Cabin Fever - An Erotic Novel

Chapter 32 - The White Witch (FINAL EDIT)

Abbie sighed. It had stopped snowing a while back. There were deep tracks in the snow in front of her – their own tracks. Tracks made by a pair of skis – not that unusual – and a wolf dragging its belly through the snow. That was the giveaway. The only wolf around was her wolf.

Hours of tough going through deep snows, and nothing to show for it.

"This isn't the first time we've come this way," Abbie said to the big wolf standing next to her.

It didn't reply, just looked at her with unblinking yellow eyes. Its fur was a dark brown color, closely resembling Greg's hair. There were even little flecks of gray in it.

"I hope you're not bullshitting me, Greg."

The wolf shook his head and looked genuinely ashamed.

"If you are, I'm shaving your tail."

The wolf shook, snout to tail, looking an awful lot like a domesticated dog doing so.

"Don't get all defensive, Greg. I'm just pointing out the obvious."

Abbie leaned forward, letting her ski poles carry the weight of her upper body and pack.

The wolf gave her ass – not that there was much to look at – an appreciative look. She pretended not to notice. It was nice to be looked at, nice to be appreciated. But now wasn't the time.

"Well, if you're not misleading me on purpose, it has to be something else..." She fought the urge to say 'Greg' again, just to remind herself that it wasn't really a wolf, but Bella's husband in his wolf form.

Magic. Abbie didn't say it out loud. Thinking about it made her all weird inside. Talking about it was almost painful.

It wasn't that she was unfamiliar with the concept. Quite the contrary. She loved magic. In books and movies. As a matter of fact, her own manuscript had quite a bit of magic. Sorcery and heroes with divine bloodlines. But that was fiction. This was fact. If such a thing could be said to apply to something so ephemeral and unexplainable as magic.

Abbie zipped her jacket down further, letting out hot air and moisture. She pulled out the water flask hanging from a string around her neck. Had a few deep draughts. She bent down and scooped more snow into the half-full flask and put it back inside her jacket, where her body heat would melt it.

"We should find some shelter and take a break. I'm all warm and starting to tire. And my stomach is grumbling. No point wasting time and energy if it accomplishes nothing."

The wolf looked at her expectantly.

"Hungry? You know, you remind me a lot of a dog, Greg. Sure you're all wolf?"

The wolf wagged its tail in reply.

Abbie laughed, clear and bright.

The wolf, unable to laugh in kind, snarled instead. A snarling wolf, wagging its tail like a dog. It was quite a sight.

"Yeah, I have something for you too. Come, let's find shelter."

The wolf gave up plowing its own path, the snow was too deep, and followed Abbie towards a stand of white-cloaked evergreens.

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Abbie found them a suitable spruce. A tall one, with branches near the ground, so that it made a natural snow cave, like the one they'd spent the night in. She got out her spade and the Sami knife. In no time at all, she'd made an opening, reinforcing it with some branches and saplings, created a seating arrangement, and gotten a fire going. Snow was melting in a pot. As soon as it was boiling, it would go into the dry ration packs.

The wolf became a man. A naked, very handsome man. A bit too old for Abbie's taste, but she couldn't deny he was attractive.

"Do you work out a lot? In the gym, I mean." Abbie said. "Or do you just become a wolf and run around for a bit?"

Greg gave her a sullen look and ducked into the impromptu snow cave. He started pulling out odd bits of clothing from Abbie's pack – the woolen socks, the cap, and the mittens. The torn Järven bag, to wear as an impromptu poncho.

The snow cave was a bit cramped, and he was forced to bend down and forward.

Abbie used the opportunity to give him a good whack across the butt with a birch stick she'd cut.

"Ouch!" Greg cried in an unmanly fashion. He straightened, bumped his head against a low branch, got a load of snow falling down his neck, stumbled back out, and fell on his ass.

Abbie whacked him again for good measure, then tossed the stick aside and began pouring boiling water into the ration packs.

Greg got back up, wrapped the bag around his body, and sat down next to Abbie.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Nothing," Abbie replied. "You just needed a good spanking, that's all."

"I guess I did," he said and tried to adjust the cap without the torn bag coming undone. With the mittens on, it was impossible. He looked quite helpless. Kind of cute, really.

"Here," Abbie said and reached over to adjust it for him. "Poor little wolf-man. Good thing, Abbie is here to take care of you."

He looked about to protest, but something changed his mind. "Actually, yes. I am glad I ran into you. Not proud of the thing last night, but I glad I'm here now. With you." He sounded like he meant it.

"Something is going on," Abbie said.

"Yes," Greg agreed. "Something involving powerful magic. I know where the cabin is, but I cannot lead us there."

"I think we should rest for a while," Abbie said. "Much as I'd like to find Felix and save him, we need to keep our strength up. We continue after we are rested. The opportunity will come. I'm sure."

Greg gave her a weird look. "How can you be so sure? You know nothing of the forces at play. You know nothing of what awaits you at the cabin."

"I know," Abbie said. She was surprised at how confident she felt. "I am. Sure. I can't explain it. I just know it." Abbie took a deep breath. "There is something..."

"Go on," Greg urged.

"I can feel it in my bones... a deep certainty, one that wells up from inside. It suffuses my body and mind, strengthens my resolve, chases all doubt away. I feel it tingling against my skin, up and down my spine. I hear it whispering words I cannot understand into my ear.

"But most of all, I feel it on the tip of my tongue. Like a shadow, it sits there, visible by virtue of being invisible, always there, always out of reach. It sits there, teasing and trolling, making me say things I have no right to say, impossible things."

She waited for Greg to say something, but he remained quiet. "We will get to the cabin, I know this," Abbie continued. "And that's all there is to it." She kept looking at Greg, daring him to gainsay her, to laugh at her.

He didn't. Instead, Greg shook himself, looking like a dog shedding water again, only he was still in his human form.

"I see," he said, sounding very much like a British gentleman, not a werewolf. "This is most unexpected, Miss Abbie. Unexpected indeed."

"I... I don't know why I said that!" The feeling of certainty was gone, replaced with unease and confusion.

"I think I do, Abbie," Greg said calmly. "You're like them. Like Bella and Felix. You have the power. One that the rest of us don't – werewolves included."

"Oh," was all she could say. This, on top of everything else, it was just too much to take in.

"And like Felix, you too are waking up. I can smell it on you, the power. It's faint, but it's there. You're a witch, Abbie."