LOGINShare
Chapter Thirty: Hemming the Ironwolf
Last Updated:
2022-04-13 03:28:47Silvia POV
I recognize the smell instantly. In the old stories they talk about the effect of troll stink. In the pictures, entire armies are razed to the ground as a troll stands over them, grinning through teeth like haphazardly strewn gravestones. I always wondered how I would know if I was smelling troll stink. Now I know.
Fer is screeching in my head and I feel myself begin to vibrate as the shift comes over me, relentless and unstoppable. I bring my hands to my head-- it feels ready to explode. No, no, no, no, no, I mutter as though that will stop anything. My body is so hot I think I will melt the marble I'm standing on and then it's cold, so cold I feel my limbs will just crack right off.
It's the iron! The iron is doing something. I dimly hear myself shriek in pain and fall to my knees.
The first time the iron took hold was like ice. Everything was cold and hard. Then, the pain of the first transformation of my wolf was indist
Related chapters
Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-One: Esme's Mistake
Vuko POV Graydon is staring at me in horror, his face drained of all colour as the Wolf Alarm echoes off the damp walls of the tunnel. Our torches are on the ground beneath us, lighting us eerily--and uselessly--from below. We are now well-lit sitting ducks. The net that has us trapped, swings around lazily. I want to say I'm sorry, but it's too late for that now. All my fault. I was lured by the trap. I triggered the net. And then I panicked and barked out the Wolf Alarm. I can't meet Graydon's eyes but I also can't move my head so I have to stare right back at him. What do I do? Call out another Wolf Alarm and hope it offsets the first one? Graydon provides the answer. "Cover your nose," he hisses. The net swings crazily as we both try to scrabble for some fabric that will cover our faces, our skin and hair and clothing sticking to the net. Where did they even get these ropes. Trying to cover our faces is pointless. I realis
Last Updated : 2022-04-14Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Two: The Life Stone
Vuko POV The wolf stands over Silvia, its paws straddling her. Beyond them is Seersha who hides her face in her hands. Her shoulders heave with sobs. The wolf is not big and so I don’t understand how it overpowered Silvia. Why is she still in her human form? It looks up as we approach, slowing down as we try to understand what we are seeing. On the walls around us, guards writhe, pinnacled by some unseen force. The wolf looks up, its green eyes luminous in the torchlight of the cathedral. Blood—Silvia’s blood—drips from its mouth. I try to understand but my heart won’t accept this truth. I know this wolf. I saw this wolf at its Naming. This is Hemming, Didi’s wolf. But Didi is Silvia’s brother. What brother would do this to his sister? It’s impossible. The wolf’s eyes scan us, then settle on me. He snarls and I see the glint of his iron teeth. For the first time since Esme told us what she was forced to do for Didi, I understand how s
Last Updated : 2022-04-14Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Three: Parting
Vuko POV The cathedral is quiet as I feel everyone's eyes on me. My mouth is dry and suddenly I don't have the words. I'm thinking about the moon cycle and how much time has already passed since the promise I made so glibly to the dreamed man in the Barren--who I now know is Dylan, Esme's son. I do a quick calculation and realise that we are already a week from my promise. That should be enough time surely? I put my hand to my chest, where the pendant containing the stone hangs in the leather holder Silvia gave me for it. I marvel now at how she trusted me. She knew I was hiding it from the witch but she still trusted me enough after all this time to make the right choice. Now I'm not so sure I have. Maybe if I had shown the witch the stone sooner I wouldn't be kneeling over Silvia's half-dead body? "Actually," I say, "Maybe it's better if I show you." Carefully, I take the necklace off. My fingers trace the inscriptio
Last Updated : 2022-04-15Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Four: Dreaming
Silvia POV There’s no pain. In this place, even the memory of Hemming’s eyes—cold and green as ice—softens, fades. Didi’s cruel words are muffled, I no longer feel their sting. At first I fought it. It had been only moments. Hemmings teeth flashing with iron. His claws reaching for me. Then a sense of plummeting, twisting, and turning. Only there was no fall. There was just the sensation of falling and then I was here, in this field with the warm, fragrant breeze hushing through the long grass, clouds of dandelion floating over me. Perhaps I’ve just fallen asleep? But when? Which part stopped being real? Seersha’s betrayal? Didi’s anger? His attack? Falling? A low moan draws my attention and I turned over. A man lies sleeping, his smooth, brown back to me. Dandelions have fallen into his dark curls. He smells like home. He smells like memories that make me smile. "Vuko?" I whisper, placing a hand on his arm. He doesn't stir.
