The Keeper Saga: Wynter's War, Charmed, and The One (The Boxed Set Book 2)

by K. R. Thompson

  THE WOLF WAS alone. He’d been that way for a long time, though he had become more or less accustomed to it. Strangely enough, a cautious hope had started to grow inside him as he watched the girl at the window. She looked very much like the tiny white-haired creature he once knew so well. He supposed that was the reason he had come to this edge of the woods, to watch his beloved in the sky and feel the familiar strength of the girl who lived in the big house by the forest. That strength reminded him of his tiny white-haired creature—the one whose company he had treasured.

  He had been on this earth a long time. More years than he could count, but that didn’t matter anymore. He’d given up on the concept of time after the first hundred years or so. The only thing he kept track of now was the changes in his Moon.

  Humanity he had ignored, as life tended to replay itself over and over as time went on. Not much surprised him anymore. But tonight was different. The unexpected surprise hadn’t come when he saw the girl leave the spot at the window, but rather when he heard her soft approach outside the safety of the house.

  She was coming out to sit with him.

  He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, but he dared not move. He knew there wasn’t any way that she would know who he was or what he was doing there, so he sat perfectly still and hoped he wouldn’t frighten her away. It soon became apparent that there wasn’t the slightest bit of fear in this wolf as she drew near. Curiosity, perhaps, but not fear.

  The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he sensed a surge of anxiety coming from somewhere behind them in the trees. He stood fast enough that it startled the white wolf and she stopped in her tracks as if she wondered if he were getting ready to attack her.

  Defend her, if need be, but he had no inclination of inflicting any kind of harm upon her. The sudden feeling of chivalry was unnerving. The Wolf hadn’t cared much about anyone in the last few centuries—not since his white-haired creature had left him. Still, he was ready to help this girl and keep her wolf from harm’s path if it came down to it. He could rue his actions later once it was over and done. He decided that he would have plenty of time to second guess his decisions later. After all, time was one thing he always had an abundance of.

  He shifted his gaze to the forest, moving his body slowly so she knew there was nothing to fear from him, and then faced the unseen danger that was now crashing toward them through the trees.

  He relaxed once he realized that the one who came was also on his way to defend the white wolf. It was the girl’s mate, a black wolf with striking silver eyes, who exploded from the trees, snarling as he landed between them. The boy bared his teeth and let out a long, deep growl, as if he thought the Wolf was to blame for some unexplained atrocity.

  The Wolf ignored him and looked at the girl who peered over her mate’s shoulder. She was still in the form of a sleek, white wolf. He watched her for a short while and wondered if she would come from her window another night. He didn’t dare hope it would happen again. With any luck, she would realize her mistake and stay inside from now on, leaving him outside to watch from afar, which would be best for them both. There was no need to care for someone else, because in the end, he would still be alone.

  The Wolf left them standing in the bright moonlight and vanished under the dark canopy of trees.

  “WHO WAS HE? Why was he here, Nikki?” Adam’s silver gaze locked into mine, before he made a quick circle around me, searching for blood.

  I stood still, waiting until he was satisfied that I was in one piece, and then waited some more until the last bits of black fog left his skin. He was calming down. He was starting to think like Adam again.

  “He’s the Wolf that gave your ancestors their power. He came to watch the Moon.”

  “Are you sure he’s the one?” Adam’s eyes narrowed, as if he were calculating how old the gray wolf was.

  “He’s the one.” I nodded and watched the next question come into his eyes.

  “I can understand watching the moon—it’s a wolf thing. But why did he come here?” he asked, looking down at the path of worn grass that was his usual route to come visit me. He didn’t look happy that someone else used it for the same reason.

  “I think he just wanted company. He’s been alone a long time.” I shrugged. “I think perhaps that I reminded him of someone.”

  Silence greeted me for a long moment and then the question came that I knew I couldn’t answer.

  “Why were you out here?”

  “I don’t know.” I didn’t mean for it to come out in a whisper, but it did and it hung in the air between us like the worst confession that I could have made.

