them has always been called "parents", once it belonged to my grandparents, and then my aunt and her husband lived in it, and my mother lived in one of the small ones - "children". Then the husband left his aunt, as I heard, because "she couldn't stand puppies", and went to another pack, well, and my mother ... After a while, I began to live in my mother's room, and my aunt moved to the next one " children's". Nothing has changed in four years. I did not visit my aunt, she visited me twice, twice we met on neutral territory, the rest of the time we corresponded, because phone calls in this wilderness are only to wag your nerves. Internet is better, but not for my aunt... Letters by mail - this is her maximum. At first I wrote every month, then every two months. True, I sent the last letter recently, saying that I would come after the expedition, and my aunt left her handkerchief for me at the local post office. The wolves may not have recognized my scent four years later. Do not think, the flock did not attack people, there have not been such cases for a long time. But only because people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory. then every two months. True, I sent the last letter recently, saying that I would come after the expedition, and my aunt left her handkerchief for me at the local post office. The wolves may not have recognized my scent four years later. Do not think, the flock did not attack people, there have not been such cases for a long time. But only because people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory. then every two months. True, I sent the last letter recently, saying that I would come after the expedition, and my aunt left her handkerchief for me at the local post office. The wolves may not have recognized my scent four years later. Do not think, the flock did not attack people, there were no such cases for a long time. But only because people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory. and my aunt left me her handkerchief at the local post office. The wolves may not have recognized my scent four years later. Do not think, the flock did not attack people, there were no such cases for a long time. But only because people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory. and my aunt left me her handkerchief at the local post office. The wolves may not have recognized my scent four years later. Do not think, the flock did not attack people, there were no such cases for a long time. But only because people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory. that people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory. that people did not meddle in these places without local accompaniment, all trips with an overnight stay went in a wide arc from the village. These places were considered dangerous, and the inhabitants of the reservation diligently supported and fed these rumors. Wandering onto the road in the dark, someone random Morgan would have scared him away with a howl, but the closer to the village, the more the wolves of the pack behaved like dogs that had broken their chains - even the alpha hardly restrains their instinct to drive strangers from their territory.
As soon as I undressed at the front door, I was immediately directed to the bedroom. I was pleased that my aunt had not changed anything in the room, my teenage spirit still hovered here, settling in posters on the walls, stickers on the mirror frame, a garland of lanterns above the bed.
“Everything is as you left it,” my aunt rented the room to me. This explanation was superfluous, and so it is clear that everything is in its place, except for dust. I went inside, noticing that the room was unusually clean without me. She wasn't like that for me.
- Thank you, - I smiled at my aunt, who stood at the door and did not dare to enter my territory. I imagined how she entered the cleaning room, carefully returned things to their places after dusting, and waited for the hostess to return here again.
Things are all here, - she pointed to a suitcase, a bag and even a backpack thrown in the forest, arranged in a neat pyramid in the corner, - You need to rest. And if something is needed, then I'm in the kitchen, - as always, my aunt was short and clear. Leaving me in the room, she silently withdrew.
She loved me, but it always seemed to me that she did not know how to be with me and what to say. Partly for her, I was also an unknown little animal, an unknown little animal that had matured . I have yet to discuss what happened with her, but I'm sure I know her opinion. For her, this is unexpected, but the matter is clear. The wolf recognized me as a couple, if I myself were a wolf, I should have accepted him. All these wolf things and pheromones would be great bait for me, my fate would be decided. But I'm not a wolf, Reed missed the mark, but I'm planning on getting out of here as soon as I can.
My plan was to find out what was wrong with my car, get some medical treatment, tell Aunt Sarah the news - and only I was seen! Seems like a good plan to me. The main thing is to minimize meetings with the local population, and even more so with Reid.
I did not want to rest in bed at all, wandering around the room, looking into the chest of drawers and looking through the spines of books on the shelf above the desk, I decided to at least partially unpack my things. I had a hiking kit for a six-month expedition with me, so there were even summer things that went with the bag in a narrow closet. It didn’t take much time to unpack, I didn’t intend to stay here for a long time, I took out only the most necessary things, and left the rest in the suitcase, which I pushed under the bed. Even these simple actions cost me a lot of energy, but I still really wanted to go to the bathroom and try my luck somehow to freshen up without wetting the bandages. Mission Impossible.