Last Updated : 2022-04-16Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Five: The Fulvio Dream
Silvia POV "Silvia?" says Fulvio, running his hand through his hair and looking around. "Where are we?" "He can't see us," whispers Darius. "I think you might need a private moment here." Before I can say anything, he waves his hand and he and Luka fade. They have not vanished completely. It is as though they are both behind dark glass. I see them moving like shadows behind the glass. Darius sits in a chair near Luka, just watching him as he works. Luka hunches over his drawing board, then sits up straight, grinning at his work. He seems completely unaware of his father sitting just a metre or so away. I turn back to Fulvio. "A garden," I say. "Or maybe a plantation? I'm not sure. Why are you here?" "I don't remember," he says. He takes a step toward me. "I just suddenly had this feeling that I had to be near you. May I?" He stretches out his hand toward me. I place my hand in his and he pulls me toward him.
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Six: Leaving Loop City
Vuko POV I follow the witch blindly, not seeing what is in front of me, only that Fulvio is behind me, kneeling over Silvia, tending to her. She will wake and see him. They will fall in love. It will be too late for me. My own heart echoes the thundering trembles of the viaduct ahead of us. But is it my imagination or is the ground actually jumping under our feet? I'm still staring at my feet trying to figure out this new variation of everything collapsing when the Cook-Troll comes lumbering up behind us. He seems to have given up on his human-form disguise. The jumping stops when he does. "Need some help, guys?" he asks. His troll voice sounds like stones tumbling against granite. He must have been a pretty quiet Cook to go unnoticed in Loop City. Esme and I look at each other. I don't know if she's thinking of the trollbomb as well but we both say "No!" at the same time and equally adamantly. "But tha
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Barren Again
Vuko POV We come out on the other side of the staticky, magic-drenched crossing that was once the looping highway around the city. I shake myself, relieved to be rid of the feeling of ants under my skin. Esme is staring ahead, her face grim. The Barren stretches out before us in early dawn light, no different than when I had first crossed it. Sand stretches as far as the horizon, a dull grey color more like ash than sand. Rocks and pebbles pock the surface of the arid land. Just looking at it makes my throat feel parched. There is no hint of movement or life. Because there isn't any, I remind myself. Now I can hardly believe believe the strange apparition I encountered on my way through the Barren toward Loop City. It feels long ago, far off, though it was less than two weeks ago. The dreamers and the man who Esme says is her son feel like something I must have dreamed up. An exhausted hallucination. I gulp and my throat itches from t
Last Updated : 2022-04-20Wolf Moon Chapter Thirty-Eight: The River
Silvia POV Darius takes my hand and we leave the magical garden and Luka with his dreams. We pass a short way through to the edges of the precisely planted forest. Darius plucks a gem-fruit from one of the low-hanging branches and hands it to me. "Try it," he says. I hesitate. I'm not sure fruit is supposed to glint at you. Ah well. I take a bite. It's an explosion. Bubbles tickle my nose and gooey globs of sweetness come apart in my mouth. There's so much juice it spills out of my mouth and I have to laugh as I try to catch the sticky drops in my hands. The aftertaste is less sweet and more tangy, like lemon ice mixed with ginger. My heart is actually racing! "What do you think?" asks Darius anxiously. "It's just that I've never really had anyone to show before." "It is extraordinary!" I say, "Honestly, I could eat this all day. What in our Goddess's name is that?" As we make our way out of the forest,
Last Updated : 2022-04-22
Latest chapter
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty-Six: Vuko and Silvia
