The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

by Ophelia Preston

  ‘Of course. As much as I want to tear you to shreds for what you did to us, I would never deny a father a cure for his child,’ Chris stated honestly. My admiration for him rose.

  Greig nodded and escorted Shaya to his hotel.

  ‘What do you think?’ Jerome asked the room in general.

  ‘He has balls for coming here alone. I want to kill Alex for setting that vampire on you and then ordering his death,’ Oli said grimly.

  ‘Who killed him?’

  ‘Alex had me do that,’ Sean, a pack member I knew nothing about, said. He was tall and strong looking, with doeful, dark eyes and pale blonde hair. He looked to be maybe twenty six, if that, and one of the youngest of the pack.

  ‘Shit, Sean. I’m sorry you had to do that,’ Chris sighed. ‘I’m ordering Alex Hunter’s capture should he dare step foot in New York again. If the vampires want blood they can have his. He brought Conrad into this and then had him killed to cover his part in this up. I want to kill him but if it’ll prevent a war then I’m happy to hand him over.’

  ‘I want to know if Shaya can help young Peter. If she can, it could mean he wants to vie for our city again,’ Jerome said. Chris nodded.

  ‘Let’s wait and see what she says.’

  In the meantime I had a look in the fridge. When I’m bored or frustrated I tend to cook. This ‘apartment’ seemed to be a general hang-out area for the pack and there was a good, stocked kitchen in it. It was eleven in the morning so I grabbed a few chicken breasts and soon had them marinading in yoghurt with coriander and ginger. This would be the base flavour for a korma. I love Indian food and while most people think korma is a mild curry it can pack a punch when you want it and given that this was yogurt based, I liked to give it a little punch.

  An hour later we were still waiting so I started the korma, saag aloo and a spicy rice dish. I also made some naan bread for all those hungry appetites.

  ‘My god that smells so good!’ Pete came over and tried to sample some of the food. I was stirring a separate sauce for the rice and naan and had to admit, it smelled amazing. My friend Padme from back home in Edinburgh had given me the recipes.

  ‘No! Nearly ready,’ I grinned and swatted his hand away.

  Luckily I managed to get my share of the food in the first round because it went in the blink of an eye. I had also thought ahead and left a portion of everything for Shaya in the oven.

  ‘How can you all eat so much in such a tiny space of time?!’

  ‘We’re Weres Emilia, we eat a lot because we burn off a lot of energy,’ Jerome winked. Chris stared at him until the other man looked away.

  Shaya appeared a few minutes later and I put out her food while she told Chris and the others what she had learned.

  ‘He’s dying alright but I might be able to help, if someone was willing to lend me the extra juice?’ she glanced my way. I nodded. ‘Greig is willing to continue to leave New York to you if we’re successful.’

  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

  After eating, Shaya grabbed everything she would require and we left for the hotel.

  Money clearly wasn’t an issue for Greig, given that he was staying at the Waldorf. We were shown in to his suite by two burly gentlemen who were not of the sunniest disposition.

  Greig and a woman met us in the living room and we were introduced. The woman was his wife, Candice. She was very elegant looking and not at all how I expected someone associated with Greig to be. Greig was apparently their surname and I learned that he was called John. We were shown into Peter’s room immediately. He was playing an X-box game and put it down at his father’s behest.

  Peter was the image of his father, except for his eyes. They were the same soft brown as his mother. He wore jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt and he kept looking forlornly at his game.

  Shaya had him lie down on the bed and remove his shoes and socks. She needed access to his head and feet.

  She then began a chant I had never heard before and a beautiful pearly golden light emanated from below her hands. She continued her chant, her voice a sing-song melody as she intoned it.

  After ten minutes the glow started to waver a little and I leaned over and touched her shoulder. She jolted and carried on.

  A further ten minutes later she stopped, looking tired but satisfied.

