The Wolf Heir

Chapter Eleven: The Map

I struggled to sleep that night. I couldn’t stop feeling so angry with my mother. But thankfully, she hadn’t tried to push me to talk or come out of my room. Not even my father came that night. Mother probably told him what had happened and had urged him to give me some space. Both of them knew my temper and preferred to let me resolve my thoughts before talking to them again. But this time it was different, I was too hurt to want to run back to them like I had done other times. This time, I wanted them to apologize. This time, I was not going to be ignorant any longer, I had the right to get some answers.

Did you know about this? I asked my wolf as I stared at the worn-out paper envelope in my hand, right in front of me. My wolf emerged and eyed the letter before shaking her big head.

I don’t remember a letter. But I do remember Hala, or at least, I think I do, she said softly.

My heart began to speed up and I turned in my bed to make myself comfortable. Really? What do you remember? Tell me, please. I just- I want to give the person who wrote this to me a face, something I can grasp to and say, “That’s my mother”. My voice was filled with urgency and my wolf stayed silent for a minute.

I think you remember her more than you think, she began slowly. Before I could question her, she continued, Hala Lupus was a young woman, about your age when she had you. She had light grey eyes, dark brown hair and a great desire to lead. She was small but dangerous, she wasn’t afraid of fighting for what she believed in. Her lack of height was compensated by her speed and in wolf form, she was feral. Dangerous and everyone who knew her, respected her a lot. She had a kind soul, she always looked to help others in need and always put her pack and species above everything else. She was born a werewolf and was Queen of our kind once. That’s all I can access in my memories, it’s not much but I am sure that when we meet Morgan, she will explain everything.

I sighed and nodded my head, breaking my connection with my wolf. My head was beginning to hurt again and suddenly, my eyes felt too heavy to be kept open. I placed the envelope under my pillow and turned to the side as I closed my eyes.

…

I was standing in a small house I didn’t recognize. It was small but cozy. The wooden walls made sure to keep enough warmth inside and the windows were enough to keep the cold air out. Outside, I could see it was snowing, covering the grass and backyard with a white blanket. My eyes widened as I stared at the white snow in awe. I had never seen snow before, not so thick. Of course, I had read books and heard stories about snow from the people who had seen it with their own eyes. It wasn’t the same. There was something magical about seeing the snow with your own eyes that made my skin tingle with joy.

I was in a trace and in a couple of minutes, I managed to observe more than just the snow. My eyes widened as I realized I was nowhere I could recognize. The houses looked antique, like something you would seen drawn in a medieval book. The people walking on the streets were dressed in worn out clothing and their styles were more elaborate. The dresses had some sort of elegance to them even though people wore them on the streets as if it were any other day.

I looked at my dress and suddenly felt out of place. This was definitely not anywhere close to my home. I had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation. I looked inside the house again, my eyes looking for anyone who could be inside or a clue on to what I was doing here.

I reached for the door, but it wouldn’t budge, I was looked inside the small building. My breathing became more labored then as I tried to find an exit. “Calm down, Katherine, this is just a dream. Do what mother once taught you, pinch yourself and you’ll be back in your room in no time,” I chanted in my head before pinching my arm, hard. But other than the pain, nothing else happened.

I groaned in frustration and looked around the room for a key or something to throw to the window to break it. I took a crystal vase and threw it with all my strength towards the window and just as it was about to hit it, it stopped and fell to the ground.

My eyes widened and I threw books, plates, anything I could find, but nothing could get past the invisible barrier. I cried out in frustration and grabbed a piece of cloth nearby before walking towards the window as I wrapped the cloth around my right arm. I took in a deep breath before raising my right hind and lunging it towards the clear crystal.

Centimeters form making impact, I felt my whole-body freeze and my eyes widened in fear. There was no one holding me back, it was just some mystical force holding me in place. “Calm down, child. You’ll only hurt yourself,” said a smooth, soft voice, echoing around me. I looked around the room but there was no one else there with me.

“Who are you?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady to make sure the other person couldn’t pick up on my fear.

There was a soft chuckle before the voice reappeared once again, “You know who I am, child. I am one of the reasons why you are alive today.” That’s when I paid attention to the voice, it sounded as if it came form a woman, a mature woman. If I had to guess, I would say she was around my parent’s age, but I had a feeling she was much, much older. Something about the voice sounded familiar, though, there was a sensation in the back of my head telling me I had heard it before.

“Morgan, you’re Morgan, the witch,” I said confidently, and the voice let out a soft laugh.

