Imminence (23 page)

Emptiness seemed to overwhelm my mind. I no longer knew what to do or say. David had made up his mind and I knew he was so stubborn that nothing would turn his head.

It began in the early hours of morning. A frightful howling rang in the woods surrounding our home. If any of us had been asleep at all, we were all wide awake now. Our living room was full of the befuddled members of our pack and none of us quite knew what was going on. A sense of danger was everywhere and we heard unfamiliar wolves approaching us from every direction. We stared at each other, trying to lead our thoughts along the same track.

“Sofia, can you penetrate their minds?” Tiam asked.

“Where is Marie? I want her here with us. I don’t like to leave her alone,” I said anxiously, not bothering to answer Tiam. Of course I could explore the visitors’ minds, and it would not even be difficult for me.

“Marie is asleep,” Tiam replied. “You find those visitors and I’ll get her,” Tiamhaidh said and looked inquisitively at me.

I nodded and opened my mind to our surroundings while shielding it from the scrutiny of others. At first I sensed nothing. Only the confused thoughts of my own pack and Clarissa’s growing fear filled my mind, but step by step I managed to close my own pack off my mind and was able to clearly feel the proximity of the surrounding forest. My mind encountered such frenzy that I had to withdraw for a moment before I was able to resume my investigation. I closed my eyes and felt Daniel and Gavin take my hands. Mine felt icy cold in their warm ones. I felt them squeeze my hands lightly and I channeled all my fear into them, trying to focus on the essential. Garbled images flitted through my mind. Lust, defiance, enthusiasm. Who were they and what did they want of us? I concentrated on sorting through my disordered mental images.

“Males,” I breathed. “They are all males. There are at least six, maybe more. I can’t make it out.”

“Calm down, Sofia. Focus on the images. Don’t try to force yourself. I know if anyone can do this, it’s you,” Gavin urged me gently.

“They’re hunters. Shape shifters.”

“Impossible!” Tiamhaidh said.

I opened my eyes and saw that Tiam had joined us, carrying a sleepy Marie. I opened my mouth to speak to her but Tiamhaidh gave me a quelling look.

“Calm down. They aren’t a pack so we have an advantage there. They move alone or in pairs, but we have the strength of a pack. They will have to fight for Clarissa and we won’t give up easily,” Daniel said calmly.

I looked at the men around me. I saw determination in their eyes, but I also saw affection and love towards my family. I returned their look.

I regarded them with disbelief. These magnificent males would fight for my child while my husband was ready to banish us from our own home. At that moment I realized my marriage with David was truly over. I didn’t see how we could ever settle the differences that had come between us. I would have to steel myself and let David go. If he didn’t want me I wouldn’t be able to force him. As I saw it, I had already done what I could for our marriage. I had given up my beloved in order to stay with David, and there was nothing more I could do. It was time for me to let go of him. However, I decided to leave the analysis of our marriage for later and focus on protecting Clarissa.

“Thank you,” I breathed. “I don’t know how I can thank you enough. But thank you, truly.”

“Stop, Sofia. We need your talents now. Clarissa needs them. You have to concentrate and clarify what it is they want and how many there really are of them,” Daniel lectured me.

“Very well.”

Again I focused my thoughts on the forest around us. The wolves had stopped. They had unwittingly formed a circle around our house and now they just stood waiting. From time to time one of them let out a lustful yowl, trying to lure Clarissa to it. I saw a frisson of fear shake her each time. How would she make it through this? David had made the conscious decision to stay away from the living room and I wondered whether he really intended to drive us out of here at dawn, even now that the situation had changed and Clarissa was in danger. I sighed.

“Twelve. There are twelve of them. There’s no way we can hold them off. There are only seven of us as Marie can’t fight. I don’t think Clarissa is yet a match for them either, so we’ll also have to leave her out of the count. That makes six of us against twelve large adult he-wolves. It’s not looking too good. I’m sorry.”

“No, Clarissa! Whatever it is you’re thinking of, forget it. We can’t bamboozle them. They’re wolves and they’ll be able to smell deceit from a long way,” I told her sternly.

“It’s not deceit I was thinking of. I was thinking of baiting them,” Clarissa grinned and even though I could sense her fear, I saw she was forcing her fear aside as the situation required.

“Still. I can’t agree to this. I can hardly believe you’re seriously considering this!” I regarded the members of my pack with incredulity, waiting for them to give in to me.

No one said anything, however. They only watched me steadfastly, certain that I would make the right decision. Finally Gavin broke the silence.

“Fia, we have no choice,” Gavin quietly pointed out, eyes downcast.

