I stayed close as Fletcher was wheeled into a small room, until several nurses and a doctor came and pushed me out.
Time seemed to go slowly as I waited nervously to see what they would make of his condition.
What seemed like hours later, but was only about fifteen minutes according to my watch, I was called into an office and made to tell my story again.
I told them how he had come into the shop and we had then met for coffee. I was starting to get scared that I would be somehow implicated in hurting him, but the nurse was very nice, and even offered me a cup of tea, which I turned down.
“Would you like to call someone?” she said eventually.
“Yes, please,” I nodded. She left the room and I got out my phone. I had several missed calls from Iris and quickly rang her.
She sounded hugely relieved to hear from me. “Emily! Where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital.” I said, “Did Bob tell you everything that happened?”
“Yes, what were you thinking? You can’t separate the wolf. It can’t be done! Why the Goddess didn’t you ask me first?”
“I’m sorry.” I felt like an idiot. “I just wanted to help him. Can we put it right?”
“I don’t know.” She sounded really worried. “It’s not my specialist area. I’ve already called an expert. There’s a wizard who lives in The Black Mountains of Wales who studies werewolves. He’s going to drive here first thing in the morning. Where is your wolf now?”
“He’s waiting for me at home in the garden, I hope.” I suddenly got scared that he might not be there. “I’m really sorry, Iris, but can you pick me up? I’ve got to be home by ten or my dad will have a fit.”
She sighed. “Of course, I’m on my way. It’s better we don’t talk over the phone anyway. What have you told the hospital?”
I gave her a quick summary of what I’d said and she told me not to worry. Hah, some chance!
Why had I thought I could handle this on my own? I had never imagined there would be so many repercussions. What on earth would I tell my dad?
After another ten minutes that seemed like forever, the nurse came back and told me that the doctor wanted to see me.
She led me to a room where Fletcher was now lying in a bed, hooked up to several monitors.
The doctor sat me down and said that basically they had no idea what was wrong with him and made me go through the story yet again.
“We’re going to run a series of tests through the night,” she said seriously; “we think it might be some kind of tumour pressing on his brain, so we have to do a scan. We really need to contact his family.”
I nodded, “I don’t know where they are, but there might be someone I can call who knows; I have the information at home.” I felt stupid saying it, but couldn’t think of what else to say until I had talked with Fletcher.
“Okay, will you call us as soon as you can? Have we taken all your contact details?”
“Yes,” I confirmed, wondering how on earth I was going to keep this a secret from my dad.
At that moment there was a knock and Iris came in. I was so glad to see her that I ran into her arms. She wrapped them around me.
“Shhh, it’s okay. It will all be okay.” She hugged me, and all the stress caught up with me and I burst into tears.
The doctor looked uncomfortable. “You can take Miss Rand home now if you want. I don’t think we need her here anymore, but please make sure she is available in case we have any further questions.”
Iris nodded and helped me back into my cloak, which seemed a very out-of-place garment to put on in the sterile environment of the hospital.
We went out to the car park where her car was, and I climbed sniffing inside.
“You don’t need me to tell you again how foolish you’ve been,” Iris said as she started the engine, “But I’m sure we can make it right. Let’s not tell your father unless we have to, hmmm?”
I agreed, with gratitude. I had no idea how I was supposed to explain it to my dad. He didn’t know anything about the witch stuff, and I would definitely rather keep it that way.
It was almost ten when my phone went off again; this time I could see from caller ID that it was my dad.
I answered. “Hi, Dad,” trying to sound as normal and cheerful as I could.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“I’m with Iris, she’s just about to drop me home now.” I deliberately didn’t say more. I knew he would assume I had been with Iris all evening, and it would be easiest if he continued to believe that.
I looked at Iris for confirmation and she gave me a comforting nod to show she agreed to be my alibi for now.
Dad was actually waiting by the door when we pulled up. He’s so overprotective. I still had ten minutes to go until I officially had to be home.
Iris got out of the car. “Hello, James,” she greeted my dad with a strained smile. I always wondered what the deal was between them.
My dad had been married to Iris’s only sister, and since my mum had died they had barely spoken, even though really they surely should have been comforting each other all these years.
I know Iris looked a lot like my mum, and so maybe that was the cause of all the tension between them; maybe she reminded my dad too much of my mum? I wished yet again that he and Iris would get together. I was getting used to my dad’s new girlfriend, Clare, and I was starting to get used to sharing our house with her and her son, Duncan, but I would much rather have Iris for a stepmother.
On the other hand, she was great as the cool aunt; it would be a nightmare if she started to get all “parenty” on me.
Also, much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to like having Duncan around. He was the same age as me, and took some of the pressure off me from our parents, as he was always getting into trouble with them. I could certainly use one of his distractions right now.
As if on cue Clare appeared behind my dad, looking at her watch.
“Duncan’s still not back. It’s nearly ten.”
As I said, Clare was even more protective of her son than Dad was about me.
She hovered in the door. “Oh, hello, Iris,” she said in a rather cold voice. I was sure she was jealous of my aunt for some reason.
