The House of the Wolf

24

During the month that followed the rhythm of life in the community of Chapelle-des-loups continued serene and tranquil, as it had for the past four hundred years. Dubois's scouts and spies reported no signs of activity on the part of their enemies, who remained scattered and disorganized now that the Lapierres were all dead or gone. As the weather warmed other loups garous came to visit, including Honoré and Angélique and their circle. The Communauté set aside its monastic regimen, replacing it with feasting and merriment.

"I love this," Chantal said to her hosts at one outdoor gathering in early May, as meat roasted over the open fire pit and bread baked in the ancient outdoor oven made of stone. "Reminds me of cookouts back home." Could this place perhaps become my home, she wondered for the first time. There are much worse places to live, after all...

"You will always be welcome in our midst," Soeur Célestine assured her.

The meat was bison, donated by Bernard Lavallée. "He knows our tastes," Jean-Louis told her. "We're all partial to bison meat – especially we Métis rugaru. Not all our ancestors were trappers, you know. Some escaped the expanding European colonies by moving westward. They lived by hunting wild bison on the prairie – both as native hunters and in wolf-shape. It was their only food for a long time."

After dinner as everyone sat around the bonfire, replete, René Leblanc brought out a guitar and they began to sing old French songs. All loups garous had superb singing voices, it seemed. Chantal happily joined in. As she sang along she was reminded of camping in childhood, and of Glee Club concerts at school: her voice was clear and pure, rising high above the others'. When Leblanc took a rest she borrowed his guitar and sang some American songs for the company, teaching them how to pronounce the English words. It was a huge success.

As the evening progressed she noticed how, one by one, the revelers began to steal away into the trees beyond the campfire. Before long the human singing was accompanied by a glorious chorus of howls from the depths of the woods.

When nearly all had transformed, they went for a run together in the woods. Leaping and bounding through the trees and undergrowth alongside her fellow wolves, Chantal revelled in the strength of her animal body and the myriad new sensations it afforded her. Night time held no terror for her any more. As a woman she had recoiled from its threatening shadows, the conspiratorial cover that it granted to lurking predators both animal and human. But now it was she who was the force to be feared. Even when she wore a woman's shape Sister Wolf would always be with her, and could be called upon in an instant to deliver her from harm. To walk unafraid after dark was a new and very welcome sensation.

Raoul meanwhile had remained behind, sitting and talking with Honoré Dubois. But he watched as Chantal ran off into the forest in her wolf form, feeling a sudden longing to follow after her. He turned, to find that Dubois was watching him. "Go join her, my friend," the old man said, leaning forward and speaking in an undertone. "Go! I know you want to. Why do you hesitate?

Raoul looked startled. "Can you see my thoughts, Honoré?" he asked. "Are you a sorcier like your friend Lavallée?"

"Mais non!" Dubois laughed. "But you are transparent as still water. I have seen how you react whenever she is near. How you look at her, and her alone, even when many other people are present. Why do you hold back? Are you afraid? I understand perfectly if you are. Any lone wolf that dared approach a she-wolf in a strange pack would most likely be chased away. That's what you're thinking, isn't it? But humans are allowed to love whomever they choose, Raoul. There's nothing for you to be afraid of here."