Gray's Dilemma: A Witches Circle Novella (The Witches Circle)

by C. Larsen

  I try to shove him off, but his eyes flash gold in warning. Best not to push my luck when his wolf is so close to the surface…

  “I've been on patrol,” I say, forcing the words through my constricted airway. “I have double shifts all week, remember?”

  Ivan growls, not buying it.

  “Let him go,” Nikolay demands, walking into the foyer, Zak close on his heels. Ivan curls his lip, but releases me, shoving me back against the wall as he does.

  “What's going on?” I ask, resisting the urge to massage my neck.

  “Derek is missing,” Nikolay answers, voice low, dangerous. “You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?”

  I raise my eyebrows, feigning surprise. “How can he be missing? He couldn't even walk last night.”

  “That's what we're going to find out.” Nikolay pierces me with a steely glare. “What happened when you brought him home?” Pack members begin sidling in from the den, all anxious to hear my reply.

  “I called Margie, just like we always do. She took care of any internal bleeding, then left. Derek was still unconscious, so I left to run patrols,” I say, keeping my gaze steady on Nikolay.

  “You left him without a guard?” he growls.

  I drop my eyes to the floor. “I didn’t think he’d need a guard. Like I said, he was unconscious.”

  “Funny how every time you handle a punishment a pack brother goes missing,” Zak says.

  A sharp look from Nikolay has Zak backing up a few steps, but I can see the thoughts churning behind Nikolay’s eyes.

  “I’m the one who brought Mikhail home,” I say. “And I’m the one who handled his execution. I wouldn’t risk helping Derek run. I wouldn’t want him to end up like Mikhail.”

  Mumbling flows through the crowd. It looks like I’m convincing some of them.

  “Come off it. Derek was your best friend. Of course you helped him,” Zak says, sneering. “Why else would you have left him without a guard?”

  “I turned him in!” Shock registers in many of the faces around me. Even Zak’s eyes widen slightly. “I found out he was still seeing that human and I turned him over to Nikolay. Why would I do that if I was just going to help him run? You think I enjoyed beating the shit out of him? We all know what happens to traitors. I hoped last night would have taught him a lesson, but now I’m gonna have to hunt him down the same way I did Mikhail.” I square my jaw and turn to Nikolay. “When are you sending out the hunting parties?”

  Nikolay studies my face, eyes narrowed. “Zak,” he calls out, not taking his eyes off mine. “You lead the first group. Vasily will lead the other. Choose five for your pack, and I don’t want you back here until you find him.”

  Zak shoots me a triumphant smirk and nods to Nikolay. He quickly chooses five others and leads them out the door. Vasily meets my gaze, his own filled with suspicion and what looks like pity. Once he leaves with his team, Nikolay orders everyone else out. Ivan lingers by the stairs. Nikolay yanks me into his office, slamming the door before Ivan can follow.

  When we’re alone, Nikolay pins me with a steely gaze. “Do you know what will happen if it turns out my own son disobeyed me and helped a traitor escape?” His voice is so low it’s practically a growl. “Do you have any idea what I would have to do to you to keep mutiny from breaking out?”

  Moving so quickly I don’t have time to avoid it, his hand shoots out and clocks me in the jaw, making me stumble backward. Without missing a beat, he’s on top of me, pinning me to the floor. Gripping a fistful of hair, he wrenches my head back, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Mikhail’s death will seem like a mercy killing in comparison. Your death won’t come nearly so quick.”

  Staring up into his cold, gray eyes, I know he means it. If he finds out I betrayed him, he will kill me. Slowly.

  I suppress a shiver. “I had nothing to do with it,” I say again. “I was on patrol.”

  “Patrol?” His voice drops to a croon. “Then why is Isabel’s scent all over you?”

  I purposely break eye contact, looking to the side as I fumble for words. Better for Nikolay to think I’m lying about patrol to cover up being in Isabel’s bed than for him to find out the truth. I’ll still be punished for lying and shirking my duties, but better that than being executed as a traitor.

  As suddenly as he lunged, Nikolay moves off me, disappearing through the door. “Get Derek’s family in here,” he barks to someone in the foyer. “And Isabel. Now!”