Iris gave her a tight smile. “Would you mind if I came in with Emily for a few minutes? There are still one or two things we want to talk about.”
“Oh, right.” Dad looked suspicious, but stepped out of the doorway.
I glanced round the garden, looking for Fletcher. I was sure I could see a pair of green eyes in the bushes going round to the back of the house, but with both my dad and Clare at the door I couldn’t speak with him yet.
We went inside, and Iris and I made a quick escape up to my room.
Once there, she opened the window and Bob flew straight in.
I gave him a huge lump of cheese and he settled contentedly onto his cushion, looking tired.
“Thanks, Bob,” I gave him a quick pat. “You did great.”
I was so relieved to be home, and on time too! Maybe my dad would never need to know that I had effectively put a boy in the hospital and all the hospital staff thought we had been making out on the town Common.
“So who is this wizard?” I asked Iris, after checking no one could hear us.
“He’s called many names,” she said pacing about my room. “The Wise Wizard, The Welsh Wizard, The Old Man of the Mountains, and sometimes The Wolf Wizard. There are a lot of werewolves that live around The Black Mountains. It’s a remote area, so they can hunt on a full moon without drawing attention. Wolves are pack animals, even though the rest of the month they are normal humans, so they tend to live near each other. It’s one of the larger communities in Britain. The wizard isn’t a wolf himself, though I think he wants to be. But it’s a dangerous turn – most don’t survive it – and their numbers are dwindling close to extinction. Apparently it’s forbidden for them to breed as wolves, and pregnancies don’t survive a full moon whe
n the turn happens anyway; it’s all very sad. In consequence females are rare. Most women would not voluntarily give up the chance to have children. Most wolves are male and they can have normal children with a fully human woman.”
“What about with a witch?” I asked.
“Emily! What exactly is your relationship with this boy?” She looked horrified.
“Oh nothing like that!” I quickly reassured her. “I just wondered.”
“A relationship between wolves and witches is forbidden, I can’t remember why, something to do with the bond. The wizard will know. He’s going to call me when he gets near, and then I think it would be best if you and your wolf saw him as soon as possible.”
I nodded. “Okay, do you think he will be able to help? Might the Coven be able to help me do a reversal or something?”
“I don’t know.” Iris slowly shook her head. “It’s big magic, Emily. It might not be reversible. You’ve ripped his soul out of his body!”
I felt stricken. I had tried to help him get rid of the wolf; had I now condemned him to always being a wolf?
“Don’t look so worried.” Iris patted me. “I’m sure the wizard will know what to do. Now why don’t you walk me out to my car and we’ll see if I can meet your wolf on the way without your father hovering over us.”
I nodded and then we slipped out my bedroom door. In the living room downstairs I could hear Clare giving Duncan a telling off for coming in at five minutes past ten, but the hall was empty.
We went out the front door and into the darkness of the garden.
“Fletch?” I called quietly.
He appeared straight away. “Uch, you smell of hospitals,” he said.
“Charming.” I smiled. “This is my aunt, she’s a witch and she might know someone who can help us. There’s this wise wizard who is a werewolf specialist or something. Anyway, she called him and he’s coming tomorrow.”
Fletcher sat down in front of Iris and politely put out his paw.
I saw the jolt go through both of them as their hands touched and felt strangely disappointed; for some reason I only wanted it to be me that it happened with.
Iris flexed her hand. “Well, you’re definitely no ordinary wolf. I’d forgotten that always happens the first time.”
I broke into a grin. Of course, it always happened the first time, but it was only with me that it kept happening.
Iris and Fletcher talked for another minute and then she left.
“What do you want to do now?” I asked Fletcher. “You can’t really stay in my garden all night, can you?”
He looked up at me, “Actually it’s fine, I feel the cold much less as a wolf. But I wouldn’t turn down the chance to spend the night with you if you’re offering…” His voice was teasing and I knew he didn’t really mean it the way it sounded.
“Oh, stop flirting with me!” I rolled my eyes. “It’s, like, totally bizarre when you’re a wolf. Let me check the coast is clear.”
I stuck my head back into the hall. I could hear sounds from the TV in the living room but the door was shut.
I beckoned to Fletcher, and together we snuck up the stairs to my room.
“But if anyone comes in you’re going to have to hide under the bed, okay?” I had barely finished instructing Fletcher, when my door burst open and Duncan came in.
“Dammit, Duncan! Don’t you knock? I could have been undressing.”
“But I just heard you come up, so you were obviously dressed, and I was wondering…” His voice trailed off as he caught sight of Fletch trying to make himself look as inconspicuous as possible.
“Blimey, Em! What is that? That is one big dog!”
“Shhhh!” I begged, “I’m just taking care of him for the night for a friend, can you please keep it a secret? I don’t think Dad and Clare would say yes if I asked, and there was nowhere else for him to go.” I gave Duncan a beseeching look.
Fletcher growled slightly, “Is this the boyfriend?” he asked. I knew that Duncan wouldn’t be able to hear him speaking so I wasn’t worried about that, but I was pretty sure that Duncan wouldn’t help me.
