33 BULLETS
"Me?!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean, he thinks she's me?"
Cane pointed to my ponytail. "Your hair. Molly has blonde hair like you. But hers is nowhere near as long as yours."
"Huh? He wants me because of my hair?" I was so confused.
Cane nodded.
Thann kneeled in front of me and placed a hand on the wood beside me. I wished he'd touch me instead. "There was a story told, back when there still were mothers, our mother told it to us. It was of a woman to come to save the world. They called her the Woman of Thunder, or Owesifazane Wokuduma."
"Wokuduma. You called me that sometimes." I looked deep into his dark browns trying to understand.
"Yes. I realized that you were the same Woman of Thunder once I saw your hair." He pulled my locks over my shoulder. "In the story it speaks of a most beautiful woman with golden sunshine flowing down her back and following everywhere she goes. Our people always have dark hair, so sunshine makes sense."
I started picking at a tangle to give my fingers something to focus on.
"I should have realized it earlier, but it had been so long since I'd heard the story, that it didn't connect until I actually got to see your hair."
I shrugged nonchalant, still threading out the tangle. "So it could be anyone with long blonde hair. Maybe it really was Molly. What king could care about me? I'm nothing."
Thann pushed the lock of hair away from me and pressed on my chin to get me to look at him. "No. It's you. The story talks of a woman coming to our world from the stars. She'd be riding a metal wolf and could control the thunder."
"What?" I chuckled nervously. "A metal wolf? And controlling thunder? Don't be crazy. I can't do that."
He nodded. "Yes. Yes you can. Your car. We have no word for it. Of course the only thing we could liken it to was fast and big like our wolf forms, and metal. And the thunder. Your metal stick. Your gun. It causes invisible lightning to attack whatever you want and the thunder cracks your wish."
A sliver of a smile pulled at one side of my lips. "My gun shoots bullets, oh uh, my gun contains rocks, sharp rocks that get pushed out with an explosive fire to point at a target. The sound just comes from the blast. I can't control thunder."
The two men stilled in their own thoughts.
Cane lifted his head to me. "Okay. And you had a contraption to start fire with your fingertips. The story foretold of that too."
"A story predicted my lighter?" I glanced between them. "I don't know guys. This is weird. Why would I be a story?"
Cane came and sat down on one side of the log, next to me. "Because you are supposed to change our world."
I coughed. "Excuse me?"
Thann sat on the other side. "Yes. The Woman of Thunder comes and brings peace to our land. You are to marry the Alpha King. You will become his Alpha Queen and you will make him the richest and most powerful Alpha our world has ever seen."
"Queen?" I drew back.
Cane continued on. "You will unite all the packs. There's fighting and turf wars like crazy right now. People are going hungry. Women are gone. You will change all of that."
"I'm going to change a werewolf planet? Guys. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm a stupid human. A werewolf could break me like a twig."
Thann flinched.
Cane shrugged. "I don't know how you do it. But it's you. And now you need to get to Wolf City and take your place. Alpha King Maza took Molly. He kidnapped her when me, Kayo, and her were out gathering. He ordered us to hand her over, so we had to. When Mathe found out, he obviously went to rescue her, but got captured instead. King Maza is going to kill Mathe to become Molly's mate instead. He plans to kill him on the full moons, so you need to get there before that."
Thann stood off the log, turning to his brother and squared his shoulders. "The full moons? That's tomorrow. There's no way she can make it by then. Not even if I carried her shifted."
Cane submitted, head low and voice heavy. I assumed he was remembering how his girlfriend died. "I know. But we have to try."
"Try how?" Thann yelled. He pointed to my leg. "She has skunk poisoning tearing her leg open. And you know as well as I do that skunk poisoning is fatal to us and these girls can't heal a tenth of what we can. It's getting worse. She can't be carried like that."
"Wait," I cut in, looking horrified at my leg. "Fatal? I'm going to die from this?"
I mean I already figured I was doomed, but to hear it black and white was something different.
