The High Council (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 6) by Kloss Victor

Author:Kloss, Victor [Kloss, Victor]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2017-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

— Chapter Twenty-Two —

The Pack

“Does it have to do that?” Charlie complained yet again as they walked through the woods. He was forced to duck yet again from a branch-sized appendage that nearly took his head off as it swept vigorously back and forth.

“She can’t help it; she’s in a good mood,” Natalie replied, laughing as she patted the enormous wolf loping beside her. It was true, judging by the giant beast’s wagging tail and wide grin, she was indeed a happy creature. Unfortunately, that made her a bit of a menace for the rest of them.

“Maybe she could be a little less demonstrative about it,” Charlie suggested, pushing the tail out of his face yet again. Walking beside him, Ben carefully refrained from mentioning that Charlie had definitely not been complaining when it had been Natalie demonstrating affection. She had hugged him enthusiastically after he helped free the beast, and judging from his bright red cheeks and silly grin, Ben was almost certain his best friend had enjoyed the experience.

“If she wants to stay with us, that’s fine by me,” Josh commented from Ben’s other side. All three boys had decided it was better to let Natalie and her new friend take the lead for now. “Things have been a lot quieter since she showed up.”

That was also true; it felt like they had been battling creatures almost every step of the way through this forest. Right up until they ran across the giant wolf, that is, and ever since, there hadn’t been another creature in sight. Evidently having a horse-sized carnivore at your side made other predators reconsider if you were really worth the risk.

Natalie had led each of the boys over to her in turn and presented them to the wolf as a friend. They endured being sniffed and nudged, and then eventually licked. She no longer posed a threat to them, her tail aside.

She was far more affectionate towards Natalie, of course. With her, the giant wolf behaved much like a small puppy, wriggling with delight and constantly turning to stare at, nudge or lick her. Natalie endured it with good grace, laughing and petting, and talking with the beast as if it really were just a tiny house pet.

When they had finally called it a night and found a place to camp, the wolf had curled up protectively around all four of them. It had been like sleeping in a giant mound of blankets and pillows, and Ben had slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that nothing could possibly get to them.

He could already picture the arguments they were going to have when it was finally time to go, about whether Natalie could bring the wolf back to the Institute with them.

“Hey, what’s that up ahead?” Charlie asked, snapping Ben out of his thoughts. He lifted his head up, trying to peer past the wolf to see what was wrong. But he couldn’t see anything except the trees all around, and the sun shining down from the cloudless blue sky.

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