His Wolf

Chapter 15

It hadn't taken Ida's family long to devour the food.

The events of the past week must have drained not only his beautiful life partner, but also her wild family. All in all, Ant was ready to rip his hair out if one more fight broke out between her siblings. His soon to be father-in-law was of no help. As Ida explained to him on the first night of her awakening, "A wolf's fight is a wolf's fight alone to defend his pride and honour".

He didn't actually mind having wolves around. In fact it was rather comforting knowing there were more eyes to keep watch for whatever might pose a threat. But the constant macho act of her brothers was getting too much.
Anton's fuse was sizzling shorter and shorter by the day and if the overprotective, dominating males did not back off soon, then they'd have a fight on their paws which they couldn't win.

"What are you doing?" Anton would ask when one wolf decided to test the firmness of a doorframe with his teeth. "That's not a chew toy for you to clean your fangs with!"
Ant's tone was decidedly growing angrier. "Go and chew on a tree outside if you feel like using a toothpick!" Instead of acknowledging him, the stubborn creature shifted his body to give Anton a full display of his rump. "Asshole!" Ant muttered under his breath just as Ida came out of the toilet to see him struggling.

"Is Percifus giving you a hard time again, love?" Her melodious voice soothed him right down. If only her family would leave them alone to have some privacy. He hadn't had her to himself since her pack barged into their life.

"Your mutt of a brother is destroying my home!" He hadn't meant to raise his voice that much, but he was frustrated beyond common sense. The low growl let him know of her brother's now aggravated state. "Oh yeah, you heard right! Mutt!"

Slender arms snaked around Anton's waist. "Don't let them get to you Anton. They are trying to drive you crazy to see how far you'll go. It is all a test of your worthiness and acceptance into my pack. They are testing your strength." And in a whisper into his ear "They are testing your loyalty and commitment in my honour, love."

And suddenly it wasn't so bad anymore. "Are they ever gonna leave us the hell alone?" Did he sound pitiful? Anton didn't care anymore.

A light chuckle made Anton gaze down into her crystal blue pools. His hand raised to caress her cheek in a loving way and he felt his besotted smile straining his cheeks. "It won't be much longer, love." And with her soothing words and a peck to his lips she loosened her grip and made her way into the kitchen.

With a last glare in the wolf's direction he followed Ida. His arms wrapped around her waist from behind and he gave her a kiss on her cheek. "I'm going out hunting. The meat is almost gone and there's still a few hours of daylight left."

With a smile on her beautiful face she tilted her head back and gave him another kiss on the lips. "Be careful, love."

"Always" With a last kiss he collected his gear and headed outside.

The wind had picked up and was blowing the loose snow around the clearing down towards the valley. Around this time his herd should be around the homestead in the nearby trees. Firing up the snowmobile, his mask pulled up high over his nose, he began the short journey into the woods.

Once among the dense pines Anton slowed down. When a dark shadow slipped past his peripheral vision he almost felt his heart jump out of his chest. The wolf trotted beside his vehicle, not bothered by the noise or the human on top. Upon closer inspection, the white and grey markings identified him as Ida's father. 'Great, family bonding time now or what?'

Keeping an eye on the wolf he couldn't help but feel a little content. It had been years since his father and him had hunted together, long before his parent's deaths. Now that he had a hunting partner again, no less his new father-in-law, a certain nostalgia overcame him. Deep down he missed his family more than anything.

The nudge on his elbow and exasperated huff of the large wolf, brought him out of his daydream. It was only then, that Anton realised he had stopped driving.

"Sorry" he muttered past the ski mask and continued through the trees. Up ahead were the slow moving caribou. Their tracks were all over the forest, deep holes in the thick snow and the stripped bark of the trees revealing the wood's fibres underneath.

Before Anton could pull out his hunting rifle, the wolf had already taken off. In large leaps he cleared the distance and attacked the closest animal, a large buck. Terrified the animal began to cry out, alerting the others to the danger and causing the whole herd to rush in a panic.

In seconds the buck was swallowed in the herd, the wolf still latched on to his throat. Muttering curses, Anton loaded his gun. Aiming into the herd he waited for the target to surface. After a few seconds most of the herd had cleared the small area. The last stragglers were still trying to catch up to the safety of the herd and the buck was fighting with the wolf. His panicked cries tore at Anton's heart, no one deserved a prolonged death. Quickly aiming, Ant pulled the trigger. The bullet sliced clean through the male's skull and he keeled over, legs still twitching as the rest of his life drew out of him and his spirit joined the forest.

The wolf still held onto the buck's throat, growling and shaking his head. Anton was beyond pissed. Walking over to the kill he grabbed the wolf by his scruff and tore him off the carcass. "Do that again and it won't be the buck that will be dead at my feet."

A ferocious growl tore from the wolf. Red hot rage consumed Ant "You may be a wolf, and Ida may be my mate, but that has given you no right to damage my home, disrespect me every chance you get or take and kill everything that is mine." A large scowl of his own pulled on Anton's face. "This is my land. This is my home. And Ida is my mate. I will not repeat myself. From now on when you visit you will play by my rules. I don't care if you're an Alpha wolf or not, because I am an Alpha male. I will protect Ida with my life, I will provide for her until I can't do so no more and I will love her with all my heart until my last breath. If that hasn't sunk in, then that's too bad. I would have to request that you leave my land until you can show me and my family the respect they deserve." With a last deadly glare he turned to the dead animal ignoring the stupefied stare of the old wolf.

Slender arms gently hugged Anton while he fastened the ties around the hoofs of the bloody corpse. "Well done, love. That was amazing. No one has ever stood up to Father like that before."

With anger still simmering in his blood Anton took Ida into his arms. "No one disrespects my mate or my home. He can't just go killing my caribou, a healthy one at that, he didn't even go for an injured one, and expect to get away with it. There's a balance in the mountains that needs to be maintained and if everyone behaves as rash and stupid as your father did there would be nothing left up here."

Ida's eyes widened as they turned to her Father. "Is that true? Did you not even check before you made the kill?" The old wolf lowered his head and stared at the bloody snow, an angry growl passing between his fangs. "Dad! You know how dangerous the bucks can be! Anton is right, you were stupid. Dad, you could have been killed among the herd!"

A whimper from the old wolf made Anton look over at him. His arms were still around Ida and for a second he watched her wide eyes in confusion before looking at her father. The Alpha male was on the ground with his neck bared at Anton. Their eyes met for a millisecond before the wolf's lowered to the ground. A show of respect, acknowledging Anton's leadership and an apology all in one.

"Okay, nothing happened this time, but when you're hunting on my land again, ask me for direction first, understood?" The wolf gave a nod in answer to Anton, still not meeting his eyes.

"Let's get the meat home before it gets dark. Could you tie the last knots off love?" Looking down into Ida's eyes his agitation left as quick as it'd come. Her large smile blinded him with love as she kissed his lips before moving out of his arms.

Grabbing her wrist Anton pulled her back and kissed her again. "I love you, Ida." The smile brightened even further and she chuckled before kissing him again. She hugged him in joy and whispered in his ear before moving to finishing the ties. Her thick jacket made it a bit difficult to move for her, but she appeared to handle it just fine.

On the slow way back home with Ida perched on the quad behind him, her arms wrapped tightly around him he couldn't stop smiling. Her last words replayed in his head over and over again.

"I love you too, Ant"