I shook my head firmly at Fletcher; with my eyes I tried to tell him to be nice. He got the hint and trotted over to Duncan and put out his paw. Duncan shook it, clearly impressed.
“Wow, a seriously big dog. I used to have a Dalmatian once, but my dad made me get rid of it – it was always barking at him. Yeah, alright, I won’t say anything on one condition.”
“What condition?” I asked suspiciously.
Duncan blushed, “Could you try and find out if your friend Kate might like me? I thought we got on really well when we all went bowling, but then your dad showed up before I had a chance to really talk to her one on one, you know?”
“Okay,” I sighed, “I’ll ask her. Now could you go away so I can get ready for bed?”
“Oh, sure.” He gave Fletcher a pat on the head and finally left.
Fletcher sat down on his haunches. “So, what do you wear to bed?” he asked, his voice mischievous.
“Pyjamas.” I told him firmly. Jeez, what was it with boys being in my room wanting to watch me undress? If it wasn’t ghosts it was werewolves. “Very ugly pyjamas,” I emphasised. I went over to my chest of drawers and pulled out a thick pair of flannel pyjamas that my grandmother had given me a couple of years ago. They were dark green with reindeer frolicking all over them. I went into the bathroom and quickly put them on. I brushed my hair and my teeth while I was in there.
“Sexy,” joked Fletcher, looking at my PJs as I came back in. “In fact, in wolf form I think I want to chase those reindeer round the room.” He took a playful snap at my bottom and I squealed and jumped on the bed.
“Stop that, or I’ll put you out! Bad dog.”
A thought occurred to me. “Um, do you want to use the bathroom or anything?”
He shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry, I’ve barely eaten anything in days, and I already watered your garden.”
“Ew! That is far more information than I needed.” I tried not to think about it.
Fletcher chuckled and jumped up on to my bed.
“No way!” I pushed him off. “Dogs sleep on the floor.”
He smiled a wolfish smile. “So you would have let me in if I’d been in my human form?”
“Oh blast, your human body! We forgot about your body. I must ring the hospital. I said I’d let them know your full name so they can contact your family.”
“No,” Fletcher growled. “I don’t want my family here.”
“Fletcher, they have to know. What if we never turn you back; they will never know what happened to you.” My eyes filled with tears at the thought. “Please, Fletch, just tell me your real name. Is it even Fletcher?”
“Of course it is.” He looked hurt that I would think otherwise.
“Will you let me sleep on your bed if I tell you my name?” he teased.
“This isn’t a joking matter.” I shook my head. “The hospital might ask the police to try to find out who you are if I don’t contact them. That could open up all kinds of questions.”
“Oh, very well,” he grumbled. “It’s Aaron, Aaron Fletcher.”
“Thank you.” I got out my phone and quietly rang the hospital. “My name’s Emily Rand, I said I would ring with details about the boy who came in unconscious earlier?” I waited as I was passed to another department. I was surprised when I was actually put through to the doctor I’d met earlier. I repeated the information to her.
“Do you know how to contact his family?” she asked.
With his excellent wolf hearing Fletcher could hear everything being said. I raised my eyebrows at him in question. He paused for ages and then nodded his head. “Yes, I’ll call them,” I told her.
“That would be great, thank you. One less thing for us to do. Can you get them to ring me direct if they can’t come personally?” She gave me her details and I noted them down.
“How is he?” I asked.
&n
bsp; “He seems fine, it’s all very confusing. But we can rule out a brain tumour, the scans came back clear.”
“That’s good.” I thanked her and rang off. “I’d better ring your parents. Shall I call them tonight?” I asked Fletcher. “It’s kind of late.”
“No,” he said, “The longer it takes to contact them the less time they have to worry.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sure they are already out of their minds with worry.” I bit my lip trying to think how to persuade him from putting me off again in the morning.
He turned away from me, lay down on my rug and deliberately put his nose down on his paws and shut his eyes.
“Comfy?” I asked, annoyed that he had shut me out.
“Not really,” he answered without opening his eyes, “But I’ve slept in worse.”
“Oh, come on then!” I gave in and patted the end of my bed.
He jumped up with a grin. “I knew you couldn’t resist having me in your bed.” He didn’t jump up by my feet as I expected but instead lay down right next to me.
I gave him a shove but he was too heavy to budge. In the end I gave in and lay down.
“No groping me whilst I sleep,” he teased.
“Yeah, right, like I want to feel up a big smelly dog,” I grumbled. But I threaded my fingers into his fur and cuddled up a little. The zing where we touched was warm and still exciting. I fell asleep.
Chapter Eight
As it was November, it was dark outside until after eight so I didn’t wake up early as I’d planned at all. I woke slowly, only to find I was still cuddled into a big brown wolf. A wolf who was wide awake and watching me come to.
“Oh dear,” I grumbled, “I had rather hoped last night was all a bad dream.”
“You’re not the only one.” Fletcher stretched out and yawned widely, flashing long, dangerous-looking teeth.
Last night I had thought of him like a big dog, but in daylight he was clearly a massive wolf. How on earth was I going to get him out of the house?
Werewolf Magic & Mayhem (Book Two, Magic & Mayhem Series) Page 4