✧ ♥ ✧

It continued to rain all night, but shortly before dawn it finally subsided. The sudden silence woke Katya up. Drowsily she nestled her nose into the crook of Aleksander's neck, enjoying his warmth and scent, the comfort of lying in his arms. She was glad they had settled their little quarrel.

She was on the verge of falling back asleep when an eerie sound made her prick up her ears. The howling of wolves!

Aleksander sat bolt upright, his cheeks flushing with excitement. "It's her!"

Katya smiled widely. "Finally!"

They didn't even have breakfast before leaving. In no time, their gear was packed and the three of them ready to take up the chase.

Again they heard the wolves, and they sounded not far away.

"Run," ordered Aleksander.

They jogged as silently as they could over fallen branches and rocks, but when the surroundings changed into an old oak forest the rustle of leaves was hard to hide. They came to an area with flat, down-trodden patches where the wolves had slept; it was evident the sound of the humans had alerted the pack and they had fled.

"They can't have gotten far," said Mal.

The three hunters continued. Whenever they hesitated where to go next, Mal pointed out the direction; his knack for sensing where the wolves were heading was almost uncanny.

Katya was becoming rather hungry by now, but tried to push it down in the excitement that she might finally find her amplifier. With the wolf – would she be able to summon a sun? And would it make her as long-lived as Aleksander?

Suddenly Mal raised a hand and they slowed down. He rounded a thick trunk and scouted ahead. When he popped his head back a short while later, he grinned excitedly and showed thumbs up. Bingo!

Aleksander took Katya's hand and they joined him as soundlessly as they could.

Then they saw the wolves at last, resting in a wide glade. It was a large pack; at least fifteen animals, with a few that looked like half-grown pups. All of them had dark colors, but one stood out. It was black as night – as Aleksander's shadows.

Laika. The amplifier.

The she-wolf had turned her head and looked in their direction. If she saw them, it didn't seem to scare her.

"She's beautiful," breathed Katya.

Aleksander hummed in agreement, and then made a sign to Mal who slowly raised his rifle.

Katya met Laika's amber eyes and found them strangely intelligent. As if she understood what was happening.

The thought of this noble, ancient animal getting shot like a dumb beast made a chill run through her. Now that she had seen her, it felt wrong. She realized that she didn't want this. Even if it meant losing the amplifier.

"Is there no other way?" she murmured, placing a hand on Mal's arm to point the rifle down.

Both men gave her surprised looks.

"Of course not," snapped Aleksander. "She's been killing sheep, remember?" That was the excuse they had used when hiring Mal. "Take your hand away or the pack might run off again."

"No," she said firmly, surprised over her own boldness. She positioned herself in Mal's line of sight, making it impossible to shoot without hurting her, and then began walking into the glade with slow steps.

Behind her, Aleksander hissed a curse, but she ignored him. This was right. This was the way.

When she approached the wolves they sneaked away like silent ghosts, except for one. Laika's ears pricked up with curiosity and she took a step forward.

"Like calls to like," Katya mumbled.

The woman and the wolf met in the center of the clearing. Laika sniffed Katya's hand thoroughly, still showing no sign of fear.

Katya held her breath. Being this close to a real wolf felt both strange and amazing. Did she dare touch her? The fur looked soft and thick.

When her fingers connected with the wolf's warm head, currents of power seeped into them, making her body tingle all over. It was partly the same feeling as when she touched Aleksander, but also completely different in a way she couldn't define. But she was certain of one thing: she and this wolf belonged together.

She wanted to try summoning, and had almost begun when she heard Mal's shocked voice: "How is this possible?"

"The wolf used to be tame, and she probably smells the dried jerky in Katya's pockets," said Aleksander smoothly.

Slightly embarrassed, Katya remembered that Mal was not to know their real mission, or that they were Grisha. Playing along with Aleksander, she pretended to take food from her pocket and give to the wolf. "I need a rope or something for a leash," she called over her shoulder. It wasn't necessary; she knew now that Laika would follow her voluntarily, but it would be more believable if they tied her. "This is a better way," she added. "We'll bring her back to her owner and then the farmers' sheep are safe."

"I might have something in my pack." Mal began to rummage around. "There! Found my old broken gun strap."

"Give it to me," said Aleksander.

