Katja was never sure what was worse—waking up on her birthday with a twinge of excitement in her stomach, a belief that this year something would be different, only to find her hopes dashed as the day progressed, or to wake up feeling nothing, secure in the knowledge this was a day just like any other and not the least bit special to anyone, including herself.

Today, on her seventeenth birthday, she awoke to a stomach full of butterflies, not-so-secretly wishing something exciting would happen. She stretched and pushed herself into a sitting position, then reached for her robe, blinking her eyes in the early morning light and listening to see if Wolf was stirring yet.

"Good morning!" he called from his mattress on the other side of the wooden screen. "And happy birthday!"

Katja could hear bedding being pushed aside, so she quickly stood up and slipped on her robe, tying it tightly around her waist.

"Good morning," she replied, her voice still scratchy with sleep, causing her to clear her throat in embarrassment. "And, thank you."

She didn't mind taking her clothes to the bathroom every day and dressing there, but she wasn't sure she would ever get used to the sound of a boy's voice coming from across the room first thing in the morning.

Wolf suddenly strode around the corner of the wooden screen, still in human-form, his clothes rumpled from sleep and his brown hair sticking up in places. A broad grin spread over his face, and he was obviously holding something behind his back as he walked over to stand in front of her.

"It's not finished yet," he warned, "but it will be, soon."

He extended his hands, and Katja looked down at a package wrapped in brown paper. Her heart thudded so loudly, it was a wonder Wolf didn't hear it, given his heightened senses. Or perhaps he did but was too polite to say anything.

Katja swallowed, her eyes still on the wrapped package. "I didn't...I mean, you didn't have to buy me anything."

"Everyone deserves at least one present on their birthday," admonished Wolf. "But if it makes you feel better, I didn't buy it. I made it."

He offered Katja the package, and she took it, hoping he didn't notice the slight tremor of—something—that caused her hands to shake.

She focused on untying the string, then blinked in confusion as she pulled back an edge of the wrapping paper, revealing the green cloth cover of a book...the same book she had acquired a few months ago for Wolf to use as his journal.

"Read the first page," urged Wolf, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement. Katja did as instructed, and there, written in bold, loopy handwriting, were the words: "Tales from the Black Forest."

She glanced up at Wolf. "You made this?"

He grinned. "Remember when I said I wanted a journal?"

She nodded.

"Well, I didn't actually want one," he admitted. "I just needed a way to get my hands on some blank pieces of paper. You seemed to like a lot of the stories I grew up hearing, and since they were new to you, I thought you might like to be able to read them whenever you wanted, so..." he shrugged, as if uncertain what else to do with himself. "I wrote them down for you. Or, more accurately, I'm writing them down for you. I still have a few to go."

Kataj stared at the book, overcome with emotion to the point of speechlessness. It was impressive enough that Wolf had remembered her birthday. The fact that he'd gotten her a gift, something he'd put time and effort into, was simply extraordinary.

"I love it," she said softly, closing the book and running her fingers over the cover before looking directly at Wolf. "This is the most thoughtful gift anyone's ever given me."

Wolf's grin widened, even as a faint hint of red appeared along the edges of his cheeks. "I thought about getting you something to do with metal, but you already have a lot of that, so, this seemed like a good option."

"When did you write it?" asked Katja.

"At night, after you fell asleep," he explained. "I had to wait until I was in human-form, because paws aren't very good for writing."

"It's perfect," Katja assured him, feeling a smile spread across her face, a rare enough occasion to draw her attention to it. How wonderful it was to have a friend!

Without thinking of anything beyond wanting to convey her deepest appreciation, Katja stepped forward and threw her arms around Wolf, which was a bit awkward since she was still holding the book, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you so much!" she said. "I can't wait to read it!"

Wolf hugged her back, and for a moment, Katja let her head rest against his chest, savoring the simple pleasure of sharing a physical connection with someone.

She hadn't realized before how tall Wolf was, and while he was definitely on the thin side, she could feel firm muscle against her cheek and where her hand rested against his back.

She'd hugged him in wolf-form before, but even though it was still him, somehow, this felt different.

Not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable—or perhaps beginning to feel somewhat uncomfortable herself—Katja pulled away and took a quick step backwards, keeping her eyes on the book.

