A Wolf's Miracle

Chapter 37

"Witches"

What comes to your mind when you think of witches? Kind, nature-connected women who protect balance or evil beings with pentagrams and inverted crosses? I was leaning on the latter.

First came the chanting, soft at first but as they appeared from in between the trees, it grew louder and louder. And then it felt like they were screaming, and it was the force of their screams that had me pinned down to the floor, cowering and shaking under that invisible force that only grew stronger and stronger as more veiled figures manifested.

It was like being in a horror movie. The big, comforting light of the bonfires had been extinguished and in its place only remained ashes and smoke. The only light came from the candles they were holding with their darkened fingers. They were wearing black veils, covering their faces, and were dressed in long robes.

"Shadow-touched" Violette whispered and I had to resist the urge to ask. 

I had no idea when I collapsed but I knew I couldn't get up, no one could. It was taking every single fiber of strength in most of them to even remain standing.

"Well, well, if it isn't the coven of the forsaken" Violette mused, trying desperately to sound unfazed.

"Violette Bellerose, you traitorous bitch" a deep gravely voice said from the shadows. The witches evidently couldn't talk or the spell would be broken. "Double-faced liar, you tricked us!"

The rebels appeared, safely hiding behind their wall of witches. Cowards. The power emanating from the conjurers could easily be the end of our plan.

But as time passed and my body grew accustomed to the pressure around me it felt as though it was starting to dissipate. Where was Callum? Was he doing this?

And why was it only working on me?

"Harlan" I whispered, he was still in front of me, shielding me with his body. With every passing second the pressure grew weaker, and eventually, I knew I could stand up if I needed to.

Violette, it seemed, was the only one who could still talk. She smiled "Oh darling, and you know what the worst part is?" she looked at me directly and gave me an urgent look. "It wasn't that hard at all." she unfroze suddenly and one of the witches dropped dead, breaking the circle, and therefore the spell.

The witches struggled to hide their surprise and in the second it took for them to reorganize Selene grabbed my hand and we ran.

I realized Violette must have done something with that terrible power of hers. Then I remembered what she said once. 'I killed thousands of them over the years, all to steal their power.' The witches never stood a chance.

We were running as fast as we could, and while they all moved to attack Violette we escaped. She'd given us a chance. Now it was our turn to ensure we didn't waste it.

We ran without stopping. I didn't need to use my superior hearing to know there were some rebels trailing us.

'They won't catch us' Selene assured, still running as fast as she could 'Females are faster, males are stronger, and the difference in speed is greater in our human forms.' her voice echoed around my head.

I was internally thanking Blaze for making me train so hard because even though I was tired, I was perfectly capable of keeping up with Selene's very fast pace.

We only stopped when we reached a lake. We must have been running for an hour.

"We need to rest," she said out loud. "But first we need to make it across the lake, the alpha of the eastern Canadian pack will give us shelter."

"So, how are we going to cross it?" I looked at the humongous body of water I would have mistaken as the sea if Selene hadn't said otherwise. Were we supposed to swim all the way across? After running for so long I could barely stand and--

Selene jumped into the water and started swimming. Was she an Olympic medalist? How did she have so much stamina? Was it because she was a true wolf and not a half-ling like me?

"I know you're tired, but we're almost there, come on, you can do it!" she smiled sweetly and I didn't think twice before jumping in. If only because I knew myself, and knew that if I stayed there for too long I would overthink it.

 The water was ice-cold and even though my feet could touch the bottom I was really scared. "Are there any creatures that could eat us in this lake?"

"Don't worry" she looked me in the eye "I will keep you safe, I promise" and even though her tone was sweet  I could tell she meant it. She would kill anyone who stood in our path. Selene, who had done nothing but keep me safe from the moment I arrived at Miracle.

'Her words, although simple, gave me the strength to keep going. And soon enough, I could see the shore.

"You can do it, we're almost there!" Selene said excitedly.

Just a bit more. I kept telling myself. I was fighting against the limits of my own body, but I could do this. I could beat this.

But my mind drifted back to him, to them. Were we doing the right thing? I knew we were, Selene was pregnant. And even pregnant she was able to make the trip comfortably. Then there was me, a completely useless half-ling that would just be in the way.

But I was worried, I had noticed the longer I stayed away from Harlan, the more nervous I felt. I couldn't tell if Selene was feeling the same way about her mate. She was clearly trying to be strong. Someone had to.

As soon as we arrived at the shore I made sure to check up on her, that trip was extremely exhausting. But she barely seemed out of breath. 

"I'm fine," she said, as we both shivered in our wet clothes.

"Well, I'm not, I'm worried about them," I said honestly.

"No," she giggled "You're worried about him."

"What?" I laughed nervously "I--"

"It's okay, I won't say anything" she reassured me. 

"I guess it was obvious" I breathed.

"Yes, very" she smiled again. "But I'm very happy,"  she looked at the moonless sky "You're good for him, and he'll be good to you."

"I doubt he feels the same way" I confessed. Though a thought crossed my mind, maybe that was what he had to tell me before the witches attacked. I doubted it, but a part of me wanted to believe that fiercely.

"He does, I'm sure" she offered.

"I'm not," I wondered if I should say this, but she saw it on my face. I had to ask...

"He doesn't love me anymore, not that way," she said confidently.

"How do you know?"

"I just do, I know him, he just doesn't look at me with longing anymore, he's happy" She smiled at that "Tell him how you feel, there's a chance he might feel the same."

"I--"

"Are you two done talking?" a female voice said from the branches of one of the trees.

There was a woosh and suddenly she gracefully landed. "I was expecting you," she said again and I turned to look at Selene who was only smiling.

"Nice to see you, alpha."