Through the Woods

by Cassandra Johnson

  “I will not be shifting tonight. Instead, I will be helping assist Molly in training as well as communicating with any wolves who chose to fully shift.” Lucas nodded jumping down from the hood of his truck which was easily five feet from the ground, damn country boys and their monster trucks.

  “Elle and I volunteer to go first,” Gallen announced.

  “What?” Elle’s voice went up about three octaves as she looked at Gallen, removing his jacket and folding it before he placed it on the hood of the SUV they’d come to the clearing in. “Gallen, no. I don’t want to fight you.” Elle told him shaking her head no back and forth vehemently.

  “You aren’t going to want to fight any werewolf, Elle. You are going to try to run, you’ll think you can make it and you won’t. Every wolf in this clearing would catch you before you’d even made an about-face, including me. I’m going to walk you through this, but you will have to fight me and if I think you’re holding back? I’m going to keep pushing you.”

  There was a deep tone of finality in Gallen’s voice that vibrated and tickled within her ear canal telling her that she had to do what he said whether she wanted to or not. Elle had never heard Gallen take that kind of tone with her before, Gaerik yes, the first time she’d been to Gallen’s home when Gaerik called. Gallen commanded him to stay where he was until they got it all sorted. Of course, Gaerik hadn’t listened, and perhaps it was best that he hadn’t. She’d never seen Gallen or Marik in full werewolf mode before either, she’d been there yes, but she hadn’t seen it. Only heard the sounds that often woke her from nightmares every night –that of the three wolves tearing Jamal to pieces before they found her body in that cabin.

  “I’m doing this for you,” Gallen told her finally before he stepped out into the clearing forcing Elle to follow.

  “I cannot believe that you just Alpha’d me, Gallen Chaliceman,” Elle said under her breath as she came to stand in front of him.

  Cracking his neck, Elle found herself standing as still as possible while she watched him. Every wolf there was shifting either partially or entirely. Elle hadn’t realized that Lucas literally meant coats and tails, more than a few bushy tails were wagging through the air watching. It had to be the thrill of a fight, something that they could really sink their teeth into, which was also what made this so dangerous. Gaerik was right, from the looks of some wolves, they were just dying to jump in and shred something with their teeth, especially those that she noticed looked much younger than others. Gallen’s appearance only shifted partially. There was a thick growth of new black hairs that sprouted from the tiny pores on his cheeks, the sides of his nose, even his forehead became thick with fur, but he didn’t go so far as to drop to all fours as some had. He was still part man and now, part beast too. Lon Chaney Jr would have been in envy of his fangs and claws, but the part that frightened her the most was knowing that they were meant for her. Despite his being someone she knew would never hurt her, he was going to hit her with everything he had, and she needed to be ready for it. It was necessary for Elle to be afraid of him because he was a creature worthy of striking fear into something so weak as a human being.

  Earlier in the evening while everyone was buzzing around the house getting ready, Elle had been conducting her own ritual of going through her grandmother’s jewelry box. As she snooped Elle noticed for the first time that her grandmother did not own a single piece of silver jewelry. Shouldn’t that have tipped her off at some point? Maybe not when Elle was younger, but surely as a teenager. As Elle readied herself for Gallen’s instructions, she took a gold cross out of her pocket that was attached to a long chain of gold and situated the pointed end of the cross between her index and middle finger so that it looked somewhat like a small claw protruding from between her knuckles. Like the gold edition of a one-clawed Wolverine. While she spent all her life wandering obliviously around the world, she was opening her eyes to what was right there in front of her.

  From the corner of her eye, she could see Donnie who, like Gallen, had only shifted halfway, but she could tell it was him from his build, the sparkle in his eyes and the fact that he was giving her a thumbs up sign.

  As well as taking the chain and cross from her grandmother’s jewelry box Elle had also spent some time on the internet looking up basic self-defense moves after she ‘defeated’ Donnie in the backyard.

  “You’re a werewolf. You can take it.” Elle said quietly, but every wolf in the valley heard the low tenor of her voice.

