The three finally came up from the cells to find several people waiting for them on the other side of the door. Alfred watched several more of his people go down into the cells to help speed up the cleanup. Normally, he would supervise the cleanup to ensure that everything was done perfectly. The last thing he needed or wanted was something coming back to bite them on the backside. Things can get dicey when removing spells that aren’t your own. But he’d cast a spell that didn’t exactly remove the spell. While it removed the spell, the spell didn’t just disappear. This spell was basically marked return to sender. Then, when he purified the three wolves, it severed the ties between the spell and the wolves. He watched the two wolves now lavish attention on the pack’s Luna. It seemed odd to him, but who was he to say it was wrong? If it worked for them and no one got hurt by it. They appeared happy and, to him, that’s what mattered. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but
Bethany wasn’t sure exactly what she saw at first, or how long it took her to find her way to see the image. This was the only way she could describe scrying as. Some witches claimed images just formed randomly when they stared long enough into a surface. She, however, felt a pull, like she was being led down a garden path toward a destination. Bethany never truly saw the trip to the destined image. It was like the path blurred and distances became a foggy, insubstantial concept which lacked meaning. Another concept that she lost the meaning for while she was busy scrying was the passage of time. She couldn’t keep track of it, and she became unaware of it passing. When she first started doing this, she’d lost herself in what she called a session for over a day. Her aunt, who was her mentor, had to go to great lengths to retrieve her from the state she found herself in. Normally, a witch must learn to perform this skill. Bethany was a natural. So, her probl
Nathan, and Davis met up with Brian and Chris in the office later. “Alright, now we need to figure out how we’re going to do this. We can’t all go after them as one group.” Chris said this because of how annoyed he felt with all of this, and they had to get this all to end. He wanted his life back and a chance to enjoy it. “Agreed. We need to divide and conquer. The witches are busy right now protecting themselves. When that’s over, I think they’ll go after the golem. But there’s enough witches to help take down Veronica. I say we everyone up to form groups to hunt down both. Have a hunting pack waiting here for the call from Alfred and another to hunting pack with some witches in it to hunt for Veronica and capture her.” Nathan agreed with Chris and put for his ideas on the tactics they should use. “I will help personally, because I doubt many from the Blue Mountain Pack can go through much more at this time.” “Agreed. They need a break. We have more than e
Helena watched the movements of everyone. Again, they were moving out to run headlong into violence. Did they bother to even consult her? No, the witches could have dealt with their mess themselves. Yes, Helena was angry with everything Veronica did. Yes, Veronica came from a mixed family of wolves and witches. She left the wolves for the witches, and the witches shunned her. Yes, she attacked and killed many wolves after the witches shunned her. But revenge like this was wrong because wolves don’t cast magic or have protections against it. The witches had to police their own, whether they shunned them. Or not. They could protect themselves from attack. Didn’t they have enough damage and sorrow from this on the wolf side of things? Helena knew they must show support against this and side with the witches. But she’d already lost her father and her mates were attacked twice now. She didn’t want to chance losing them, too. Helena barely got to greet them before they wer
Alfred napped the drive back to the Coven House. His home was in danger from a magical object. He was sure that she could not pull off a being with a soul, which almost made this worse. There was no way to reason with something like that. Alfred must fake out the golem with a slight of magic. He would play with the imagery of what people saw when they passed by the isolated building. The reason they didn’t have it up all the time was it would be difficult to explain to the delivery drivers and mailmen why, as they approached the building, it shifted to a different location. Now with this version, he’d be enacting the Golem could walk up to the illusion and it wouldn’t reveal where the real Coven House was. It could destroy the illusion in an empty field, while leaving the actual building free of damage. He was sure that Veronica didn’t know that the field was the correct address of the Coven House. If she used that in her spell, which he would assume she had
Brian was more than ready to go after Veronica and take her down. The witch’s curse was more than painful and distressing. It did far too much damage, and he doubted she’d ever feel remorse. That was one emotion of many emotions he’d never see Veronica in all the years she’d lived within the pack ever express. He’d only spent a few years with the pack, but he’d noticed her odd behaviour back then. His self-preservation instinct was on high alert around her. Over the years, he and Chris talked about her and many others within the pack as one does. Brian knew Chris openly avoided Veronica because she tried to date him even after he’d made it clear he wasn’t going to date anyone, including her. This was partially because they’d started sharing partners but weren’t ready to make it known within the pack. As revenge goes, this was sheer over kill and it would stop today. Brian watched as people assembled and divided into groups. They’d wanted to block off all lin