  ‘Wait a day before getting him checked, let the magic reach every part of him. It feels right, so I think it worked,’ he told the parents honestly. Peter was sound asleep by then.

  ‘If you’re right, you can have anything I own, anything,’ Greig stated, looking sincere.

  ‘I just want sleep and a good meal. Take care of that boy,’ Shaya waved and I followed her out.

  Shaya came back to mine to rest and relax and I called Chris to let him know that I’d see him the following day.

  Chapter 7

  The day of the full moon had arrived and Chris and his pack were making preparations for that night. They had a forest that was privately owned where they could run and hunt freely. I had a client appointment that morning but it was just a consultation. New clients could be strange. Some expected me to magically ‘dig’ for the ore/gem myself, others weren’t sure how accurate I was, and so I had a lot of queries and false information to wade through. It was also for me to gauge what kind of people they were and whether I could or even wanted to work with them.

  By lunchtime I was free and had gone over to Chris’s to see him before they headed to the forest. He looked antsy. It was the first word that came to mind as soon as I saw him.

  ‘Alex will hopefully be in someone else’s territory by now. He won’t turn up here but it’s possible that he’ll send someone to snatch you away. I know you can protect yourself but would you mind having Shaya over? She could probably use the company and I’d feel better if there were two of you together.’

  ‘Sure, I could use the company. We can have a proper catch up,’ I nodded, liking the idea. He relaxed visibly. ‘What time are you leaving?’

  ‘We’re heading out in a few minutes. Want to make sure we get there in plenty of time and there are no stray campers or hikers in the woods.’

  He and the pack left soon after and Shaya and I went to mine for food and wine. We had a proper catch up on what our respective families were up to and Shaya told me that she had been doing more healing and had also been selling potions and spells. She tended to work with air and water elements, which made her a good healer and an excellent spell maker and caster. She had created a few spells for me over the years.

  We blended a few incenses, and I was happy to be able to share a blend Gracie’s mother had given me the recipe for. We made a couple of pentagrams for many potential possibilities, as they acted as protection from so many forms of attack. When we were finished with our witchy work we relaxed with the wine and resumed our catch-up.

  ‘It’s good business, and once word got out that the potions work, business was booming. Mostly self empowering spells and potions, nothing nasty,’ she laughed.

  ‘New York is laid back about a lot of things but most people here are so cynical that I honestly don’t think there would be enough business to cover the overheads. Besides I make enough money to never have to worry about that,’ I grinned and Shaya nodded.

  ‘You really do. You landed on your feet girl.’

  ‘Had to. Came here broken hearted and with only the hint of a business in the making. I love that I can employ someone and am free enough that I don’t have to be in the office every day.’

  ‘Me too! I have two shop assistants that are fantastic. I do the brews and leave the selling to them now. Look at us, all entrepreneurial!’ She waved her wine glass precariously. ‘Oh, remember that old witch, Gertrude? The one at camp who kept telling us to beware of men who seemed to be too good to be true?’

  ‘Yes?’ I remembered the old woman. She was one of the organisers of the summer camps for witch’s children. It was held in different countries each year and meant that witches from al
l over the world could meet up and get to know each other, share information and have a big party.

  ‘She’s married!’ Shaya guffawed at her own news. I joined her. Gertrude had been a true feminist, very much lauding the benefits of girl power. She didn’t seem to hate men so much as not trust them one bit and I had always wondered whether she might bat for the other team, not that there was anything wrong with that.

  ‘A man?’

  ‘Of course! She finally met a man who didn’t break her heart!’ Shaya smiled, fondness evident in her eyes. ‘Good woman, Gerty. Funny as hell. She didn’t always know she was funny but she was. And she taught us a lot about men.’

  ‘Wish I’d listened.’

  ‘Me too, babe. Me too,’ Shaya patted my arm.

  Our conversation moved on to why we were still living where we were. Shaya loved San Francisco and I loved New York. We seemed to gel with our respective cities. Having had way too much wine to walk about in New York alone, I showed Shaya to the guest room a few hours later.

