Read Online Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale by Tracy Falbe - Free Book Online

bank. He sat on
a thick tree root, slipped off his sandals, and wiggled his toes in
the water.
    “That’s nice,” he said.
    Medina sloshed over to him. “What happened at
the monastery?” she asked.
    “Nothing.”
    “You’re not a very good liar,” she
chided.
    “We didn’t get beer. That’s the truth,” he
said.
    “Someone will bring strong drink tonight and
trade a little with Andreli,” Medina predicted.
    “What does Andreli have to trade?” Thal
wondered.
    “This and that,” Medina said and rocked her
shoulders.
    She leaned close, seeming to expect something
from him, but when a bemused Thal did nothing, she slogged out of
the water. “I better get going. I have to change my clothes and
comb my hair for tonight. I’ll be dancing,” she said.
    “Dancing?”
    Medina tossed her hips. “Will you watch
me?”
    He nodded. She scrambled up to the trail and
he followed her. She put a hand on him to keep her balance while
she put her shoes back on. Thal retrieved his fur. Medina glimpsed
the inside and grabbed its edge.
    “It does have words,” she said.
    Thal eased it out of her small hand.
“Everyone must talk about me all the time,” he said.
    “You’re very mysterious,” she explained,
unashamed of the gossiping.
    “I don’t mean to be,” he said.
    “Will you read it to me?” she asked.
    The way she batted her eyelashes intrigued
him, but the meaning of the signal eluded him.
    “I’ll carry your wood,” he said and hoisted
both bundles, one in each arm.
    “Thanks,” Medina said and started down the
trail. She chattered to him pleasantly. While walking behind her,
he daydreamed about the contours of her body hidden beneath the
loose clothes.
    When they got back to camp they delivered the
wood to Emerald’s area. Medina climbed into the back of the wagon
and started rummaging around. Emerald was sitting on a big rug with
two women from the nearby village. Sapling poles held a faded
canopy over them. One woman was older with a bent back and narrow
shoulders. Next to her was a plump rosy-cheeked lady with a swollen
belly. They were deeply involved in their conversation and did not
look up.
    Thal recalled that he was supposed to avoid
attention so he sat down a discreet distance away. He observed them
slyly. Emerald sometimes flourished her hands and touched her
temple. Then she started waving her hands slowly over the woman’s
belly.
    Thal gathered that she was pregnant. He
recalled the big bellies of his mates before pups were born, but he
pushed away the image. After only a few days in his man-form some
memories from his wolf life were feeling weird. His human mind was
asserting itself. He supposed that was why the young female had
been so interesting.
    The village women concluded their meeting.
They gave Emerald a basket with yarn and two loaves of bread. They
seemed well pleased with whatever she had told them. Emerald tucked
her gifts into the back of her wagon and then climbed into it to
take a nap.
    Thal crept away from the camp. In a sunny
spot where an old tree had died, he took out his fur and opened it
on his lap. The blood lettering was grim in the bright sunshine.
Recalling the sounds the priest had given some of the symbols, he
labored to sound the rest of the words out. Gradually more of the
letters reignited in his mind. He was literate after all, and he
quietly whispered the words. As he gained confidence that he was
pronouncing them correctly, he read them aloud again.
    They became more familiar to Thal each time
he read them. Finally his memories buzzed to life like a shaken
hive of bees. From the depths of his mind the voice of his father
took over the reading. Thal remembered his father chanting the
words in a specific rhythm. Thal’s lips stopped moving and his skin
went cold as the past consumed his consciousness.
    The icy glow of a full moon illuminated the
sky. Tall pines black against the night framed the moon. Their
boughs creaked in the wind. Thal was strapped