Thann softened and crouched in front of me, a tender hand placed on my thigh above the paste. "No, no. Of course not. You can't die if you are here to save our world. We'll figure something out."
I was quiet a full minute and then exhaled. There was only one way I could think of. If werewolves and their freaky healing die, maybe there was only one solution for me. "Do your stories say I have both legs?"
"What?" Thann sat back.
I traced a line across the bottom of my knee. "We amputate right here."
He stood tall in outrage, voice bellowing around the campsite. "Absolutely not!"
"If it's the only way to survive..." I let the thought hang.
He growled. "We'll figure something out."
Cane looked over my coated leg. "She might be onto something."
Thann whipped out of nowhere and smashed a fist into Cane's face.
Cane recoiled falling clear off the log, hand holding his nose, and blood spewing from underneath it. "Thann! What did you do that for?"
Thann's voice was intense and dark. "We will not be cutting her leg off."
Cane pulled a strip of fabric from his pouch and pressed it at his nose, climbing back beside me. "Thann. It's as good of an option as..."
Thann howled over Cane's words. "We are not!"
Thann's heavy breathing slowed over the next few minutes of silence.
I finally broke the quiet. "How far is Molly and Mathe?"
Cane sighed and looked out over the trees. "A half day full run from here."
"And when is the full moon?"
"King Maza plans to kill Mathe at moonrise."
Thann snarled. "Dusk? We'll never make it. No. We're not going."
I turned to Thann, concern etched over my face. "I thought Mathe was your friend? You don't want to even try?"
Cane's voice was soft to me. "He wants to protect you. We can't carry you on a journey like that without getting hurt. And," he paused. "I don't think he wants to give you up."
I turned to Cane. "What?"
Cane's eyes dipped to my belly. "He's grown an attraction to you. But you are not his. Your mate is Alpha King Maza."
My eyes focused up at Thann and he turned from me, speaking dully to the trees. "I know she's not my mate."
"What do you mean?" I argued sarcastically. "There's a baby in me. We plenty mated."
Cane touched my arm. "Not like that. On Earth men and women get to choose who they are paired with. Here, our destinies are predetermined. We call them mates. We get no say. You see your perfect person and they are your mate. You just know from the moment you set eyes on them."
"So soulmates?"
Cane gave a simple nod. "Oh yes, that's your word for it. Our soulmates are not something we can choose. You just are. Thann has been kidding himself. You are not his."
"But..." I started glancing to Thann's back.
"No," Thann spoke to the trees. "No buts. You are Alpha King Maza's mate."
"Maybe I don't want..." I tried again.
"No," Cane shook his head. "El. Don't be scared. This is a good thing. It's prophesized you'll be together. When we go you'll meet your soulmate. You two will both just know the moment you look upon the other. It'll be the most wonderful day of your life." He sat back on the log and grinned in memory. "When I first saw Mataoka, I fell to my knees with emotion. My heart pushed clear out of my chest. The whole world bloomed with color around her. I knew she was mine. So beautiful. And even though I only had her for a few weeks, I would never choose not to know her. My life was made right by knowing her."
I smiled and rubbed over Cane's bare back. "She sounds amazing."
He gave a half smile. "You'll know what it feels like too. We just need to get you there. And hopefully before moonrise tomorrow."
I twisted to Thann, my voice quiet and tense. "You don't feel like that about me?"
He spoke flat, not turning around. "No."
"Oh," I couldn't help but feel hurt. But I gathered myself and looked back to Cane. "Maza will feel that?"
"The moment he sees you."
Did I believe in love at first sight?
Maybe?
That was a lot of pressure.
Cane patted my leg and I stiffened, feeling the spikes shoot into my shin.
Seeing my reaction, he pulled his hand back fast. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot!"
Thann turned around and growled. "See? We can't get her there. She is in pain. We must wait this out."
"Thann," I started, "we can't let your friend die if there's a chance we could help. I want to help." I turned to Cane. "I'm sorry to bring this up, but how did Mataoka die? I understand she died of blood loss from a wolf bite?"