  Running one hand along my jaw to check for damage, I climb to my feet and exit the office. I take up position near the back of the foyer, feet spread shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind my back. I keep my eyes on the tiled floor, waiting. I can feel Ivan’s eyes on me, but I don’t look up. Let him think I’m chastened.

  Derek’s family must have been waiting in the den, because they appear almost instantly. It takes a few minutes for Isabel to arrive. Once we’re all assembled in the foyer, Nikolay pins Arthur with a steely glare. “I want to know what happened last night. Why weren’t you at your house keeping an eye on your traitorous son?”

  Arthur pales, but keeps himself from flinching. “We were ordered out of the house,” he says, darting a glance in my direction.

  Shit… I didn’t think about what would happen when Derek’s family went back home to find him gone. That’s it, then. It’s over. Nikolay will know that I helped Derek escape, and I’ll be killed.

  I straighten up, lifting my chin in defiance. So be it. I’ve made my choice. I’ll face the consequences.

  “We returned when Margie and Gray left,” Arthur continues, eyes on the floor at Nikolay’s feet. “I checked on Derek as soon as I got there. He was unconscious, like Gray said.”

  I have to clench my jaw to hide my surprise. He’s saying Derek was still in bed after I left? He’s lying to his Alpha?

  “And did you check on him throughout the night?” Nikolay asks.

  “Only once more, just after midnight. He was still in bed, asleep. I don’t know how he snuck out without us hearing him. I assumed guards were posted outside, otherwise I would have stood guard myself…” Arthur wrings his hands, anxiety and guilt radiating off him.

  It’s a good performance, I’ll give him that. If I didn’t know better, I’d believe it myself. Marissa sneaks a glance my way when no one is looking. Leah just stands there, head held high, her expression so stiff it borders on disrespectful. She’s always been more dominant than Arthur. I have a feeling that if Nikolay were to ask her directly, she would tell him to go to hell.

  Nikolay waves away the rest of Arthur’s excuses. “Gray should have been guarding him.” He slices a glare across the room at me. “Which brings us to why you weren’t there.” The look he gives Isabel is cold enough to make her drop her gaze, head bent in submission.

  “Where was my son last night, Isabel?”

  I hold my breath. Will she be able to lie to his face like this? Will Nikolay be able to sense the truth?

  Before Arthur’s little performance, it never occurred to me that anyone could, or would, defy the Alpha. I had this image built up in my head that Nikolay was omnipotent, that no one would dare lie to him, let alone be able to get away with it. Now, after watching this, I realize that Nikolay is just a man, like the rest of us. Not some all-powerful, supreme leader. Just a man, whose pack apparently isn’t as loyal to him as I always thought. The pack is afraid of him, yes, but this past week has shown me that they certainly don’t respect him as I always thought. Derek and Mikhail both turned their backs on him and the pack; Arthur is lying directly to his face; even Isabel has made comments questioning his decisions, suggesting he might not be the best one to lead us. And here I thought he had their undying loyalty.

  “Gray was with me last night.” Isabel delivers the lie smoothly, without a hint of guilt or fear.

  “All night?”

  “Yes. He came over as soon as he left Derek’s.”

  “So he wasn’t out on patrol, as he claimed?” Nikolay
asks, eyes on mine.

  Isabel hesitates, only now realizing what this will mean for me. But whatever punishment Nikolay has in store for me for disobeying orders, it will be better than what he’ll do if he discovered my betrayal.

  “No… he wasn’t on patrol.” Her eyes meet mine, anxiety written all over her face.

  “Ivan,” Nikolay says, waving toward me with his hand. I’m grabbed from behind, Ivan on one side, Sergei on the other. I fight, struggling to break free, but there’s no way. I’m overpowered. They drag me down the hall, practically wrenching my shoulder from its socket. I almost fall backward when they reach the basement stairs. The scent of sweat and blood wafts around us, reminding me of Derek’s mangled body hanging from the ceiling. Now I guess it’s my turn. I force myself to still, letting them drag me down into the darkness.

