The BlackWolf Effect (Book IV)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - Raaksha Sprite

Timber and Henry found themselves suddenly swamped over the next week. Renegade was in daycare for the day as usual so he could play with his friends but instead of Timber using the time to clean and prepare dinner, she was training hard. When Henry wasn't teaching, he could be found with Lord Frost, Lord Avanti, and Merlin, with his sword in hand. By now, everyone in Haven knew about the upcoming war. Lord Frost had made the announcement over the last Sunday dinner and told everyone to prepare themselves and come to the Highers or Henry if they wanted to aid them in the war.

Timber watched both in horror and amusement as all of Henry's beginner classes stood up in the hall and volunteered. While Timber was not surprised that a group of four to eight-year-old children wanted to be heroes, she was surprised that Lord Frost did give them a role in the war. They were in charge of helping keep the adults relaxed. They took their assignments seriously and over the week they could be seen bringing water to the adults while they were training, making weapons, and preparing the Keep.

Timber kept in contact with Ellie Mae and Henry's Uncle Steve. Ellie Mae was back in Louisiana building her own army of sharpshooting militia. Ellie Mae's sons and nephews told their friends, who told theirs and by the middle of the week, they had three hundred men from all over the southern half of Louisiana and the numbers were continuing to grow. Steve had not underestimated his influence and had gained support from the rest of the military with the help of Jaci and Sebastian who had proven the existence of both demons and vampires by revealing their true forms and showing what they were capable of. Even though they were both part human, the destruction they caused was enough to gain the full support of every military branch.

They also received news that it was not all of the enemies they were fighting were nonhuman. The leaders in some of the Middle Eastern and Asian countries suddenly declared open war on the United States. This was unwelcome news but Aiyanna took immediate action and flew over to make sure that if they did land on U.S. soil, they would land in the Rockies in nine weeks. Aiyanna had come back tired and weary. She needed a full day of rest before she could continue her work and she told no one how she accomplished her goal.

Timber, meanwhile, was doing her very best to shield Renegade from the tension, fear, and unpleasantness that filled the air. She had upbeat music playing almost constantly, shuffling between county, rock, and gospel. She was determined to keep his early years as carefree as possible. She nurtured him lovingly, speaking to him in a gentle voice often, and holding him every moment she could. Renegade was her primary concern.

One evening after dinner, while Renegade played at Timber's feet as she rocked in her chair and patched up his favorite blanket, Timber had a thought. She looked up at Henry, who was sipping on a glass of wine and reading a book.

"I think Renegade needs a playmate," she said. Henry looked up at her, almost excited. "What do you think about getting him a pet?"

Henry's face fell slightly, but then he smiled.

"What kind of pet?"

"A Wuffle. Will it be able to withstand Renegade?"

"Definitely. We can go to the shop in town tomorrow and we'll let him see them. If there's any kind of hesitancy on his part, we'll wait until he's older."

So the very next morning after breakfast and a short morning nap for Renegade, the Santelli family headed into town with Renegade riding happily in Timber's shopping basket. He barked greetings to passersby and they smiled at him. They reached the little shop full of animals. It had many small animals Timber would expect to see at a pet store, like fish, hamsters, parakeets, and lizards. But they also had poodle moths, harpy eagle chicks, pigmy dragons that only grew to the size of a house cat, and plenty of Wuffles.