The Wolf and the Druidess Read Free Page A

out. “Who is there? Be you sprit or man?”
    No one answered and she picked up her pace down the dirt path through the thick forest, so dense with trees. Brandishing the burning torch like a bright weapon, she hurried on shaky legs toward the cairn. She gasped, when she nearly tripped over a large fallen branch, but caught her footing just in time.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the shadow again. Something was following her. To muster her strength, she took a deep breath. An icy chill crept into her chest. Sensing something behind her, she spun around, but no one, nothing, was there. With a tight grip on the torch, she shifted her shoulders back, tilted her chin up and walked on toward the cairn.
    “I am a powerful druid with naught to fear from anything in this forest. It’s Samhain, my favorite holiday and I’m carrying a fine feast prepared by the nine maidens, to share with my dear mother,” Seren said aloud. “Hear me, spirits, trouble me and you shall regret it. I shall call upon the gods and have you tossed back into the otherworld.”
    From the eerie silence of the forest, a haunting howl ripped through the air. She stopped in her tracks. It sounded too close. A wolf hunting. There was better game than her. Knowing there was nothing for her to be afraid of, she remained brave, yet her body trembled. With her next steps, she kept her footfalls as light as possible, walking stealthily on the path,to not draw the beast’s attention.
    When she came upon the clearing, she held the torch out and gazed at the large, smooth stones, piled one on top of the other. Her mother’s cairn lay in a pool of dried leaves. Her throat tightened and she swallowed back a sob as she moved closer. She couldn’t breathe. Heat radiated from the grave as if her mother stood there. Seren bore a hard stare at the stones as if to call forth the image of the tall woman, with a compelling oval face framed by shoulder-length brown hair.
    “ Mam ...” Her voice choked. “I have brought a basket of Samhain treats.”
    Though her mother didn’t appear, she knew she soon would.Her body quivered, not from fear but from joy bubbling in her. She shone the firebrand on an old oak stump in front of the cairn and plopped down on it. Seren stabbed the end of the torch into the ground, so she had light. Facing the cairn, she called out to her mother’s spirit.
    “We have a lovely feast. ” Seren pulled out a large red apple. She stood, stepped forward, and stooped down to set it on the pile of stones.
    When she straightened, she gasped. There, by the oak, facing her, with naught between her and it, but the cairn, loomed a white wolf with pink-tipped ears.
    Seren stood transfixed. Her heart hammered at the look of hunger in his amber eyes, glowing like a Samhain fire.
    Fighting her fear, she remembered her druid training, her knowledge of wolf lore. In a soft, soothing tone, she spoke. “Wolf, we live in peace, you and I and your kind and mine. On this eve of Samhain, it is best you stay with your pack. For those who appear human, this eve, may not be.”
    She smiled and he seemed to grin back, but the flash of his white, jagged teeth roused her fears even more.
    She didn’t want those fangs sinking into her flesh. She took a deep breath. “Do not chew on me, there is better meat for you in the deep dark woods.” His pink tongue, hanging from his huge mouth captured her gaze.
    As the beast jerked his neck back and howled, the haunting sound reverberated in the air.
    Slow and quiet so the wolf wouldn’t become alarmed, she took one step back. He wiggled his nose as if smelling her. Seren shivered as she gazed at his long snout. The looming wolf took one step closer.
    She could not outrun him. If she managed to trick him and get away long enough to hide, he would sniff her out.
    “Wolf, look what I have for you.” Pulling out a black pudding link, she tossed it toward him. It landed in a patch of grass at his side. “Food.”