  Chapter 12

  AND I thought the punishment I gave Derek was bad… Ivan has given me a whole new appreciation for the word pain. Though my story seemed to fool most of the pack, Ivan and Nikolay weren’t as convinced. Nikolay gave him carte blanche to do whatever necessary to get the truth from me. But despite what he did, I didn’t crack. I didn’t give Derek up.

  I cross my arms in front of my chest, then wince as my back muscles pull tight. Nearly a week later, my back still twinges in remembered pain. The feel of claws ripping through skin and muscles, over and over again, for hours, for days... Though the wounds have finally closed up, Margie said there is so much scar tissue that even she can’t heal it completely. Ivan smiled when he heard that. He said the scars will serve as a reminder of what happens when I disobey. I’m less concerned with the ugly, puckered lines criss-crossing my back than I am with the constant tightness and muscle spasms I’ve been having. I have a feeling the tightness and spasms will serve as another life-long reminder. Werewolf genes can only heal so much, and the type of repetitious scarring Ivan and Sergei did to me for days on end is beyond even my body’s ability to heal completely.

  If one good thing came out of the four days of torture I endured, it’s that Nikolay and Ivan are finally convinced I had nothing to do with Derek. I shuddered to even think about what would happen if they discovered the truth…

  Thankfully, neither Isabel nor Derek’s family have breathed a word about it, not even in private. It’s like we all came to a silent agreement to never speak of it again. I don’t have to worry about exposure from that quarter. Zak, however, has proven to be a bigger problem than I anticipated. He’s convinced that I helped Derek escape and is hell bent on proving it. He's out scouting the woods every moment he gets, though any possible scent trail has gone cold a week ago. I just hope Derek has the sense to stay where he is. If he gets anywhere near our territory, Zak will hunt him down for sure.

  I let out a sigh and lean back against the door jamb in the foyer, waiting for Vasily. He texted me a few minutes ago, telling me to meet him here. Where is he?

  Finally, I hear his feet pounding down the stairs.

  “Get changed,” he calls when he spots me. “Grace down at the records office called. Said there are a couple of suspicious teenagers poking around, asking questions.”

  I have to force myself not to groan. I just got home from school. The last thing I want to do is go play Sherlock Holmes over a couple of harmless kids who happened to drive through town.

  Vasily scowls at me, and I force my expression into neutrality. “Maybe they’re just looking for some records,” I say, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

  “They were asking about Elizabeth McByrne.”

  That gets my attention. I reach over and grab my jacket.

  “Don’t bother with that—I need your nose. You can get changed in the Hummer on the way.”

  I know he doesn’t mean my clothes; he wants me to change my skin. I guess we’ll be sniffing these kids out the old-fashioned way. Although our sense of smell is better than most when in our human bodies, it’s much stronger in wolf form.

  We jog down the driveway just as Margie strolls out of the woods, looking up at the sky, a bemused smile across her face. “Lovely day, isn’t it?” she asks. “The moon is just lovely today.”

  Vasily and I share a look. “Uh, Margie,” I say. “That’s the sun. The moon doesn’t come out until night.”

  “No, dear. She’s here now. Not tonight.”

  “What? Who’s here?”

  “Your moon.”

  Vasily gives me an impatient look. I know he wants to get going but I can’t let Margie wander off by herself when she’s in this state, especially when we have intruders in the area.

  “Margie, we really have to go. Why don’t you go inside and rest for a bit? I’ll be back soon and can drive you home.”

  “But you’re going the wrong way. She isn’t at the records office anymore.”

  Vasily freezes, then studies Margie more closely.

  “Who’s at the records office?” I ask gently. Her eyes cloud over the way they do when she’s having a vision.

  “No, not at the records office. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. She’s at Madelyn’s house. Your moon. You’ll have to hurry if you want to catch her.”

  Chapter 13

  KNEELING naked on the floor of the backseat while Vasily barrels down the bumpy dirt road is not my idea of fun, especially when I’m trying to shift. What usually takes a few minutes to complete winds up taking me almost ten. I only just complete the transformation when the Hummer screeches to a halt and we both topple out.