Silvia POV When I come to in Vuko's arms, the iron is gone. I don't know how I know that. It feels like my bones are lighter, hollow even. Just for an instant, before Vuko's warmth and his eyes and his strength catch me and hold me safe, I feel ... alone. What happened? I sit up and look around. Dawn's light breaks mauve and lilac through the night sky and the moon has moved from her zenith. What is different? "Look," says Seersha. She is standing at the front of the pack, Didi's arms around her. She points out through the glass windows of this strange diner that has for the moment become a sacred place. Outside, the city is suffused with a golden light that is more than dawn's rays catching the outlines of buildings and apartments. It's magic! The city is glowing with magic! Just then Tidiane bursts in. The métamorphe is out of breath and sopping wet. "Silvia! Vuko!" he says, "What did you do? What in the name of all the gods is going on?" "Tidiane," I say. "You're wet." It's
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty-Five: Ceremony
Silvia POV Cook's diner is transformed. I never ever could have imagined, when I was working her, trudging through hours long shifts and holding my breath at Cook's atrocious cooking, when I was cleaning up squashed fries and half-eaten burgers and Goddess alone knows what else was part of the muck left on the floors and seats and tables by lazy customers ... that it could also be this. The glass windows ripple and glow like the sea at night. Above us ... sky. The moon is at her zenith and the her light showers down on us. I feel Fer just beneath my skin and with her, the iron. It feels like tides, moving and shifting within me. What does it want? I feel the packs' eyes on me. We promised Esme the ceremony. And we are here. Vuko POV Silvia turns to me and now she holds the pendant in her hands. Her fingers find the groove where the leather separates. They trace the curlicues of her own script. The rhyme. She looks at me and holds my eyes as she breathes out the lines.
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty Four: Wolf Moon
Silvio POV You would think that a Wolf Moon Ceremony involving the wolves of the Wildlands should take place in the Wildlands? It does not. I watched Vuko take care of it all. Right by his side of course. But everything felt different now. I knew without him saying anything that the Packhouse had been corrupted. I didn't then have the details--he showed us that horror later. But I didn't need them. It wasn't so much that I trusted him. Would you trust yourself? Trust is not even relevant. It's like we are one mind. Two bodies though--let's not forget that. It's hard to forget that with Vuko's musk putting Fer on high alert all.the.damn.time. In fact I cannot let her out at all. And I know Vuko is having the same struggle with his wolf. Patience. The Barren is of course no less Barren. But it is not unfriendly. Darius and Esme are waiting when we cross. It is as if the dreaming place becomes a living passage lined by torch-bearing dreamers robed in white. They stand silent, impas
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty-Three: It's Not Over Until the Ceremony
Vuko POV That was pretty much it. After Silvia--or rather Fer--brought Abir down with her iron, the werewolves who had chosen to follow him abruptly switched allegiance. Abir's wound was not fatal but it would cripple him. It's pretty hard to fix a shredded tendon--not even magic can manage that. The fighting outside also subsided. The werewolves who had been imprisoned in the silver cage had been weakened by their proximity to the toxic metal and by their exposure to the elements and lack of food and water. But they were really, really angry. They made short shrift of the ambushers. In fact, most of them had raking clawmarks along their hindquarters which tells you everything you need to know about how the fight went. Later, we would all see what Silvia had done with the silver cage. The enormous silver throne she had made for Queen Rose lay where it had fallen over on the training ground like some slain creature of myth. I have not left Silvia's side since she came into the pac
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty-Two: The Final Battle
Silvia POV The moon is almost full, reminding me of my promise to Esme. A ceremony. Tomorrow night at Wolf Moon. The cool light filters through the dense needles of the pine trees. The leaves sway and sigh in a breeze that brings little comfort. Everything is wrong. I look around me and see that I'm not the only one discomfited. All around me wolves, paw at the ground and whine. Beside me, Fulvio (or rather, Oro) and Graydon (I never got his wolf's name), stare ahead, out past the trees. The corners of their lips curl to reveal their canines and their nostrils flare wide. Okay, Fer, I mindlink my wolf, You're up. I close my eyes and grit my teeth against the pain of the transformation. And then it's done and everything smells even more wrong with Fer's sharp senses. I remember the forest smells being full of life. Damp earth that smelled rich with earthworms after the rain. Or the bitter tang of sticky sap. The sharp tickle of pine needles or the sweet bite of the drying pine
