Ughhh, I grimaced. Ummm, that’s all right, you don’t have to share with me.

My answer was a panting laughter. But since the wolves were still here and hadn’t run off, I decided to ask him how he was able to get the pack to come and stand guard if he wasn’t the alpha male.

I did not give them a choice. I made them come.

A confused set of images flooded my head.

I don’t understand?

Vorl is good Alpha for the pack. A mental image of the brown wolf I had originally tried to ask for help popped in my head. He is strong and fierce.  When I leave here, Vorl will be leader again.

You took over the pack, just to help us. How could you do that?

You needed me. You needed us. I’m strong.

Where are you going?

Another panted laugh filled my mind.

I’m searching.

For what? He didn’t answer. Will you be able to control the wolves to guard us until we leave? You’re not leaving before then are you?

Yes, we guard as long as you are here.

Thank you.

Ja, burning humans make us hungry. We hunt rabbits but still guard.

And then he was gone out of my mind. I was still confused on what exactly the wolf was, when Faraway decided to interject.

Don’t worry about him. He knows his duty.

What duty? I don’t understand.

He’s a guardian. He’s on a journey to find his chosen one. Though, I think he was a little disappointed to find out that you already had me. I am after all, the finest guardian.

You mean there are more like you?

Faraway snorted. Of course there’s no one like me. I’m—

How many more? I interrupted.

My horse became silent and refused to speak further on the subject, but it was the most he had ever disclosed about guardians. And knowing that the grey wolf was a guardian and was watching over us, eased my mind.

Odin said we would reach Valdyrstal’s clan home in another two days, depending on how slowly we took our pace for Bearen. But I too needed sleep, because I was exhausted and I knew that Faraway was equally tired.

Chapter 4

Three more very slow days of rocky travel brought us to the home of  the Valdyrstal Clan. Cresting a hill, I had my first view of my home and my heart flip-flopped in anticipation. The village, which lay amidst the Shadow Mountains in the Iodin Valley, consisted of many large wooden buildings that could easily hold multiple families apiece. Each was decorated with beautiful carvings of animal designs in the columns of their homes. High pointed roofs sported multiple fireplaces per building to fight off the obvious cold winters the people faced each year. Each home had painted wood shutters over their windows and large giant sized doors.  On rare occasions, when the winter was too harsh, they would bring the horses and cows into their homes to help produce body heat.

I could see the fires of about fifty dwellings within the valley.  Odin explained that there were branches of our clan that lived farther up in the mountains and preferred to spend the winters up there trapping, bringing in the sought-after furs. Breathing in the smell of cold air and stew cooking, I had a feeling of completeness— of being home.

Fenri took out a silver tipped horn and blew three short blasts into the chilled air, the sound echoing through the valley. A light was lit in a watchtower and the returning sound of another horn announced our arrival. Torches were lit and doors opened as men, women and children poured out of their homes to greet the returning clansmen.

I had lost feeling in my toes late yesterday and Fenri had wrapped my boots with fur that he turned inside out. Many of the men were used to the cold weather and barely blinked at the drop in temperature, and they still wore their arms bare.

Fenri, noticing my chattering lips, shook out a soft white fur cloak and I gratefully accepted it as I wrapped it around my shivering body.

“We came prepared in case we found you,” was all he said.

I could tell it was of the highest quality and I felt a brief flash of heat to my cheeks as I rode past all of my clanswomen. Many gasped in surprise and whispers followed us. I saw cold expressions and many women wouldn’t meet my gaze. I wondered what I had done in the past to receive such a welcome. We rode past them and up to the largest wooden dwelling with a giant wolf carved into the highest peak of the home.

Aldo took Faraway, and Odin stood next to Bearen protectively in case he needed help getting down from his horse. Bearen made only a small groan as his feet touched the ground; I kept my distance and waited until he entered our house first.

The room was large with a fireplace on one end, wooden benches, chairs covered in fur and a large table and bench for meals.  The kitchen was on the other end of the room and another fireplace, which was burning already. Stairs by the kitchen led to upstairs to more bedrooms.

Bearen crashed into a large chair by the fireplace and buried his hawk like face into his hand. A small tired groan escaped him. I went to the kitchen and started water boiling for some kava. When it was done and I brought him a cup, he looked at me in surprise before taking it. He gave me a look before taking a small hesitant sip and drinking the rest of it down in a greedy gulp.

“It seems that someone taught you to make kava.”

Surprised, I asked him, “Did I not know how to before?”

Turning his large form in his chair he looked at me carefully before speaking. “Thalia, you would never touch the stove or the wash. But here you are, cooking, tending to your father, fighting in a battle in which you have no business doing, and caring after a bewitched horse.”

“I don’t understand.”

Shaking his head, Bearen sighed. “Siobhan does all of that. As the Clan Leader’s daughter, you are given a level of status that is second only to mine. You don’t have to do any of it, we have other’s that cook and clean for us. He stared off into the distance and his words started to slur together a bit.

His words shocked me a bit. I had become so self-reliant over the past months that I didn’t know if I could go back to being waited on by others. I saw my old self in a different light and I didn’t like what I was learning. “Did I have any friends?”

“You were the closest to Siobhan, my brother Rayneld’s daughter. But Thalia, you didn’t make a lot of friends among our people. You understood that a strong leader is more important than a friend. If something should happen to me, before your lifebonded, then Rayneld would be the head of our Clan. ”

“What?” I felt myself go weak-kneed at the sudden talk of marriage.

Looking at his tired and aged face, I could see that Bearen, despite his gruff appearance that would ordinarily instill fear into a man’s heart, was lined with worry.

“It is why we mustn’t speak of what you did in the past, because by our own laws, you would be banished into the mountains, without food, water or horse.” His knuckles popped as he clenched his fist tightly. “I have just gotten you back and I don’t want to lose you again. And I definitely don’t want my brother to know what happened. So keep quiet around Siobhan. If he learns what you did, he’ll try and have you banished.”

“Can’t you change the law? You’re the Clan Leader, surely you could.” I broke off as Bearen shook his head sadly.

“The law is what we hold most holy here. It is why we have survived for so long in the wilderness that no one else wants to inhabit; it is our lifestyle. Our children are taught the laws from birth, and we pride ourselves on being pure, unlike the Denai. It’s only the land border that says we must be a part of the Denai infested Calandry.”