"Can we go play in the meadow today?" Winnie asked with a yawn. She scrubbed the sleep out of her eyes and mama paused during in stirring the stew. Her body tensed.
"No."
"Awwwwwwww come on its the only day of the month where we get to play hide and seek with Lilah," Winnie said staggering with sleep heavy legs. Her eyes wide with childish pleas and longing. Mama pursed her lips and shook her head. "but--"
"No," she said curtly, "Papa and I don't want you wandering off today. We have a family meeting," she finished going back to stirring the stew. She eased the tension out of her shoulders . Winnie continued to whine loudly but, didn't over do it. Deliah had decided to lay by where Mama sat near the fire. The little girl stared up at the ceiling her eyes had a glazed over expression. Winnie sat down by Deliah's feet in resignation. She stared at the stew as if it were full of spiders instead of meat. Mama glanced around the den. Colton was laying in the corner nearest the entrance fast asleep. She rolled her eyes. That boy could sleep through the screaming of a Banshee. So much for guarding the entrance of the den.
Papa crawled through the entrance of the den with a smile on his face. Deliah got up from her place on the ground and jumped towards him with a childish smile on her face. Winnie did the same tackling him into a hug. His kind eyes shone with amusement and fatherly love. However his dark eyebrow scrunched up quizzically when he realized that his son was not there. He cast a gaze towards his mate. Mama rolled her eyes towards the sleeping boy in the corner.
"That boy is going to sleep his day away," Papa mused.
"Yeah he hasn't even gotten up to try and sneak stew," Mama said with a chuckle and another eye roll.
"Lilah and I will wake him up," Winnie announced flashing her younger sister a mischievious grin that was contagious. Deliah returned her grin. Soon Deliah was on the right side of Colton and Winnie Carefully position herself on top of Colton's stomach and carefully pinned his arms to the ground. Their parents watched in silent amusement a Deliah stuck her index finger in her mouth and then right into her brother's ear with a grin that was too big for her face. Colton's eyes flew open and he tried to move but Winnie held him still nothing but childish glee and determination in her eyes. She began to cackle malisiously and Deliah let out fits of laughter. Colton's eyes narrowed as he tried to twist and squirm his body away from his sisters. His eyes promised nothing but childish revenge later.
"Get off of me!!! Lilah how could you! My brain has been contaminated with sister germs," Colton exclaimed while trying to sit up.
"You can't contaminate what you don't have," Winnie taunted and Deliah was on her back laughing. It was too much tears of joy stung her eyes. Colton looked to Papa for help but he only shook his head trying to keep from laughing.
"Don't look at me son."
"Mama?"
"You did this to yourself. Don't sleep like the dead and they won't do these types of things," Mama retorted rolling her eyes again.
"Alright, alright," Papa said between laughs, "Winnie get off of him."
Deliah smiled as Colton heaved himself up off the ground and went to go sit by Papa who was still laughing. Soon Mama was handing out soup and soon they were eating stew and laughing about something funny from couple of full moons ago. They sat around the fire until all the stew was gone and their stomach were full. Deliah helped Mama clear the bowls and then everyone sat around the fire. A comfortable silence settled in as Deliah sat on either side of her sibling . Stared dreamily into the fire. Then Mama broke the silence.
"How have you three been holding up?" Mama asked and the comfortable silence was shattered as the siblings minds reeled with the haunting images of last month's events.
"Who were those men?" Colton asked there was a harshness to his voice that shouldn't belong to a seven year old.
"They smelled like us...but different," Winnie added she had moved to hug Deliah's shoulders. The little girl shivered with the bad memories.
"They are wolves...from another pack," Papa answered eyeing his children carefully. He had wished to spare them from all this for a little longer but clearly time had run out. Especially for Deliah. Soon the whole forest would know and things would become difficult.
"They have such bad manners. Going near a wolf's den like that," Chided Winnie though her voice couldn't fool Mama and Papa. This incident had shaken her up as well.
"They called you a cursed alfalfa," Deliah said her face paling at that memory.
"Alpha dear. Cursed Alpha," Mama said trying not to laugh. Now was not the time.
"That's what I said," Deliah said scowling at her parents. She stared as they tried to surpress a smile. They both coughed and it suspicously sounded like a laugh. She narrowed her eyes.
"Yes hun. But I kind of like cursed Alfalfa better," Papa said chuckling to himself. What had he done to have such adorable kids.
"What did he mean?" Winnie asked.
"Are you cursed?" Colton chimed in.
"Hmmm.... more like our whole pack is cursed," Mama added.
"We can't be cursed I would know," Winnie said confidently.
"You can't know what comes naturally to you," Papa said with a sigh. He rubbed the back of his neck. There was so much to tell and his cub were already getting distracted.
"Huh?" They said in unison.
"We are cursed to be wolves until the day of the full moon. Then we turn back into wolves. That's our packs curse too bare," Papa said. It was very painful to admit it. Just how doomed they were but at the same time it felt like something changing. And he his instincts told him it was because of Deliah. His sweet daughter. Mama grabbed his hand and tried to encourage him to continue. He twined his fingers with hers and he felt stronger.
"Am I cursed?" Deliah asked.
"No sweety your not."
"Oh," Deliah said and her shoulders deflated. Another reminder that she wasn't really like them. "But I am a part of this pack." Confusion spread across her face.
"Your not a wolf honey. But that doesn't change anything. Your still our cub. For better or worse," Mama said with a chuckle. The little girl scowled at them. Not understanding the joke.
