by Lola Kidd
“Sounds good, boss.” Charlie put out his cigarette and headed for his bike. “Wash up before you come in tonight, Ozzy. I don’t want you tramping blood all over the damn house again.”
Grizzly looked at his son, daring him to speak, before following his friend.
“He’s got another fucking thing coming if he thinks I’m going anywhere,” he heard Cross say when he thought his father was far enough away.
Grizzly sighed, starting up his bike. He was in for a battle one way or the other. The only thing he was concerned about was keeping his son away from the real battle.
Four
“I second the nomination of Jamie for head of the coven,” Sara said.
“Third,” Ursula said.
“Fourth,” Deanne chimed in.
“Well, I fifth the nomination,” Magda said with a sad smile. “If you accept, Jamie, we would love to have you as the new head of the coven.”
Jamie stood beside the bookcases with her mouth open. “You ladies are far too kind. I can’t…I mean…”
“You’re the most level-headed and the most knowledgeable. There isn’t anyone better for the job,” Magda encouraged her. “Now is not the time to be humble, Jamie Winn.”
“You’re right,” Jamie said, smiling for a moment. “I accept.”
“Sorry there isn’t any time for a big ceremony right now,” Deanna said. “I would also like to nominate Aurora as the seventh member of the coven.”
Surprised eyes turned to Magda and Rory.
“I agree,” Jamie said. “My first act as head witch of the Cleary Coven is to extend an offer to Aurora Silver to become our seventh member.”
Rory looked at her mother. “I don’t think I’m ready for this yet. I barely know how to use my powers yet.”
“You’ll learn,” Magda said, putting her hand over Rory’s. “I think it’s a great idea.”
Rory looked around the room. All the women looked drained, but no one was objecting. She had known that she would become a member of the coven one day, but she hadn’t imagined it like this.
“I accept your invitation,” Rory said. Sara gave a half-hearted clap and everyone else nodded in Rory’s direction.
“What a dreary welcoming for our newest sister,” Deanne said. “We’ll have to make this up to you two one day after we’re done mourning.”
“Thank you, sisters. I’m honored to be a member of this coven,” Rory said. “I don’t need any elaborate welcome.”
“Good, because you’re not going to get it until we can sort this mess out,” Jamie said. “Elena said we need to call in backup and I’m inclined to agree. I think our first bet would be to ask the Moon Brothers to partner with us.”
“Are we positive they aren’t part of this whole thing?” Ursula asked. “I’m not saying all werewolves are the same. I’m saying that it’s suspect that they let these new wolves even make it into town.”
“I think this was a stealth attack,” Rory said. “The only reason Cross and Oswald were close was that they had just left the diner. I don’t think they were lying.”
“I believe them,” Jamie said. “It’s only natural to ask the Moon Brothers to join us for this. We have no idea what’s going on yet, but they’ll want to protect their territory. That will keep us from having to fight on two fronts.”
“Jamie’s right,” Deanne said. “If a dark fairy did kill Elena, there is no way we want to be worrying about wolves with one of those on the loose.”
“I doubt a dark fairy is running around town without one of us or the wolves noticing,” Ursula said. “I don’t want us owing favors to any wolves if we don’t have to.”
“We wouldn’t owe them anything,” Magda said. “They’re already going to protect their territory. Remember, they’re a motorcycle club too. It won’t do their business any good to have another club push into town. I think it’s worth the risk.”
If Magda was saying to trust the wolves, the rest of the sisters would follow. No one was more suspicious of the werewolves than Magda.
“Fine, we’ll go talk to the wolves,” Ursula conceded. “But what are we going to do about Elena?”
“I’ve already contacted her son,” Sara said. “We should probably call the police and let them come get the body.”
“As long as they don’t stick around for too long,” Deanne said. “There’s stuff here we’re going to need access to.”
“We should move everything, actually,” Jamie said. “Tonight. I know it’s very quick, but all the books belong to me now as head of the coven. We should move them before Fernando gets here. How far away is his father’s house?”