  Instead of parking in the driveway where the intruders might see us, Vasily parks on the street a little ways past the house. Moving silently through the woods, we make our way up to the front. Everything looks quiet, so I cautiously pad up the porch stairs while Vasily scans the nearby area. I don’t smell anything unusual around the front door, so we make our way around back.

  I can smell that someone’s been here, but I don’t see anyone. Vasily opens the back slider and motions me inside. While I check the interior of the house, Vasily heads back toward the woods, following the scent trail.

  The inside of the house is silent, but there are two unfamiliar scents in here. One is definitely human, but the second one gives me pause. There’s something strange about it, but I can’t put my finger on it. It has a floral scent to, almost like lavender, but there’s a hint of something else, something wild and intoxicating. It reminds me of lightning, of that scent in the air right before a thunderstorm. Clean, refreshing, but with a feeling of anticipation, like something big is about to happen.

  Shaking my head at these ridiculous thoughts, I get back to work, teasing out the scents. Whoever they are, they aren’t werewolves, even if one of them has an odd scent.

  After a quick survey of the rooms, I don’t detect anything out of the ordinary. The TV and laptop are still here, so whoever was snooping around wasn’t here to steal anything. Though I have no reason to assume they’re dangerous—just humans after all—we can’t have them poking their noses around town. The risk of exposure is too great. When I find them, I intend to scare them so badly they won’t think the name ‘Ashwood Creek’ without pissing themselves. Heading back outside, I pick up the trail and follow it into the trees.

  I’m silently making my way through the forest when I hear Vasily’s voice from up ahead. “Stop!” He calls out. “What are you doing here?” It sounds like he found our trespassers.

  I put on a burst of speed, excitement rushing through me. Hell, scaring the piss out of a couple kids is always entertaining. I’m almost there when I hear a female yell, “Get off of him!”

  There’s something about that voice that makes my wolf push even faster, desperate to get there. Like a Siren’s call. Or maybe I just don’t want Vasily to have all the fun.

  But the next sound makes my blood run cold. There’s a thud, then Vasily grunts. Oh shit… Maybe these kids aren’t as harmless as I thought.

  I burst through the trees to see Vasily sprawled out in the dirt, as if he was thrown. I
don’t stop to check if he’s okay. I simply lunge toward the two humans. I barely register that they look about my age. Right now they are a threat, and they must be eliminated.

  Before I reach them, Vasily leaps to his feet and holds up a hand, signaling me to back down. Furious that he’s stopping me from taking out the threat, I snarl, saliva dripping from my fangs.

  The female, a dark haired girl with hypnotic violet eyes, looks at me in shock. But rather than cower in fear like I'd expect, she straightens to her full height and flings a hand out toward me. It's like being hit with a truck. Suddenly I'm airborne, low hanging branches snatching at me like so many tiny hands, trying to pull me back down to earth. I hear a crack as my body slams against a tree, dazing me. I struggle to breathe, to pull air into my lungs. A sharp pain in my side tells me I’ve cracked a rib.

  I take shallow breaths, ignoring the pain. I’ve had worse. Still a bit stunned, I stumble to my feet, trying to make sense of what just happened. Vasily is also on the ground, suffering the same effects as me.

  Then it hits me: witch. The girl is a witch!

  That's why she was snooping around Madelyn’s house. She's probably from a rival coven, doing reconnaissance. And here I thought it was just a couple of dumb teenagers looking for trouble. Well, they certainly found that.

  Shaking off the blow, I lunge forward again, Vasily two steps ahead of me. The teenagers make it inside the car, a new looking BMW. Vasily leaps over the hood and attempts to rip the passenger door off the hinges. I dart around the car as well, but hang back, waiting to see if he'll succeed. Not much I can do to help without opposable thumbs.

  The car’s locks click into place and the boy throws the car into gear. I’ve barely even glanced at him since I’ve arrived. I only have a vague impression of dark hair and serious eyes. All of my attention is fixed on the girl. Despite the danger I know she presents, my wolf doesn't appear to see her as a threat. He should be seething right now, ready to chew a hole through the metal to get at her, but he's not. He's simply gazing in awe at this girl, with her enigmatic eyes and rock iron will. He feels strangely... at peace.