  I had the strangest dreams that night, of running through a forest and feeling the wind through my hair and on my skin. It was a wild, invigorating dream but it also left me half awake and drowsy.

  I had a consultation and search for gold that morning and after finding a vein which the client could tap, I almost collapsed into my bed just after lunch. Even though I had eaten, I felt tired and weary. Sleep reached for me.

  The next thing I knew the door buzzer was ringing very impatiently. Chris stood in the doorway filling it. He had a brushing of stubble across his chin and a tired look in his eyes. He buried his face in my hair before I closed the door behind him.

  It was dark outside, so well after eight in the evening.

  ‘Have you eaten?’ I asked. He nodded, yawning.

  ‘You?’

  ‘I had lunch. Just really tired,’ I managed before he led me to my room. We were asleep moments later.

  I don’t know how long we slept but the sun was high when we woke and I had to check in with Gracie to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I had another free day on my hands, thankfully. I had showered and finished making pancakes by the time Chris emerged from the room. He looked rugged. It was the only word I could think of, that fully captured him at that moment. Jeans, bare feet, hair loose and damp and much more stubble over his lower face. He was quite stunning.

  ‘You’re staring again,’ he grinned and I could feel my cheeks grow red. I cleared my throat and handed him a plate of pancakes to share and the jar of maple syrup, as I sat down with a bowl of blueberries for us. We ate in silence and relaxed in front of the telly for a while, just being normal.

  I asked him whether they had managed to find anyone from Conrad’s group who were seeking revenge. He hadn’t and that concerned me.

  ‘They’re a vengeful group. Can hold grudges for centuries, so Koji tells us. His pack had dealings with a clan of them out in California. They wanted to control the pack. I think they were a young group because they were believing the media hype about a vampire being able to control a werewolf,’ he snorted. ‘Apparently that one died quickly. It made Koji’s pack look into vampire lore, with the help of a couple of witches. He discovered that the early vampires, the truly powerful ones, were created when they stole the blood of a damned man. In ancient times this was more common but in the last couple of thousand years there are only records of one in Western mythology.’

  ‘Do we know who that is? Does it help us if we do?’

  ‘His name was Ahasureus, also called the Wandering Jew. Have you heard of him? Well he was said to have been cursed for mocking Jesus when he was crucified. He was cursed to never taste death, to wander the earth alone. Because he could never die, men began to think that his blood was special and could prevent them from dying as well. Of course, this was only partially the case, and they became the undead. I believe that in ancient times this knowledge was more widely known. More people were cursed to live forever by the old gods, so legend says. This is how vampires were born. Vampires can beget vampires but the ones with power are the original drinkers of the blood of the damned.’

  ‘What happened to the damned?’

  ‘Who knows? Maybe they became vampires too, or like vampires? Or went insane?’ He shrugged. ‘Vampyre, as Koji calls the drinkers of the damned, are very rare in this day so we should only be up against regular vampires. Conrad was a regular.’

  ‘What about the witch who helped him?’

  ‘No one saw him or her. We don’t know anything about them.’

  ‘The energy was female. Older. A woman in her middle life. Strong,’ I summarised. He looked surprised. ‘What, we have energy signatures too, you know,’ I smiled. ‘So you think the vampires will come for the pack soon, or for Sean in particular? Do you have a way to contact them to let them know it was Alex?’

  ‘I have no idea what will happen next. I’ve never had dealings with vampires before. Our pack has always stayed well out of their reach. The less contact you have the less harm they inflict, which also means we have no means of contacting them to tell them about Alex. Koji is looking into this. He seems to think his pack leader might know someone who can help. He’ll call sometime today to let us know if he had any luck.’

  ‘Can I ask you about last night, about you changing?’ I asked a little nervously. I didn’t want to intrude but I wanted to know everything about this man before me. He smiled and nodded.

