Magic and Wolves: Book 1 of West Mountain

Who Are You?

Hammer groaned, sitting down behind the counter of his shop.

"I really need to hire someone, especially if I'm going to keep doing magic." He mumbled to himself. He could still feel the effects of the night before plus a full day running his store alone.

Hammer knew he should be happy he was already busy, that he was succeeding so quickly but damn is he wasn't tired.

"All I wanted to do today was sit here, maybe read a book, have a quiet day." Hammer rubbed his temples, mumbling to himself.

With a huge sigh Hammer stood up again and got back to work. Several hours and many customers later Hammer was locking up his shop and making his way to his bike, too tired to notice he was once again being watched by the dark-haired man from the shadows across the street.

The man took a long drag on his cigarette while he watched Hammer get on his bike and drive away. He knew he had to approach him soon. He'd been watching him on and off for two weeks. He hadn't meant to stay; he was just so relieved he had managed to find the red headed mage.

He had been searching for Hammer for nearly a month, but the Mage had made it difficult to find him and once he had, he didn't want to leave until he was sure the other man was safe.

Finishing his cigarette, the black-haired man sighed, he'd been here too long, he should have left after the first day. Now he had spent two weeks trying to find it in himself to approach Hammer. He knew he was well protected, and he was building himself a good life, but having to leave wasn't easy.

He found his way back to the abandoned shed he'd been squatting in. It was behind a modern house on the edge of the town. When he had found it, he could tell the owners didn't use it, so he took shelter there.

He packed up what little he had into his backpack and left the shed turning in the direction of Hammers house. He didn't bother masking his scent this time, he was leaving as soon as he was done.

The hike to Hammers house out in the forest was long, but he found it peaceful. Being a Safe Haven, it was protected, mostly by the Wolf Shifter Pack, but also by its very secluded location high up in the mountains. The only thing he didn't quite like was that the town was full of shifters, almost 95 percent of the town's population was a shifter of some kind, so the woods often had some form of shifter wondering around. The scent blocker he had helped but it did make avoiding getting noticed difficult.

When he reached the edge of the clearing around Hammers house he was confused. There were several more cars than normal and the tension in the air was so palpable, he could almost taste it. He took a deep breath and walked up to the door. He had been hoping to just deal with Hammer, but he had a feeling there were going to be wolves here as well. He knocked softly on the door and waited.

He didn't have to wait long when the door was thrown open and he was looking at the woman he had seen several times with Hammer, the Packs new Alpha.

"You." She growled and grabbed the front of his shirt and threw him off the porch. She stalked toward him as two wolves appeared from the house, both huge, their heads almost as tall as she was one a yellow blonde, the other pitch black. They flanked their Alpha, teeth bared and snarling. "Where is my Mate? What have you done with Sampson?"

"What do you mean?" He tried to remain calm, but he could feel his power pushing to the surface, his control slipping as his emotions started to rise. "I'm just here to talk to him. I thought he was here."

"Don't lie to me. I am in no mood to be conned by some self-righteous Mage."

"Look, Alpha Cecilia, right?" She nodded tersely, "I'm an old friend of Hammers, I was only here to check on his safety. I'm about to leave and I just wanted to speak with him, say goodbye for the last time."

"Old friend? Really?" She clearly didn't believe him, "If you're such good friends, why have you been lurking around for so long, why not speak to him right away?"

He sighed, he had been hoping to avoid all this, "I have been alone a long time Alpha, I am not good at things like this, but I've stayed too long and it's time for me to leave. I wanted to speak with him before I did. So, can you tell me what is going on."

"Who are you?"

"Alistar McCraigen."

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They were all in Hammers house, crowded in his kitchen island as Franny passed out mugs of coffee and tea. Cecilia looked ragged as she rubbed her hand across her face, trying to decide what to do about the man in front of her. Oscar and Carson, both watched him with wary expressions, the tension of the three top wolves intense. Franny was struggling to stay in the room, but her presence was helpful. The subtle pheromones the Omega gave off were keeping the other wolves from tearing apart the dark-haired Half Mage who was pacing the small kitchen.

"I was supposed to meet Sampson here, when I got here his bike was out front but there was no Sampson. His phone was here as well. Hes missing." Cecilia sighed, "We tried to find his scent to track him but there's nothing, just a trail from here to town, the one from his drive home. I am having trouble trusting that you haven't done anything to him. If you are Alistar McCraigen, he has spoken a lot about you with me, but I don't know how to prove it is you."

Alistar nodded, he wasn't surprised they didn't trust him, they had no reason to but that wasn't the problem right now.

"This is my fault." He whispered, "I stayed to long."

A low growl drew his attention back to Cecilia. He raised a brow at her.

"You Mages, you really love to wallow in your guilt and avoid the problems." Cecilia muttered, "Hammer is the same way, take on the guilt but try to avoid the real problem. Let me hazard a theory about your guilt. You did something to this Mage Cult and had to go on the run. You decided to find Sampson and make sure he was safe before you fully disappeared, but they tracked you here and by staying as long as you have, they found something they want more than revenge on you. An immensely powerful Mage they thought was dead."

Alistar stopped pacing and stood very still. Carson snorted at his shock.

"I'm not just a pretty face Mage." Cecilia smirked, "Also Sampson has told me a lot about you, he cares about you, you're his brother."

Alistar looked around at the wolves in the kitchen, they looked determined and ready to do battle with whomever they had to for his friend.

"Next steps." Oscar spoke up.

"Well, if you can't scent him, they must have used a scent blocker like I have to mask it so you can't track him. I haven't been able to track him magically for some time, knowing the wily bastard he has some sort of masking spell on himself." Alistar started pacing again, trying to figure out a solution, "The cult will not harm him, he's too valuable to him. However, I have no doubt they will try to attack the town. We need to find them first, before they can anything."

"Alright," Cecilia nodded, "let's get to work then, we have a lot to do."