  The black fog was back again; swirling around his bare chest and arms, but his voice was calm. Too calm. “Something could have happened to you and I wouldn’t have been able to stop it. Is your mom at work?”

  I nodded, not trusting my voice to answer him, though both of us knew that my mother wouldn’t have been able to protect me. She didn’t know anything about the magic side of my life, which was a good thing. She never would have been able to handle it.

  “Emily. She isn’t here, either,” he observed, a wry note in his voice. We both knew the only scents around were our own.

  I shook my head. With my mom working nightshift and my popular little sister at another sleepover, the house was empty. Common sense told me that what I had just done wasn’t the smartest thing in the world. To jump up and go outside with no one around to see a wolf that no one knew? My thoughts must have shown on my face because the black fog dissipated in an instant, and a small half-smile greeted me when I looked up to Adam’s face.

  He reached out to trace the line of my cheek and the air warmed, sizzling around us. “I love you more than anything in this whole world,” he whispered, leaning down to rest his forehead against my own. “Please think of me the next time he comes.”

  “I will,” I whispered, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I came out, but I switched to my wolf as soon as I went out the door. It felt like she was the one who decided to go outside.”

  “You weren’t afraid, or even worried?”

  I felt his eyebrows furrow against my skin. He knew I didn’t have much control of my wolf yet and that she only showed up to protect me when my emotions came into play.

  “No. I was calm.” Okay, I may have been calm then, but now I wasn’t. What if my wolf just decided to take over whenever she wanted to? What then? It could happen in school, while I was driving, or it could happen in front of my mom. The last one was definitely the worst scenario I could think of.

  “Just take it easy. It’s all right.” Adam gathered me close, folding me in his arms just as I realized that there was a white mist everywhere and I felt the bump of my wolf in my subconscious as she came to see what was making me upset, as if she didn’t realize that it was she who was the reason for my distress.

  Take deep breaths. Relax, Adam’s voice whispered in my mind, soothing the wolf enough to go back into her depths.

  “There has to be something missing, something we can do to give you more control,” he whispered into my hair, still holding me as close as he could. So close that I could feel his own heart still pounding and see the barely perceptible tinge of black that dusted his own skin.

  Frollock

  A FAIRY STOOD amongst the headstones. She tossed her long hair over her shoulder as she stared at the crypt hidden in the back of the cemetery. Her sister had been there a short time ago. She could feel the magic that still claimed the air. The terrible part was that she could sense that Zue had met her end there and was lying in a pile of ash far below. She frowned. Of all her sisters, Zue had been her closest sibling. The two of them had shared a bond, a love of the destruction they left behind.

  But now Zue was gone, she realized, and there were only the three of them left. Three Spriteblood in all of the earth. Only two if she took into consideration that she hadn’t been able to find Wynter anywhere in that town filled with wretched humans.
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br />   Anger roiled through the fairy and she kicked the shin of a morose-looking concrete angel that knelt nearby. The entire leg of the monument shattered, leaving her in somewhat better spirits.

  The ones responsible would pay for what they had done to Zue, she thought, and then she changed her mind. No, they would all pay.

  There was one way that would be the perfect revenge. She closed her endless black eyes and gauged the remainder of Zue’s magic that thrummed the air. She frowned when she realized her sister’s magic had been aimed at the six witches buried in unhallowed ground, far beneath the crypt. Zue had been foolish to use so much energy and magic upon so many. It would have been far better to choose only one witch, but then again, her sister had always been one to blow things out of proportion. Impatience had cost Zue her life.

  The fairy sighed and shook her head. She stretched and took a deep breath, and then concentrated on the bodies below. There was one witch stronger than all the others combined. One, whose revenge and power had stayed strong, even in death.

  A smile caught the fairy’s lips as she cast her spell, mixing her own magic with that of her sister’s.

  She heard the bones clatter about, deep within the grave. At her summons, the metal gate of the crypt ripped from its hinges and a ball of bones, rags, and centuries-old decay rolled out of the opening and landed before her in a heap. As she watched, the bones found their places and muscles re-knit. Within moments, skin covered a newly-reformed body and a single, dark brown eye met her black ones.

