The Song Of The Wolf (Unedited)

Chapter Sixteen

Watching documentaries and movies all day every day for the past week had gotten old fairly quickly. At wits end what to fill up her time with now, Maebh wondered if it really was possible to die out of boredom. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed. 

The purr of a motorcycle resounded, followed by rumbling at the door as Coinín's came walking in clutching two bags full of groceries to his chest. The sight made Maebh smile. He'd been doing her favours to try and get back on her good side, even when she had still been at the castle; like the care of her cabin and greenhouse.

"Took you long enough." Maebh teased as she rose from the sofa.

"Sorry, I had to cover Maggie's shift at the grocery store, she wasn't feeling well."

The words made a pang of guilt shoot through her.

Although she hadn't left the house once since returning, she did manage to rekindle her friendship with Maggie –mainly over the phone. Her husband had apparently, lost his job, whatever that may be. In result, Maggie was forced to go back to work mere days after giving birth. Without the steady income of Coinín's old job, they had to make ends meet in a different way. 

Maebh nodded at the groceries. "Thank you."

"No problem," he grumbled, sitting down in one of the dining chair. "Let's just.. Well, let's just get this over with shall we?"

Maebh updated him on everything, from Logan shifting into a wolf to her staying in the castle, meeting the royal family and reading the story.

Coinín shifted in his seat, not looking up as he spoke. "I am a guardian, or.. well.. used to be. There are several others around the area, most of whom work as mountain guides to make sure locals and tourists don't stick their nose where it doesn't belong."

"Such as?"

"The location of the castle is unknown to anyone outside the Lycan community and things have to remain that way," He cleared his throat. "Before you were born, I got assigned to a very specific job by the king himsel-"

"How old were you then?"

"I was 21 at the time."

She hesitated and contemplated his answer before questioning it aloud. "You're not going to tell me you're in your 40s, Coinín..."

He shrugged. "The ageing process slows significantly when we turn 20. Nobody really knows why, but I'm guessing it has something to do with slow metabolism and the fact we generally tend to live in cold places, which could activate anti-ageing genes that help better fold proteins, get rid of DNA-damaging molecules, and even fight off infections more effectively, and so extending our life span."

Maebh gaped at him, unblinkingly. "That um.. sounds obvious."

"I guess." he rasped out, and seemed to relax. He wasn't twitching with discomfort as he was seconds before. "As I was saying, I got assigned to a job by the king; to find you. I did manage to do so, to my greatest surprise. I had assumed that I would have had to travel the world to get word of your whereabouts, yet here you were, so close to home."

Maebh felt like she should nod; a student in the middle of an impromptu lecture. She eagerly took in all the information and silently urged him to continue.

"A couple of days after you were born, the hospital room you and your mother had vacated was empty and there was no trace of you. No information on files and the doctors were clueless, nothing."

Maebh nodded, retaliating. "My dad had a very unstable relationship with my grandparents, that's why we moved to live with my Mam's family in Ireland."

"I seriously doubt that was the real reason." he looked at her with something akin to sympathy. "I have always believed that your parents knew what your were. They had managed to mask your scent somehow. It was like you had disappeared off the face of the planet. We feared you were dead for the longest time."