Blood & Wine

5 | Dasher

I was going to be a wolf in three days, but I was going to become part of a with Coven in a matter of hours.

Calla was laying on the bed next to me, on her stomach, reading some book in Latin. Whatever plans she had for today had been put aside when I agreed to join the Coven. Instead, she had been tasked with babysitting me while Eden went out and took some time for herself—whatever that meant. All I knew was that she left with three faeries, all of which eyed me like I was their next meal.

When I pointed it out to Calla, she simply said, "They aren't trying to eat you in the way that you think," and we both left it at that.

The idea of so much as looking at another woman when Alyssa's death was mere days ago made my stomach turn. It was a betrayal. She was the love of my life, the mother of the child I was supposed to have.

Calla looked over her shoulder, platinum blonde hair bouncing in its short ponytail. "Did you know that I'm an empath? I feel people's emotions, and sometimes I can affect them myself when I care to," she explained, and I had a feeling I knew where this was going. "Also, did you know that when someone is in the same Coven as me, I can feel them even more strongly?"

"No, I didn't know that." I looked away from her and at the television. It wasn't like I wanted to be fucking sad. It wasn't like I intended on being hurt and upset every time I thought of my family—but I couldn't help it. I pushed it down as much as I could, but every time I smelled something or heard something or saw the color canary yellow, I thought about them.

And it sucked.

"How was I supposed to know that?" I asked.

She returned to her book. "You weren't, but I thought I'd inform you."

For what good it did. "I'll try to be less sad around you."

"Whether you're here or there, I'll still feel it." She reached over and absently patted my calf.

Eden made me feel parented in a way. She reminded me of a mother, which made sense since her title was 'Coven Mother,' in her own way. She was serious, on top of the bills and the business, making lists of everything that needed to be done, had been done, and could be done. She handled the High Council meetings, whatever those were, and Calla said Eden would keep the two of us out of trouble, away from anyone that wanted to cause us problems. She had a serious intensity to her that made my skin itch when I thought about doing anything wrong.

Like getting revenge on the werewolves.

I didn't share those thoughts with Calla, though. Coven or not, they were closer to each other than I was with either one of them. I didn't want Calla to feel obligated to tell Eden anything about what I said, and I didn't want Eden to think I wasn't appreciative or grateful for her giving me a place to stay. She could've left me out to dry, but she hadn't so much as thought about it, even when my presence added more to her already full plate.

Apparently.

No one had told me exactly what she did—just that she needed to recruit more people for the Coven, she attended those meetings and dealt with unsavory people, and she ran Club Sin, a supernatural club that also included humans, in Columbia.

Calla took care of the finances, though. Apparently Eden was terrible in math, even going so far as to having double-check measurements for spells because she always messed up.

How I felt about Calla, however, was completely different from how I felt with Eden. Calla was the cool cousin you could count on to go smoke with you after parties. I could party with Calla, go get drinks with her. Convince her to do something wild and crazy with me. Calla had this... thing, and I couldn't put my finger on it or really name it, but it just made sense why I was drawn to her.