The Wolf Code

Chapter 11

Senora sat on a boulder near the fire, just a few feet from Ty and surrounded by dozens of men and woman smiling, laughing and sharing a meal.  The jumping flames were mesmerizing, and Senora found herself lost in thought, the sounds and scents around her fading away and leaving nothing but the crackling fire that chased away the mosquitos and warmed her sore muscles.

Ty leaned over in the darkness and put his hand on her leg.  The borrowed dress had crept up, leaving her thigh exposed to his warm hand.  He squeezed affectionately and smiled at her. 

“Are you alright?” he whispered in her ear.

“I’m fine,” she said.  “I’m just exhausted, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything that’s happened today.”

“We can go to bed if you’d like,” he said, his smile enticing.

“We are not doing anything, but yes, I would like to go to bed.”

He laughed, giving her leg one more squeeze before he reached out for her empty plate and held his free hand out to her.  She took it and stood on wobbly legs that protested and threatened to buckle.  She took a step forward and stumbled into him, muscles trembling wildly.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his arm wrapped tightly around her.

“I’ll be fine.  I just need a hot bath and a good night’s sleep.”

“I can help you with both of those.  Let’s go to my cabin and call it a night.”

“Won’t that be weird, just leaving right after dinner?”

He shook his head.

“The rules of your kind don’t apply here.  We come and go as we please, and everyone is welcome inside the circle at any time.”

He put his arm around her, and they started walking away from the fire and toward the cabins in the distance.  Senora still wore her backpack on her back, afraid to let it out of her sight even for a moment.  The bag was heavy on her shoulders, but she ignored the weight and focused on the comfort it brought.  Even though she’d been forced to walk away from her overnight bag and her rental car, she had the most important things with her.  That included the files they’d taken from Robin’s office, which she hadn’t had a chance to look at yet.

She smiled, remembering the warm greeting they had received when they’d walked into the village as the sun was beginning to set.  Almost immediately, they’d seen that Senora and Ty were in need of clean clothes and warm food.  Ty had changed in his own cabin, but Senora had nothing to wear.  Before she could think to mention it, a woman came forward with the simple sundress, offering it to Senora with a shy smile and waving her off when she tried to explain that she would give it back once her clothes were clean.

                                                                                                                                                                                               “You keep it,” the woman had said.  “I have more than I can use, and blue is definitely your color.”

Senora had blushed and thanked the woman for her kindness before changing quickly in Ty’s cabin.  She’d exchanged her dirty shoes for handmade, leather sandals that were brand new and felt like soft butter against her skin.  As odd as it was for her to wear dresses, she felt at home and completely comfortable amongst these people. 

It was the first time she’d felt that way in her entire life.

That was weird, she thought, wondering where that feeling had come from.  She’d had a nearly idyllic childhood and had never felt out of place or like an outcast a day in her life.  Sure, at the FBI office in D.C., she was kind of an anomaly.  She worked alone unless she pulled in help, and the woman supervising the branch she worked in wasn’t her boss.  But that didn’t mean she was out of place.

 The entire satellite office was filled with agents that didn’t work on the run-of-the-mill FBI task forces, which was why they’d moved to a private office that was out of the way outside D.C. proper.  A lot of their cases dealt with extremely sensitive information, so being around the lower level agents just hadn’t been an option.  Sure, it wasn’t the bureau experience she’d longed for during her days at the academy, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t happy where she was. 

Besides, she loved what she did, and she couldn’t see herself doing anything else.  She spoke for those who couldn’t speak for themselves, and she looked for the lost souls that no one else was looking for.  She made an impact on this world, and that was more than most people could hope to do in their lifetime.  

“Penny for your thoughts?” Ty said, letting her into his cabin and turning on the lights.

She looked around, a little surprised that they had already made it to his home.  She’d been so lost in thought that she hadn’t been paying attention at all as they’d walked in the warm glow of the large fire in the center of the village.  

She blinked in disbelief when the lights came on, then laughed.

“What?” he asked, smiling.

“I don’t know why, but I wasn’t expecting there to be electricity.  Everything seems so rustic, I thought we’d be building a fire and doing everything by the fire’s light until we went to bed.”

Ty laughed. 

“I suppose that you don’t want to watch a little television on my flat screen until we are ready to sleep then?”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m ready to sleep now,” she said. 

She looked around the room, noting the single upright chair in the living room, and down the hall, which only had two doors.

“There’s only one room,” he said.

“I guess I can sleep on the chair.” 

“It doesn’t recline.  There’s no way for you to sleep there, and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Senora sighed.

“I guess there’s no point in arguing the inevitable,” she said.  “I hope one of your friends has a spare bed for you.”