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  He knew he had no chance of competing for Clarissa against males so much more magnificent than him. He would have to settle for being Clarissa’s friend. No matter how difficult that would be.

  CHAPTER 32

  It was half past five in the morning by the time we had finally drafted a passable version of the contract. I couldn’t find any holes the men might slip through to circumvent the terms of the contract. Now we had to wait and see whether they would agree to our terms. All of us tired, we ambled off to seek sleep - some in their bedrooms and others on the nearest couch or chair. I had decided to keep some distance from David and see if our relationship could be what it had once been, and I really didn’t want to mess with my head by making love to him right now. I knew I only had to burrow into his arms before we would be at each other and I couldn’t allow that, for I very much wanted the opportunity to unravel my thoughts before we progressed to anything together. So I opted for sleeping on the soft rug of the living room and was in fact so tired that I wasn’t sure if I could even have dragged myself upstairs even though David’s look told me he wanted me by his side. I ordered Bruun and Flow to guard our yard, as none of us were in a state vigilant enough to scan our surroundings. Our dogs were quite as capable of warning us of approaching visitors as any other member of the pack. I truly hoped they would do their job thoroughly, as I didn’t want to be surprised by twelve dangerous he-wolves while sleeping.

  We only got three hours of sleep before a ferocious barking woke us. I felt strangely chipper and ready to face the visitors. I also noticed the others had slept well, and I stepped outside smiling brightly. I released our dogs from their guard duty and they at once took off to a nearby field. Our visitors hadn’t yet made it to our garden but I saw them approaching by a forest road, a few dozen meters from me.

  “Good morning, mathair,” Joshua greeted me brightly. “I hope you slept well.”

  “Thank you, Joshua. In fact I slept very well indeed. Did the Seita stone make for a soft bed?”

  He regarded me with surprise and nodded.

  “Do come in. I believe Mathanan has once again laden the table with food and I at least am famished.”

  The men came in and sat down at mostly the same places as they had the previous night. This time, however, they were wearing shirts and thus didn’t seem quite as dangerous.

  “Have you drawn up a contract?” Blake asked matter-of-factly.

  “We have indeed. We want you to hear it in its entirety before you comment on it, if that’s all right with you?”

  “All right,” the men grunted in unison.

  “Very well,” I sighed and mustered my courage to go on. “None of you may come to our property uninvited or approach any member of our pack without leave. You will behave in a civilized manner and respect human rules while you are here. If Clarissa decides she doesn’t want one of you to carry on the courtship, that one will leave at once, peaceably and without grumbling,” I glanced at Joshua and noticed his eyes flashing dangerously. I quickly turned my gaze to Blake, who seemed to have perfected the role of a civilized English boy, and continued in a steady voice.

  “If any of you breaks the rules, he will also have to go. I will have free access to your minds at all times. You may not erect walls or otherwise prevent me from entering your minds if I deem it necessary.”

  No one said a word out loud, but my mind was full of the men's objections. Darel stretched his arms luxuriously and smiled as if everything I'd said had been obvious. He reclined in the chair with such ease that I was certain he wasn't really anywhere as relaxed as he let on. Igor sat next to Darel, his back straight, staring murderously at me and looking like a rough mercenary soldier beside the relaxed Darel. I wondered if we had gone too far. I looked at Clarissa, who was staring hungrily at Joshua, and shrugged. There was no way we could back off now.

  “However, I promise not to do it unless I think it absolutely necessary. You will go about in pairs and we will select the pairs. Each pair will have a given day to spend with Clarissa, and on other days you may not see her unless we tell you otherwise. You will not live in the forest, nor with us – you will obtain apartments as well as conveyances in the nearby town.”

  Alexei rose and banged both fists on the table but said nothing. I fixed him such a level stare that he sat back down, but now he glared menacingly at me and all the members of my pack alike.

  “I know you have ample resources at your disposal so that should not present a problem,” I took a deep breath, knowing the next rule would be the most difficult one for the strange shape shifters. I rubbed the side of my nose and licked my lips nervously.

  “And last but not least, you will remain in your human forms throughout the courtship and should any of you develop an acute need to run around in the woods or go hunting, he will ask my permission before reverting to wolf shape. Any questions?”

  The men conversed in quiet whispers and glared angrily at me. They had no choice, however. I was the alpha of our pack and that empowered me to make the rules. Their choice was to decide whether or not they could play by my rules.

  “I, for my part, agree,” Joshua said, his gaze firmly fixed on Clarissa.

  “We do, too,” Derry, Darel and Blake agreed.

  “Yes. We are with you,” Igor and Alexei grunted.

  “I want her, so I don’t suppose I have a choice,” Fabio said.

  “We’re in,” Drew, Marcel and Jonas also promised.

  “Oui, a Frenchman never backs down if there’s a lady involved,” Marc and Adrian assured.

  “Good. Now I will pair you up and then you can go and find lodgings. The meetings will begin the day after tomorrow. The matter of pairs is not open to discussion.”