  ‘The change is a little like most things on TV portray. It hurts like hell but it’s quick. Not instantaneous but swift. Our bones do crack, our whole frame changes shape. We leave our clothes in a pile near the cars and run on our regular path into the forest. Last night we changed the route, in case Alex had laid any traps.’

  ‘How did you change the route?’

  ‘I peed on the route we’d take,’ he laughed as I blushed.

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Seriously. Anything else you’d like to know?’

  ‘Everything! Are you compelled to turn at the full moon, or can you turn any time, and can you stop from turning during a full moon? Do you lose your sense of you, or can you see and feel everything your wolf does. If you met me in wolf form would you hurt me or know me?’

  ‘Wow! Slow down!’ He laughed. He seemed genuinely pleased by my curiosity. ‘We feel a pull at the full moon but as we grow stronger, into full adulthood, we can, if necessary, not change. It’s painful and is not recommended but if someone became suspicious of us, we could stay in the city and just be human, for the most part. However, we would need to change as soon afterwards as we could because the pull won’t give up until we change. As a rule, we seem to need to change every single month. We can change at any time of the month but as I said, the need is greatest with that big ol’ full moon. It’s hard to explain what it’s like. I am vaguely aware of what’s going on around me. My wolf allows me to share in the hunt, the kill, the night. I let the wolf into my life as well. We have an agreement. And yes, I would recognise you and could never harm you, in any form,’ he smiled. ‘Is that everything or do you have any more questions?’

  ‘I think that’s enough, for now,’ I grinned.

  Chris’s phone beeped and he checked a message. Koji had made contact with someone who could act as a neutral go-between. The San Franciscan had set up a meet to take place that evening.

  ‘Man knows how to get things done,’ Chris smiled.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ I offered. Chris tensed. ‘You want to protect me, well I want to protect you too and I have some useful skills that you lack, my werewolf.’

  He shook his head and sighed, tension leaving his body. ‘If you knew what I felt for you, how much I need you to be safe, you’d never put yourself at risk like this.’

  ‘Life is about taking risks. Besides, I’ll have you and probably Koji as well with me. What could go wrong? It’s not like you’re walking in to a den of vampires, this is a neutral meeting.’

  Chris stroked my hand a
nd brought it up to his lips, kissing me softly. My heart jumped.

  ‘Very well. Don’t do anything to make yourself a target though, ok?’

  ‘Ok,’ I smiled and hugged him.

  Chapter 8

  The meeting was in a bar on the other side of town. Chris, Koji, Ron and I met with a man none of us had met before. He needed to know exactly what we wanted, who we wanted to meet, where and when and he would arrange the meet with the relevant people.

  As it turned out this man was very different and we could all tell straight away that he was also a supernatural, we just didn’t know what kind. He was tall and well built like any Were would be but he gave off an entirely different, alien scent, according to my companions. He exuded power on a level I had never felt before and I was more than a little wary of him. Even Chris, powerful as he was, made sure he never stared the man in the eyes. He did not want it to be read as a challenge.

  Ben, as he introduced himself, was about the same height and build as Chris, with dark hair that was cropped short. He had chiselled features and was quite stunning. He had the bluest eyes of any person I had ever met and was wearing a lot of leather.

  The bar was a quiet nook in a quiet part of the city. We had a booth as far away from the door as was possible. No one bothered us there.

  ‘Why the hell would you want a meeting with a bunch of vamps? Seriously?’

  ‘My brother betrayed our pack, had me captured and bespelled by one. He then had that vampire killed to cover up his part in my abduction. Now our pack is being marked for killing by this vampire’s nearest and dearest. I don’t want a war on my hands or in my city,’ Chris said honestly. Ben eyed him for a moment, before glancing at Koji. Koji nodded and Ben sighed.

  ‘Alright. But you need to know that some of them can be real bastards. They might not give a shit and if they’re young enough they might want a good fight. If they’re old enough they might want to see if you can send them to oblivion.’