Wolf's Bane by D. H. Cameron Read Free Book Online Page B

mid-twenties with a shaven head and a full beard, both wore black suits.  The woman was a redhead, thin and pale but beautiful in a red dress and fashionable glasses.
    “Cassie, this is Phillip, Gerard and this lovely creature is Sophia,” Violet introduced them in turn.  I shook their hands.
    “Nice to meet you,” I said.
    “We’ve heard all about you,” Sophia replied.
    “You have?” I asked.
    “Of course.  A prophecy isn’t fulfilled every day, you know,” Gerard, the bald man with the full beard, told me.
    “What?” I exclaimed and looked at Violet, puzzled.  Prophecy?
    “Cassie’s only just arrived.  I haven’t explained everything yet,” Violet told the others firmly.  Gerard stroked his beard looking as if he’d been scolded.
    “Sorry, Lady Violet,” he said and then to me he added, “It’s not as dramatic as it sounds, I assure you.”
    “Come with me, child.  We should speak alone,” Violet suggested and placed her hand on my back again, guiding me from the dining room.  Yeager and Edie were drinking their beer while Agnes stood nearby as Violet and I walked by.  “Dinner will be served soon,” Violet assured them.  I shrugged at Yeager as we passed.  He followed me with his eyes but didn’t move to join us.
    “What did he mean?” I asked Violet as she guided me to the front door and onto the porch.  There outside in the cool evening air she turned to face me.  She was dressed as usual except this time she wore a black knit dress along with her knee-high boots.  Her platinum hair was worn up, pulled tight into a bun, as it always seemed to be.
    “Where to begin, child?” Lady Violet began to explain but I wasn’t interested in a long story.  I wanted to get right to the heart of it.
    “Start with the prophecy thing,” I told her.  She showed me her disarming smile, the one I was sure she used to hide her anger and displeasure as well as put people at ease.
    “Yes, that.  Our kind’s history is incomplete.  Where we come from, how we evolved, is sketchy at best.  We do know that our kind once thrived in Europe and our ancestors came to the new world after it was discovered.  With them came legend and myth, most of which is utter foolishness.  One legend, however, is known by all of our kind and always has been.  You, it appears, are the personification of that legend,” Violet told me.
    “How so?  Because I’m an alpha?” I asked.
    “No, child.  Many of our women are alphas.  The legends speak of the Wolf Mother that will be born to a human woman.  Your mother was human and she mated with a shifter, Dolan’s father, your father.  You know this, though.  However, such pairings may only produce male shifters and human females.  That is until you arrived,” she explained.
    “So, I’m a mutant?” I asked only half joking with Violet.  She smiled.
    “Hardly.  You’re...special.  My parents were both shifters.  So were Agnes’ and Sophia’s as well.  All females of our kind are born to two parents that are able to turn.  As you might expect, females are at a premium among our community.  Most males find mates among humans and only the strongest and most successful males manage to court a female shifter,” Violet told me.
    “So, I’m the only one born to a human mother?” I asked.
    “Yes, as far as we know.  You can imagine our interest when we heard of your existence,” she told me.
    “So, what’s the big deal?” I wondered.  So I was born to a human.  What did that matter?
    “Legend says, and I believe that the legend is true, you will bear sons that can mate with humans and bear both male and female shifters.  If that is true, our kind’s future will be assured.  Females will no longer be the exception.  That is what the legend, the prophecy, says.  That you will save us from extinction.  That you will spawn the beginning of a new era,” Violet explained to my astonishment.  I