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty-One: Packhouse
Vuko POV Vi blinks and the pain floods his brain. It hurts me too, though not as much. It's his wolf skull that feels raw and tender. He whines and struggles to get to his feet. Careful, Vi, I mindlink. We need to find whatever... or whoever ... hit us. We don't have to look far. A guardsman stands off to the side holding his shattered arm. The club that dealt Vi (and me) the blow is on the floor, Vi's fur and blood a matted mess on the splintered wood. Wood. Thank Goddess it wasn't silver or me and Vi would be unlikely to ever make it to our feet again. The guardsman looks at us with frightened eyes. I pad backwards and the circle around me draws in too. A circle of snarling young wolves encircles me, facing outwards toward the stunned guardsmen. The biggest of these young wonlves stands directly in front of me, her slender haunches trembling. I sniff and recognize the faint smell of my own pack, Firewolf. I look around. The wolves in the circle are all newly-Named! Most of th
Wolf Moon Chapter Fifty: The Rhyme
Silvia POV I am instantly enveloped in strong, skinny arms and it takes me only a moment before I wrap my own arms around the tiny, mostly crazy woman who is hugging me. She smells of roasted chestnuts and mint and madness. Esme! I pull away. Her hair is brushed to a gleaming silver sheen and she is wearing the same white robe as Darius. I want to tell her about the sewer trolls and about how we rescued Luka. I want to ask her what she thinks about mates and whether only the Moon Goddess can decide. I want her to tell me that Vuko left a message for me saying that he is my one and only. Instead, she holds a finger to my lips. "You are going to find out soon!" she says, as if I have already asked my question. She looks positively gleeful. I narrow my eyes. "Esme, what ...?" But she has seen Luka and he has seen her. He runs to her, shouting "Gramma Esme!" She scoops him into her arms, kissing his face and crying fat, sparkling tears of joy. "My Luka!" she says. "We were so wor
Wolf Moon Chapter Forty-Nine: Leaving Loop City
Silvia POV We race back through the streets of Loop City. We are an unlikely pack. Even a few weeks ago would never have been bold enough to run out in the open like this, in our true forms. Two werewolves, a seer, and a troll. Well, one werewolf, a shapeshifter (métamorphe!), a seer, and a troll. Though in truth I don't know what a shapeshifter's true form would be. For now Tidiane has reassumed his werewolf guise. Though I think I would have remembered if I had ever before seen a wolf with gold and pink curls. Luka rides on my back, clutching the fur around my neck, his legs tight around my waist. Our bolt through the sewers hasn't helped the state of him much so now I'm just hoping that some of the muck on his is drying and flaking off in the rush of wind as I hurtle through the city. Cook lumbers along behind us. He doesn't have to try too hard to keep up. His face lit up when he saw us and Tidiane had to translate that he wante to know what the sewer queen looked like, what sh
Wolf Moon Chapter Forty-Eight: Freywolf
Vuko POV I don't realise I've fallen asleep until I wake up. Every part of my body feels numb. I try to lift my hands over my knees and the silver handcuffs sear into my skin. I grimace in pain but I manage not to make a sound. It's quiet in the packhouse above me. Either everyone up there is asleep (or passed out drunk) or they've left. I'm suddenly alert, the possibility of escape tantalisingly near. Then I hear the whispering. First I hear Abir. The tone of his voice is wheedling, begging. But his voice is too low and I cannot make out the words. Vi, I mindlink. He knows what to do, lending me his senses. The dank basement around me lightens to a silvery sheen as I see through Vi's eyes, the world around me suddenly alive with movement and smells and sounds as I hear through his ears and smell through his nose. It's a lot. I sift through the noises until I can focus again on Abir's voice. "Listen to me, Ana," he is saying, "We could be powerful together." "I thought you had de
