Ravenwood(81)
Chapter Sixteen
Elinore drifted into wakefulness in much the same way she had drifted into sleep - unhurried and slow, decadently wallowing in drowsy warmth and comfort. It took a moment to reconcile the unfamiliar weight against her body as Caleb’s bulk pressed against her. She was curled up on her side, nose tucked under the covers to keep it warm and he was stretched out against her back, an arm curled around her waist. She had a vague recollection of falling asleep while he brushed her hair and felt somewhat disappointed about it. She’d rather been looking forward to more… physical activities and now she felt as though she missed some kind of opportunity or chance. She shifted a bit, stretching out one of her legs that was sore at the hip from too much time on one side. Caleb’s arm tightened around her as though he thought she would move away from him. His arm relaxed when she stopped moving and settled back against him motionless. The first touches of light came across the horizon and filtered through her curtains. One more day closer to the full moon. One more day closer to learning if she would shift into a wolf.
Elinore hoped she would.
She didn’t know what it would mean for her future, or how she would adapt, but she did know she felt more assured and decisive than she had ever felt in her life. She liked it. She liked the confidence and the strength. In fact, she was partially afraid she wouldn’t shift, that she wouldn’t become a wolf, and all these new feelings would fall away, like water through her fingers, unable to be kept. She liked the way she felt now.
“What are you thinking?”
Caleb’s voice was low and sleep-rough, his breath tickling the small hairs at the back of her neck. It was a glorious sensation. He shifted slightly, trying to tug her even closer, although she was already pressed against him. Her breath stuttered at the feeling of his sex pressed against her backside. He was already stiff and hard and he started rocking his hips lazily against her, almost as an afterthought. Her throat made a low, happy growling sound that surprised her as she pushed back against him.
“About the full moon. About being a wolf.”
Caleb stilled and she turned her head slightly to catch his countenance out of the corner of her eye.
“Are you unhappy about it?”
“No,” she answered truthfully. He leaned forward and pressed his nose against her shoulder and inhaled deeply. She remembered yesterday when he said her scent had gone acrid and displeased.
“Are you trying to determine if I’m lying?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, his lips pressed against the fabric of her nightgown and her shoulder.
“Am I?”
He pressed his nose against her shoulder and inhaled again and then sighed, long and content. “No. You smell calm. Happy.”
“I am.” She shifted against him, coming to rest more on her back than her side so that she could see his face better. “Why the full moon?”
“Pardon?” Caleb asked, his eyebrows coming together in a v-shape.
“You mentioned before that you, that all werewolves were more powerful on the full moon, and that I must wait for the full moon to see if I turn.” At Caleb’s small nod, Elinore continued, “Why the full moon?”
Caleb’s fingers threaded through her hair, much like he had wielded her brush the night before. His face went pensive as he thought and she waited patiently for him to speak.
“I’m not entirely sure of the ‘why.’ I was born a werewolf. My mother and father were wolves before me and their parents before them. I’ve always been told fables and legends of wolves in much the same way I imagine you were told stories and tales as a child. It was only as I grew older that I realized our tales were different. Tales of kind and goodly wolves facing off against evil and corrupt humans out to take over their land or steal were-children away from their parents.” He paused, meeting her eyes for a moment. “We learned well as children never to shift in front of anyone unless our parents bade us to and never to trust anyone with our secret. It’s something you must learn as well.”
Elinore nodded silently. She understood the need for secrecy and wasn’t about to tell anyone lest she be burned at the stake.
Caleb continued his narrative. “Many of our stories are creation myths, the same way that there are many creation stories for humans. Unlike most of the wolf myths in human lore, our werewolf myths don’t portray the change or the bite as a curse or a punishment. I don’t know where we come from, truly, but… one of our myths concerns a young woman whose lover goes off to fight in a war in the name of the Great Wolf Goddess. Upon the return of the men from battle, the maiden is presented with a shield, her lover’s shield. It is all that is left of him. She is heartbroken and distraught at the death of her lover, but also uncertain of her future as she is several months pregnant and has no family of her own, nor of her lover’s to turn to. The time comes for her to give birth and she does so away from her village, having run away in her grief, deep into the forest. She gives birth under the full moon with only a raven to keep her company. The baby, affected by her mother’s grief, is a small sickly thing. The new mother wails and howls at the moon, demanding the Great Wolf Goddess save her child. Her lover has already died in the Goddess’ name and the woman refuses to lose her child as well. The Great Wolf Goddess comes down from the full moon and, to save the child, turns the baby, a girl, into a half wolf-half human, promising her mother that the child will have increased strength, increased longevity and increased speed. But the price, she maintains, is that she must remember to shift into her true wolf form at least once a month. If she does not, she will be forced to do so on the full moon. The child must never deny the animal part of herself. The baby girl is said to be the first of our kind, but it is her mother who is said to be the progenitor of our species - the mother who was strong enough to demand a Goddess save her baby.”