With careful steps he joined Katya and the wolf. "What were you thinking?" he whispered angrily. "Mal might have shot you. And Laika might have run away – you couldn't know she'd let you touch her!"

"Well, she did. It's pointless to go on with the what-ifs."

"What will you do with a wolf in the Little Palace?" He fitted the leather strap around the animal's thick fur. "I'm fairly certain she's not house trained. And how will you explain it to the other Grisha, or to the king?"

"I'll think of something. She's such an amazing animal and I don't want to hurt her."

"You're too soft-hearted."

She met his gaze and was relieved to see the annoyance start giving way to amusement. A tiny smile played in the corner of his mouth and he shook his head slowly. "What am I going to do with you? Disobeying direct orders from your general. Tsk-tsk."

Katya glanced at the leather strap and then back at him. "Maybe you need to teach me discipline."

His gaze grew intense. "I think I do."

✧ ♥ ✧

The wolf pack's wanderings the past days had taken the hunters in a wide circle, and the glade where they caught up with them was actually not far from where they had begun their hike. Therefore it only took a few hours to return.

Laika willingly trotted on her leash after Katya. If Mal thought it strange that a wild wolf behaved so meekly, he didn't say anything. His job was done now anyway.

When they were back in the village where they had left their horses, Aleksander paid Mal's fee and released him from service. Though Katya had come to like the young man, she was not unhappy to part from him; she wanted to be alone with Aleksander and begin the summoning experiment.

"We have to get out of the village first," he said. "Somewhere remote, so we won't attract unwanted attention."

Katya agreed, remembering well how ill seen Grisha were in some villages. Such as her own.

Traveling with the addition of a wolf turned out to be difficult, however. The horses were terrified of her and very skittish, and it didn't help that she behaved like the wild predator she was; whenever she got the chance she lunged after them and tried to nip their tails.

In the end they had to walk on foot, Katya with Laika, and Aleksander with the horses.

"This is so much trouble," he complained. "All you'd need was a tooth or a piece of her bones, and we could have left the rest to the crows."

"Shush. Don't frighten her." Katya turned to the black wolf beside her. "Don't listen to the bad man. Nobody is taking your teeth, my girl." She patted the soft head.

Aleksander snorted. "You've clearly lost all respect for me. Perhaps I should do something about it."

"Huh. You can try, but my wolf will protect me," said Katya loftily.

That made him laugh. "You're hopeless."

✧ ♥ ✧

In the afternoon Aleksander judged they had come far enough from the village to summon unseen. Stepping away from the road, they found a deserted meadow that would be suitable, and lit a small fire in a pile of old branches.

Then Katya sat and put an arm around Laika, with Aleksander kneeling behind her.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded, feeling her heart beat faster in anticipation. She was more nervous than she recalled ever being before. What if it still didn't work? She didn't want to fail again.

Aleksander began to summon, and the familiar, now almost cozy shadows grew around them. Then he put his palms against the bare skin on Katya's forearms, and this time the shock of his touch was so intense she let out an involuntary gasp. From two directions amplifying energy poured into her, igniting every nerve in her body. Goosebumps appeared on her arms and her hair stood out.

"Begin," purred Aleksander in her ear. His voice was unusually husky, and Katya realized he must feel it too. The raw, feral power of the wolf was affecting them both.

Closing her eyes briefly, she focused her will on the task at hand. Then she fixed her gaze at the tiny flame, merely a weak flicker in Aleksander's darkness, and summoned the combustible gasses needed to make it grow.

She had expected the usual gradually growing fireball – but instead a huge beacon flared up directly, a pillar of fire, wide and tall, continuing straight into the sky. The heat was insane and the roar of the fire deafening.

It didn't last long. Laika howled in fear and scrambled away, and without that additional power Katya couldn't uphold the beacon. Soon it had shrunk down to a normal fire, with a wide, black circle of burnt grass surrounding it.

"That was... I can't even describe it," she panted, feeling weak and spent.

The shadows cleared as Aleksander stopped summoning. "It was brilliant."

Something in his voice sounded a bit off, forced even, and Katya turned to look at him with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

He evaded her gaze, but not before she saw the disappointment in his features.

"But it wasn't a sun," she said bitterly.

A/N:

No sun (yet), but at least Katya has a new, loyal friend. Who wouldn't want a black wolf as a pet? With a bonus of amplifying power. :)