Wolf Legends

Chapter 2 - Becoming a Man

((Disclaimer: Fair warning, This story, while eventually will turn erotic, starts out telling a story, as any good story teller will do, sets you up with a history, a back ground something to chew on. I promise though that if you stick with me you will not be disappointed. Also the legends and people in this story are of my own creation, they are not based on any other legends or stories or people, they have no basis of fact, just what lay inside my head. ))

Four Years Later....

Logan stared at the stubborn eight year old as she stamped her little foot and insisted on going with him. He growled low and shook his head. "No. Fawn you can't go with me this time. They specifically said no girls allowed." He narrowed his eyes at the slender girl.

Fawn had grown but she was still small, slender, and very much like the animal she was named for. She had long red curls that came to her waist, though right now they were braided back and held together with a leather thong. She had a spattering of freckles across her tiny pixie like nose seen clearly through the dark tan that covered her skin. Unlike most redheads, Fawn managed to tan very well, if not for her red hair and green eyes one would think she was one of the People by birth.

He took in the stubborn set of her tiny jaw and shook his head. "That is not gonna work this time Little One. You know I would take you with me if I could. But this time you are too young, and .. A girl. I will be sent packing if I take you with me this time."

She huffed and put her hands on her jean clad hips and widened her stance and he knew she was about to argue the point again. Logan held up his finger to head her off. " No. This is important. Do you want me to miss the ritual? Do you want me to go another year without being considered an adult?" He frowned at her. It was virtually her fault he had missed his chance the year before. And he was not about to let her ruin it for him again.

She seemed to consider his words this time, and her head dropped. "No, I don't want you mad at me like you were last year. You didn't talk to me for almost a month." She pouted. He hated it when she pouted. For some reason ever since she came to live in the village this tiny whisp of a girl had him wrapped around her tiny fingers.

He reached out and lifted her chin to meet her gaze. "When I get back, we will go hunting together, just you and me, Alright?"

She searched his gaze for a moment, trying to decide if he meant it, he had been promising for a long time to take her when she was old enough, and each time she had asked he had told her she wasn't old enough just yet. When she saw the truth in his eyes she grinned and nodded. "Alright but you had better mean it, I will have everything ready for when you come back."

He watched as her eyes lit with excitement and almost groaned, it was going to be a long hunting trip and he doubted they would return with anything worth while. Deep down though he knew the trip would be worth it no matter what they returned with. He grinned and ruffled her curls like he had since she was just a tiny thing that could barely walk.

"I have to go now, behave for your Momma and we will go hunting when I get back." He bent and kissed her forehead in a brotherly fashion and then started off towards the woods a few steps then paused and looked at her sternly. "Do not follow this time Fawn, or I will never take you hunting, and might never speak to you again. Understood?"

She looked as if he had struck her and he cursed under his breath but he knew his warning was necessary. After a moment she nodded then turned to go whispering. "Be careful Logan." Then ran off to find her mother.

He flashed a grin at her retreating back then headed off into the forest at an easy lope his moccasined feet finding his path unerringly. He had earned the nick name "Wolf Boy" when he was fifteen. They had been racing, just a friendly race that spanned two and a half miles of woodland. He had passed each of the boys in the race and remained in the lead all the way to the end. For those watching him run they had said he had never set a wrong foot, leaping over fallen trees and missing low hanging branches as if he were born to it.

He knew the Elders thought that Brother Wolf would appear to him and join their spirits, but as each year passed and he did not start shifting, melding into the shape of a wolf when he ran, they began to second guess their theories. Logan did not care. He knew where he stood with Brother Wolf. They were one, he had been one with Brother Wolf since he was two years old.

He had crawled off into the woods and gotten lost, his family had spent the day looking for him, while he had come nose to nose with Brother Wolf. The large wolf had let him follow him through the woods that day, the two year old Indian boy hanging onto his dark tail. When it began to grow dark and the boy to grow hungry, the wolf had taken him to the edge of the woods, licked his face and nudged him out of the under growth and right into the feet of his Mother, who had made one last foray into the forest to find him. No one knew that he had met the Wolf, Brother Wolf himself. No one but him. He had told no one of the story, not even Fawn. Though he thought, perhaps if she could promise not to tell anyone else, that he might tell her on their hunting trip. The thought made him smile.

Many in the Village thought it strange that he would pick up with a child so young and befriend her, stranger yet being the fact that she was a girl, and white. They thought he would hate her when they brought her to the village to live. His father had been killed by a white man. The man had been drunk, and his father had been coming home from a long trip. The drunk had swerved and hit his father's car sent it reeling off the road and over a cliff. Instead of being angry with the tiny red headed child, he had become her protector, her best friend, her teacher, her brother in many ways. Her mother trusted him to keep her safe and would let him take her with him where ever he went. Some thought he spoiled the girl, added to her stubborn Nature. But he didn't care. He loved her like a sister and would do anything to make her happy.