I scrutinized my pack. Had Gunward been here the strangers wouldn’t have dared venture into our lands and Clarissa would have been safe. But Gunward was far away on Senja and I would have to manage without him. I looked at Clarissa, who stared pleadingly at me. I straightened my back and turned to Tiam.

“All right. Just tell us what you want us to do,” Tiamhaidh said and I knew whatever we ended up doing, my pack would support me and accept my decision even if we had no real chance of prevailing against the strange males.

We decided that Clarissa would appear on our terrace and lure the wolves into our garden. When they arrived, Clarissa would demand that they shift into humans so we might negotiate with them. If they agreed, we would improvise the rest and do our best to ensure Clarissa’s safety as thoroughly as possible. Our plan was about as solid as a house of cards and it had very little chance of success. But I couldn’t permit these strange wolves to corner us and leave us completely defenseless. We would have to take the first step and disrupt their plans. We believed the wolves would retreat deeper into the forest at dawn and we decided to put our plan into action the following night. This would leave us some time to refine our plan or even come up with a better one. The only obstacle on our course was David. If he wouldn't let us stay here, we would end up straight in the claws of the strange shape shifters and our plan would fall crashing down.

We sat quietly in the dimly lit living room and listened to the sounds around us. At each crack of a broken twig Clarissa jumped up, panic flashing in her eyes. Finally Ciall could stand it no longer and went to sit next to her, wrapping his arm around her. She leaned gratefully against him and closed her eyes. Tiam had lit a fire in the fireplace and the faint crackling of the fire filled the room. From the corner of my eye I also glimpsed David, who had entered the room unnoticed by us. He sat in a large armchair made of dark brown leather, wrapped in a grey woolen blanket, staring out of the window with glazed eyes. I wondered what this all felt like to him. He really hadn’t the faintest idea of what was going on, but he did sense the distress of the rest of us. I knew with absolute certainty that despite his harsh words David loved our daughters. I could no longer be sure of his love for me, but Marie and Clarissa were everything to him even if he might not realize it right now. I tried to refrain from looking at him, but I noticed my gaze drifting to him as if by compulsion. Daniel noticed the direction of my eyes and surreptitiously moved his chair between David and me. I sighed. I didn’t know whether to be grateful or angry. I would have to rest and hope to be able to think of a really good plan to save us from this conundrum.

Morning broke clear and crisply cold. Thin tendrils of mist had overtaken our garden, but I knew they would dissipate with the warmth of the rising autumn sun. A diver called somewhere far off and when I went out I saw some two dozen Canada geese flying over our house in an uneven formation. Winter was already very close and even though the nights weren’t yet frosty, the temperature was a mere six degrees above zero. It was still quiet inside the house. Clarissa slept curled up in Ciall’s arms and Marie lay half on top of Tiam. Tiam’s alert eyes looked inquiringly at me, but when I gave him a tired smile he relaxed and pressed his face into Marie’s hair. David snored lightly in his chair as did Daniel and Mathanan, but Gavin was up and about and came quietly to me. My heart had always had a soft spot for this gentle he-wolf and the fact that he was here, supporting me, meant very much to me. Gavin gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and handed me a steaming cup of hot, spicy tea.

“I thought you might need this,” he said.

“Thank you. Morning is always so beautiful. As if it wiped off all the frights and shadows of the night and returned peace to the forest.”

I, too, now stared at the forest. Nothing indicated that wolves or any other animals were hiding there. Tree branches swayed gently from time to time as a light breeze touched them, and the chittering noise of a magpie sounded a few times, but otherwise the forest emanated a deceptive calm. I slurped hot tea and coughed briefly. The hot tea scalded my throat and shook me out of my thoughts.

“I’m quite certain they’re still there. Twelve males, Gavin! We’re truly in deep!” I huffed.

“Trust Clarissa. If she can make them shift into human forms we’ll have a better chance of finding out who we’re dealing with, and we may even be able to come to some terms with them,” Gavin tried to calm me down.

“Terms? What do you mean? I won’t use my daughter as a bargaining chip!” I shrieked and took a step backwards so quickly that tea spilled out of my cup and onto the floor.

“Nor will I!” David thundered from behind us.

I turned to stare incredulously at David. Now Clarissa was his daughter again, was she? Only a few hours ago he’d been about to drive us away and now he wanted to play loving father. I swallowed my angry words, but threw him an angry glare and turned my back to him.

“Pay him no mind. We’d already be gone from here if those uninvited guests hadn’t besieged us,” I said in an aggrieved voice and sniffled theatrically.