Witch Problems (The Josh Thorne Trilogy Book 3)

by Joe Fowler

  “Hello, Josh. I can sense you. I guess you are looking for me, huh?” She spoke in a whisper so the other passengers wouldn’t hear her. To my wolf ears, she was loud and clear. “Don’t worry, I will make sure you find me soon enough.”

  “Damn. She could sense me looking for her.” I said as I pulled out of the vision.

  “Could you see where she was?” Seth asked.

  “She was on a plane but I had no way of seeing where the plane was headed. She spoke to me as I was searching. She said she would let me know where she was soon enough.” I clenched my fist in frustration. Her demon half would complicate things. If I couldn’t use my visions, she would have one more advantage.

  “I really wish I knew what the hell you guys were talking about.” Walt said angrily. He had sat through all this with no clue what was happening.

  “If I need to know where someone or something is, I see a vision of that person or thing along with the surroundings. I used the visions to see the witch, but couldn’t tell where the plane was going. Since she is part demon as well, she sensed me and began talking to me. I also have visions when I touch a human, but that is not important now.” I took a breath and looked at Seth. “She could be going anywhere.”

  “I know. Do you think she can see these kind of visions too?” Seth asked.

  “Probably, since she is as demon as I am, maybe more. In case I forgot to stress it enough, Rosalyn must not face off against the witch. I think the witch is stronger. Maybe not as fast, but definitely stronger.” I stated as a fact even though I wasn’t as sure of that as I sounded. I sat back after speaking since we needed to think.

  All four of us were quiet most of the day. The most talking came when Seth and I became hungry and ordered pizza. We were waiting on the pizza when a newsbreak interrupted whatever show was on.

  “We are happy to report the safe return of the wolves that have been missing. So far all but five of the wolves are back at home. The wolves are in a state of confusion. They are not sure where they were or what caused their disappearance. Some of them were injured but because of werewolves’ quick healing, the injuries are not considered serious. If anyone has information on the five wolves that are missing or why these wolves were injured, please call the news station so we can solve this mystery…”

  “I guess she is only taking a few wolves with her. Makes sense I guess.” I relaxed a little, but knew she could gather more wolves very easily.

  “She will have more by the time we find her again.” Seth clearly thought the same as me on that fact.

  “Why would she leave? That is the part that doesn’t make sense to me. She needs me to complete her goal. Why would she leave when I am so close?” I pondered aloud. I wasn’t prepared for Seth’s response. He jumped into action grabbing for his cell phone. He dialed without telling me what he was thinking.

  “Hello?” It was Anna’s voice on the other end.

  “Anna, get the other wolves and find as secluded an area as you can. Don’t let there be any distinguishing landmarks or buildings around where you go. The middle of a desert would be nice. That, or in the middle of the woods somewhere.” Seth sounded frantic. That’s when it hit me.

  “The witch wants revenge for me killing Josef.” I muttered, not intended to speak out loud. Seth looked at me and nodded.

  “Did I hear Josh right? Who is this Josef?” Anna questioned. Seth had only told her enough to get her and the packs away from home. We all thought they would be safe somewhere overseas. The witch can do the find-a-thing too by the looks of it.

  “Alicia should be able to answer that. She was there when we were told. Just go as quickly as you can. Be as safe as you can. This witch can control you and will have you and the pack set to defend her against me, Rosalyn, and Josh.” Seth informed her of what seemed to be the witch’s plan. “Look, I have to go and make the plane reservations for the four of us. Remember what I said and call me later if you have any questions.”

  “I will. I guess the fun is gone from this vacation.” Anna said sadly.

  “Sorry, Sweetie, but this witch is dangerous. I love you.” Seth said worriedly.

  “I love you too.” Anna said before hanging up.

  Seth spent the next few minutes on the phone trying to set up our flight to Australia. After getting frustrated by delays and booked flights, he called the President. That worked out pretty well. We would have a plane ready at the airport just after sunset. They would fly us wherever we needed to go.