“I think it would take him more than an hour to get here,” Sara said. “He’ll bring his father with him, though. We have to move fast.”
The women took cloth bags and plastic tubs Elena had lying around and began loading books into their cars. Elena’s son’s father was a nice man, but he had never been fond of the witches. He knew about Elena and the coven, as did her son. Fernando had gone to live with his father when he went to middle school because of bullies at Cleary Junior High. Sara and Ursula were staying behind to wait for Fernando and Richard. The rest of the witches headed for Jamie’s house. They would work out their next move there.
***
“We shouldn’t be doing this, man,” Ozzy told Cross. They had dumped the bodies of the Sun Riders in the river. They would wash up but there was no way it would be traced back to Rory or any of the Moon Brothers. It wasn’t the best option, but Cross was in a hurry.
“Listen, if you want to turn tail and leave our home, go right ahead,” Cross said. “I’m staying right where I am. If those Sun Riders are going to come for Rory, I’ll trail her until they show up.”
“And then what?” Ozzy asked. “You gonna take on an entire group of them yourself? Get the fuck outta here, man. You need to come back to the compound with me.”
“Go back to the compound with your tail between your legs,” Cross said. He started his bike and followed Rory’s scent. He knew if her mom or any of the other witches saw a biker following them, they would attack him without asking questions first. He could follow her scent well enough to track them from a few miles back.
He didn’t care if Ozzy followed him. They needed to keep an eye on the witch. If a Sun Rider murdered a female in their territory, they could kiss any chance of adding new members to their pack goodbye. There was no way a female was going to trust her pups to a pack that couldn’t protect them. His Dad was being short-sighted. Word would get around if they acted like cowards. It was better to lose one or two brothers than to lose their reputation. They would never be able to recover if they let that happen.
And fine, if Cross was being very honest, he didn’t want anything to happen to Rory. The witch had a smell that was intoxicating to the young wolf. He wasn’t sure if he was ready just yet to have pups, but he knew the time was coming soon. The mating urge couldn’t be ignored. When he had first caught sight of Aurora at the diner, he had felt a pull deep inside him. It was unexpected, and it scared him.
He’d heard talk of mating before and while he didn’t tell anyone about the feeling, he was sure Aurora was going to be his mate. He sure as hell wasn’t willing to let her be killed by a rival pack before he could be sure. He spotted Magda’s car and pulled his bike over a block away. He wasn’t hidden, but it would have to do for the moment. Another bike pulled in behind him.
“I’m glad at least one member of my pack isn’t chickenshit,” Cross said to Ozzy.
“This isn’t about being a hero,” Ozzy said. “Somebody’s gonna have to drag your body back to the compound after you get yourself killed.”
“Glad I can count on you,” Cross said dryly.
“What do we do now, genius?” Ozzy asked after they had been sitting for a few hours. Two more witches had arrived at the house in that time, but nothing else of interest had happened. Neither Cross nor Ozzy had spoken. Cross knew Ozzy was mad as hell that h
e was disobeying the alpha. He didn’t want to antagonize his friend.
“We wait,” Cross told him.
“How long you think before your dad sends someone after us?”
“He won’t send anyone,” Cross said confidently.
“Bullshit. He’ll probably send my dad or Grimace. Fuck, I hope he doesn’t send Grimace.”
“He won’t want anyone to know about this just yet,” Cross said. “I think at least half the brothers would side with me. I know Morrow, Ginn, and Bruiser are looking for mates. You’re scared of Grimace, but I think he’d side with me. No way he’d want his pack to look like a bunch of bitches.”
Ozzy thought for a minute. “Joe and Petey are hotheads. They’d love a good fight. They would have something real to brag about finally.”
“That’s at least eight, including us.”
“You’re talking about challenging your own father’s dominance, you know. He could ban you from the pack…or get banned himself. You’re playing with fire here, man.”