  “Blake and Fabio, Mondays. Darel and Alexei, Tuesdays. Drew and Igor, Wednesdays. Derry and Adrian, Thursdays. Joshua and Jonas, Fridays, and Marc and Marcel, Saturdays. On Sundays we won’t want to see either hide or hair of you. Is that clear?” I asked in the firm tone of a pack leader.

  “Clear,” the men grunted.

  “Do you have any questions at this time?” I checked, certain that one of them would find a loophole in our terms.

  “Can we do anything we want with Clarissa?” Drew asked.

  “If Clarissa agrees. You get to plan the day, but do remember to ask Clarissa what she wants,” I explained, looking doubtfully at Drew. I was not at all convinced that Clarissa would enjoy all the items on their planned agenda.

  “Can we take her out of town?” Darel asked.

  “Yes, but in that case you must take two of our pack with you. Any more questions?”

  All were silent, so I nodded towards the door and the men left, throwing glances at Clarissa. We would at least have one day to ourselves until we’d have to face the he-wolves.

  “That went well, Mother,” Marie said when the men were gone.

  “Surprisingly well,” David mused. “I’d have expected some opposition at least.”

  I flushed slightly and cleared my throat.

  “I may have given their thoughts some food before they arrived.”

  “Sofia! What if they hadn’t come?” David asked.

  “In that case they wouldn’t have been worthy of Clarissa and what’s more, I don’t think any of them would dare pass up on the chance to try their luck. Think about it – this is an opportunity to procreate although they all thought it’d be impossible.”

  “Ahem. I’m right here,” Clarissa reminded us. “You’re speaking of me as if I’m some sort of a baby machine. I’m not ready to start a family yet! I’m only sixteen.”

  Marie threw Tiamhaidh a thrilled glance. She had nothing against having offspring with Tiamhaidh. Not yet, but later, all in good time.

  “Those males have been waiting for decades now. They’ll bear to wait a while longer. But with you by their side they at least have a hope of begetting offspring who will also have the gift of immortality,” I tried to make Clarissa understand the men better.

&nb
sp; “Whatever,” Clarissa shrugged with apparent nonchalance. “Today I intend to rest, though.”

  “Good idea. I suggest we all get some rest. We’ll have hard days ahead of us. You didn’t think I’d let Clarissa go downtown alone with those men, did you? Wherever she goes, I’ll want the pack following her covertly,” I gave each member of my pack a stern look.

  “We didn’t think otherwise,” everyone sighed with resignation.

  As it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, we all dispersed to sleep. This time I agreed to David’s wish and crawled into bed with him even though I hadn’t fully forgiven his terrible, cold rejection. I missed his warmth and his familiar touch, so I decided to ponder our relationship later and just enjoy the peace of the morning in his arms.

  The weekend was over before we quite realized it and the honk of a car horn woke us to the reality of Monday. Blake and Fabio had rented a silvery Land Rover and packed it full of hiking gear. Peering out of the window, I saw them leap out of the big car with agility and stand on the yard in their new outdoor clothes. In their black windstopper wear they looked like dangerous military men rather than harmless hikers, and their dark grey woolen hats made them appear even less tame even though they were intended to convey the idea that they often spent a day in leisurely pursuits in the great outdoors.

  “Morning!” I hollered out of the window.

  “Morning!” the men replied.

  “Clarissa will be with you in a moment.”

  I glanced at the clock and noticed it was only half past seven. Clarissa would have a fit. The first thing these men would have to learn was that Clarissa truly wasn’t an early riser. David was already on his way to wake Clarissa up, so I went to ask the men what plans they’d made for the day. I wrapped myself in my old, blue-striped dressing gown, thrust my feet in soft slippers, and went outside. The cold autumn air made my skin rise in goosebumps and my eyes water, and I wondered what Clarissa would have ahead of her.

  “You seem to be going hiking?” I asked with apparent nonchalance.

  “We thought to take Clarissa climbing on the Murder Cliff,” Fabio told me with evident eagerness.

  “Are you quite sure that’s the right start with her?”

  They nodded, satisfied. I was not at all sure that a cold trip by boat to the Murder Cliff and climbing there corresponded to Clarissa’s idea of a date. On the other hand, I had difficulty imagining the seemingly matter-of-fact Blake and the calm Fabio climbing the cliffs as icy drizzle drenched them and cold wind penetrated their new clothes, chilling them. I sighed and called for Daniel and Gavin.

  “You had best take my brothers along,” I said with resignation.

  Blake gave Fabio a stern look but said nothing. They had agreed to our terms and I had the right to assign members of our pack to the meetings. I didn’t really think this one would last long, as the weather was becoming more miserable and Clarissa was unlikely to want to spend time in a cold boat or on a stark islet, soaking wet. But since the men had decided that was exactly what Clarissa needed, I couldn’t object. They would notice soon enough what Clarissa liked and what she didn’t like.

  It hadn’t been more than two hours when the muddy Land Rover returned. An angry Clarissa banged the car door shut and marched inside without a backward glance. I shrugged apologetically at the men and they left, looking abashed. The entire week passed similarly. In the morning two eager young men would show up outside our house, and in the afternoon Clarissa would march home in dudgeon. We all found ourselves waiting for Sunday and when it finally came we sat in the living room in subdued spirits.

