Petra lowered her head to protect her throat and growled.
The interloping wolf ignored her.
A second, smaller wolf joined the first, and my nose informed me she was a female, and she reminded me a lot of Petra, right down to her wider chest and sturdier build. Someone who didn’t know better might believe the wolf to be a Siberian husky, but I wouldn’t be pulling the wool over the woman’s eyes.
“You’ve come a long way,” I said, instead of greeting the woman, although I spoke in Russian, uncertain if she spoke English.
She cringed. “I know you are a foreigner, but you have much to learn about speaking Russian.”
I shrugged. “You obviously wouldn’t have come all this way just to say hello and criticize my Russian. What brings you my way?”
“I am but one of the ved’ma of the Blagoveshchensk wawkalak. I have been told you know about us.”
“It would be hard not to know about you. Within a week of arriving, I was given that.” I pointed at the talisman on my door. “But I have doubts it would do any good if you or your wolves decided to take offense to me and my cabin.”
“I speak English,” she informed me in a pained voice.
I shrugged again, and as I could be a stubborn mule on a bad day, I replied in Russian, “For all you know, my English could be worse than my Russian.”
Her eyes widened. “I find that possibility disturbing.”
“I am Sergei Sokolov, and I don’t have a patronymic because my mother never told me of my father,” I Informed her in English. “Who are you, and why have you come here?”
She sighed, probably from relief. “I am Alevtina Petrovna Volkova. The pack wishes to make your acquaintance, as you are a foreign vucari living in unity with your wolf without a ved’ma to guide you and safeguard those around you. I was chosen to ask how you have remained a vucari without falling prey to the temptation of becoming a bodark, a wawkalak, or a sumasshedshiy volk. We do not know what to think of you.”
In some ways, I wish I’d tried my luck sticking with Desmond and the other Fenerec. They came across as saner—and significantly more practical. “My mother was the equivalent of one of your ved’ma. She taught me.” I didn’t quite lie, although I toed the line. I regarded her with interest. “Her first rule was to never shift without just cause.”
“I see. And the full moon?”
“Shifting during the full moon was not just cause for her. I learned through resisting the full moon, and I would listen to my wolf’s need and only transform when it was necessary. That was our way. And anyway, my nature would scare Petra.” I gestured to Bodwin’s wolf, who leaned against my leg and kept her attention on the two werewolves, who stayed behind the ved’ma while regarding me with open interest and curiosity. “Her owners passed, and there was no one else to care for her.”
Alevtina narrowed her eyes at Petra. “How old is she?”
“At least seven or eight, maybe older. I never asked. I only knew someone needed to care for her, so I took care of her. I’ve had her for about a year.”
“And her behavior? It is good?”
“She’s very good. She knows her commands, she is stubborn, but all of her breed are stubborn. Please don’t try to pet her. She is not friendly towards most strangers, and she prefers having space.”
“Yet she is cowered against you.”
“Well, you brought two wolves, and she knows wolves are dangerous. She is not a stupid animal, and she knows a predator when she sees one. Anyone sane would find safety in numbers.”
Alevtina turned enough to stare at the two werewolves, and she frowned. “I suppose.”
“Do your companions not scare other dogs?”
“We make a point of keeping other dogs away from our pack.”
“I will go put her inside.” I clicked my tongue at Petra, who heeled and followed me. I grabbed her new bones and took them to the cabin, unlocked and opened the door, and offered her the largest of them as a reward for her good behavior. She seized it between her teeth, careful to avoid my fingers, and retreated to the safety of her favorite corner. I closed the door. “I would invite you in, but I’m sure you understand my hesitancy.”
“Of course. I would not invite you in were you to come to my home unexpected, although I assure you we mean you and yours no harm.”
I wondered if her less-than-welcoming stance was because I was a wolf, a foreigner, or a man. In either case, I’d do my best to ignore the slight, as bristling over the ved’ma’s behavior wouldn’t do me any good. “And does that include keeping your brands far from me?”
“You do not live within the boundaries of our city, nor do you meet the requirements to be branded. You are vucari.”
“I do not understand the difference between being a vucari versus your bodark, wawkalak, or sumasshedshiy volk. I have pieced together that the wawkalak are prized, the sumasshedshiy volk are mad and violent, but I don’t understand how the bodark or vucari fit into your culture.”
“I find your honesty refreshing. I would say it is simple, but it is not. I will simplify it for you as I can. For our purposes, vucari means you are foreign and possessing control. We have watched you for many moons, and you do not stray, not even when the entire pack came to your door, which would break the control of even the wawkalak, who respect our ways and are at little risk of endangering others. You are correct about the nature of the sumasshedshiy volk. The bodark are beloved but lack control and may become sumasshedshiy volk at any time, and they must learn control. The bodark must demonstrate their control through not shifting for five years so they might become wawkalak.”
“That sounds like a guaranteed method of creating sumasshedshiy volk to me. Such control must be learned, gradually and over time, not forced like that.” I considered my childhood. “It took me ten years, maybe longer, before I could go without shifting, and my mother took great care with me during that time.”
Once again, I skirted lying, but I spoke enough of the truth I doubted anyone would catch me.
“That is not our way.”
I had no interest in trying to convince them their way would lead to more deaths. Shrugging, I sat on the step leading up to my porch and considered the two wolves, who eyed me with the same wary regard. “You asked. I’m sorry you dislike the answer.”
Flea-bitten titmouse. Why did people ask questions when they didn’t want to hear the answer? The woman would drive me crazy long before my wolf became a wild, ravenous beast and took me out with him. I kept a close eye on her and her wolves, waiting for her next move—and questioning why I cooperated with her at all.
“How old were you when you learned this?”
“I started learning when I was twelve,” I answered, and aware of how Desmond and his family had reacted to my situation, I added, “Americans begin learning at roughly that age, sometimes a little older. That is our way.”
“And you Americans do not have sumasshedshiy volk?”
“They have similar, but they rank their wolves in different ways, based on their position within their pack. Otherwise, there is no distinction like you have. I’m no expert, however. I can teach you what I know, but I don’t know if it will do you any good. But Americans don’t brand, and they’re private about what they are.”