“What do you want?” Why had the wolf returned so quickly?
“Opennn…”
“Why?”
“There’sss ssssomething you need to sssee…”
She pushed the door partially open. Wolf backed away slightly, to give her some room, and turned, pointing towards the village with one, gnarled finger.
“What is that?” Marie asked, her earlier terror towards the wolf momentarily forgotten, and stepped outside to see better.
Her cabin was in higher ground, giving her good view over the forest, all the way to the village. There was something fiery and flickering, like long strand of fire moving from the village to the forest, along the path that lead to her cabin.
“They’rrre coming… Forrr you…” Wolf lisped, thick strands of drool dribbling over its jaw. Torches. They were torches. Whole sea of them.
“Brother Jeremiah,” Marie suddenly realized.
“I’m no dog… Everrry man of God knowsss the differrrence… They’rrre coming to burrrn…”
She was running. She had grabbed what ever she had thought she could carry, some clothes to herself and Logan, as well as something to eat, and a small selection of herbs. Wolf had run alongside with her for a while, but it had abandoned her few hours ago, frustrated to the slow pace she was able to muster compared to it. As much as people were after her, they were after the wolf too, and it had none too fond memories of the treatment at their mercy.
She hadn’t even tried to reason with it. Wolf had had absolutely no reason to even warn her, let alone stay back at the cabin with her when she gathered her things. Yet it had stayed long enough to see she got out of there. It had already done more than anybody could expect from a mindless, selfish beast.
“Well, not mindless… It speaks,” she corrected herself after stopping for a breather, leaning against a tree.
“It?” She spun around startled. Wolf was crouching, leaning against a large rock beside her.
“I have a name… My kind callsss me Wolverrrine…”
“Wolverine? You do know it is a small and vicious animal?” Marie asked. Wolf nodded.
“I am nothing but sssmall and viciousss comparrred to my elderrr… A cub… Not even a prroperrr wolf. Rrreal beassst would have had yourrr hide alrrready…”
“Well, if we run in to your people, I’ll promise to tell them you saved my life only to keep my flesh fresh for longer.”
“Thank you, witchhh… Now we got to rrrun…”
This time wolf didn’t leave her behind. Instead it scooped her from the ground, throwing her over its shoulders.
“They have horsesss…” Now she could hear them. Men shouting to each other’s, horses panting and whinnying when they caught the scent of the wolf.
“I can’t keep running muchhh longerrr… Man iss fighting already… Sun isss rising…” She took a good look around them. Wolverine was right. It was still dark, but she could already see outlines of the trees more clearly than few moments ago.
“Can’t we hide?”
“No. They’re too close.”
“What if we stopped?”
“What do you mean? You ssaid you don’t want me to hurrrt them…”
“I don’t want you to hurt them. But maybe you could scare them. Even if you are just a puppy, you’re awfully big puppy…”
“Me?”
Riders were closing in. She could see their torches glowing from between the trees. They would be here soon. She checked the tinder she was clutching. She would have to light the fire just at the right moment. She didn’t want to singe Wolverine. It probably wouldn’t appreciate if she burned off its pelt.
When first riders emerged from the woods, she struck a spark. It caught eagerly to the trail of dry leaves on the ground. In few moments it reached a small pile of moss covering very interesting selection of herbs. She saw movement from the corner of her eye. Wolverine had jumped down from a tree it had climbed on. Wolf was falling rapidly, almost soundlessly towards the pile. Fire reached herbs. They exploded, throwing moss and dirt everywhere and creating a thick, foul smelling cloud of smoke. And from the middle of that cloud rose Wolverine, chest puffing, teeth bared and clawed paws raised to add even more volume to its impressive frame. It was already changing, blood flowing from snout and eyes, dribbling from gums down to ivory fangs. It let out a bloodcurdling howl, staggering only slightly, and took a threatening step towards their pursuers, a band of ten men, all armed to teeth. Flesh and pelt started to peel off, falling in sheets from its paws, and it reached those bony appendages towards men, who turned and fled in terror.
“No cure… No cure…” Wolverine was crawling on the ground, trying to stay still long enough to talk to her, but it was an impossible task, when transformation was twisting and snapping bones and muscle, forcing them to new shape.
“Remember… No cure…” Sharp teeth had already fallen off and snout was melting back in to skull.
“I can’t make that promise. It’s not my body. Only Logan can…” Marie whispered, reaching to pet now matted black fur on Wolverine’s shoulder.
“Logan?”
“The man you’re sharing that body with. Talk to him. Show him what happened.”
“Won’t listen…”
“He’ll listen. Trust me. He’s a good man.”
“He’s a hunter!” Wolverine’s eyes rolled back in to its head and it fell limp. Transformation was almost complete now.
“Stay the fuck away from my mind… I’ll give you three days in a month to do as you please, but keep it to yourself, and we have a deal…” Logan growled, climbing on his knees.
“Logan!” It was Logan. Alone. Hazel eyes peeking from under bangs that had fallen over his forehead.
“I can give it that much… Just because it helped you. But if that filthy mutt as much as breathes the wrong way at the wrong time, it’s over,” he spat, struggling to stand up and failing miserably. His legs were still too wobbly. Marie shrugged off the shawl she had thrown over her shoulders before she left the cabin, and wrapped it around the shivering man. Logan leaned against him exhausted.
“I just want to sleep. And I’m hungry…”
“Here. Put some clothes on.”
“It didn’t eat… Why?”
“Wolverine was too busy protecting me.”
“Hmph…”
“Here. I have some bread and cheese.”
“Thanks.”
“What do we do now?” Marie asked. She had been torn off from everything familiar. She was a t loss. Logan on the other hand seemed to be right at home as soon as he warmed up and got something to eat. He kept looking around, slight smile tugging the corners of his mouth.
“I have a friend. He lives not too far from here. He’s keeping some things for me. Some money. Weapons. A horse.”
“And what then?”
“We’ll hunt.”
“Hunt? Logan, what about Wolverine…”
“What about Wolverine! What about me? I’m a hunter! I hunt! Wolverine is an animal! It can do animal things during those three days I agreed to give to it!”
“Then what about me?” Marie asked with quivering voice. Logan tilted his head.
“What about you?” He asked with a softer tone.
“I’m no hunter…”
“It’s time for you to became one…”
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