“I know,” Cross said. “That’s why I’m really hoping he reconsiders. If he wasn’t being so damn pigheaded, we could neutralize this threat and score a big victory for wolves. Other packs would thank us for taking out these fucking lapdogs.”
“Okay, man,” Ozzy said, laughing. “I know you’re gearing up for a big inspirational speech here, but save it for the compound. You’re gonna need…whoa, something’s happening with the witches.”
Cross turned to the ranch house. All the witches were on the front lawn of the house. Four of them were having a heated discussion and the other two were terrified. Cross could smell their fear even a block away.
“You think it’s us?” Ozzy asked. “We should get out of here, man. I think we’re scaring them.”
“Shit!” Cross scrambled off his bike. “It’s not us they’re afraid of. Come on.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Ozzy grabbed Cross’s arm to slow him down. “We can’t go over there. They’ll kill us on the spot. You saw what your little girlfriend could do and she isn’t even a coven member. What do you think her mom and the other sisters are capable of?”
“They won’t hurt us,” Cross said. “Rory won’t let them.”
He strode toward the house, hoping he looked more confident than he felt. He was sure Rory would stop the coven from harming him. He was pretty sure she would, but his heart was hammering in his chest. He put his hands up as he got closer to the house. When he was still half a block away, the witches stopped arguing and all turned in his direction. He grimaced as magic washed over him. When he was only a stone’s throw away, he had to stop and vomit into the grass.
“Stop!” Rory yelled. “Everyone stop. It’s Cross. Stop now.”
Cross retched a few more times before standing up and wiping his mouth. He motioned for Ozzy to follow him. Ozzy ran to catch up and both wolves stood together on the sidewalk in front of the coven.
“What are you doing here, wolf?” an older witch asked. Cross counted again to be sure, but there were only six coven members present. They had been at the head witch's house earlier. He didn’t know whose house this was, but knew the head witch wasn’t with them. He had a bad feeling in his gut about that. This was a major event. Why wouldn’t the head witch be present?
“I want to talk to Elena,” Cross said. “I want to offer my help to the Cleary Coven officially.”
“You can’t speak to Elena, wolf,” one of the witches told him.
“Listen, I know you ladies hate werewolves and all, but this isn’t the time for this,” Cross said. “There are wolves headed this way. I can smell them and I’d wager good money they’re Sun Riders. I’m trying to help here.”
“Why isn’t the alpha here offering help?” The older witch spoke again.
“Me and my buddy were here scouting,” Cross lied. “He’ll offer the pack’s help officially when he can speak with the head witch.”
The witches looked at the older witch who was talking.
“We’ll take your help now, wolf,” the witch said finally.
“Of fucking course she will,” Ozzy muttered to Cross. “Your dad is going to kill us.”
Cross shot Ozzy a murderous look. “We’ll do whatever we can. You ladies should get inside.”
“Dear boy,” the old witch said with a smile. “We’ve known there were people approaching for some time. Those walls aren’t going to protect us from whoever is coming. I suggest you ready yourselves.”
Five
“How did you know someone was coming?” Cross asked, coming to stand next to Rory.
“We have a lot of protection spells cast and someone came through the first few lines of defense,” she explained. Cross nodded. She was glad the wolf had shown up. She couldn’t quite name the feeling, but she felt…safer? Calmer? She couldn’t say exactly, but she was glad he was there to help. His friend didn’t seem too thrilled, but it couldn’t hurt to have two extra hands in the fight. Plus, they were going to ask the Moon Brothers anyway. This saved them the drive.
“We should draw them farther out of the city!” Deanne argued again. They had been in the middle of an argument when Cross and Oswald had shown up. Deanne and Ursula thought they should draw the Sun Riders out of town or at least to a less populated area of town. They would be able to cast bigger and more powerful spells without getting noticed. If they stayed put, they would either have to use smaller spells or risk the humans taking notice.