  Moonlight played across the witch’s face, gleaming on the jagged scar that ran from her hairline through one ruined eye, and then down to her jaw.

  “One sister is lost, another gone,” the Spriteblood said, “so I have come to take their place. I called you forth; go and do what you will. The ones who condemned you, wait upon you still.”

  Her magic finished, the fairy hopped up on a gravestone, swinging her feet happily. Small chunks of granite flew off every time her heel bounced against the smooth surface.

  The witch watched her for a long second. Then, in a sudden burst of feathers, she transformed into a crow and flew over the fairy’s head, disappearing into the forest.

  She seemed happy to be up and about, the fairy thought with a smile. That witch would prove most interesting to watch once her power was restored. But that could take some time, and she might become bored in the meantime. It would be up to her to find her own mischief. After all, she thought, smiling, there was a reason she had been named Frollock.

  Chapter 3

  THE FIRST WORDS out of my friend’s mouth the next sluggish morning sounded entirely too perky, I decided. But then again, I was staring at the captain of the cheerleading squad. I’d never been a morning person and the lack of sleep from avoiding my nightmares wasn’t making me feel the least bit hospitable.

  “Nikki, they’ve suspended Mr. Giles,” Ronnie repeated, as if I hadn’t gotten the full effect of her words the first time.

  “You’re saying that like it’s a good thing, Ronnie.” I watched her eyes narrow as she caught the hard snap in my voice. I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I’m grouchy. I didn’t get much sleep last night and I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. Tell me what happened.”

  Watching me carefully, lest I bite her head off again, she continued in a more subtle tone, “He was hacking up the library wall with some kind of huge battle ax. The school board has suspended him pending a mental evaluation.”

  “Oh.” I nodded, apparently looking a little too nonchalant about the subject at hand as I got some even stranger looks from Ronnie. I couldn’t help it, though. In the grand scheme of things in the past few months, an ax-wielding principal destroying school property was really low on my list of mind-blowing events. If anything, the version of the story that I knew would top hers hands-down.

  Our principal, like the majority of our town, was one of the people who had magic. I say people loosely, since Mr. Giles was actually a forest gremlin, known as a Woodsburl. He tended to assume the human appearance of a short, fat, bald, and ill-tempered school administrator instead of the enormous, scaly-fleshed thing that he actually was. The fact that he was hacking away in the school library in search of a secret room hidden by the sole librarian, also one of the magic folk, wasn’t exactly news that I could broadcast to my rather anxious-looking, non-magical friend who was now staring at me as if I had lost my marbles. There was also the fact that the library had somehow become whole again. The scene of destruction had been completely repaired and cleaned up by the next school day, though no one was bothering to say anything about it or even wonder who was responsible for fixing the mess, which I thought was strange at best.

  “So, who’s taking over as principal?” I asked, deciding to let her take on the remaining parts of the story that I didn’t know.

  “I don’t know.” She pursed her lips, as if I had caught her off-guard and she didn’t know what else to tell me. She fell silent for a minute, and then her eyes lit up. She gave me a sly smile. “You know, we’re short a few cheerleaders…”

  Ah, here it comes, I thought ruefully. This tidbit of information was also something I already knew. I was beginning to feel all-knowing at this point. They were short at least two cheerleaders, one being myself, who had quit after I had learned that Bland county was packed full of magical creatures, the other being the previous cheerleading captain who had been murdered by one of said magical creatures, though it had been conveniently ruled an accident. But that had been a couple of months ago, and even more weirdness had happened since then and I hadn’t heard much of the latest school gossip, so I didn’t know if anyone else had quit or had been murdered lately.

  “It’s not even football season anymore, Ronnie.” I pointed out. “There aren’t any games to cheer at in the winter.”

  “You’re wrong.” Ronnie smiled sweetly. “It’s basketball season and I need people. There aren’t enough girls on the squad. Please, won’t you join back up again?”