As he drew near the meeting place he slowed and pushed all other thoughts from his mind. He stopped a good half mile away and stripped out of his clothes folding his shirt and jeans and placing them in the pack he had brought with him. He tucked them away and climbed one of the trees shoving the bag into a hollow there. He paused and took out his talisman. A shiny piece of hematite, so dark it was almost black. It had a silver trim at the top and the stone was carved into the shape of a wolf claw. It hung from a leather cord. He tied it around his neck so that the claw rested at the hallow of his throat. It had been a gift to him from Fawn. Given to him for his fifteenth birthday,

Her mother had taken her shopping and she had thrown a fit when her Mother had refused. He grinned a little as he pictured the scene. Fawn had stood in front of the jewelry case in the Indian shop her little arms folded her pert little nose up in the air as she glared at her Mother and stopped her little foot. "It belongs to Logan. It is His, it's not my fault that the store wants money for it." her Mother had almost laughed as the tale goes, and the Jewelry owner had intervened and given it to them for half price. Maria had relented and handed it to Fawn. She had given it to him after everyone had left the party.

She had been hurt when he didn't wear it but he explained to her very gently. That it was not time for him to wear it, and when it was he would put it on and never take it off. He knew that now was that time. He secured the knot at the back of his neck then changed his mind and lengthened the leather string dropping the claw down his chest to rest against the center of his chest then again tightened the knot. He nodded in satisfaction then loped the rest of the way into the clearing wearing nothing but a pair of running shorts.

Along the edges of the circle other boys had begun to gather. All the boys ranged between the ages of seventeen and twenty. All ready for their quest to adult hood. Each would be given a task to complete each would have two days to complete that task. If they did not complete the task in the time required then they would have to wait for the next year to try again with a new task. Many did not pass the first year. Most did the second year. This would be Logan's third year to try. The Elders had been angry at first when he had tried at sixteen to do the ceremony, but they had allowed it, asking of him to Find Brother Wolf hidden inside.

He had been angry with them then, knowing Brother Wolf was not ready to make himself known, knowing they had known that as well. And so he had failed the first year. The second year had been because Fawn had followed him, had been caught at the edges of the ceremonial clearing and he had been sent off with her to return her safely to her mother and told not to return until the next year, this time without the nosey red headed child.

This year he knew again they would ask him to bring Brother Wolf out to be known to all. This year he knew Brother Wolf was done waiting. He could feel him stirring deep inside could feel him prowling with the need to be released. And he knew also that he would not be the only one finding Brother Wolf this year. He was the only one to know. Even the Elders had not guessed.

He stood silently in the firelight as the Elders set their tasks upon each of the boys. There were 10 of them this year, four of them, including Logan, would be returning with Brother Wolf. Logan eyed the three other boys that had been chosen by the council, and knew that those three would fail their task. Only he knew which ones would run beside him as a Pack when this ceremony was over. Drake Running Bird, Fawn's brother, a year older then himself, would be one, Silas Red Elk, His best friend, would be one also, and the third would be his other friend, Seth Black Bear. They were friends for a reason, and Logan knew it.

He told no one, he knew that it would come about when the time was right. He also knew that his friends would succeed at their tasks, and find Brother Wolf at the same time. He shook his head a moment and listened as the Elder's spoke to him. Again assigning him with the task of finding Brother Wolf's spirit inside him. He wondered what they had planned if he failed his task. They could not keep him in child status forever when he was clearly a Man. He huffed a little bit under his breath, frowning at one of the Elders as he curled his fingers around the wolf's claw against his chest. The old man nodded his head muttering to himself before wandering to the next boy.

Each of them shared a sip from the ceremonial bowl, filled with a special tea made from roots and berries of the forest. Logan took only a small sip of it knowing he would need a clear head for the night to come. Other's copied his example while the rest took long drinks from the bowl.

They sang ancient songs long into the night celebrating that what makes a boy a Man. They ate their fill and drank water, knowing that it would be their last meal for a couple of days. Then around two in the morning the Elders gathered them together and gave them a each a few words of wisdom before sending them off onto their tasks. Some headed back for the village, and their cars while others headed towards town on foot, the rest, headed for the deep forest, Logan amongst that last group.

He waited and watched as each boy dispersed into the night, then he too melted into the shadows. On silent feet he made his way to the caves hidden deep in the cliffs at the edge of the forest. He had been prepared for his task, he had already set up fire wood and drinking water. Had even tucked a couple of blankets away in case he needed them.

He moved silently through the woods till they opened up to the cliffs. He looked carefully about and then slipped into one of the caves. He took a blanket out and set it on the sandy ground then started his fire for warmth then took the other blanket and rolled it up for a pillow. He was tired and he knew that Brother Wolf would not come to him right away.

He double checked to make sure he would not be disturbed and then he curled up beside the fire and fell into a deep slumber. A slumber full of strange dreams.....