More than Magic: Semester Aboard (45 page)

"Mate like packmate?"

"Oh." TS looked a bit sheepish. "Mate like
friend. Sorry, I still haven't quite shaken all of my Irish
slang."

"It's ok, I was just clarifying."

He laughed. "I had a good friend in Ireland.
He was a stone elemental and ended up in my pack after a few years.
I tried to keep in touch once I moved back to the states, but he
didn't write me very often. And now..." TS shrugged. "I mean, I
hope he's well. But my desire to contact him and see how he is
isn't nearly as strong anymore. It happens. Then again, I think I'd
go mad if I had too many packmates hanging about."

"So, if they aren't a werewolf too, a
packmate doesn't um..."

TS shook his head. "Nope. It's a one-way
deal. That's the part that sucks."

"Do people even know when they turn into a
packmate?"

He grinned and his tongue lolled out. "Did
you?"

I froze in my tracks and turned to stare at
him. "What?"

TS laughed. "By the way, you worked your way
into my pack a few nights back."

For a moment I had no idea what to say.
"W-what do I do now?"

"There isn't exactly anything you
do
."

"I mean what do I do to be a um...a good
packmate?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "Blimey. You
can keep asking questions like that, for a start. I don't think
anyone's ever asked me that before. I guess em...keep in touch of
course, if you want. And just...just know that if you need me, I'll
always be there. And I'll do any favors you ask, even if it puts me
out of my way, so I'd appreciate if you think twice before
asking."

"I'll do that." It must have been frustrating
to be a werewolf sometimes.

"Other than that..." TS shrugged. "Be aware
that I'm pretty much always going to tell you the truth about
things. Careful what you ask," he added with a laugh. He studied me
for a moment, looking slightly uncomfortable. "And...I don't think
you have a mean bone in your body, but if you do...well, things can
hurt a bit more when they come from a packmate."

"That must be hard."

TS nodded. "It is, but that's the nature of
the bond. I'm glad to take the bad bits so long as I get the good.
I imagine all werewolves are."

"Are Dani, Charlie, and Mariana in your, I
mean, our pack?" I didn't even have to ask about Thomas, he had
said that TS had bonded to him.

"They are."

That was good to know. It made me happy too.
If anyone made a good packmate I was sure that they all did. Our
group had reached a lake and we had to get into a small boat with a
bunch of other people. I wasn't too upset that our conversation had
been cut short; I felt like TS had been able to explain it all to
me. I tried to settle in and enjoy the trip. The goal was to spot
caimans, but after nearly half an hour without a sighting my
thoughts started to wander back to the conversations I had had with
Thomas and TS. Our boat ride was nowhere near over when I
remembered that Thomas had called it a soul-pack. I didn't think TS
had used that term once. Suddenly, I couldn't wait for the boat
trip to end. It seemed like hours before we finally pulled back to
the shore and jumped out. I was on the verge of grabbing TS and
dragging him away so that we could talk, but he sat down right on
the shore, looking slightly miserable. I knelt down next to him in
concern; he looked slightly pale.

"I feel a bit ill," TS said. "I hate
boats."

"Then why go on a cruise?" I asked.

"Well, I've got a potion for seasickness that
I've been taking. I left it on the ship because I didn't think I'd
be on any bloody boats here." He groaned and added, "Werewolves
aren't made for boats." I reached out, feeling a little silly, and
half-ruffled his hair, half-pet him. He smiled gratefully.
"Thanks."

I nearly had to bite my tongue to keep from
asking about Thomas until TS got back on his feet. Our group
started heading back to the lodge and the two of us were soon far
enough behind them that we wouldn't be overheard.

"Thomas said 'soul-pack', is that different
from the packs you were talking about?" I blurted as soon as it was
safe to talk.

"Completely," TS said. "I suppose the biggest
difference is that we can feel our soul-packmates' emotions. It's a
lot more like what you'll have with your familiar. Soul-packmates
are also much, much rarer than a regular packmate. With a packmate
you just need a good friend who, I dunno, goes that extra mile for
you one day. A soul-pack bond only forms under extreme
circumstances."