  Gallen nodded up and down hearing her speak. She was starting to get it, it was not likely that Elle would be able to kill a werewolf, the chances were probably one in a trillion, but she could give herself a chance to get away from one.

  Elle didn’t feel secure by any means with only the chain and cross protecting her, Elle was taking this seriously --she didn’t see Gallen as her friend, Elle saw him as her enemy. She saw Jamal. The monster that helped start it all, and who was to say that they would even be here if it hadn’t been for Jamal? The Council wanted to get rid of the Chaliceman’s but would they have had a plan if Jamal hadn’t come along? Elle wasn’t sure.

  Firmly planting her shoes in the dirt, she brought her fists up as Gallen came towards her, but she’d had a feeling that would be his first move, dropping to her hands she swept with her foot and kicked his legs out from beneath him. Gallen stumbled, landing on his hands and knees as he turned, but he was on her faster than she had evaluated. Elle had believed that if she got his feet out from under him, she’d have a chance to turn and run, but she forgot day one lessons. Werewolves had vulnerable spots and sweeping them off of their feet wasn’t one of them. Gallen caught her by the hair and hauled her towards him, and when her back slammed into his chest, the wind was knocked from her lungs.

  “You’re dead,” Gallen told her, his fangs then poised not even a breathes whisper away from the skin of her neck before he released her. “The kick was unexpected, but it didn’t take me off my guard. Try again.” He said, and Elle could see the almost silvery tone that his eyes had taken on. She wondered if that was all Alpha’s or just him.

  Stretching her shoulders slightly Elle took a couple deep breath this time before she went at him, her foot coming up to kick him in the rib cage, but he powered through it. Before she could react, his hands were around her waist, and she could feel her body tipping back. She knew she was going to fall back into the ground and he would have her again.

  Balling her fist up she brought the sharp-tipped spike of the cross up into his shoulder, Elle wouldn’t go for his neck now, she knew the gold wouldn’t poison Gallen, but this was just a training session. He growled from the sharp stab of pain, and Elle let out her own sharp howl of pain suddenly when the other end of the cross embedded itself in the palm of her hand. She had not been thinking about that before when she decided to use the cross as a weapon.

  But the cross had done the trick, Gallen was temporarily taken off his guard, not expecting her to have any weapon and she thrust her hands out, fear was a powerful motivator, but something different altogether happened when her hands slammed into his chest.

  Her pinched eyes watched as Gallen went flying backward, his eyes widening before his face disappearing as his ass went over his head and there was a loud clap of thunder from above them despite the clear forecast.

  “What exactly is going on here?” A voice called from the other side of the clearing.

  Three women had stepped into the clearing, each as uniquely individual as the other. There was something different about them, electrical and inviting, especially the last one with her alabaster skin and wild mane of unruly blonde curls. There was something in her eyes that was in stark contrast to the other two women. One, a tall olive-skinned woman with long brown hair that swept her waistline, eyes like tan M&M’s. She was thin in the extreme but still very attractive, and the other was of average height with almost violet colored red hair, skin pale but not as pale as the blonde’s.

  “Who are you?”
Lucas moved past their gathering to look at the three women more closely, the wolves were on edge and Elle could feel the tension in their muscles building just as she could feel the wind picking up. The source was the women as they came closer, their movements were so fluid she would have thought that they were walking under water.

  “We felt another gypsy.” The redhead spoke, none of them seemed at all intimidated to be in the presence of the wolves.

  “Gypsy?” Lucas squinted his eyes.

  “A witch.” Gallen had regained his composure, and he also looked more like himself again as well.

  “It’s one of the names that we go by, yes.” This time it was the blonde looking in Gallen’s direction. Her voice was soft and thick like melted caramel, but she also seemed to be the shyer one of the three. Maybe demure was more the right word. “Her.” She lifted her hand pointing directly at Elle. “I could smell her anywhere.” A small smile touched the corners of her lips before she bit into the bottom bud accentuating small dainty fangs. “We heard a scuffle and thought that we would investigate. You wolves aren’t planning on eating these humans, are you? You do realize that completely goes against everything that keeps your identity secret, right?” The blonde asked tilting her head somewhat thoughtfully while her companions, the brunette, and the redhead seemed to be calculating the humans to wolves’ ratio.