  “I have a question. If the witch is flying to Australia and will obviously get there before us, why don’t you get your packs to fly back to the U.S. now? They can be in the air before the witch lands. Wouldn’t that be safer?” Walt finally contributed something useful. Seth and I were shocked and ashamed that we didn’t think of that before. Seth immediately grabbed his phone and called Anna.

  “Hey Seth, what now?” Anna sounded worried and more than a little upset. I guess Alicia filled her in on what was really going on.

  “Forget what I said earlier, get everyone on a plane back to the States. It doesn’t matter whether it is Mobile or Chattanooga or Denver. Just take the first flight to get you guys back here.” Seth said in a rush.

  “Ok. Should I wait a few minutes while you change your mind?” Anna was clearly upset. “Why didn’t you tell me how serious this was? You made it sound like this trip was more vacation than keeping us safe.”

  “I wanted it to be that way. I hoped y’all would have fun AND be safe at the same time. I didn’t tell you because I know how you worry too much.”

  “We will talk about this more when I get home.” Anna hung up in a huff.

  “I’m in trouble.” Seth said with a smile. Anna was a sweet, caring woman but she had a temper from what I have been told.

  We all jumped when there was a knock at the door. The pizza was finally here. We spent our lunch lost in thought of what would happen next. At least this plan meant the girls would be safer. Now all there was left to do was to eat our pizza and wait. We couldn’t do much with Rosalyn limited to night travel only anyway.

  “Hello?” Seth answered his phone quickly without looking to see who it was.

  “We are boarding a plane to Atlanta. We will be there tomorrow.” Anna told him. We all heard as well.

  “Good. We will be there waiting on you.” Seth replied.

  “Did you know Alicia was pregnant?” Anna asked.

  “No! Really?” Seth looked at me in amazement. I nodded that it was true. “No one told me anything about it.”

  “She wasn’t going to tell us, but I heard the second heartbeat. Even the girls, Crystal and Sarah didn’t know.”

  “Wow. Tell her I said I am happy for her and that I am going to kick Josh’s ass for not telling us.” Seth joked. At least I hoped he was joking.

  “Will do. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Anna hung up.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” Seth asked before answering his own question. “You didn’t want us to be overprotective and worried. Well the cat’s out of the bag now.”

  Seth gave me a congratulatory hug and Walt offered his congrats as well. We spent the next few minutes laughing and talking about the news of the baby before Seth called and set the arrangements for the plane to be ready for our trip to Atlanta. I would hate leaving my car in Denver but we didn’t have time to make the drive.

  The rest of the day passed slowly with Walt getting on my nerves. Seth didn’t seem to mind Walt’s endless chatter or his choice of bad sitcoms. I guess Seth was used to dealing with new personalities a lot more than I was. When the sun finally set, Rosalyn appeared at our door. At least that would make Walt shut up. He was generally so in awe of Rosalyn’s beauty that he just stared and didn’t speak much.

  “We have some news Rosalyn.” Seth waited for her to be seated on the edge of the bed I was on before he continued. “We are boarding a plane to Atlanta tonight. The witch let almost all of the wolves go. Josh used his visions to see that she was on
a plane but couldn’t tell where it would be headed. It took us a few minutes to figure out she would be going after Alicia and Anna, along with the rest of our wolves. We called Anna and told her to find a secluded area and hide when Walt gave us a much better idea. I called Anna back and she got everyone on a plane back to Atlanta. Hopefully, this will give us time to hide them before the witch can get back to the States.”

  “You do realize that your packs need to be far away from you two. If the witch knows where you are she can just show up and take control of the other wolves and have them attack us. She would be able to come at us and we wouldn’t have any warning unless Josh can keep watch over her with his visions.” Rosalyn pointed out.

  “Keeping watch won’t be easy. She can sense when I try to find her.” I said bleakly.

  “We will need to figure something out.” Seth said.

