"Abel," I said as I buried my teeth in a slice of pizza.
"Yeah?" He looked up at me from his position on the sofa, his head resting in my lap.
"I met another wolf. In the forest. She was the one who helped me home."
He frowned and sat up, looking like he wanted to say something, but struggling to find the right words.
"How come you didn't tell me before now?"
I shrugged a little, looking down at the pizza slice, picking a little at it. "I don't know. I just had a feeling I shouldn't tell anyone about her, but I don't like lying either. And an omission of truth is lying."
"You got those clothes from her too?"
I nodded without looking up. "I'm sorry for lying."
He sighed deeply. I glanced up at him, but he was staring at the telly. We didn't say anything for a good while. Then he sighed again and looked at me.
"Don't lie to me again," he said very seriously.
"I promise."
"Anything else? You're getting a free pass here. If there's anything else you think you should tell me, now's your chance."
"She said other wolves come through her end of the forest. If I'm not the murderer, maybe another wolf is."
"So, she might know something." Abel frowned. "We should ask her."
"I don't know. I think she wants to be left alone."
"If asking her about this could once and for all kill all rumours of the killer being you, wouldn't you wanna do it?"
I bit the inside of my cheek and shrugged. "Maybe."
"I think we should do it."
"Right."
He took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "I believe you. I trust you. I also know you well enough by now to know, you're still not trusting yourself. There's still doubt surrounding whether or not you're the killer. And more than anything I wanna bring you some peace."
I arched a brow at him.
"Don't act surprised. I've noticed you've been more fidgety than you were at the beginning. I notice shit, alright?"
I snorted and nodded. "No, you're right. I've been really on edge in these last few weeks."
He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I was still holding on to the pizza but now put the box on the small coffee table in front of my couch.
"And, maybe this woman knows something. The least we can do is ask, right? And the worst answer we can get is like... A no."
"I'd say the worst would be her being like 'oh yeah, you're the killer'," I muttered.
"Moron," he said softly and pressed me to him, ruffling up my hair. "I know it's not you. So, I'd know she'd be a liar if she tried telling us it's you."
I shook my head at that, but I was tired fighting him on this. He'd won and we'd go to the forest and ask her.
It was hard to actually locate her. I couldn't really remember the way she had been driving other than I knew she lived on the opposite end of the town and then further out. So, we ended up driving around a lot until I grabbed Abel's arm.
"Swing right here. I remember that road."
He swung right and we drove up a bumpy forest road. And by the end of a turn, her cottage appeared. She was sitting outside of it, in an old rocking chair, knitting and listening to the radio. She didn't even seem phased by the fact that we had arrived. She just smiled at me as I exited the car.
"Hi cub," she said with that hoarse voice of hers.
"Hi... I've... I've brought my boyfriend this time... To meet you."
"I can see that." She kept smiling. Maybe I hadn't done anything wrong by telling Abel about her?
"This is my boyfriend, Abel. Abel this is..." I had my hand pointed towards her and realised I had never gotten her name. "You didn't give me your name."
"And you didn't give me yours."
I hesitated for a moment. It was clear there was an exchange happening. An exchange of trust, sort of. "I'm Gael."
"And I'm Margrethe, but I usually go by Mags." She smiled again, wrinkles completely covering her eyes.
"We've come to ask you something," Abel said hesitantly and came up beside me, taking my hands in his.
"I assumed so. It's usually how conversations go."
Abel snorted and nodded. "Uh... Well, we were just wondering if you've seen many wolves here lately? Or heard about the killings happening?"
"You assume it's wolves?" she asked and arched a brow.
"I saw one of the bodies. We came across it on a hike." He cringed a little before continuing. "It looked like an animal attack. And we've got no large predators in these woods."
"Besides wolves, you mean." She was still smiling and being very polite, but there was an iciness to her tone.
"Kind of."
"And yet, you're with a wolf."
"I am. I also know it's not Gael who did it."
"How? If you're certain it's wolves, why are you certain it's not him?" She rocked a little in her chair and looked down at her knitting. "Lots of threads tangle all the time. Gael, honey, help an old and almost blind lady untangle them."
I came closer and squatted down in front her, taking her knitting from her. I carefully tried to get a knot untangled.
"Because I know Gael and I know his wolf. He wouldn't do something like that."
"But other wolves would?" She smiled at me and patted my head before looking up at Abel. "As far as I know, it's vampires who feast on human blood. We don't."
"We don't do it on people who're unwilling. And we don't kill."
"None of you do?"
"I wouldn't say any of us do, no."
"But you can be completely sure? Like you're sure it's a wolf, but not Gael, who has been killing those young folks?"
"Uh..." Abel looked to me, and I shrugged at him. "I mean..."
"There's been hate towards our kind for a longer time than you've been alive, sweet boy. Longer than I've been alive too. A new young wolf appears in town and murders start happening, but you're absolutely sure, it's not Gael, but you're immediately sure it is wolves."
He looked more and more upset, frowning and biting down on his lip. "I... I don't know."
"No, you don't know," she said softly and turned back to me. "You've done a fine job untangling that. Thank you, Gael."
"You're welcome," I muttered a little measly, not knowing what else to say.
"There have been wolves travelling by, but they never stay long, and I'd know if there was a long-term staying wolf besides Gael. You're looking at the wrong breed, sweet boy."
"How can you be so sure?" He tipped his head to the side, sliding his aviators down a little, exposing his eyes.
"Nothing happens in these woods when it comes to wolves without me knowing. I know Gael here hunted three rabbits on his last run. And then he met me and shared one with me."
"You were at the stream," I said, realising why her whole presence never set off any alarm bells. My wolf knew hers and had kept that titbit from me.
"It is not the first time we've crossed paths, little cub. You've been such a dear to me. Which is why I hope you'll trust me on this one: it's not one of ours."
I nodded a bit and glanced up at Abel. "I..."
"No, you're right. I didn't think it through properly. I should've-"
Mags raised her hand, stopping Abel. "It is alright. You're not in forensics. You saw a body and made your own conclusion. Now you know more."
He nodded a bit and then came a little closer. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that."
"You're young. Once you've been around for a while, you start to notice how the land lays." She held her hand out and he hesitantly grabbed it, very gently. She patted his hand with her free one and smiled at him.
"Don't apologise for being young. Just learn. Listen. Keep your eyes open. You know you can see much more than any of us." She turned her attention back to me. "Gael, you need more friends. Give me your telephone number and I'll call you when more friends are in town."
She dug through her cardigan pockets and found a pen alongside a notepad. I wrote down my phone number for her and handed her the notepad back.
"I'll wait for your call," I said, slightly nervous.
She smiled and nodded.