  “We haven’t brought them here to hurt them,” Lucas said stoically.

  “Wait, if Elle is a witch then why hasn’t she beat half of us to a pulp while we were training already?” Travis blurted out, earning him a warning glare from Lucas which shut him up.

  “Most witches don’t even know that they are witches unless they come from a coven. Like wolves, our powers are strongest in numbers. Just like a pack.” The brunette advised them. “When we sensed she was in distress we lent her some of our strength so that she could push him away.” Her long silken like tresses waved with the movement of her head as she tipped her chin towards Gallen.

  “What are you training for?” The blonde came a little closer, her eyes curiously taking them all in as she got a bit closer to one of the wolves who had not wholly shifted. Her large aquamarine eyes taking in his appearance with so much fascination she was only a breathes whisper away from touching the thick mane of hair that coated his jawline.

  “Moonie.” The brunette warned her, reaching out to take the blonde's arm and pull her closer to the threesome.

  “It’s none of your business and now that you know that no humans are in danger I’m asking you to leave our area,” Lucas said standing straight to his full height.

  “Lucas hold on.” Elle moved closer, wedging herself between her pack and the witches.

  “If you three felt me, and you say you lent me some of your power do you know how to fight werewolves?” Elle asked.

  “Of course.” The brunette spoke. “My name is Charlotte Everard, this is my niece Moonie Ravenwright and our cousin Jean Louise Lancastor. We didn’t intend on stopping in Arkansas very long until Moonie felt a shift in the atmosphere. You’re all training for battle.” Charlotte surmised in one swoop.

  “You felt a change in the atmosphere?” Lucas looked Moonie over for several seconds, sniffing the air around her. “You smell different than your aunt and cousin, why?”

  “I’m empathic, I can sense others emotional atmosphere, and if there is a large enough group of people all feeling similar emotions and it is strong enough, I can pick up on it. I can only assume that what I have been sensing is the tension that you all are having.” Moonie explained before she inhaled gently, nodding in agreement that she knew she smelled different from the other witches. “I smell different because I am not all witch like my aunt and cousin. My father was a vampire.”

  A chorus of snarling sounds erupted from the wolves then, seeing their posture shift from tense to defensive mode immediately. Elle felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, closing over her chest as she was pulled further back behind the defensive line behind all the wolves. Marik standing in front of her as Gallen and Gaerik took up either side, heavy breathing from behind her, Elle hadn’t even noticed with Donnie had closed the distance and come to stand closer to her.

  “I can’t ask any of you to trust me as you do not know me,” Moonie said though her expression said that she had expected this kind of reaction from them.

  “But we can vouch for her. Moonie has all of the strengths of a vampire, but she is of no harm to humans.” Charlotte told them as she collected her young niece under her arm like a mother hen protecting her chick.

  “Does she drink blood?” Gaerik growled.

  “Moonie has somewhat of an aversion to drinking blood straight from the source.” Jean Louise told Gaerik.

  “Uh huh. And what exactly is to stop this half vampire witch from deciding she wants a snack and using her little witchy powers to just suck the blood right out of us?” Gaerik countered.

  “What are you, stupid wolf-boy?” Jean Louise smirked.

  “Jean, don’t. These people do not know us, it’s only natural that they wouldn’t trust us, especially me.” Moonie said reaching over to pull her cousin back before she decided she wanted a piece of the smart-mouth werewolf who had spoken.

  “I do at times need blood, but I can’t just bite into someone.” Moonie began lifting her top lip slightly, fully revealing her teeth and the small fangs that set themselves apart from the others. “I have fangs, but they are rather underdeveloped which makes it difficult for biting, and even if I were to try to just gnaw into the flesh, I would feel the pain that it’s causing you,” Moonie said though she hardly expected them to understand.

