The TimberWolf Effect (Book I)

CHAPTER SIX - The Wolf Part of Her Heart

"Are you ready, Timber?"

Timber was in a hurry. She had slept in unusually late and the family had planned to start moving boxes into the new house that Chad and Grace just bought.

"I'm coming!" she replied loudly. She finished putting on her left shoe and hurried out of the front door.

Timber actually liked the new house. Compared to the other places she had lived in, the new house was a castle. It had four reasonably sized bedrooms upstairs, two modest living areas downstairs, a decent sized kitchen that had been remodeled ten years prior, a formal dining room, and a brick fireplace, which was Timber's favorite part of the house. The large yard was green and well maintained with lots of flowers for Emily to draw pictures of. When they walked through the front door, Timber noticed a box in the corner by the fireplace that hadn't been there the day before when they came to get the keys. She opened it up and smiled. It was a coffee mug set with each of their names on it. At the bottom of the box, there was a note that Timber read out loud.

"Happy housewarming. It's signed, Lord Frost."

"That was nice of him," said Chad. "We could put these to use tonight with some hot chocolate after we get some boxes unloaded."

So they set to work. Timber was not as strong in human form as she was in her wolf form, and the physical demands of lifting and carrying boxes up the stairs put a great deal of strain on her so she spent most of the day as a wolf. Grace had made her a makeshift harness out of polyester seatbelt mesh to pull heavy boxes up the stairs several days earlier and she was hooked up. It was a little uncomfortable but Timber didn't mind when she realized it spread the pressure around her body from pulling the weight. Being smaller and agile, Timber was able to climb behind boxes and furniture in the U-Haul truck and find the small boxes and things for Emily to carry like lamps and bags of bedding.

After a quick take-out lunch, Timber and Emily took a short nap together by the fireplace while Chad, Grace, and a few of their friends from work moved the heavy furniture that they had in a storage unit into the house. Sharon, Lori Lynn, and Crystal helped move in the couches, chairs, and the large dining set and set them in place. The biggest thing to move was Grace's upright piano she inherited from her grandfather. Though she had not played it since he passed, she still loved it.

After they woke up from their nap an hour later, Timber and Emily went right back to work. Grace had told them that they were only responsible for their own boxes because they were light enough but Timber had to help Emily drag her bag of stuffed toys up the stairs because the bag was bigger than she was. Chad and Grace stopped and laughed to see Timber going backward up the stairs with the straps of the garbage bag in her mouth while Emily pushed from the bottom.

When they were packing, Chad had given the smallest boxes to Timber and Emily. He said they had to be able to lift the box themselves. Emily and Timber had a dozen boxes that they could lift themselves, though Timber weighed hers down since her wolf was stronger. Timber helped load lighter items into the truck and Emily carried every pillow in the house and put it into the back seat of Chad's car. Timber thought loading the truck was much easier than unloading it.

By late afternoon, Timber had finished hauling her boxes and bags of blankets up the stairs to her new bedroom. Now that was really able to look around she realized that her new bedroom was about the same size as her old living room in Nebraska. There was still a decent amount of floor space even with ten boxes covering the cream-carpeted floor. It was not very large, but it would work for Timber. She walked around the room and stepped into a spot that was ice cold. She jumped back and sniffed. There was nothing there though she was overwhelmed with the feeling of familiarity. She checked the window but it was closed tight. She shrugged, shook her fur, and walked downstairs.