Shaman (A Werewolf Tale)

Chapter 7

Selma

"What is your name?" My voice is gentle as I speak to the wolf. He nuzzled into my waist. This had to be the most affectionate wolf I had ever met. 

Wouldn't you like to know? I could almost feel the smirk. He was just like Callahan, so sassy.

I smiled at the large beast and rubbed behind his ears. Syra was doing backflips. Clearly, she was more attracted to Callahan's wolf than him which was weird.

I can show you the training area and the nursery. Those are the two most important areas to us. I wasn't surprised by that. Wolves were simple creatures. Family was everything to us, so it would only be natural to centralize our lives around the children and ways that we could protect them.

The auburn colored wolf moved to lay on the ground. Get on. It was a command and I eyed him cautiously. He huffed again almost rushing me. I threw my leg on the other side of his back and settled down into the soft fur.

In one quick movement, he had leaped up and started bounding towards the horizon without a second glance. I held in my yelp and simply grabbed on tighter to the fur.  The wolf underneath me let out a wheezing laugh.

The landscape was striking.  Almost like it was fighting with itself. The fields were green and blooming with life. Wildflowers were everywhere, bees swarming around them. A swamp was nearby. It was darker yet still humming with life.

 Then out of nowhere, I hear a scream.

I quickly turn my head and I see them. Two women and a child. They cry out again. The boy struggles in one of the women's arms before breaking free. He runs parallel to us. I reach my hands out just as the boy does. Something in the swamp reaches out too. All I can see is a shadow and the shadow reaches out and grabs the boy, pulling him back into the swamp. I instinctively lean towards them and the uneven weight distribution causes me to tumble off the wolf.

I land face first on the ground. Callahan quickly shifts back as I gather myself. My eyes stay trained on the swamp. Something warm slides down my face but I didn't care.

"Selma?" Callahan's voice was soft. I turned my head towards him, but I couldn't move my eyes. Large hands cupped my face and I still manage to see the swamp in my peripheral. "Hey, are you okay?" He didn't even give me a chance to respond before using his shirt to wipe away the blood on my face. I took a second to look at his face. Callahan's navy eyes were a little darker than usual. His eyebrows are knitted together with worry.

"I am fine. Don't worry about me."

Callahan holds his shirt against a spot on my forehead. "You're under my care.I'm supposed to make sure that you survive. Alpha Everett would kill me if he found out that you hit you head and wasn't able to do that shaman mumbo jumbo." I rolled my eyes at him. "I told him to slow down but he didn't listen. " The last bit was a grumble. 

"I swear to you it was my fault. Not yours or his" I sighed a little.

"Well, the training yard isn't too far from here. We could walk." He removes the shirt and eyed the scratch. After he deemed it safe, he turned his back to me and walked toward his pile of clothes. My eyes were trained on his back.  Any lower and I wouldn't be able to focus on what I had just seen. 

Something horrible happened here.