"Hey!"
"Anyways everyone in the pack aside from Deliah is cursed. That's why we can only walk as humans once a month," Mama explained.
"Those men are wolves but their different. They can change whenever they want," Papa said.
"Why are we cursed and their not?" Colton asked. He wasn't afraid. If anything he seemed terribly curious not like this was something that would burden him. He will make a good alpha one day, Papa thought with pride. They both will.
"Awww thats a good question honey," their mama said, " It happened one hundred year ago when the forest was nothing but a few hundred sapplings and shurbs. It was a time when the Wolf god walked among the young forest. He was said to have immense power and was responsible for shepherding various wolf packs into the forest where they could live in peace with the other creatures of the forest--"
"Like the Fae and sprites?" Winnie interjected. The little girl was entranced by her mama's tale. Even Deliah and Colton were listening tentatively.
"Yes. Anyways when the Wolf god was wandering through the forest he noticed that every creature had a mate or someone that called to their soul. He was very lonely and envious. After all he was more wolf than god himself. Yet didn't have one. Unlike all the other wolves. Then one day he was walking through the forest and smelled something different. It didn't smell like any of the wolves or creatures of the forest. When he foudn the scent he discovered that it belonged to a human who had no wolf or other worldly way about her. He felt like killing her. She was human and was not supposed to be here. But, then he started watching her and realized she was truly different. Beautiful not only on the outside but also on the inside. He witnessed how she loved the wolves and how they cherished her in return. She was even rumored to have made warring Alphas stop mid-struggle--"
"Who was she?" Deliah asked completely entranced by the magic of her mother's story telling.
"She was known as the Magdelina or more by her title the Saint of Wolves," Papa said with a small smile and something in Deliah's tiny mind seemed to be clicking.
"She was human and yet the wolves adored her. She was kind to the other creatures of the forest as well. She never took anything and always gave. If a wolf was labor she helped. If a sprite or gremlin lost their way she'd help them. She was very different from the Wolf god. He was strict and ruled the forest with an iron will that only a god could possess. And when came along he didn't know what to do. At first he was much like a child in love. He covered her bed with rotting leaves or brought a dead squirrle or sprite hoping to show off... in a way. However, all these things only made her sad. Then he did something unthinkable. He kidnapped her on the night of a full moon when he was at his strongest--"
"What does any of this have to do with the curse," Colton said in a bored tone. He like it was turning into a love story. They were too goey and mushy for his taste. he'd rather have a story full of fighting and battle. However his sisters seemed to be entranced by all that mushy stuff. He rolled his eyes. Sisters, he thought shaking his head.
"I'm getting to that. Anyways he whisked her away to his castle that was well hidden in the forest away from all wolves and ensorcelled with heavy magic that even the wisest of Fae kind could not break. However, when he took her away the whole forest became restless and angry. They feared the Wolf god would destroy and break her. They gathered and went in search of his castle. Meanwhile the human girl wasn't doing well. She hated the wolf god and how he callous he treated those of the forest. She tried to escape and the Wolf god locked her away in the highest tower of his castle. The creatures of the forest and all the wolves approached the castle and began to attack. After thirteen days of attacking there were thousands of casualties and no success most of the creatures and wolves gave up. Except for one pack. Our pack. We loved the human girl the most and it was our love that made us strong enough to stand against the Wolf god and pierce through his barrier. However, the Wolf god was too powerful and we made a grave error. We willing entered and attacked another wolf's den. He slaughtered most of our pack. He cursed the survivors and all the other wolf pack avoided us for fear the curse would spread to them. This pushed us into seclusion and what made our numbers dwindle to fewer than twenty," Mama concluded. Their children looked at them with astonishment and awe. Only Deliah seemed lost.
"What happened to the Saint of Wolves?" She asked confusion spread across her young face.
"She witnessed the destruction of our wolf pack and flung herself from the tower and died. She believed that if she had never set foot in the forest than none of the wolves would have suffered the Wolf god's wrath. When she died the Wolf god went crazy and started terrorizing all the creatures that helped attack the castle."
"Oh," Deliah said a wave of saddness hitting her body. She felt bad for the creatures of the forest but also for the Wolf god. He was evil but, he must have cared for the human in his own twisted misguided way. A single tear slid down her face.
"However, he was punished in the end. Just when the forest flooded in a rain of blood the great Forest Witch answered the cries of everyone in the forest. She was so distraught and angry with her son that she vowed to fix it! She turned the desceased Saint of Wolves into a great Oak tree nymph that would be the very heart of the forest. She then took half of the wolf god's soul and some broken peices of wolf saints and bound them together. It is said that when the next Saint of Wolves appears that the Wolf god will regain the other half of his soul and everything will be new again," Mama concluded. The last part put a smile on Deliah's face. Then maybe the curse would be broken. And they could play hide and seek whenever they pleased.
"Do you know where the oak tree is?" Winnie asked complete spell bound by the stories conclusion. Papa shook his head.
"No one has ever found the oak tree and many think its just a myth. But I think the great forest witch hid the tree on purpose," Mama said with a sad smile on her face.
"What does the forest witch look like? " Deliah asked. She was beginning to think that maybe it had been the granny she saw in the forest last month. The one with the gifts.
"Well. Supposedly she is very old and has a croaky voice," Papa said giving Deliah a curious look.
"I have met her," Deliah said certainty lacing her voice.
"It seems you have," Papa said with amusement. This was there legacy and it would be a heavy burden to bear. Especially as they grew older.