A Werewolf Fantasy
Chapter 14

"In this life, I am Edvana, your mate," she said truthfully.

"In this life? Is there another life?" Danshak asked quizzically.

Erin sighed. "Listen, you won't believe me if I told you the whole story about how I got here. It's too complicated."

"Try me," he said with a determined expression. "I need to know why you speak strangely these days. Something about you has changed.

"I could swear that you have never spoken more than ten words to me since we were officially introduced six moons ago, but now, you seem to speak nonstop. You are bolder than you used to be, more sure of yourself. What brought these changes in you? What happened to you?"

Erin didn't know what to say. It was obvious now that she wasn't the Edvana he has always known, and even if the others, including her family, didn't notice, it was understandable that he would because he was her mate and there was no denying the supernatural connection that came with that bond.

She was saved from answering his questions when a guard was sent to fetch him for an impromptu strategy meeting with his father and the warriors.

"We shall continue this conversation when all of this is over," he said before leaving.

Relieved to be off the hook, for now, she went in search of her maid whom she found with the other servants, tending to the injured amongst them. Olna Raven came to join them in her human form, dressed in a quilted fur poncho and she began to treat the servants' wounds with some homemade salves and ointments. A few of their horses and livestock had also been injured in the attack, and their wagon of food supplies was trashed and destroyed. The settlement was a picture of devastation and loss.

"Do you think we will manage to leave Ketjouk alive?" Erin asked Olna quietly after the last of the injured had been treated.

"Of course, my dear. We will," said Olna Raven, confidently.

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because I have seen it. The dream stone showed me. Where is it, by the way? Do you still have it?"

Erin nodded and ran to one of the damaged wagons to search the pockets of the dress she'd worn before they began their trip. She let out a sigh of relief when her hand closed around the smooth pebble. "Here it is," she said, offering the stone to her mother-in-law.

"No, no, my dear. It is yours to keep now. I only wanted to know if you still have it in your possession. I know you do not believe in the power of this stone, but trust me, it is very potent and I think you should try using it one day and see for yourself." "So, you have used it?"

"Many times, yes. And that is why I know that we will survive this war, but it will bring difficult times for us all, and some losses too."

The way she said the last part of her statement made Erin's blood run cold. "Losses? What kind of losses?"

Olna Raven sighed dejectedly and she suddenly looked very sad. "Dear Edvana, that is not for me to say because I do not know the answer."

"But you said the stone showed you... things. Didn't it show you everything? Are we all going to survive this? Or when you said losses, did you mean our food supply and horses?"

"Calm your nerves, dear child," said Olna Raven, soothingly. She had not intended to rattle her daughter-in-law, but the young she-wolf appeared to be getting agitated by her own words.

Erin hated cryptic messages especially when they were related to important situations like their present predicament. She knew that Olna's reference to losses wasn't about the werewolves or property that they had already lost, she suspected that Prime Luna was referring to her family.

"Which one of us is it, Mother? Please, tell me. Who is it?"

"What are you talking about, Edvana?"

"The losses. Who is going to die in this war?"

Olna Raven looked into Erin's eyes with an expression of sorrow and shook her head slowly. "I do not know, Edvana. I swear it to you, I do not know. All I know is what I have told you. Some of us will live and some of us will die. It is the natural way of things. Even if we do not die in this war, we will die someday."

Erin couldn't hide her disappointment. She wished Olna Raven hadn't mentioned any of this to her because now she would spend the rest of the journey to Denai' Vena wondering which one of them would die at the claws of those beastly creatures that the infamous Nikjin had set upon them.

"Please, do not worry. It was not my intention to trouble your heart," said Olna Raven, apologetically.

"I know. I happen to be a very curious person, and that's why I am never satisfied with incomplete information."

"I understand. I am just like you, and that was what drove me to seek out the dream stone to show me the future. After all that I have witnessed with it since it was given to me by my father many years ago, I am very certain that I no longer have any use for it. Now, it is yours to use as you please, and I hope that it answers all of your questions."

Erin rolled the stone around in her hand, studying it and wondering if it was finally time for her to return to the future and get out of this confusing place. At least, she had gotten the information she came here for - Devon, the incarnate of Danshak, was her true mate.

Every other thing happening here was none of her business, so why should she get involved? She should probably skedaddle tonight and let Edvana continue with her life here and worry about how to get out of this werewolf civil war alive. She had seen enough chaos in the last couple of hours to last her all of her lifetimes, so it was time for her to return to her own reality.

She continued to roll the stone around in her palm as if it could tell her what she truly wanted to know - which of the Smallchief werewolves was going to lose their lives in this war?

"You should not trouble yourself with thoughts of what would happen in the future, Edvana. You have the present with you, live for now," said Olna Raven. "I am sorry I mentioned my vision to you, I did not know it would bother you so much." Erin smiled warmly at her mother-in-law. "It's ok. And you are right. It doesn't make any sense for me to drive myself crazy with worry over something that hasn't happened yet. However, I will consider myself forewarned." Relieved to see that Erin was no longer worried, Olna Raven got to her feet. "Come, let us go and hear the decision of the Prime Alpha."

The two of them walked hand-in-hand to the other side of the clearing where Vak Smallchief and his men were still discussing what to do to survive the next phase of their journey home.

"We have decided to remain here to recuperate after the last attack," he informed his wife. "Monah has sent two werewolves to Quandagh, to gather reinforcements. They should get here by noon tomorrow if their journey goes well." "Will my father come with them?" Erin asked, unable to hide her concern.

"That is for him to decide," said Vak. "But have no fear. You as well as everyone here know that your father is a strong warrior. He will surely not be the first werewolf to go down if those beastly creatures show up again." "What if they try to attack us again tonight?" she asked, on the verge of hysteria.

Olna Raven placed a comforting arm on her shoulder and drew her close. "We are not going to die tonight, Edvana," she whispered in her ear. "Not this night."