  “No. Absolutely not. I’m not coming back on the team.” I gave my head a vigorous shake. “I’ve got too much to do right now.”

  “Like what?”

  Like figure out how to control the wolf inside me, I thought, though I couldn’t tell her that. Holding a regular conversation was really hard to do without lying, but there was no way I could tell her the truth. Besides, what if I happened to change into a wolf in the middle of practice? A wolf standing at the top of the human pyramid would certainly spell disaster.

  “Never mind, I already know,” she sighed. “It’s Adam, right?”

  I nodded a little too quickly, bobbing my head so hard that my blonde curls corkscrewed around my head like they were loaded with springs. My boyfriend wasn’t the main reason for avoiding the cheer squad, but he was definitely a huge part of my world and someone that I’d much rather spend my time with than a group of giddy girls. Plus, he was the one answer that I wouldn’t have to explain. Telling my friend that I could turn into a wolf at any moment would not be an easy task, not that she would believe me anyway. But boys, that was a concept that she understood, and luckily enough for me, I didn’t have to say a word.

  “Well, alright then.” She looked at someone over my shoulder, before she grinned. “You’re off the hook for now, but I’m not giving up, just so you know.”

  “Deal,” I said as she left, bumping into someone a few feet behind me.

  “It’s all your fault, you know.” I heard her accuse before she laughed and made her way down the hall.

  I soon found the reason for her abrupt retreat as a strong, tanned arm circled around my waist, pulling me back from my locker.

  “Hey.” Adam kissed the back of my head. “What am I being blamed for? Not that I mind. I’m just curious is all.”

  “My reason for not going back to cheerleading. Ronnie more or less came up with that excuse herself, so I let her go with it. Thanks for taking the blame.” I turned around, returning the kiss on his lips, wr
apping my arms around his neck as his silky black hair fell forward to brush my face.

  “You’re welcome,” he murmured.

  The air sparked around us, and the world around us melted away until someone behind us cleared his throat.

  “I hate to break this up, but we’ve got to get to class, you know.”

  “I’m coming.” Adam sighed, backing away from me long enough to shoot Ed a murderous glance. “I’ll be there in a minute. And just so you know, your timing lacks a lot to be desired.”

  Ed grinned, looking quite pleased with himself for causing Adam discomfort as he touched his hand to his head in a mock salute, his black eye patch lending him a rather dashing air as he strode past us.

  “Ever since he lost that eye he’s been acting more like Erik.” Adam frowned. His silver eyes looked troubled as his friend walked by a group of girls who turned to watch him go. They giggled as the now rakish, daring Eats Dirt Young Eagle strode past.

  “He seems to have gained some groupies with that eye patch. But he does have a point, you know.” I grinned up at him, loving the tiny wrinkle that furrowed between his brows when the frown deepened. “We’re going to be late if we don’t go soon.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He leaned in close again, but this time to whisper in my ear, “Make sure you come with us at lunchtime. I’ve got an idea on how you might get more control of your wolf.” He brushed a quick kiss on my cheek before running down the hall to catch up with Ed, leaving me with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  It hadn’t been my usual routine to follow the kids from the Res for their studies on Native American history and traditions until a few days ago, when I was called into the principal’s office and was told that since I had Cherokee ancestors, I’d be required to accompany them. Personally, I think Mr. Giles had somehow gotten wind of my extracurricular activities as a wolf and thought I needed some guidance from the ones who knew what they were doing. But if he was planning on them knowing all the answers, he was dead wrong. So far they hadn’t been able to figure out why I couldn’t change on demand. The Keepers had demonstrated changing from human to wolf and back again so many times the air had fairly glittered with six different mists for the better part of an hour. They tried to show me how easy it was, but I couldn’t do it. Even Brian, who hadn’t been a Keeper but a few months, was stumped as he switched in a matter of seconds to his enormous black and white wolf, and sat down on his haunches, waiting for me to follow suit. I finally did end up switching to a snarling white wolf, but not until I had become aggravated and was on my way home, walking through the woods.