"Thank you again," she said.

"You're very welcome," Wolf replied, his voice deeper than usual, different enough that it made Katja look up, in spite of herself.

Rather than meet her gaze, however, Wolf kept his eyes focused on the book. "I'll keep working on it, if you don't mind. I know it's odd to give you a gift and then take it back, but it shouldn't take me much longer to finish it."

Katja nodded and handed the book back to him, and she wasn't sure how to explain the twinge of disappointment she felt when he took it carefully, ensuring their fingers didn't so much as touch.

"I'd better go get changed," she said, and as Wolf nodded, she strode to her wardrobe, withdrew clothes, then hurried off to the bathroom, trying to ignore the fact that her mouth was dry while her hands felt damp.

When she returned to her room to drop off her sleeping clothes, Wolf was still in human-form.

"Now that you know about the book, I was thinking I might work on it a little while this morning," he explained. "I still have some time left before I need to change shapes, and I'd like to make the most of having hands. If you don't mind, I can come meet you in your workroom when I'm done."

"Alright," agreed Katja, both relieved to have a bit of time by herself to think through some of the morning's events and reluctant to be away from Wolf for an extended period of time.

She gave him a small wave as she stepped into the hallway, which he returned before the closing door eclipsed him from view.

Katja grabbed jam-filled croissants from the kitchen, then made her way to her work room, and she'd just finished breakfast when there was a knock on the door. She jumped up eagerly, then realized Wolf wouldn't have knocked—he only left her room in wolf-form, which meant he would have howled or done something else to get her attention.

Opening the door, Katja was surprised to see a Helferin. It handed her a folded piece of paper, which turned out to be an invitation for a birthday lunch with Tante Winola and Tante Hedda in the librarian's chambers.

Katja immediately suspected Wolf had something to do with the invitation, and even though she felt embarrassed agreeing to attend an event where the main purpose was celebrating herself, she wrote a reply accepting the generous offer.

She'd just returned to her seat when another knock rang out. Thinking perhaps the Helferin had forgotten something, she returned to the door, only to find Tante Maedra and Tante Gerta on the other side.

"Happy birthday, Katja!" smiled Tante Gerta. Tante Maedra echoed the sentiments, and Katja thanked them as Tante Gerta offered her a small bundle of cheery yellow fabric.

At least the two of them had chosen to do the awkward gift-giving early this year, leaving Katja the rest of the day to think about more pleasant things, and she dutifully untied the yellow fabric, then did a double-take as it fell away to reveal a beautiful ring.

Delicate silver leaves blossomed from the thin gold band, each one set with a small drop of platinum that held a shining diamond, making it seem as if each leaf had been kissed with a drop of dew.

Pressing a finger against the jewelry, Katja listened, amazed at the powerful song contained in the metal; it was unlike anything she'd ever heard before.

The melody made her think of running water dripping from moss-covered stones as sunlight shone down through a thick, leafy canopy. Splashing, laughter, and the call of a songbird suddenly contrasted with dark passageways, the smell of snow, columns of stone rising upwards from deep underground, and the sound of a hammer striking rock.

Something ached deep in her bones, and Katja quickly looked up at her aunts, her eyes searching for answers.

"It belonged to your mother," Tante Gerta explained gently.

For a moment, Katja was certain her heart had stopped.

"She was wearing it when she brought you here," continued Tante Maedra, "so we set it aside for you, until you were old enough."

"I can't think of a more fitting seventeenth birthday present," added Tante Gerta.

Katja gazed back down at the ring, four words beating a refrain inside her skull: This was my mother's. This was my mother's.

For years after moving into her own room, whenever Katja had felt especially lonely, she would reach inside her trunk and pull out the cloak she'd been wrapped in upon arriving at the castle. She would sit on her bed, the cloak draped over her shoulders, sinking her fingers into the soft red velvet and imagining her mother doing the same thing, hoping the garment could impart something of the woman she'd never known.

But you couldn't wear a cloak all the time like you could a ring, which made the jewelry even more precious. While some part of her wished her aunts had revealed this to her sooner, she also understood why they'd waited, as this was far too precious to risk giving to a child, only to have it lost.

"Thank you," she finally managed, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "I can't believe it."