  “This will have to change,” I said. “We won’t last a month if they get to decide what they do with Clarissa.”

  “I agree,” Tiamhaidh said, sounding tired. “We will have to help them.”

  “Why?” Clarissa asked. “If they’re as helpless as all that, why don’t we simply send them away?”

  “Because they’re wolves and they don’t understand human ways. We have to give them a chance.”

  “Why?” Clarissa repeated. “Mathanan and Ciall are wolves, too, and they can still interact with humans and do the things humans do.”

  “Mathanan and Ciall have spent so much time among humans that they’re familiar with human ways and preferences, but these strange he-wolves have taken human forms for your sake. They may look like humans but they can’t behave like humans.”

  “Do you mean they’ve never been humans until now?” Marie asked.

  “No. I’m certain they’ve taken human form from time to time, but they’ve never really had to be humans. Not for this length of time at least. This is extremely difficult for them,” I explained, looking at the sulking Clarissa with concern.

  “But I don’t want us to help them,” Clarissa said stubbornly.

  “I don’t think we have much choice,” I said. “If news of this reaches the elders, as I’m certain it will, they wouldn’t accept our decision if we didn’t give our visitors a real chance to get to know you and let you get to know them. We’ll have to revise the rules,” I said dejectedly.

  We sat quite still, each in our own thoughts. Ciall was holding Clarissa’s hand and I knew that for a fleeting moment he had dared hope that Clarissa would send the other males away, giving him a chance to court her. That wouldn’t happen, though, and Ciall saw the answer to his question in my eyes. I had to call the males to a meeting. I sent them a reluctant summons and I knew that by nightfall we’d be sitting in our living room again, thinking of new clauses for our contract. I knew my pack didn’t want the strangers here, but I was bound by customs and etiquettes that had been in force for centuries. I also knew they knew this, but they’d still hoped I’d find a way to circumvent the established practice. Unfortunately, though, no hocus-pocus would help here. We would have to help the he-wolves even if they didn’t want our assistance.

  I decided to go out to air my thoughts and think on the best way to deal with the upcoming negotiations. The autumn wind had blown our driveway full of leaves and I waded in yellow and red leaves of maple and birch, head bowed and hands thrust deep into the pockets of my coat. No-one had offered to go with me, as they all knew I wouldn’t make for cheerful company right now. Quite unwittingly I found my steps leading me to the Seita stone. The rain had made a small pond around the stone, but I managed to wade through without getting too waterlogged. The sun hadn’t been seen for the whole week and even now I felt small drops of water falling from the branches, wetting me slightly. Luckily there wasn’t much wind, as the air was already cool and even though I was irked, I had no inclination to sit on a wet stone in the middle of the woods, battered by downpour and gale.

  I felt how the stone calmed my thoughts. I let the stillness of the forest fill my mind and enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature around me. I pulled my coat tighter around me and lay down on the soft moss on the stone. The sky was entirely shrouded in a grey curtain of clouds. I closed my eyes and allowed my senses to enjoy the moment. I lay unmoving on the stone for several hours and only when I felt a cold trickle of water running along my neck and down my shirt did I stir. My mind was refreshed and I now knew with clarity what I would have to do.

  I started homeward along the footpath and even before I’d reached our driveway I knew that everyone was assembled and waiting for me. I stepped in, accompanied by a cold gust of autumnal forest. I stood in the doorway like a fallen angel, dripping water, anger in my eyes. I directed my flaming glare at the visitors.

  “This will have to change,” I snapped.

  “Excuse me?” Marc asked, baffled.

  “All this will have to change. Do you claim to have enjoyed Clarissa’s company?”

  An uneasy silence fell. Wolves were incapable of lying, so they decided to remain still.

  “I didn’t think you had,” I said dryly. “You need to learn human ways before we can go further. I want to change the terms and I hope you understand that it will be for your good,” I glared angrily at the me
n.

  “I want you to have a real chance at wooing Clarissa and at this rate you’ll never succeed. Joshua and Jonas are the only ones who are even remotely close to the right track. However, I’m not convinced that taking Clarissa to the disco and scaring the other boys out of their wits if they so much as look at her is the best way to spend a Friday night,” I looked insistently at Joshua and Jonas.

  “You need to learn to behave like human boys and forget the manners of wolves for a while, if you mean to have any chance of winning this competition.”

  Joshua at least had the sense to look remorseful, but Jonas met my eyes without flinching. I sighed. This would obviously be much harder than I’d thought.

  “You will spend the remainder of September and all of October in the nearby town. You’ll get to know humans. Observe them and their manners. Spend time with youngsters. Then we’ll resume the meetings.”

  “What of the girl?” Igor growled.

  “You may see Clarissa whenever and with whomever you wish, but I have the right to call off the meetings if you don’t behave properly or if you insult Clarissa,” I sighed.

  A shocked silence followed my words and then everyone started talking. Clarissa in anger, my pack in irritation, and the strangers in flabbergasted excitement. I felt a headache pounding the back of my skull.

  “Quiet,” Tiamhaidh growled. “Sofia has the right to decide and we must accept her decision and trust her. That goes for you, too, Clarissa,” Tiam said with a hint of reproach.