You could only cast so much magic before it saturated the area enough for humans to pick up on. That wouldn’t be the best case scenario. It didn’t usually work out well for witches once humans began getting suspicious. It wouldn’t be long after that before the humans got nervous and then they would get anxious. Usually, this culminated in burned houses at best and burned witches at worst. Deanne and Ursula wanted to put up a big fight, but also keep their secret safe.
Magda and Jamie thought it was better to stay put. The wolves wouldn’t risk getting the human police involved. The close proximity to humans, they argued, would help keep the wolves from going all out. The first time they had attacked, it had been beneath the cover of the woods. They didn’t want to be discovered any more than the coven did.
Sara and Rory didn’t have an opinion either way. The Sun Riders would take maybe another four or five minutes to reach them. Rory wished that the witches were a little more like werewolves at that point. If Jamie had been the coven “alpha”, they would already be casting spells since her word would be law. Instead, since covens were more of a community, they were arguing about where to fight.
“Ladies,” Cross said. “Sorry to tell you, but I think you should start casting. The matter has already been decided.”
Rory didn’t see anyone approaching on either side of the street. She was about to ask Cross what he was talking about, but then she heard it. The distant hum of motorcycles approaching.
The two wolves dropped into an aggressive stance and stalked off toward the backyard. Rory watched them go, concerned, but didn’t have time to speak. She was methodically casting three protection spells. She and Sara were both casting spells of protection. Rory’s were farther out than Sara’s. Sara was the best protection caster in the coven and would be casting spells only in close range. If one of the Sun Riders got close enough to touch a witch, they would be in for a nasty shock. Ursula, Jamie, and Deanne were casting various spells that would knock riders off their motorcycles or momentarily stop a wolf in its tracks.
Magda didn’t have any official capacity. She was the best offensive spell caster the coven had and would wait to see where she was needed. She also knew more lethal spells than any of the other witches. If someone got close, they would need her available to kill when needed. This was the witches’ last resort. Lethal spells were usually off limits, but were on the table for this fight.
Rory was finishing her last spell and trying to strengthen the other two when a wolf appeared at her side. She hadn’t real
ized how large they were the first time she had seen them shift. If any one of Jamie’s neighbors looked out their windows, the jig would be up. Cross came up to Rory’s shoulder at least and Ozzy was only slightly smaller. Way larger than a regular wolf and it was very noticeable.
It was very possible that the Sun Riders were just as large and she had failed to notice that too. She knew werewolves were larger than regular wolves, but she had never seen one in person before tonight. The first time she had been running on pure adrenaline and fear. This time, she could observe them a little more. Now, she had time to prepare herself. She had been terrified when Sara told the coven the protection and alert spells were being breached. She wasn’t terrified anymore.
Rory had a creeping feeling that her newfound courage had something to do with the wolf at her side, but she would have to unpack that theory later. The Sun Riders came into view. One fell off his bike as they turned onto the street. The wolf writhed in pain. Rory felt Magda’s magic as it reached out to the fallen wolf. Another two riders fell as they got to the half way point in the block.
Rory smiled, triumphant. That was where her newest spells started. Her joy must have strengthened her cast because two more riders fell as if they had run into a brick wall. Only three riders were left on their motorcycles. They stopped three houses down from the coven and got off their bikes. There in the middle of the street, they shifted. Rory couldn’t believe it. While the only noise in the fight had been the rev of the Sun Riders’ motorcycles, this was brazen. Any human could peek out the window while going for a midnight bathroom run and see the shift in progress.
Rory shook for a moment and felt one of her casts falter. At her side, Cross whined and nudged her side. She regained her composure and brought all her casts up to full strength. The three Sun Riders were in wolf form and stalked toward the coven with fangs bared. There were only three, but Rory wished they had taken the fight somewhere less populated. Cross twitched at her side. All of his muscles were taut, ready to lunge at the first wolf to get close. He and Ozzy both were growling.