Her aunts nodded and, correctly sensing she'd prefer to be alone, wished her well and went on their way, closing the door gently behind them.

Katja sank down into a chair, her eyes never leaving the ring cupped in her palm. Her mother had worn this. She ran a finger over the leaves, imagining her mother doing the same thing.

Touching the ring was as close as she would ever come to touching her mother, which made her heart ache, but it was also the closest she'd ever been to the mother she'd never known, and there was something comforting in that, too.

Katja wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there until a sharp bark at the door told her Wolf had arrived. She let him in, and his ears immediately pricked at seeing the expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Katja swallowed, clutching the ring to her chest, then told him about the birthday present. When she'd finished, she slowly held out her hand, and Wolf stepped closer, the tip of his nose twitching as he sniffed it.

Then, to her surprise, the fur on the back of his neck stood up, and he let out a low growl.

"That's the work of the Waldkonig!" he snarled.

Katja looked down at the ring before turning back to Wolf. "The Waldkonig? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I smell his magic in that ring," replied Wolf. "Not just on it...in it." He gave his head a rough shake, as if trying to expel the scent from his nostrils.

"That's impossible!" protested Katja. "My mother was a member of the Hexen. She lived here in this castle almost her entire life. How would she have acquired something made by the Forest King?"

"You said she left and wasn't seen for over three years, until she returned with you," countered Wolf. "Perhaps she came into possession of it during that time."

"How do you know it was made by the Waldkonig?" asked Katja.

Wolf gave her a look. "One upside of being a shapeshifter is having a vastly increased sense of smell compared to a normal human."

"But to know what the Forest King smells like means you've smelled him before," pointed out Katja. "When? Where?"

Wolf stared down at his paws for a moment, before finally lifting his head. His eyes were guarded as he said, "I used to live in the Schwarzwald. I came across a lot of scents."

"But how do you know his scent?" pressed Katja.

"I just know," replied Wolf stubbornly, making Katja grit her teeth and stifle what she felt would have been a very well-deserved groan.

Instead, she set the yellow fabric aside and closed her fist around the ring, pressing it against her bare skin as she closed her eyes. She willed the metal's song to reveal something of its origin, but the melody simply played the same lovely refrain without offering additional insights.

Opening her eyes, she glanced back at Wolf, something tightening deep in her stomach.

"I suppose it's at least possible my mother could have traveled through the Schwarzwald while she was away. Do you think she might have found the ring there?"

"Perhaps," admitted Wolf, "although I can't imagine the Waldkonig accidentally losing something that beautiful."

"If you don't think she found it, then how did she get it?" asked Katja, fear over what the ring might mean intertwining with anger towards her mother for leaving behind an unsolvable mystery, even as she immediately felt guilty for being upset with someone who was dead.

Wolf held her gaze. "I have no idea," he replied evenly. "Do you think your aunts would know any more?"

Katja shook her head. "They told me everything they knew about it."

She fell silent, considering...if Wolf was correct, and there was no reason to believe he wasn't, the only way to know the true history of the ring was to track down the Waldkonig and have him verify its origin, which she couldn't exactly do—could she?

As soon as the idea presented itself, reasons why it would never work filled her mind...she'd never even crossed the Neckar bridge and stood in the shadows of the Schwarzwald, much less journeyed through its unmapped depths.

She had no idea how to track down the Waldkonig, and even if she managed to find the ancient guardian, there was a good chance she'd be killed before she could ask any questions about the ring.

And even if the Forest King knew about the ring, there was no chance he would simply offer polite answers to her questions, then wish her well, and send her on her way.

Still, now that she'd had the idea, preposterous as it was, she felt it take root in her brain, tenaciously refusing to be discarded, so she rubbed her forehead and tried not to think about it, leaving that problem for another day.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it now," she said. "Do you think it's safe to wear the ring?"

"I don't see why not," shrugged Wolf. "Unless you sensed something sinister in the metal."

"The metal's song is beautiful," admitted Katja. "It's actually one of the most striking things I've ever heard."

She stared at the ring for a moment, then slipped it onto the middle finger of her left hand, where it fit as if it had been made for her. She couldn't help but smile, feeling closer to her mother than she ever had before.

Now it was time to ask Wolf about that unexpected birthday lunch invitation.

(Artwork by Kiwihug from Unsplash)