Cane stiffened, but squared his shoulders in his own inner strength. "Yes," he swallowed. "She died because she just kept bleeding. Some wolf rogues," he inhaled the air and snarled, "the ones who lived here, stole her from me. Me and Thann fought to get her back and suffered serious wounds. Thann nearly got his stomach torn out." He sighed and looked to the ground. "They bit her and ran. They didn't know that you humans are very delicate. We have to watch our strength around you at every moment. They didn't know to and cut deep into her, nearly all the way through her. I guess the chase and the blood was too much for the rogues and they dropped her to the ground and ran away. We made it to her not long after that and tried to wrap bandages around, but she just kept bleeding. She was too far gone, but I at least got to say goodbye."
I nodded and rubbed over his arm. "I'm so sorry for your loss Cane. But what if we tried it again. Maybe not as deep and away from the arteries I know of."
"Absolutely not!" Thann boomed, stepping close.
I twisted to face him. "Absolutely yes. I'm going to help your friend."
"He has made his choice when he went after Molly."
"I made my choice to go after them!" I stood, balancing on one leg.
The effect was not intimidating with a tower of hulking muscles hovering over me. "You will not."
I poked him in the chest. "I will. And you can't stop me."
Did I just poke him in the chest? I thought they only did that in movies.
Never mind.
"I am going. Whether you take me or Cane takes me, doesn't matter."
"Neither of us will," he leaned forward, hanging deadly over me.
Good grief he was acting really tough and sexy.
Was it bad that I really wanted to kiss him right now?
The thought made me smirk.
"What?" He questioned angrily.
I couldn't hold my anger. A full grin slid across my face. "Nothing."
His brows came down in frustration and he huffed. "We are not going."
I pointed to his brother then folded my arms. "Then I'll get Cane to take me."
"I'll tie him up."
My grin lost and I threw my arms down. "Why are you so adamant that we don't save your friend?"
He softened and looked away from me. "We'd only make it if we full out ran at top wolf speed. You'll get sick. Even if we could hold you gentle enough, you wouldn't survive the speeds. One accidental hit with a branch could take your arm off."
I gestured to my gross leg. "And maybe that's exactly what needs to happen."
He turned back fiercely and grabbed my face in his hands. I wobbled on my good foot and grabbed his wrists to steady myself. His eyes were fire. "We can't carry you that fast. We can't even tie you to us and run that fast. You'd have to be a wolf to survive those speeds. A human can't handle it. You can't handle it."
My eyes widened at his words and my glance darted around in deep thought. I spoke under my breath with a gasp. "Have to be a wolf." I looked back at him, my heart picking up its tempo. "Then that's it. I have to be a wolf. You turn me into a werewolf."
He released my face, effectively dropping me back to the log. When my leg hit ground, I cried out in pain and my hand automatically dug into the mud to comfort the hurt.
"I'm sorry!" Thann was instantly before me, hands massaging my thighs. "Are you alright?"
I cringed out through gnashed teeth. I tried to breathe heavy, pushing the pains away. I opened my watering eyes and wiped the excess mud onto the log. "I think that's it."
Cane scooted close, interested. "What is?"
"I have to be a wolf."
Thann scoffed. "You're a human."
"Hear me out," I propositioned regaining control of my pain. "On your planet, I'm a story. Correct? And it came true, supposedly. Because I'm here."
Cane nodded.
"On my planet, werewolves are only things of stories. They don't exist, but here you are. Sure, they're super scary monsters that eat people and change on the full moon, but maybe that's like me coming on a metal wolf, the first person to tell the story just didn't understand what they were seeing."
"What are you getting at," Thann demanded.
"In my fairytales, werewolves can change humans into weres by biting them." I brightened. "If you guys can't carry me there in time, I need to run on my own. If you bite me, then I can turn into a werewolf."
"No!" Thann cursed.
"Yes!" I cried back.
He sighed and rubbed at his face. "Stop it. It won't work. If that were true for our planet you would already be a wolf."
"What? Why?" I asked perplexed.