  “This witch doesn’t know anything about me, does she?” Walt asked us.

  “No. I don’t see how she could.” Seth answered.

  “What if I took the packs somewhere in the middle of nowhere and hid them. We could take enough supplies to last them so they wouldn’t have to go into a town. If their surroundings are indistinguishable like what Seth was saying earlier, the witch couldn’t find them.” Walt suggested.

  “That is a great idea, but why does it have to be you that takes them?” I asked.

  “If she can’t find them with her own visions, then she will try to find the three of you. It makes more sense to keep you from being in the same place.” Walt clarified. He was really earning his keep today.

  “That is the best idea. At least it is a plan. Do you have a phone, Walt?” Seth asked. When Walt shook his head saying he didn’t, Seth stood and started getting ready. “We will go somewhere and get you a phone on the way to the airport.”

  All of us used that as a cue to stand and be ready to go. Seth didn’t bother with the rest of his things, I took that to mean the three of us would be returning to this motel until we had more to go on. We stopped by Best Buy on the way to the airport for Walt’s new phone. He boarded the plane after Seth had given the flight crew his instructions. They were to drop Walt in Atlanta and fly back to Denver as fast as possible in case we needed to go somewhere else. Seth, Rosalyn, and I returned to the motel after stops for food and beer.

  We fell back into our old camaraderie pretty easily. Rosalyn’s attitude toward me seemed to be improving. Maybe being around me again was helping her remember the good qualities I have instead of dwelling on the incident with Austin. Calling it an ‘incident’ might be understating the severity of it, though. Either way, the three of us spent a comfortable night together relaxing and drinking beer. Austin was not with us. I didn’t even notice until well into the night. As a ghost, he sometimes faded into the background and I hadn’t seen him leave.

  “Rosalyn, where’s Austin?” I asked. Both she and Seth looked around trying to see him. They were as surprised as I was.

  “I don’t know. He was here a little while ago. I didn’t see him leave.” She sounded a little upset by this.

  “He was pretty good about coming up with ideas. Maybe he had a hunch and is following up on it.” Was Seth’s explanation.

  “Maybe. I wish he would tell me when he is leaving, though. I want to spend as much time with him as I can since I don’t know if I will still be able to see him after this is over.” Rosalyn hung her head a little at the thought of losing Austin again. Seth and I both felt for her but didn’t have any words of wisdom that would help.

  “Well, however this plays out, we still have at least a couple of days until the witch gets back in the States and starts her hunt for the packs.” Seth reminded us.

  “So I’m stuck in a motel room with two werewolves for a few days.” Rosalyn smiled and added, “I don’t know what’s worse, the smell or having to watch you guys eat all day. At least the beer is good.”

  “Thank Austin for the Sam Adams. He kept wanting this brand and I saw how much better it was than the beer I had been drinking before.” I said.

  “I must admit, it is good. Sometimes I find myself missing the ale I grew up with though.” Seth said to my surprise.

  In the time that I have known Seth, he never once spoke of his original home. I didn’t even know where he grew up. I never asked because I don’t like being nosey. If someone wants to keep their past in the past, that is fine with me. I sat still hoping Seth would tell us more. Rosalyn wasn’t hesitating, she asked out right.

  “Where are you from? I don’t think you ever mentioned it when I was around.” Rosalyn was as curious as I was.

  “Amsterdam. My father’s wolves were spread out over the area surrounding Amsterdam. I split my time between living in the city and a house in the surrounding countryside.” Seth spoke quietly.

  “That doesn’t seem to be the best area for a wolf pack. Too much open space.” Rosalyn said. I couldn’t really contribute since the only thing I knew about Amsterdam was the legalized marijuana and prostitution.