At dinner, my aunt hesitated, and it was clear that she did not know how to approach the conversation.- What about my car? It's time to start implementing the plan. Aunt could not immediately jump to another topic, remembering for a while.- The car ... it was driven to Bruce's workshop. But I don't know what he could do. You need to go to him - Bruce was an auto mechanic, a mechanic and helped his son a builder, Rod. Also, Bruce was Mira's father, maybe it will be possible to find out about the car through it, that is, to reduce the likelihood of crossing with others, and this is also part of my plan, - Lark ... I understand that you have not yet recovered, maybe not tomorrow , but you need to talk to Reed, - it begins, - the boy is not himself, his beast is restless, licking your wound, he could not let anyone in to you, he almost went berserk with grief, miraculously Morgan managed to get through to him. And then he did not leave your room ... - again this unusual agitated state
For some reason, I left the house with apprehension, as if expecting that the whole Cooper family would immediately attack me there. But, of course, there was no one at the door. The village seemed to be still asleep, but this silence was deceptive - the day here began very early, and the night quite late. It is very convenient when you have so few hours to sleep. This is another quality that was not included in my gene pool.The wind died down, and the snowfall exhausted itself, covering everything around with a sheet of snow. The hood was useless, but I still threw it on top, like a cap of invisibility. Although Reed's house was on the opposite side, and I was within walking distance of the first-aid post, my nervous state did not let me go. It would not hurt to clear our small courtyard of snow, a narrow path of aunt's steps led to a common road that ran between the houses and ended at a dead end at the first-aid post. There were only nine residential buildings here, and several ou
After the visitor left, the aunt herself went on business, perhaps she went to help Mira. They don't sit around doing nothing. It's like a utopian society where everyone works like bees for the common good, and the alpha stands and watches over them, like the eye of Sauron. My bile and distaste for this place will eat me up if I don't get out of here soon. And my forced confinement leaves nothing but self-digging and sarcastic comments. She didn’t say anything good about the Mira car, my old woman is in a distressed state, it’s still too early to say whether Bruce will reanimate her. By tomorrow, he'll have a parts list with what I'm sure is a fabulous price. But, in his opinion, it should not be tormented and immediately sent for spare parts, but, so be it, he will dig further. Hardly out of a feeling of sympathy for me, rather just likes difficult puzzles. Or asked the world It's strange how Laramie cured me, while living here, I could not even supposedly write anyone down as a goo
I hate this feeling, I know I'm right, but I'm spurred on by guilt. What are the mixed signals of my conscience? The fact that the wolf did not leave his post all night, I felt on the edge of a sleepy consciousness, and in the morning the reproach in the eyes of Mira and Aunt Sarah confirmed my fears.Mira told me the bad news, Honda in its former state will never again travel on the roads. Either buy new expensive parts, or sell Honda itself for parts, which will be much more profitable. Maybe more profitable, but getting out of here will be much more difficult.But Mira was pleased with the wound on her hand, and, however, she took on a healthier look. At least one less problem, gangrene no longer threatens me. Now I need to deal with the car, there was not much choice, so after breakfast I went to the workshop. It was snowing outside, but there was no wind. I barely restrained myself from running to Bruce's house. The workshop, a little larger than a garage, was next to his house,
A new day brought new problems. To inspect the World she came to me, before I had time to have breakfast. She was alarmed, even her always perfectly straight short hair looked somehow disheveled today. I watched her closely as she changed her bandages. Something definitely bothered her, and several times it seemed to me that she wanted to say something.- After five or six days, you can remove the bandage from your neck, you should save your hand for at least another seven days.We agreed with her that she would give me medicines with her. Actually, that's all - it remains to receive money from Bruce and you can touch it from here. I decided that it was better to awkwardly ask for Reed's tail than to the Martin brothers. If they have not grown mentally, then they will start to take me deeper into the forest and drop me off. At the very door of the World stopped and still could not stand it:- Lark, talk to Reed, please. He will have a difficult choice, and you can help him, - and the
And I woke up from the fact that the sun was shining directly into my eyes. Remembering who I shared the bed with that night, I jumped up. But I was alone in the bed and in the room. That must have surprised my aunt. Although she was surprised yesterday, because she heard everything perfectly. I had a strange feeling that I was late for something, I looked at the clock - half past ten. Better hurry, although I have no idea what time Reed should announce his choice.I chaotically began to pack up, brushing my teeth with one hand and buttoning my pants with the other. Even yesterday, before the wolf came into my room, I understood what Mira was hinting at and how Reed and I could get out. More precisely, for him it was an option so-so, but I could not go for more.There was no time to tame my curly mane, and as I was with a bird's nest after sleep, so I jumped out into the street. I need to talk to Reid first, put forward my condition to him, before rushing to Morgan. Reed lived with hi
Exiled to be, I suppose, too. Then it remains - to retire from the pack with a couple. And this is me, - he, suggesting that I continue, raised an eyebrow, - So, I just want to leave here. We can leave together, especially since I am now without wheels, it’s even more profitable for me. - So?- And then ... you look for a warmer place for yourself, and I will go where I planned."Understood." He walked back to the car. - What were you waiting for? - I said after him, - I'm just wondering what kind of reaction you expected from me, why are you so surprised by mine? - Do you hate me so much? What turns you on at the mere thought of trying? - he slammed the door, which he had already opened, and turned to me.- To attempt? What exactly? Live as one big and friendly family?"I don't expect that from you," he said tiredly, "but you could at least try to get to know me better." - But it's my right not to have anything to do with you, - I was starting to get pissed off that accusations
So they led me blindfolded. We left the knurled road, I walked, led by the hand of my aunt, constantly falling into the snow. My hand itched to rip that stupid blindfold off my eyes. I didn’t get the mystery of the moment at all and felt very stupid. Soon I smelled a fire, but we all wandered and wandered. Finally, when I heard the crackling of logs, and, in addition to smoke, the intoxicating smell of herbs reached me, we stopped. No one was in a hurry to remove the bandage from me, my hand flew up to my face, but my aunt's light touch stopped it."Wait," she whispered. Then I lost the feeling of her presence beside me. I could hear the soft creak of footsteps on the snow and the hiss of fire ahead. Then a wrinkled hand grabbed my hand tightly - it was Grandma Cooper - and led me forward. It was easier to go, apparently, the clearing was cleared of snow. She placed me very close to the fire, on the left side I felt the heat of the flame. For a few seconds I was left alone again, un