He pointed to the area the dead werewolves were when I had shot them. "Because of the rogues. They did bite you. Remember?"
"Oh," I deflated. They had. They had bitten me, and I was surely no wolf.
Then what?
How could I become a wolf?
Cane piped up in soft question. "In your stories, how did the wolf have to bite the person?"
I looked over and then shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't much into werewolf lore. What do you mean?"
He gave his own shrug. "I don't know, just maybe it has to be under the full moons, or with a prayer to Moon Goodess, or a specific place or something to do it."
I tilted my head trying to remember anything I'd read or watched. The only thing I could remember was a teenager show about wolves. He got bit on his side and it dug really deep, but the teeth marks were more humanistic. But the teenage wolf kind of werewolf were half wolf half human, Thann's kind of wolves were straight up wolf.
"Maybe if we try it when you're human, instead of wolf?" I wondered.
"Okay," Cane was thinking to himself.
"No!" Thann bellowed. "This is not an option!"
"Let's try it," I announced to Cane, ignoring Thann.
Thann's head darted to me.
"Don't you start!" I cautioned. I motioned over my leg and back. "I'm already covered in pain, him biting me won't add too much. If I'm already dying, I'm going out in style."
"You are not dying!" Thann's teeth bared. "And we are not biting you."
I rolled my eyes, "well it won't make me a werewolf if I bite myself, so one of you better."
"I will," Cane offered.
Thann reared back to punch Cane again, but Cane was expecting it and dodged. Cane caught Thann's follow through in a choke hold.
Thann struggled in Cane's grip. "You will not hurt her! And she's pregnant! You'll hurt the baby!"
"I'm not going to hurt her baby, and we'll keep her close to the white powder if she starts to bleed out."
Thann growled a roar and pulled out of Cane's grasp, wolf eyes flashing in Cane's face. "You touch her and I'll kill you."
I stood on a wobbly leg and started hobbling with a balance of my off-foot toe. "You two figure out who's going to bite me, I'll go pack."
Suddenly, I was thrust into Thann's arms and he was carrying me to the cave bed, leaving Cane outside. "We aren't doing this. You are staying here. Cane can go try to help Mathe if he must, but you are not going anywhere until that leg heals."
I softened and looked over sad eyelashes when he sat me down. "Then you go with him. Save your friend. Get Molly back to her kids."
His muscles tightened and he kneeled before me. "They will just have to make do on their own. I can't leave you."
"You can't leave those kids without a father."
He growled. I was sure it was a low blow. "And I won't leave my child without a father!"
"I can be okay for a few days." I pointed to the wooden branches beside the bed. "Those are crutches. I can use them to steady myself and walk around on my own."
He sat beside me, fingers threading through his hair, and sighed a miserable sound. "Eleanor, look. I can't leave. I need to figure out what to do for your leg before the poison reaches your heart. I don't know how long it will take, but your fever gets worse every day. I keep thinking you won't wake up. I can't lose you. And I can't lose that baby. Our planet can't lose that baby."
I sighed and nodded quietly to the cave wall. "So it really is that bad."
He nodded.
"Well, maybe we should try a werewolf bite then? My stories tell about how much better of healers werewolves are. Maybe when I'm a werewolf, it would heal?"
He shook his head. "No. Skunk poison even kills us most times."
"It's worth a try if I'm already dying."
"No, it's not." He stood as if the conversation was over. "We will get you to King Maza when you are better. Molly will be fine until then. Mathe will just be on his own to escape."
I couldn't believe he was so heartless towards his friends that I grabbed the nearest weapon which happened to be a crutch and hit him with it.
It didn't even make him flinch, but he turned back to me. "What was that for?"
I used the other crutch and stood, balancing with it. "You! That's what. What kind of a friend are you? Letting your friend be murdered? Go help him! You're going to let his kids grow up without a father? Leave me. There's no help for me. I'm already dead!"
He growled and came into my face. "You are not dying!"
"Yes, I am! You said it yourself! Now bite me!"