Chris rode in the back of the pickup. They’d be taking mostly the back roads so the police wouldn’t bother them. It would take them several hours to get there. He expected to be contacted with adjustments to where the golem currently was, because it was still on the move as they were. It was their job to slow the thing down. Topple it if possible so that Alfred could get at the thing safely and deactivate it. This wasn’t a golem of ancient. It was a rushed creation that was far too simple to have much, much more than a rudimentary set of logic. They weren’t sure whether it would protect itself. But where it is currently, it could automatically rebuild itself from the earth itself. That is what Alfred feared, and it made the construct a juggernaut in a battle. It used fire as its form of attack and that put the wolves at a disadvantage. The coven could attack from a distance, but they couldn’t hurt the thing, mostly. They’d be like a mosquito to a strong man. They’d o
The group with Brian pulled up to the motel on the far edge of town to the pack’s territory and, sure enough, the Jeep sat as bold as brass in front of a door. The place was oddly quiet for an evening, even in the tiny town of Lake Ingrid. A witch returned from the front desk. “Okay, this has to be where she is. The sign says they’re full. However, all but one room key is sitting at the desk. I made sure the desk clerk will sleep through anything and Veronica dealt with any guest issues for us, the fool.” The witch was a grandmotherly type who looked sweet and harmless at first glance. Everyone has seen the type where you expect her to have overflowing hard candies falling out of her large purse and tissues tucked up under the sleep of her sweater. Brian knew this woman was far more than that and he’d be the first to admit it disturbed him more than a little. How did someone gauge their opponent if they couldn’t identify them? “It’s better than we hoped. Now
Life settled down for them after that, and a routine formed. Their pack understood their unique relationship. It helped when Alfred could come up with some documentation he’d found while doing his own study on their unique bond. It and Bethany fascinated the man became a friend to Helena and Jillian. Nathan and Asia eventually settled on a date to be formally accepted by their pack and to acknowledge their mating. It was something their pack needed to. Life for them soon became full of creating and building. Several of the lone wolves filtered in and requested a place within Nathan’s pack. Davis helped greatly with that because he could identify these lone wolves and vet their stories. By winter, there were enough homes to keep the Blue Mountain Pack safe from the elements. Money appeared out of the rambling and incomplete financial status. Helena didn’t look too closely, but she suspected several packs contributed funds and investments so that they could start agai
Asia now understood how much she didn’t know about wolf shifters and their society. The mating ceremony wasn’t elaborate, but there were meanings behind everything. Luck and good fortune were part of the reason everything was being done. Prosperity and abundance. She was told so many stories and traditions that her head spun from all of them. It was so different from what she’d learned in her time underground with them. The other women were afraid to speak of these things while Clarence was alive. Afterward, there were other things to think about. Now they were looking forward to the Alpha Acceptance Ceremony and their Mating Recognition Ceremony. It was so busy that most nights everyone went to bed exhausted to start again the next day. They could get the new packhouse built and several outbuildings so that they could winter with a roof over all their heads. They planned a school for the new year for all the packs in the area to send their pups, too. So the
The pack came alive with the discovery of the celebration. These were things they lived for. Births, matings, and all the little cornerstones of member lives. They were a close knit family and community. This was something they could sink their proverbial teeth into. Presents weren’t necessary, but someone would always find something to bring.They planned a nighttime ceremony as tradition dictated and that gave most of the day to prepare the simple things for the ceremony.Dusk was falling and Helena cornered Jillian in her apartment to get ready. Davis took an hour and greeted those attending. Jillian fluttered about in a distracted and nervous state. Helena couldn’t figure out what would calm her down. But she started out with some logic.“First off. Here’s the dress. Let’s get you dressed. Honestly, you’d think Davis wasn’t yours already. At least, your instincts were smart enough to catch him. Everything is already recorded and technically, this is just to get your sister to leav
