13

"Everything Alright, Caleb?" She asked, hearing the low snores of her furry companion in the background while she stroked his fur.

"Honestly? I believed the island rumors, that if you weren't dead you were going to be crazy. I apologize for not believing you. In all these years you have never given me a reason not to trust you. Can you ever forgive me?"

She looked in his blue eyes and knew that he meant every word. "I forgive you, Caleb. Thank you for your friendship and helping my companion."

There was a long silence then she spoke once more. "And what do you mean by Island rumors? Are their island rumors about me?"

He looked guilty.

"Caleb! Tell me this instant!" She insisted above a whisper.

"Fine, but please, once I say it promise you won't cry or worse, hate me."

She chuckled. "You're being absurd."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are." She answered.

"How?"

"How could anything you tell me about someone else make me dislike you?" She had a point, he thought to himself, "Please. I need to know."

"All right." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "The rumor on the island is your mother sold you to Madame and let her boyfriend Amaruq kill everyone there ... Including you. No one faults you, but they they think you are a simpleton who lives in the woods. They call you 'Wolf girl' behind your back. Everyone in the village thinks you're dead right now." Caleb stopped talking to give her time to digest the words he had just spoken.

He watched her closely to see if tears would appear. There were none. She just kept petting the wolf. Then she spoke.

"Wolf girl." She chuckled. "That's a very fitting name."

Seeing her take the islanders criticisms of her in stride made him respect and love her more. She truly was beautiful on the inside as well as out. She was caring. She was compassionate. She was everything he ever wanted in a life partner.

"What else have you heard about my mother? You telling me this means she is alive?"

Caleb's expression changed completely.

"Caleb-"

"Sylvie, not right now!" He stood up then.

Sylvie did as well, leaving the sleeping wolf. She could tell her question upset him. He was at the door when she touched his arm. He turned around and looked at her.

"Caleb, what did I do wrong? I will never do it again!"

His lips were a thin white line when he turned around and spoke to her. "That's just it, Sylvie. It's in your nature. You love your mother so much that you have been blinded to her darkness. Do you know why she lets you sleep in the stables like an orphan?"

"Yes, Caleb. Yes, I do. She told me it was because she didn't want Madam Bouvier to get me."

"Come on, Sylvie! That makes very little sense."

She was a little surprised at the direct way he was speaking and challenging her. Now her mother was and had always been a touchy subject for her. It was time she got the full picture of her mother and who she truly was, as well as this godforsaken Island. She wasn't hurt one bit by what islanders perceived her to be. She would continue to ignore them as she always had.

"She has you stay there so no one will know her real age." His words were blunt. They felt like a punch in the gut.

"How can you say that?" She countered. "My mother has been through-"

"Not nearly as much as you have." He interjected

"See? Even now you're defending her. She sold you to a brothel. She has left you. She left you for dead. I hurt for you. Sylvie, I'm angry for you. You deserve to have family who would do anything to protect you and keep you safe not trying to kill you."

She saw a twinkle of sadness in his eyes. And just as quick as she had seen it. It was gone. They stood there looking at the other. "My mother wouldn't do that to me. She loves me. She r-really does."

The words were hard to say. Her throat was tightening. She was on the verge of tears. He stepped forward and embraced her. She accepted the comfort.

It was nice to feel his strong, warm arms around her. His lips touched the crook of her neck. It was an extremely intimate gesture. The entire time she had been at the brothel she had never felt this comfortable with the opposite sex. She and Caleb had grown up together on this island. There was a certain comfort level that came with a friendship like theirs.

It would seem their friendship was still evolving. There was a definite mutual attraction. He gently stroked her cheek and wiped her tears away.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized.

She knew he meant it. They rarely argued. He was gently stroking the back of her head in a soothing manner. "I am sorry too. I know you didn't want to hurt me and I frustrated you please, forgive me."

She smiled upon him through her tears. He couldn't help himself. Caleb went in and placed a kiss on Sylvie's soft lips. She didn't pull away. She accepted it.

Their kiss was soft and she found a small warmth growing inside her gut and slowly moving throughout her body. She heard it then. It was a low predatory growl.

It was the wolf.

She had thought he was asleep. They broke the kiss and saw the wolf only standing a few inches away from them.

He was somehow standing. His yellow eyes wide awake as they pinned Caleb. He bared his white fangs.

"Sylvie, I-I think he's trying to protect you."

Sylvie said nothing to Caleb. She spoke directly to the wolf. "Now, you stop that! This instant! This is no way to treat someone who has helped us. Caleb is our friend."

Her words didn't seem to matter. He was now taking a step towards Caleb. Sylvie looked from the wolf to Caleb. Caleb was terrified. She stood in between them, then knelt down, and showed him the palms her hands.

She had forgotten the wolf had been bitten earlier. He looked at her and sniffed it. Then he began licking where there was bruising from the bite. His eyes changed and she felt like the wolf was apologizing to her for his loss of control.

She stroked his large head and spoke, "I am fine."

She looked down and saw a trail of red specks of blood on the floor from the wolves wound. It was becoming aggravated and slowly reopening.

"Please..." She looked into the wolves eyes. "You must rest or your wound won't heal."

As if the wolf understood every word, he looked past her once more. His gaze landed on Caleb. He once more bared his large, gleaming, white razor sharp, fangs at him. He held his aggressive posture for a few more seconds, then turned around and slowly lumbered back to where he had been lying.

Once there, he walked in a closed circle twice, counterclockwise. He sat down, refusing to lay down. Sylvie stared at the animal. He was quite a character.

"You have made a friend." Caleb spoke behind her.

She turned around and looked at him. She didn't say anything. He looked at the wolf who was still eyeing him skeptically and decided to keep his distance from her. He knew the wolf growling at him was the wolf being nice and gently reminding him that his is his territory. Since stepping inside this home, Caleb's perception of Sylvie was becoming more clear with each second he spent with her.

She spoke. "Caleb, please don't go. Please. I mean...We- we could use the company." She turned around and walked over to the potbelly stove.

She looked beside it and saw she only had enough firewood for a few hours at best. It was raining harder than it had been earlier. She made quick of the work by using the two flint stones and starting the fire.

"It looks like you'll need more firewood." Caleb observed.

She looked at him once more. "It's too dangerous to go searching for firewood in the downpour."

"No worries. I will go fetch some."

"Caleb-" She stopped, mid protest.

She needed the wood and and he was offering. Why not?

"Alright, then." She agreed with him and he opened the front door and exited the home.

************************************

Amaruq was enjoying his victory. In less than 24 hours his pack had single handedly took out the Loup Garoux. His only real opposition. Anyone who would believe that the Alpha of the Lycans would want to form a truce with the Loup Garoux were idiots.

He hated the Loup Garoux with every fiber of his being.

Their pure wolf blood made them weak. They intrinsically thought they were above the other wolf species, and in doing so put a target on everyone's backs. Assembling and scattering what was left of the werewolves had been easy. They all talked a fierce game, but once they were infiltrated and their leader publicly defeated.