  “I want them to stay.” Elle broke in and pushed Marik out of her way so that she could see the three women again, while she did not claim to be a witch, all three felt that she was, and Elle did feel a slight change in herself being close to them.

  “You can’t be serious?” Gaerik intoned looking at Elle before he looked at his brother and father. “You aren’t going to let her do this, right?”

  “They have no say in it. I feel like these women could help us, and right now we need all of the help that we can get.” Elle turned to narrow her eyes.

  “Fine. Have the witches then, but I’m done. Good luck getting yourself fed on in the middle of the night.” Gaerik said throwing his hands up as he stepped away, some tried to stop him, but he only brushed them aside as he walked away from them and disappeared through the trees. Elle stared after him, flabbergasted that he’d said that, that he was really leaving.

  “He didn’t mean it, Elle, he’s just pissed he isn’t the Alpha around here,” Lucas told her before patting her on the shoulder.

  “He's just a jackass,” Marik added before clearing his throat.

  “We don’t mean to cause any strife amongst your pack,” Charlotte spoke looking directly at Lucas.

  “It’s not you. This has probably been long coming.” He admitted under his breath before sucking in a deep breath. “So, half vampire. You can’t drink blood from us because you’ll feel how we feel and it what…turns you off?” Lucas said refocusing his energy in the women.

  “In a manner of speaking, yes,” Moonie replied somewhat embarrassed by the wording of the question.

  Lucas nodding a moment. “Can the three of you fight?” Lucas asked.

  “We can, though usually we don’t need to resort to physical gestures we are all physically capable of it. Would you like to see?” Jean Louise looked like she was ready to lift right out of her shoes she was beaming so much, that broad, toothy smile painted across her face.

  The bold challenge was one that was difficult to resist, especially as Lucas was the alpha of this pack whether there were others, those being Marik and Gallen, they posed no threat to his dominance, they had been nothing but cordial when it came to his territory.

  “You want to show us?” Lucas tilted his head somewhat measuring the witch’s size for a moment before he reminded himself what they were doing
here tonight, training the humans. These individuals could be precious to their fight if they chose to stick around. “By all means,” Lucas told her and with a wave of his arm the crowd of wolves parted allowing the redhead into the center as Lucas rolled the sleeves of his shirt up the muscles of his forearms.

  Jean Louise stood calmly considering his form. Her features serene as she appreciated his physique momentarily before Lucas charged with a deep guttural growl, but the little redhead shifted her stance, as her hands wrapped around his neck, using his own momentum as he came towards her to flip him into the air, his trajectory moving away from her and Jean Louise completely unscathed.

  “Wow.” Shaye laughed at her brother as he picked himself up out of the dirt looking at Jean Louise in amazement.

  “Let‘s try that again.” Lucas drew in a breath before expressing a low cough from his lungs not giving Jean Louise a chance to calculate what he was going to do before he swept his arm out, aiming for her chest but her palm caught the back of his hand an inch from it’s intended target. Smiling Jean Louise thrust his hand away before her fists moved so quickly, flashing in the illumination of the car's headlights. Elle almost didn’t catch what she was doing, but she actually was hitting him, landing blow after blow into his chest cavity before kicking his feet out from under him so that he landed on the ground with a hard thud.

  Lucas wasn’t on his feet as fast this time, he was heaving as he tried to recapture his breath, waving her off.

  “Ok, she can fight.” He coughed, this time not so easily disguised.

  Theatrically dusting her hands-off Jean Louise stepped over Lucas on her way back towards her cousins.

  “Can all of you fight like that?” Elle asked as Lucas was still getting himself up from the ground, again.

  “Jean Louise is the best, I prefer not to fight if I do not have to,” Moonie said glancing at her aunt who nodded.

  “I taught both how to defend themselves,” Charlotte told Elle. “And I can train you too, that is, if you will have us,” Charlotte said turning her gaze back to Lucas.