“Yes, I am, child. I can see you only needed a slight nudge.” The magical force freezing me in place disappeared and once again, I had control of my body.

I frowned and crossed my arms in front of me. “I have been trying to find you for a while now. Why did you suddenly decide to show up?” I asked, my voice came out harsher than I intended but the witch didn’t seem to mind.

Slowly, a glowing orb came out of a room and floated towards me. Hesitantly, I took a couple of steps back until I remembered I was in a dream. She couldn’t hurt me here nor did I think she wanted to hurt me.

“I am sorry child. Truthfully, I thought I would have more time to reach out to you, but I felt something dark in the supernatural world. The threat that killed your parents and almost ended your species, is back and you must come to me, it is safer that way. Bring your pack, there is strength in numbers, and you will move quicker,” Morgan said, urgency clear in her voice.

Suddenly I felt lightheaded, this was happening very fast. On the other hand, this was what I had wanted since the beginning, answers.

“Where are we supposed to go?” I asked in confusion, she still hadn’t told me where she lived.

Morgan let out a soft chuckle and the orb moved closer to me. This time, I held my ground and looked directly into the glowing orb without hesitation or fear.

“You know the way, Katherine. It has always been inside of you. In your memories. Just remember. Let yourself remember. It will all come to you in bits and pieces until you have completed the whole journey. But I must give you a place to start, look,” she said as the shinning orb moved to a table in front of the kitchen.

I followed the light and my eyes focused on a folded parchment resting on the table. With my hands, I unfolded the paper and realized I was looking into a map. It wasn’t very elaborate, but it was enough for me to guess we were going to have to travel across the city, and even further away. The map started off in my house and moved towards Elizabeth’s house and to my surprise, it also connected to Jonas’ house.

“Jonas? But he’s not a werewolf,” I said as I turned to look at the floating light beside me.

The orb moved up and down, as if nodding, before Morgan spoke, “he may not be a werewolf, but he is still special for this mission. He must come with you; you will come to know why. Be patient, my dear wolf. Come as quick as you can, take care of one another and most importantly, trust your wolf. Don’t ever underestimate her, she is more powerful than you can imagine.” The glowing light started to fade, and dread began to fill me. There were so many other things I wanted to ask but she was leaving too fast. There was no time.

“Hold on, what is the threat we are going to face?” I blurted out, deciding it was the best question to ask before she left.

“Hunters, Katherine, hunters. Be careful, they are not easy to avoid much less to defeat. Be strong, be brave. I will be waiting for you, child. All of you.” And before I could say something else, the glowing bulb of light, had faded with the air.

My labored breaths continued as I looked for a sign of something else that could help me. My feet dragged me through the small house, trying to open diverse rooms but they were all locked. There was nowhere else I could go.

“What am I still doing here?” I asked myself in a low voice. I expected to wake up after Morgan had left but I was stuck in some sort of limbo.

A mirror caught my attention then. Slowly, I walked towards it until I was face-to-face with my reflection. There was nothing different, nothing out of the ordinary. When, out of nowhere, through the reflection, I saw a shadow start to creep from behind me. It reached my back, forming an intangible, smoky hand with the fog surrounding me.

A cold shiver ran down my spine as I watched the hand engulf me into a tight grip. I could make out the bones sticking out of the fog as if they belonged to a skeleton. My small gasps filled the room and my eyes were filled with fear.

Something was wrong. I tried keeping calm and discreetly pinching me awake but nothing could take me away from the dark room. “Help,” I called in a small whimper in my mind.

The presence of my wolf made me feel a slight relief. In my mind, I could hear her growling and snarling at the fog surrounding me. She didn’t say anything at first, but I noticed the eyes on my reflection light up before my canines elongated and my wolf let out a growl-like voice, “wake up. You need to run.”

My eyes burst open, sweat was covering me and my hair was stuck to the back of my head making me feel dirty. Katherine, you need to go. You are in danger. Go! My wolf yelled inside of my head. My eyes widened as I sat up and ran to the bathroom to quickly change before heading into my room one last time to grab my satchel.

I looked around my room, for what I imagined would be the last time and closed the door behind me. I headed outside, my eyes filling with tears as I ran towards the barn, running towards Blaze. Don’t, he’ll be safer here. Leave him. Just run. My wolf growled as she realized where I was headed.

A small sob escaped me as I changed course and ran towards the road. My wolf sight let me see clearly enough in the night as my legs pushed me further and further away from the only life I had ever known.