Page 17
Seven now stood in a half ring around her, though she knew more lurked in the shadows.
They circled her resting place with unhurried steps, their massive paws silent against the rock-strewn ground. Bright blue eyes watched her without malice, snouts in the air as they sniffed her scent.
It was a ritual Elarian knew better than anything else.
Stepping toward the largest fey wolf still standing in front of her, head as tall as her shoulders, she slowly parted her lips. With a gentle breath, Elarian blew her scent across the wolf’s nose. It shook its snout in response, drawing its massive black lips back to better taste her scent.
Whatever the wolf sought, they quickly found it.
Before Elarian could prepare herself, the massive fey wolf extended a long, black-spotted tongue toward her face and began furiously licking her. The heat of its breath was a welcome feeling against the chill that had settled into her bones. Unable to help herself, Elarian closed her eyes and nuzzled into the wolf’s head. Her hands slowly rose to scratch behind its ears.
Soon, more fey wolves gathered around her, snuffling the ground at her feet and licking her legs and arms.
Elarian laughed.
The sound startled her more than the fey wolves. She could not remember the last time the sound had escaped her without bitterness.
Huffing in reply, the great wolf nudged its broad snout under her palm. Though gentle for its size, the act nearly knocked her off balance. Another smaller wolf pressed against her hip as it sat beside her. A low rumble rolled through the larger wolf’s chest as more of its pack approached Elarian, eyes curious, snouts pointed at her face.
“Jealous already?” she teased as her fingers scratched at the thick silver fur between tufted ears.
A quiet whine was her reply.
Elarian blinked, and a memory returned unbidden.
A little girl, only half as tall as the fey wolf beside her, buried beneath warm bodies while snow gathered outside their den. Tiny fingers combed through fur, pulling out moss and bits of flesh alike. Hot breath against her cheeks, and a thundering heartbeat in her ears.
Tears burned behind her eyes as more of that forgotten life returned in broken fragments.
Snow.
Warm fur.
A little girl who had never imagined loneliness could exist.
She had buried the remnants of that child beneath Estarin’s roots only days ago.
Yet somehow…
Though none of these wolves were her family, they had found her again.
The great wolf leaned into her touch until she stumbled, bracing herself against its weight.
One by one, the fey wolves finished memorizing her scent. The eldest female circled her several times before settling at the edge of the rocky outcropping, faded blue eyes unblinking as she tracked the elf’s movements. Several males stalked off into the gray as if they never existed. More peeled away in silence, their shadowy forms lurking just beyond Elarian’s vision.
Still, the great wolf—a young female, she now saw—remained by her side. The others melted back into the mist one by one, answering silent calls only they could hear. The female did not. Instead, she settled atop Elarian’s boots, curling her thick tail around them both. She softly growled anytime the elf tried to step away.
“You cannot claim me so easily,” Elarian murmured.
The wolf only cocked her head to the side, piercing blue eyes studying Elarian until her skin crawled with gooseflesh.
“No…I gave up that life long ago.”
She spoke even as her conviction died with each breath. Elarian knew better than to argue with a fey wolf—they had never cared much for the opinions of mortals or their fey brethren. The wolf huffed, then bowed her head.
“So be it. Lead on.”
Time unraveled in the Evermist. The days that followed dissolved into one another until Elarian could no longer tell where one ended and the next began. Sometime during the night, walking with only glowing eyes to guide her feet, the fey wolves led her away from the old stone paths she and Reshva had once carved through the endless gray.