  “There were some forest. The people there saw wolves all the time and thought us normal wolves. Since we left the humans and their animals alone, they didn’t try to hunt us down. There was some fear and even some suspicions, but we were never found out. My father lorded over his pack with an iron fist. No wolf would think of breaking his rules.” Seth was still speaking softly. This conversation was clearly bothering him. “My father’s discipline was smothering. He was a bitter man and a mean wolf. To give you guys an idea of what that meant, my father wouldn’t have gotten to know you at all Rosalyn. Even if he knew you were good, he would have killed you the moment he saw you. He was a three hundred year old pureblood. No one and nothing could stand up to him.”

  “Then what happened?” Rosalyn asked.

  “I killed him.”

  To say Rosalyn and I were shocked was a huge understatement. Seth was the ideal alpha werewolf. Noble in spirit and thoughtful of others at all times. What could possibly cause him to kill his own father?

  “I’m sorry if I’m being nosey. You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.” Rosalyn could see the struggle in Seth’s eyes. He seemed like telling this story was the last thing he wanted to do. At the same time, he seemed desperate to tell the story.

  “I fell in love with the wrong girl. She was known for being impulsive and loose. Father forbade me to see her again, which meant I wanted her even more. When I continued to see her, my mother tried to reason with my father telling him that I was young and didn’t know any better. They argued. I was away with the pack when the argument escalated and my mother was killed. My father couldn’t control his temper. When I returned and learned what my father had done, I lost my own temper. He was stronger than I was at that time, but I was faster and out of my mind with rage. I only regained control when I was standing over his dead body.” Seth shook his head to fight the tears I saw brimming in his eyes. “One of the cardinal laws of being a werewolf is that when you kill the alpha, you become the alpha. All wolves can challenge their alpha at any time but it is rarely done. If you are strong enough to be an alpha, it is usually only other alphas that can beat you. Of course there is the occasional vampire strong enough, like you Rosalyn.”

  “So you became alpha at age twenty? That is unheard of.” Rosalyn stated before she remembered my situation. “At least you had the demon blood as a reason. Plus, Seth was there to guide you through any questions.”

  “It wasn’t easy for me. The pack accepted me readily enough even at such a young age. I think it was more about being free of my father than my own worth. They seemed to be at the point they would have followed anyone who wasn’t as strict. I managed to remain with the pack for seventy years or so. One of the members began developing alpha traits. Instead of sending him away like I had to do with you, Josh, I turned over control of my pack to him and I left.” This hurt Seth to say.

  “Wow. What did you do then?” I asked.

  “I traveled. I kept bein
g challenged by other alphas when they would find me in their territory. I never killed them, I just beat them enough to show my strength and moved on. That got old really quick. I heard of the New World and the colonies that were forming. Word of endless forest called to me. I boarded a ship and made my way here. Slowly but surely the need for a pack grew in me. I started turning a few here and there. Many of the packs in this country are descendants of someone I turned.”

  “Does Anna know this story?” Rosalyn asked.

  “No. Right now, there are only three that know my story. That’s two more than yesterday. I would ask that you guys don’t add to that number.” Seth said in a pleading tone. He didn’t use his threatening tone. A threat from Seth usually carries a death sentence for any violation against him. He was asking, not telling.

  “I won’t say a word.” I swore.

  “I won’t either.” Rosalyn vowed.

  We all sat in silence after that. We drank our beer and watched the television drone on. Seth’s history had been a mystery. I almost wish it still was. This story didn’t make him any less in my view, but I could see how he would be reluctant to share the tale. To have killed your own father must be a horrible thing. My father doesn’t count. He was a demon who needed to die. I felt for Seth.

  Chapter 6

  The next day was much the same. Austin still hadn’t returned. The packs were still a few hours away from landing in Atlanta. Seth and I were extremely bored. Rosalyn was sleeping. I talked to Alicia for some time. I let her know Walt would be the one meeting them. I also told her to make sure everyone knew not to talk about where they were or where they were headed or had been. She understood since she was used to how my visions worked. The rest of the day we flipped through bad sitcom reruns and ordered food.

  “I see what they mean by Asian food not keeping you full. I was human the last time I ate Chinese.” I mentioned.