Magic and Wolves: Book 1 of West Mountain

Into the Fire

The crowd in front of the Pack House was bigger than Cecilia expected it to be. There had to be at least fifty people gathered there. She fiddled with the pendant Hammer had given her, frowning at the eerie silence that was surrounding them.

Asher stood off to the side with his 6 sisters, huddled together, their eyes slightly glazed over, clearly speaking through their link. Carson and Oscar stood on either side of her, presenting a strong and united front. Carson's eyes kept drifting to the Pack House where Jing sat with his Mate. Oscar had said what he needed to Franny before sending her with the other Pack members to the Daycare/Community Center for safety. They both wore pendants similar to Cecilia's.

Cecilia finally found Alistar, leaning on a tree at the back. She was starting to believe that Alistar never bothered to stand up straight if he could help it. If there was something to lean on, Alistar leaned. As soon as they locked eyes, he tapped his wrist, time to get on with it.

They would reach the Mages by dusk, hoping the fading light will work in their favor.

"Alright, focus up!" Cecilia didn't have to even raise her voice to get everyone's attention. "We all know why we're here, so I'm not going to waste time. You all know the plan; myself, Oscar and Carson will go in and distract the leader, giving you all time to get in around them. Be smart, they will be using magic but are also trained in hand to hand. It is likely they will have done something to enhance their speed and strength. We are hoping we can catch them off guard so they will have less time to get any spells set up. But be ready for anything, we are going relatively blind, things will change as we go. Any questions?"

All around her heads shook and people started removing clothing and shifting.

The clearing quickly filled with wolves and large cats. Only about fifteen people were not shifters, they piled into several jeeps and SUVs. They were back up encase things went wrong and they had to help anyone injured.

Alistar was riding in one of the jeeps, he didn't want to waste energy on increased speed. He had a bad feeling in his gut. The plan was good despite all the unknowns they were up against however, Alistar couldn't shake the feeling something was going to go wrong.

Cecilia wished she could enjoy the run through the woods. It would have been perfect, if she wasn't heading to fight a sadistic Mage and rescue her Mate. So much had happened recently, she needed a vacation, just her and her Mate, goddess knows they need it.

Their journey was not easy. It was rough terrain. Her opinion of Steffan grew even more throughout. He had done this half dead and terrified, determined to help her and the pack. She was personally going to make his life better, he had earned it, many times over.

The smell of heavy spices began to permeate the air, they were getting close. Cecilia, Oscar and Carson stopped and shifted back, pulling on the clothes they had strapped to their legs.

They would walk the rest of the way, giving the others time to circle the Mages. Cecilia wanted to cause a distraction, get the Mages focused on them and hopefully they would reveal Hammer. They had the pendants, but Cecilia knew they would only help against magic thrown directly at them, they would only stop so much.

As they moved deeper into the woods, she could smell more and more Mages, definitely getting closer.

Till they weren't.

It was like the air had solidified right in front of them, creating an invisible wall. Cecilia had seen this before, just not on this scale.

Alpha, we can't move forward.

Through the Pack link multiple wolves told her the same thing. An invisible wall now surrounded the Mages.

I need Alistar NOW!

They didn't have long till they were noticed, if the Mages had any sort of patrol, the three shifters standing out in the open would be easily noticed.

A plan formed in Cecilia's mind. It was crude and slightly cliché, but it was all she had.

Faster than expected a wolf appeared followed closely by Alistar.

"McCraigen, they put up a shield. Must have been after Steffan ran."

"Fuck! I'm sorry Alpha, I should have anticipated this."

"We need to get in there. Will them letting us in be enough time for the entire group?"

"No, they'll either bring it up too quickly or they will open only enough for us to slip in. However, once in there you can take out whatever or whomever is powering it."

Cecilia nodded, she though as much. She and Alistar look at each other for a moment and he lifts up a hand, holding a pair of wrist shackles and an engraved leather collar.

"Do you always carry shackles or are you just kinky like that?" Carson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I just like to be prepared. The collar was for Francis, to shut down his magic but it looks like we have little option."

Oscar took both from the Mage and put them on him. Alistar gasped sharply when the collar clicked closed, his eyes glowed for a moment before returning to normal.

"I might still be able to call fire because of my other half but let's not put too much faith in that." Alistar took a deep breath. "If things go bad, kill me. I won't be at his mercy again."

Cecilia nodded, she had seen what they would do to someone just for being a different kind of Fae, goddess knows what they would come up with for a man who had betrayed them.

"You know what we have to do now, right?"

"Yeah, just don't get carried away, I'm quite partial to my teeth." Alistar sighed, resigned.

"Try and be loud, let's get their attention." Oscar said right before he punched Alistar in the face.

It didn't take long for Alistar's shouts of pain to draw someone to them. The man who came to see what was happening looked weathered, like leather left out in the sun. He was around Cecilia's height, 5'10ish, with a shaved head and tattooed runes covering his forearms. Several of the runes pulsed and glowed subtly, it was almost unnoticeable. His gaze swept over them quickly not noticing Alistar behind Carson.

"What are you doing here?" He had the voice of a life-long chain smoker, rough and painful.

"I want to see whoever is in charge. I found something that belongs to him."

Carson pulled Alistar out from behind him, fresh bruises were forming quickly on his face. The bald Mages eyes widened with glee.

"McCraigen." He looked back at Cecilia. "How did you know to bring him here to us."

"Oh, I have my ways of making men talk. He wanted asylum from some Mages and when we stumbled onto a broken wolf crying about Mages in the woods, well I put two and two together."

"Wait here."

Cecilia watched him leave, eyes narrowed.

"This is risky, our goal is to bring down the shield." The Alpha turned her gaze to Carson, "I'm going to have to say somethings about Steffan. They won't be good or easy to hear. Just remember they are not easy for me to say but it is a ruse to help bring down the bastards who tortured him. So, you will need to stay IN CONTROL. Don't let that wolf out until we are ready."

Carson's nodded curtly; his jaw set in a thin line.

"Good, cause I need you on my side if we hope to live through this."

The bald Mage was walking back towards them, and they felt a change in the air right in front of them, like a door opening.

The smell of Mage got even stronger like a tin had been opened.

The group of four stepped forward, through the small opening created in the shield.

It snapped closed behind them.

They were now sealed in with the Mages.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.