Chapter 2

"I must go now, quickly. My kind will be looking for me by now. My mate may not understand. He is kind and just, but you are not one of us and he will think he must protect me and the child from you."

"Rest", I said. "If you feel stronger I will go with you to your home. I would never harm you or the child. The child is growing, she is really growing. How can this be?"

"Perhaps this is something I can tell you when I am with my kind. I am still tired." She held out her arms took the child, placed her to her breast and motioned me to her. The child fed, and I kept them warm. This was unreal. We soon were asleep. No one saw the glowing set of eyes hidden in the shadows.

Slowly it crept to the girl. A hand was placed over her mouth as her eyes opened. There came no sound. She whispered, Lord, our child, as she took the still nursing baby from her breast and presented her to him.

"She is like you, quite beautiful," he said.

They slowly went away from the fire. "What of the human, my child. Has he harmed you or the baby?"

"No Father, he has only tried to aid us. I killed the things that would have harmed us. It was so close to having given birth that I was very weak and he found me while I was changing back. I was one of the pack then and near death. When he searched the cave, he found the baby and I could only think to protect her. He brought her right to me and took care of us"

"Have you shown him yourself?'

"No father, He does not know, I would never betray you or our kind like that."

He had been watching the human as well as the girl and baby for several hours. He had seen how the man had cared for them, the looks he gave them, the love he obviously had for them, even if he did know the truth, he was not likely to change that feeling. "He has fallen in love with you both, you know my daughter?"

"Yes Father, I know. Please do not kill him. I swear I have told, nor shown him nothing of our kind. The only things he has as made comments on is how quickly our daughter grows and he still searches for the wolf, saying she was a hero. Please Father, he is a good man and has brought no shame on us or the Clan."

The large man had to laugh. She had no idea the power she held over this human. That she could command him like her pet, he would love her more. This was something the Clan had lost through the years. Now they mated only in season, the act only to survive. These were feelings, love, the urge to protect and defend the weak and innocent. The Clan had that purpose once, it had been lost when just living had become a struggle.

They had been shot by humans, both for skin and sport. The males all but gone now. In-breeding was weakening their kind, but there was not much choice. That he mated with his own daughter was a sign that this could not continue.

"What would happen if he was told. If he saw us in our true forms? How would he react?"

"I, I am not sure Father. When I was transforming, he seemed to want to hold me, to care for me. He began speaking to me as though we were of the same kind. He told me he would not hurt me and, with no malice, gentle carried me into the cave. He was very gentle Father. I think even then I wanted to be with him. I am sorry Father, so very sorry. What must happen now?"

"My Child, you have done nothing wrong, nor has he. You may have even forced us, the Clan, to change in order to survive. Is this human one you would truly want, to really show him your secrets, to stand before the Clan and accept their judgment?"

"I think so Father, I hope so. I am so confused."

"Good, when he wakes, go to him. Tell him you have something to say. When you are done, he will not believe you. Then, point to me and call me forth. Tell him no harm will come to him. I shall not hide myself, but the form he will see, is not meant to frighten him, merely to let him see that you speak the truth."

It had been a strange dream. When he opened his eyes, she sat there, near the fire, looking at him, the baby feeding. There was a look on her face he had never seen before. It was like she was about to tell him they would never see each other again.

He looked at the baby at her breast and realized that she could never be his, the father was probably looking for them. That was why she said her mate may not understand. He would not let her face him alone. They had done nothing wrong, nothing to bring shame on anyone.

If her mate asked what feelings he had for her, he would be honest and tell the truth, for he had never felt this way before. Something had changed in him and he did not know what it was.

She called him to her.

"There is something I must tell you, before I go join my kind. I was the Wolf you found near the cave. I killed the bears to protect my child and I would have tried to kill you had you not been so kind."