I weave my fingers through its fur and scratch. The door to the glass house opens, and a woman with olive skin and dark hair steps out onto her porch. She folds her arms and eyes us suspiciously. “Stella? What are you doing?”
Stella? That’s not my name. “I’m Trent.” I rub the wolf’s head as it licks away at my neck.
“Stella?” The woman at the door stay as a couple walks out of the house with the well-lit awning.
The couple cover their mouths with their hands and laugh. “Stella, get off the boy.”
So Stella is the wolf? Who has a wolf for a pet?
“Are you happy?” a little girl says.
What? I look up to see the talking wolf but see a naked girl on top of me instead. “What the—”
“Hello, T-ren-t.”
My breath hitches before I crawl out from under her. She crosses her arms, and her smile turns into a scowl. “Don’t want to play?”
Not with you in your birthday suit. “You were just a wolf.”
“Stella, get your naked behind over here,” her mom calls.
Her dad picks up the dead hare. “Late night snack, I presume?”
She yanks it away from him. “Mine!”
He throws his hands up in surrender before roughing up her hair. “Okay, it’s yours. Go in with your mother. We’ll talk about the consequences for you sneaking out in the morning.”
I look at the woman by the glass house. “How are none of you freaking out? She was just a wolf.”
The woman’s brows furrow, and she purses her lip before turning to the man. “Lance,” she says, “do you know this boy?”
Lance shakes his head and walks toward me. “No, Ramos, I thought maybe you knew him.”
“Where am I?”
They both look at me. “You don’t know?”
I shake my head. “I woke up on your sidewalk a few seconds before Stella pounced me. How was she a wolf?”
“She’s a wolf shape shifter,” Ramos says. “Almost everyone in this village is. Except for me, of course.”
My eyes go wide. “What are you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she says smoothly. “Do you know what brought you to my porch?”
“No.”
“Do you know where you came from?”
“No.”
“Do you remember anything from before you woke up?”
I concentrate and think back. The shock hits me, but I try to withstand it. I clinch my teeth and keep pushing but nothing surfaces.
“That’s enough,” Ramos say.
I keep pushing. There must be something. I couldn’t have poofed into existence. I know my name. I knew that Stella was an arctic wolf. Why can’t I remember how I got here, wherever here is?
Lance kneels down beside me and lays his hand on my shoulder. “Trent, you’re pushing yourself too hard. Your nose is bleeding.”
I touch my nose. Sure enough, it’s bleeding. Ramos joins us and reaches out to me. “Come on, Trent. Let’s get you inside.”
“Where am I?”
Lance looks up at her. “Do you think he has amnesia?”
Ramos shrugs. “He could be a spy, but I don’t think Stella would’ve reacted the way she did if that were the case. Children tend to have a good sense about who is good and evil. He appears to have had his memories wiped.”
Lance studies me. “What are you? Five? Six? You don’t look a day older than my Stella.”
I squint, and a date appears in the white space of my mind. “July 30
th
, 1998. Six. I’m six.”
“Is that typical of amnesia?”
Ramos shakes her head. “I find it odd. This area is off limits. We haven’t had spies for years, and they’ve never been so young. They most certainly would’ve known about shape shifters. Then again, they may have waited to throws us off guard. Either way, it’s better to keep him close than to set him free to go back to his master.”
“Master? I’m not a slave.”
“How do you know if you don’t have your memories?”
“I just know. Like, with the birthday, I just saw the numbers in my head. It’s like a white void in my mind. It hurts to try to remember anything from before I woke up, but other things I just know. If I think of something, like being a slave, I get queasy, so I know I’m not a slave.” I tug on my hair. “As much as my presence confuses you, it’s much more puzzling to me.”
They eye each other again.
“He sounds older than my Stella.”
“Yes, and his features resemble that of a puralynn.”
“Do you think he’s—?”
Ramos shakes her head. “If he is, there’s no way he’s a full puralynn. No king would give up an heir.”
“Unless, maybe, he was birthed to another puralynn.”
She shakes her head. “A puralynn cheating on a spouse would get them beheaded. Besides, one rarely strays from their mate. You know the bond of two wolves is stronger than almost any bond. However, it does not come close to the bond between two bonded puralynns. I dare say, if it were true, his parents would be insane to have gone so far as to create a child. Not only that, but they wouldn’t wait so long to dispose of him.”
I stand up and brush myself off. “I would prefer that you speak
to
me and not
of
me as if I am not present.”
Lance laughs. “He sure has the attitude of a puralynn. What do you suggest we do?”
“I suggest you take my request to be talked to directly seriously. I may be a child, but I’m still a person.” I don’t know where the hard tone of my voice originates. It seems foreign to me, to be so forthright over such a small curtesy.
“My sincerest apologies, Trent,” Lance says, standing up. “We rarely have newcomers, and when we do, they are often unwelcome. You, my friend, are an oddity.”
I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing. Ramos looks down at me. “Trent, I will prepare you a room for tonight. If your memories have not returned by morning, I will take you to our seer. He may know something, perhaps where you come from and how to return you.”
I purse my lips and breathe out through my nose before speaking. “You mentioned entities I’m not familiar with: puralynns and seers. Would you mind explaining?”
She nods. “All in due time. For now, let’s get you warmed up and well-rested. The trek to Smothers’s cabin is long, and rest will do us some good.”
“Very well.”
She offers her hand, and I take it.
“Do you trust him to say with you?” Lance says. “I could always open the jail house for the night.”
“I’d rather not traumatic the boy,” Ramos says. “Besides, if he is something dangerous, a protection spell will be more efficient than iron bars.”
He nods once and departs as Ramos escorts me to her home. With a gentle push, the door opens, and spices meet my nose. “I have a spare room upstairs. You’ll be safe for tonight.”
“Thank you.”
She opens a red door and holds it back for me. There is a bathroom on the left. Do you need anything before I go?”
I shake my head and enter the room. Forest green and dark-brown pinstripes cover the walls and match the furniture. I run my hand over an embroidered, brown tree on a silky green pillow. My flesh tingles as warmth livens my numb skin. This bed will do much better than the heated sidewalk outside. “No. This is more than enough,” I answer.
She runs a hand through her dark hair and breaths out slowly. Does she really think I could be a threat? How many times has she encountered a bad stranger? Why did Lance say this town was off-limits? Perhaps it has something to do with the wolf population Ramos spoke of. If Stella can shift into a wolf, can he? Where are the other homes?
“I’m sorry I have to do this, but I can’t take any chances. You’ll be bound to this room until I return in the morning. If you try to pass through the barrier, you will face excruciating pain. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
She nods and lifts her hands before pressing them against the doorframe. Foreign words escape her lips. Moments later, she leaves.
I walk into the bathroom, wash blood and slobber from my face, and relieve myself before clicking off the light by the door and crawling into bed. There’s no evidence of a barrier, but I wish not to test it and face excruciating pain. For all I know, I’m already injured, and the injury caused me to lose my memories. With luck and a good deal of sleep, they may return by morning. I can only hope for the best. If they do not return, I’ll beg to see the Smothers person they spoke of as soon as I wake.
I adjust myself in the bed and look up through a skylight. Northern Lights glow in fluorescent greens and blues, calming me as I drift off into a deep sleep.
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