He bared his teeth. "No!"
"Then move aside and I'll get Cane to!"
He swept me up tight against his chest, feet dangling. "You are not getting bitten and that is final! Mathe will have to deal on his own!"
He just needed to shut up. So I did the movie thing and leaned up in his arms and kissed him.
He startled for a moment, but soon enough was kissing me back with as strong of passion as I was stirring over him.
I couldn't even remember that my leg hurt.
And then he crumpled to the ground and Cane caught me out of the air.
"Whoa!" I cried in surprise and gripped Cane's shoulders.
Cane gave an embarrassed grin and then gently placed me back sitting to the bed. "Sorry about that, but Thann's already going to beat my ass. If you got dropped too, I'd be dead."
I looked at Thann's unmoving form and freaked, "what'd you do?"
He stroked down my arm. "It's okay. I just knocked him out. He'll wake up in no time."
"Is he okay?"
Cane chuckled, "that thick head of his? Of course. We just had to get him off of you long enough to fulfill your plan. Good thinking with that kiss. He didn't notice me sneaking up one bit."
"Oh, yeah sure." I agreed.
Right. That was my plan all along. Distract Thann so Cane could knock him out.
Yeaaah.
"So," I looked at Cane. "You believe me. You want to try biting me?"
He shrugged. "If there's stories about you, makes sense there's stories about us. Somehow our worlds are connected."
"Couldn't hurt to try."
He tilted his head. "Well, I think it could actually."
"Oh right. Yeah, you'll need to do it pretty deep." I swept over my leg. "But what the hey. I'm already covered in scars, if it doesn't work, one more battle wound won't kill me any faster."
He nodded. "I guess that's true. You sure you want to try? I could bite too deep and hurt you worse."
I sighed. "I think I'm dying already, right?"
He nodded sadly and looked my body over. "What do I do?"
We argued for too long on where he would bite me. Cane kept looking at Thann, expecting him to wake up at any moment, so we needed to get moving.
That teenage werewolf show I remembered him getting bit on his side, but Cane flat out refused that placing because it was too close to the baby.
What did it even matter if the skunk venom was going to kill me anyway?
Maybe only being pregnant for two weeks hadn't let it set in that I should be worried about someone growing inside me yet.
We finally decided on the shoulder, because the neck was where lovers bit and he was fearful of King Maza's wrath if he thought I was marked already.
I voiced my concern. "Won't King Maza be pretty ticked that I'm pregnant then?"
Cane looked over my belly in worry, but then grinned tight. It didn't reach his eyes. "Nah. 'Course not. He's a good guy. Just a little stubborn."
I wasn't convinced 'a little stubborn' was a total truth. "You said he kidnapped Molly."
Cane's hand gripped my good shoulder, friendly. "You're a pretty girl, okay? I can see why Thann got caught up. But King Maza is your mate. It's been foretold. Once he sets his sight on you, you'll be his light. And if you say you want to keep the baby, he'll agree in a heartbeat. He'll do anything to keep you happy."
"He will?"
Cane smiled. "Sure. I fought a soul sucker flower head to get my mate the greatest tasting pudding our land has to offer. I wanted to show her everything just to see her pleased."
"It'll really be like that?"
He nodded. "So don't you worry about this little one. King Maza'll love you, so he'll love it. Just, maybe don't tell him who the father is."
I breathed out and moistened my lips in preparation. I still wasn't going to meet the dude. I was going to save Thann's friend. "Okay. I'm ready." I unbuttoned my farm shirt and revealed my shoulder.
"Let's do this." He looked at me, golden flecks glittering into his irises like diamonds surging into his brown color.
My glance dipped to his mouth where wolf fangs started just peeking out from the edge of his lips.
I closed my eyes tight and grabbed onto his shoulders to hold myself upright. "Do it."
"Get ready," his voice was gravely and rough like he was using vocal cords that were somewhere between wolf and man.
I nodded.
And then teeth were sunk into me.
A scream rattled around the cave so severely, I felt the vibrations down to my bones.