Rowan

Holiday Chapter

Just a holiday chapter that has nothing to do with the story and actually takes place before it. I hope y'all enjoy. :)

"Papa, I told you we can just decorate one of the trees outside. There is no point in you hurting your back further."

He shook his head, putting on his jacket and looking around for his hat. "Nonsense, Rowan. We should have a tree inside, and if you won't let me cut one down, I'll just go into town and buy one," he said, his face brightening when he finally found the hat.

I placed an arm on his shoulder, looking at him. "Papa, please? I do not want to spend my Christmas wondering if you are okay or if the townspeople are harassing you again just because you want a tree. The trees here are perfectly fine and free," I told him, hoping he would see my reasoning.

He glanced soberly at the door as if hoping all would be okay in the town and they would welcome him with open arms. But we both knew that was not likely to happen. I could hear him sigh before he slowly took off his hat with disappointment.

I wrapped him in a hug, kissing his cheek, and sighed with relief. "Thank you, Papa. I love you," I whispered, receiving a peck on my head in return.

"I love you too, Rowan. Let's get this outside before it starts to rain again," he said, turning towards our Christmas decorations. I was not fond of decorating, but my father had insisted we do it every year because it was something my mother loved doing.

As we started moving the boxes outside, his excitement began to return. He start talking about which tree we could decorate and what we could put on the top. I suggested the angel, but I knew how much he preferred the star, so that was what we settled with.

Todd circled us, moving in between. He could sense my father's excitement and it was causing him to chatter as if he was going to help with the decorations.

"Which ornaments are we using this year?" I asked him, looking at the boxes. We usually did color-themed trees as I found them to be more relaxing.

"Why don't we just use them all?" He suggested happily and I laughed, opening all the boxes. We started decorating the tree right behind our house, making sure not to place any ornaments of the same color beside each other.

By the time we finished, the tree was the most colorful thing in the forest and likely to catch the eye of any stranger passing by. My father took out some of the other decorations, continuing to decorate the tree.

"Papa, this is enough. Let us go inside so you can rest your back," I tried, but he shook his head, the smile still on his face.

"No, sweetheart! This tree is going to be filled with decorations after we're through with it. Why don't you go ahead and start getting out the food?" he said, placing a snowflake ornament near the top.

I sighed, shaking my head before heading inside where we'd kept the food. My father had placed the birdtree on our tree away from the ornaments, and all it need was food. I grabbed the bird feed, along with the deer food and assortment of others.

Every year, we also fed the forest's creatures. The food would remain there for a day before they slowly started coming towards it one by one. Then one morning, we would wake up and hear the birds chirping while the deer snacked and the squirrels ran up and down the tree. The wolves were also fed, of course, but the meat was kept further out in the forest.

Todd enjoyed the holidays because he enjoyed all the critters that would come to the tree. It was amusing to see him stalk the bird cage and fail to catch them. He was, however, a danger to all the mice that decided to sniff around.

I took the food outside, setting everything up around the tree before venturing further out with Todd on my heels. I walked for several minutes before kneeling down and placing the meat on the ground.

"Come here, little one," I murmured to Todd, who willingly climbed into my arms, snuggling against my shoulder.

I started off, but hearing the crunch of a twig caused me to freeze. When I turned, I was met with the most beautiful pair of curious, amber eyes. I could hear Todd growling, but with a soft noise, he quieted down.

She continued towards us, sniffing the air, her eyes on me the entire time. She was a local around here and had already become used to me. However, I still had to act calmly around her if I did not want to scare her off.

After several minutes, she was close enough that she grabbed a piece of meat, her eyes leaving me for a moment. Her grey fur danced as she shook herself before lying on the forest floor.

"Hello," I murmured to her, kneeling down slowly. Her eyes drifted to me once again, her body becoming tense as if ready to run at any second.

"I mean no harm," I said, carefully placing Todd on the ground. He chattered softly, staying close by. He was never fond of leaving me alone with the predators of his kind.

"You have grown into a beautiful wolf, haven't you?" I told her, remembering when we had first met. She had been but a pup, lost and scared. I'd luckily found where her pack had been and brought her back to them.

Her nose twitched as she sniffed the air again, tilting her head. I slowly reached towards her, continuing to talk.

"I hope you have not gotten into too much trouble out here. My little one tends to stir up a lot of that," I said, feeling Todd move closer to me at the sound of his nickname.

My hand grazed against her rough, thick fur and she coiled, waiting for me to do something else. But I left my hand there, stroking that small part of her head.

She eventually relaxed, allowing me to stroke her further as she chewed on her meat. I smiled, having never felt more at home than in this one moment.

It wasn't long before I could hear distant howls, calling out to her. She pulled away from me, and I watched as she threw her head back and howled in response to her pack.

"Merry Christmas," I whispered to her, watching as she ran off and disappeared into the forest.