The work lunch was going well, but as the meeting came to an end, Chris noticed Jillian again adjusting the collar of her top. With a frown, he watched her for a little longer. “Is that a bite on your neck, Jillian?” Her response was to put her hand over the mark and blush. “It is! Well, I guess congratulations are in order for both of you. When are you planning to have your mating recognition ceremony?” “We’ll see. We’ve not set a date yet. There’s no hurry after all this stuff happening.” Jillian tried to take the pressure off of the subject, because she hoped they would drop it. “We’re going to have one as soon as it’s possible. No time to waste pretending things might change.” Davis interrupted Jillian’s uncomfortably nervous rambling to state the opposite of his mate’s words. “Davis! What are you talking about? We can’t do that. It’s too soon after all the deaths.” Jillian looked askance at Davis, unable to believe he’d said none of this to her
Nathan all but dragged himself back to the camp. He’d not fought all that much. It’d just been a long night. Too long if you asked him. But he represented the Blue Mountain Pack until the end. The witches would not all him to sit in and watch the trial. But he knew that witch and golem were now no longer a threat to the Blue Mountain. Now what would he do since the pack chose him to be their leader? Did he dare think of himself as the perfect candidate? He’d done a right fine job of being a roadblock to the current leadership there. Would he bring that blindness to this pack? Or could he be confident that he’d learned his lesson? If only he could see into the future and everything it held. Asia would see him as the stuff Alpha’s were made of. But he knew she’d read far too many romance novels involving werewolves, and they were far from correct in most things about wolf shifters. The camp was moving today, which meant he wouldn’t get much sleep, nor would the few peo
Jillian watched Davis make sure that her sister and mother, with her mother’s latest side piece, were settled in their cabin. Gods, the guy wasn’t much older than her sister. He’d be better suited to her sister. What did these men see in her mother? She had two adult daughters. She didn’t care if her mother found someone. Actually, Jillian would love her mother to find someone she had something in common with. This guy wouldn’t be able to keep up with her in a conversation and she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him in pretty much any physical activity. Jillian could see this becoming another crash and burn. She bet he’d not met his fated mate and when he did, he’d have a devil of a time removing her clinging mother from him. Or Jillian would have to deal with the high drama. At least, right now, Davis showed no interest in her sister’s advances. He’d spoken to her once already, and her sister acted like he must be mistaken. Now Jillian wasn’t sure if she m
“If we are going to return to some form of normal, we need to finish preparing the Alpha apartments for us. You know. Get all our ducks in a row.” Chris mentioned as they ate breakfast in their apartment. This was the first day of the rest of their lives together in his estimation, and he was becoming impatient at how must mess it left and the sheer number of strings that weren’t tied down. This wasn’t something he wanted to have happened again. “As long as those ducks don’t turn into raccoons or squirrels, I’ll be happy. I thought we setup for them to be renovated by now?” Helena pushed her plate away from her. How this would play out, she didn’t know, but she had to get it going or she’d get bogged down in her grief. “We did, but half of the work crew was called up to hunt. Which put the schedule back and I’ve not been given a revised schedule.” Brian added, and he clearly felt horrible about that. They didn’t need so many people to hunt down the golem or
Alfred walked from the room they used for their courts and formal audiences. It wasn’t used much these days, but it was never pleasant. The council agreed to punish Veronica with imprisonment and being stripped of her abilities. Not a simple thing to do. She’d never live a normal life if she finished her imprisonment. Veronica would have to stay hidden from the mortal world because of the knowledge she could spread. Basically, she’d just trade one prison for another and the identity she knew once would always be a faint memory. In the old day, they’d have just killed her, and Alfred believed that was a far more merciful thing to do. None of this gives her hope and then lets someone else deal with the fallout. Though he could wash his hands of her. She’d go with the elders of the council back to their homeland, which was secreted away. That’s where the sentence would occur. Their coven didn’t have the resources or place to keep her during her punishment. This was the end of th
Veronica didn’t know how long she’d been there. The light turned off and on several times. She could have been there for hours or days. She didn’t know. Finally, someone gave her food. Once she ate, it didn’t take long for a small group of people to come along and haul her out of the prison, she found herself in. She was prepared to celebrate her freedom until she found herself locked in a chair in another dark room. Veronica could hear the movement of people in robes on the edges of the large empty room. She wasn’t sure what to expect from these people. Veronica schooled herself not to give into the fear. She couldn’t quite achieve that, so she sat there attempting not to admit to anything incriminating or to give up on her very life. Finally, the lights came up enough within the room, that left little to the imagination of what they used this room for. It was a courtroom, and she was on trial. They dared to force their views and rules on her. That, alone burst her