Rebecca Royce - Wolfs Magic

Leah woke up covered in brown and white fur still trapped in a cage. Dear God, please let me not be a wolf, please let it all be a dream.

Blinking twice, she looked down, her whole body deflating as she realized it wasnt a dreamshe was actually covered in fur. How could any of this be happening? Her moments of lucidity were becoming fewer and fewer and even more frightening were the fact that her memories of her insane times had grown more vague. Now, not only could she not control what she did when the madness overtook her, she also had no recollection of what happened.

Maybe it was a blessing. The things shed remembered from the earlier episodes had left her feeling horrified.

And then there was him, the man who watched her from outside the cage. Other wolves came and went from the cages, he paid attention to them, but not like hed been attentive to her. Not to mention she couldnt figure out why all of the other wolvesor maybe they were actually people trapped in wolf bodies toogot to go somewhere and she was kept locked in her cage.

She couldnt talk, couldnt do more than growl or whine, and even those abilities were pathetic at best. The beagle shed grown up with, Max, had done a better job of communicating than she could.

The man stood up from his desk. When he wasnt poking and prodding at her or the others, admittedly gently, he was always sitting at that black wooden table that seemed to function as his work station, hunched over a book or staring at a computer screen. The last she remembered before shed had her previous episode was him falling asleep in the chair, head down on the desk. Didnt he ever leave? Wasnt there some family somewhere wondering where he was?

On that same notewasnt there someone looking for her?

That was part of the problem. Other than her nameLeah St. Jamesand the absolute certainty to the pit of her soul that she was not a wolf and should not be in the body she inhabited, she had no ideazerowho or where she came from.

The mans hair, brown to the point of almost being black, stuck up like he was a child instead of an adult she guessed to be around thirty years of age. Thin but broad shouldered, he was muscular and looked like he could handle himself in a fight.

Hmmmthat was a funny thing to think. Evidently she was the kind of person who thought of others in terms of their ability to fight. Did that mean she came from someplace violent?

His destination was clearly her cage. All the others were empty. Her heart picked up speed. She admitted it; she liked looking at his eyes. It was fun seeing the concentration and intensity in his brown-eyed gaze. Also, his smell was enticing. His scent reminded her of water, or at least the way the ocean smelled on a clear, crisp morning when no one else was on the beach.

She added the thought to the pile of interesting observations she was making about her inner dialogue. Maybe some of it would give her a clue as to who she was.

Hello there.

Huh, usually he didnt speak other than unintelligible mutterings when he took her temperature or swabbed one of her claws. Its not like she could answer him. Still, if he wanted to talk at least it was nice to hear someone elses voice

Can you understand me?

His voice was like chocolate syrup being poured over vanilla ice cream. It was just a perfect combination of taste and texture, like the universe had designed those two things to go together, in other words it was heavenly. She shivered from the intensity.

He noticed her small shake and hesitantly reached inside the cage. She couldnt blame him for his nerves. She was a wolf, she might bite him. After a moment, he reached farther and stroked her fur.

Are you okay? Are you cold? He drew his eyebrows down in a slant. Youre eyes are so intelligent, so different from the others.

Others? Did he mean the wolves that came and went? She flipped her head around just to make sure there werent any others around that she didnt know about. Belatedly, she realized she could sniff the air to tell but using her nose to know anything was still pretty foreign to her. Half the time she wasnt sure what any of the sensory input she received even meant.

And your furits brown and white, it still hasnt lost its luster. Its soft. He was downright petting her now. She wished she were a cat, so she could purr. Oh wow, when was the last time shed been touched? She closed her eyes. Really touched? He was gentle and he knew all the right places to rub. Behind her ears, it really itched; he moved his hand and scratched there. Her tongue fell out of her mouth.

Dear heavens, she panted. Her eyes flew open. If she were human, she would blush with humiliation. Here was this stunning man just barely touching her and she was acting like a real wolf for goodness sake. Daring to look at him, she didnt see the horror she expected to find at her behavior.

Instead, he seemed to be considering her even more closely. Hed put both hands in the cage. With one he continued to scratch between her ears while the other made long, divine strokes up and down her spine.

You like that, girlie? I bet that feels better. He leaned his head up against the bars of the cage and she could see that a small scar, a thin line really, marred his face from the tip of his left eye down to his chin. It wasnt noticeable from afar but up close it gave him a sexy, scary look. Can I tell you a secret? Im not sure how much more of this I can do. Im so tired of all of you dying. Im exhausted from not being able to figure this out.

Dying? Terror poured through her blood, she wished she could scream but it only came out a whimper. He stroked her harder. Did you actually understand what I just said?

Staring straight in his eyes, she willed him to understand that she didshe knew everything he was telling her.

Pulling his head off the cage, he nodded. You did. None of the others ever could. Im sure of it. This seemed to excite him. She could hear his heart rate increased. The wolf senses would be cool if they werent so terrifying and bizarre.

Okay, listen to me. I dont know how they did this to you. I know everything about wolf magic, Im an expert and even I cant figure out how the witches did this to all of you. We thought at first that after the change they addicted you to a chemical to make you obey but now we know thats not true. You all just like the stuff so you go looking for it. With or without it, youll die.

She had no idea what he was talking about. Wolf magic? The change? She whined in confusion.

All right, Ill start over. Do you remember what happened to you? Do you remember when the witches did this to you?

She lowered her head onto her paws. It was so frustrating to not be able to speak. No, she wanted to scream, I have no idea, I have no memory and did you say witches?

An alarm sounded in the room, loud and piercing it caused pain to vibrate through her body like nothing shed ever felt before. The man jumped back like hed been struck, he jerked around.

Shit. Theyre here.

Who was here and what was that alarm? Couldnt he make it stop? She was howling now and she couldnt seem to stop.

A boom sounded in the room momentarily covering the alarm. A bright orange light temporarily blinded her. Oh God, this was panic. Anything shed felt before being locked in the cage and being a wolf was nothing compared to this. What the hell was going on?

Was she going to die in this cage?

Smoke filled the air. She choked and gagged. This was hell. These wolf senses in this place with these horrors happening were too much. She needed it to stop. Where was the man? What had happened to him? She hadnt seen him since the bright light that had blinded her. Had he died in the explosion?