"What qualifies as an extreme
circumstance?"

"Well, if you saw a vampire slaughter your
entire class and then go for your sister, you're almost guaranteed
to soul-pack bond to the person who saves her."

"That is extreme," I agreed. "So, you can
tell what Thomas is thinking?"

"No, no. Emotions not thoughts. For example,"
TS cocked his head thoughtfully, "right now he's in a pretty good
mood. Spotted something keen a few minutes ago, but I don't know
what. And he's off..." TS pointed. "Somewhere over that way. If I
were so inclined I could go right to him."

"Wow."

"Now, that being said, the longer you've been
bonded and the closer you are, the stronger the bond is. It's been
long enough and I know him well enough that I can usually figure
out what he's up to based on how he's feeling, even though there's
no mind reading involved."

"Can Thomas sense your feelings too or is it
just one-way like it is with regular packmates?"

TS was quiet for a moment. He frowned
slightly, like he was trying to figure out the best way to explain
it. "Soul-pack bonds are only one way," he said finally. "Unless
we're talking between werewolves."

I nodded. "So, basically a soul-packmate is a
packmate whose emotions you sense?"

"Bit more complex than that, I'm afraid.
Remember I said a packmate comes before anyone else? A
soul-packmate is more important than that. Just the sense of
loyalty alone is so instinctual and deeply ingrained that you make
decisions based on the well being of your soul-packmate without
even thinking about it. Half the time it's entirely unconscious."
TS paused and studied me for a moment. "You asked how to be a good
packmate. Most packmates aren't good or bad, they're just a close
friend you happen to be a bit more attached to. You get lucky and
find some good ones. Sometimes you get unlucky and...find a bad
one."

"How would someone be a bad packmate? They'd
stop keeping in touch?"

TS shook his head. "A bad packmate is the one
who realizes that they can use it to their advantage. Sometimes
someone you thought was a friend..." He shrugged. "I imagine that
one of the worst realizations a werewolf can have is that they have
a packmate who is using them. It would be hard, but eventually they
distance themselves until the bond breaks. I said that an insult
from a packmate hurts more. With a soul-packmate...Imagine a dog
that's abused. Locked outside, beaten, all that awful stuff. He
still greets you when you get home. All's forgiven with a pat on
the head, right?"

I nodded.

TS sighed. "That's sort of how it is. A
werewolf can't really be mad at a soul-packmate. Not for long. We
certainly can't hate them or lie to them. It's downright mental
sometimes, but we can't help it. A good soul-packmate is someone
who gets all that. They aren't just a friend, but they stay a bit
more aware of how the werewolf bonded to them is doing. They make
sure they don't jerk us around too much. Having a good
soul-packmate is probably the best thing that can happen to a
werewolf. But...a bad one..."

"Would be even worse than a bad packmate," I
said.

"The worst thing that could ever happen to a
werewolf," he said softly. "We're so compelled to be loyal to our
soul-packmates that we'll end up doing anything they ask, even if
we don't want to. We'll give in, in the end." He laughed, almost
bitterly. "Told you it's mad. Problem is you can soul-pack bond to
a complete stranger. You might end up with someone more than happy
to manipulate you."

"How would you bond to a stranger?"

"Tom was a stranger," TS said. "I mean, I'd
seen him talking to his mam, so I sort of knew who he was. Didn't
actually know him though. I could be walking down the street and
have some random bloke push me out of the way of a car. I'd
probably soul-pack bond to him. He could be a total nutter for all
I know, but I wouldn't be able to help it."

"But if you got a bad soul-packmate couldn't
you just let the bond break like with a bad packmate?"

He shook his head. "Soul-pack bonds don't
break. They last until one of you dies. Or both of you."

Something in his voice caught my attention.
It reminded me of what Thomas had said about familiars. "If your
soul-packmate died...would you?"

TS was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "It's
possible." He shuddered. "Bloody hell. I don't even like thinking
about it."

"It is a little scary. I'm sort of nervous
about knowing that I'll be tied to a familiar like that," I
admitted.

"Actually, I meant I don't like thinking
about anything happening to my soul-packmate," he said with a weak
laugh. "We tend, instinctually that is, to put their well-being
before our own. I'm sure that sounds a bit mad too. If we had to
choose between the life of someone else and our soul-packmate, we'd
pick our soul-packmate without even really thinking about it. Even
if it was our own life on the line. No hesitating."

"That sounds so...hard," I said.

"Sometimes." TS put a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry. Our conversations don't seem to ever stick to happy
subjects."

"It's ok, I'm the one who keeps asking
questions." I tried for a better one. "Do you have any
soul-packmates other than Thomas?"

His reaction was the opposite of what I
expected. TS' shoulders stiffened and he took a deep breath.
"Nobody you know," he practically spat. Then he picked up his pace
until he had caught up with the rest of the group. Shocked, I
followed.

We had taken a shorter path back from the
lake and were back at the lodge in just a few minutes. TS hung
back, letting the rest of our group go up the stairs and onto the
wooden path. I waited with him until everyone else was almost back
to the lodge.

"I'm sorry," he said before I could say
anything. "I em..."

"It's ok," I said quickly, thinking about
everything he had said about packmates. I had a feeling that
werewolves were a little sensitive when it came to hurting their
packmates feelings. "Don't worry about it."

He nodded. "Ok."

We started walking after the group in the
direction of lunch. My stomach rumbled and I was glad we'd get to
eat soon. The thought of being hungry reminded me of the fact that
Thomas hadn't gotten to feed. A fairly good idea struck me. If TS
could sense Thomas' emotions, then maybe he'd know if Thomas was
hungry. I stopped walking. TS went a couple more steps, stopped,
and turned to look at me curiously.

"Alright?" he asked.

"Can...can I just ask something else?"

"Of course." He looked slightly worried about
what I was going to ask. It reminded me that he was compelled to be
honest with me. That was going to take a lot of getting used
to.

"If you can sense Thomas' emotions, can you
sense..." I wasn't quite sure how to phrase it. As I spoke the
sound of the anguished howl TS had made when Thomas was staked in
the stomach echoed in my head. Suddenly, I had a different
question. "Can you feel when he's in pain?"

TS nodded.

"Is it...do you feel it like it's your pain
or do you just know he's hurt?"

"Well..." TS cocked his head and scratched
it. "It depends. Our bond is strong enough that I know about every
paper cut and stubbed toe. Over time you learn to sort out what
pain is yours and what isn't and then block it out. That'll make
more sense when you have a familiar," he added. "Regular cuts and
bruises just sort of register as happening, I hardly notice them.
The more serious the injury and the more unexpected it is, the more
it hurts. If Tom were to...get his foot caught in a tree root right
now and break his ankle, for example. For a minute it would feel
like
my
ankle was broken. Then, I'd be able to gather my
wits and block it out. I'd still know that he's in pain, but it
wouldn't hurt me."

"Wow." That sounded horrible. I swallowed
nervously. "Is that how it is with a familiar?"

He nodded. "It'll be worth it though. You'll
see."

"So, can you sense if Thomas is hungry?"

TS looked surprised. "I can. Why?"

"I was wondering if he needed to feed again,
since he didn't last night. Does he need to feed from me?"

His jaw practically dropped. He licked my
cheek, then stepped back shaking his head incredulously. "I don't
even know what to say to that. You're..." TS laughed.
"You're
,
well amazing, you know that?"

"Thanks."

"Tom's actually going to feed from me tonight
but...well, he is pretty hungry. He's certainly not going to ask
you and he'll probably turn you down if you offer but..." He smiled
weakly. "If you're persistent he'll give in."

"Ok."

“Speaking of being hungry, I'm starving and
Tom's waiting for us."

He started striding toward the dining
pavilion and I followed him, wondering if I was about to see his
ability to locate his soul-packmate in action. Instead, TS started
circling the dining room, looking confused.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Stairs."

I looked up at the ceiling. It was a pitched,
thatched roof and I could see all the way up. "Stairs to where? I
don't think there's a second floor."

TS shrugged. "Then I guess Tom has decided to
eat on the roof."