Paul replied, “If he was guilty no, but if he wasn’t? You’d be accusing him of something much worse than simply killing a witch. Sorry, that sounded bad but it’s true. You’d be accusing him of betraying and arranging the death of a pack mate. He could challenge you over that, working for the council or not.
“Even if he doesn’t, the council may cut you off and not bother protecting you anymore. It’s a hot button issue that goes straight to the core of pack mentality. For most wolves, what you believe he did is unthinkable. It’s much more likely Tom was just crazy and babbling nonsense. Are you sure it’s worth the risk?”
She thought about that for a minute. Everyone else thought justice had been done, so she could let it go. She thought she was right, but it did make more sense for Tom to just be crazy than for Brice to have come up with an elaborate plot. Even if she was right, Jennie would hate her guts. Bruce had effectively raped her, and in return for her rapist’s death she’ll have lost her brother and boyfriend.
That was a crappy deal.
But damn it, it was murder. She’d killed, but only in self defense and it was her duty to the councils, he did it out of malice and revenge which wasn’t nearly the same thing, and then set up his pack mate to die. She knew some wouldn’t see it that way, they’d say killing was killing, but she knew that was a generalization, weak thinking, and foolishness besides.
The difference was night and day.
She frowned but answered his question from her heart, “Yes, I need to know the truth. Maybe I should have thought of asking a follow up question back then, but I didn’t. I was too busy thinking about Tom’s perfidy. So am I doing so alone?”
She heard his low growl of frustration, nice to know he cared.
He sounded resigned, “Fine, I’ll call Ed.”
Ten minutes later, Ed called and said he and Paul would be by after lunch to pick her up, and that the alpha knew they were coming. She was committed, and she hoped she was doing the right thing.
She still had time and remembered lasts nights uncomfortable conversation. She called a local doctor, and he referred her to a place in Charlotte that would take a cheek swab and run the DNA test. He’d also said it would take weeks, which she wasn’t happy about, but what choice did she have?
Chapter 22
She gathered rather quickly that Tony was… not pleased. She wasn’t sure if it was her, or the thought of Brice betraying the pack, or perhaps it was simply if Brice was guilty his pack would be down to two males and four females. That could cause issues in the long term. She patiently answered all his questions as he tried to understand her logic. Eventually he reluctantly sent Natalie for Brice.
She’d considered what he might say or do, and of course having Ed here meant she couldn’t have a eureka moment if he actually managed to lie somehow. She didn’t think she could, but she wasn’t sure it was completely impossible either. He wouldn’t be able to fool anyone’s noses though.
When Brice walked in he looked at all of us warily.
Tony ordered, “You will answer their questions with yes or no, do not prevaricate.”
She’d been ready for just about anything. Denials, an attack, him coming out with the truth, be it her theory was correct or not. What she hadn’t expected was his eyes to widen in panic, and for him to run for it.
She snorted, “I guess that means I was right,” her voice came out regretful.
Tony growled, “Take him alive if you can please, I want to know the details of what he did.”
The three of them got up and chased after Brice, it felt like déjà vu when they got outside and saw him running into the woods as a wolf. She fired off a stunning spell, but the bastard dodged it and disappeared into the brush.
Tony startled her, she didn’t know he’d followed them out, “You have my permission to change.”
For once she wasn’t shy about it. She stripped right there and in an experiment fed extra magic into the change. It freaked out Silva badly, but it did work. She was a tiger in seconds. She looked back for a moment, Ed had a strange look on his face, and Paul had barely started the change. Silva bunched up and lunged into a fast run, her senses highly alert and her nose followed Brice’s trail.
She was fast, much faster than a wolf and Brice didn’t have much of a head start. It paid off being crazy, Silva concentrated on the trail, running, and catching the fleeing wolf. Celia was just along for the ride, and concentrated on hitting him with a stunning spell. She finally hit him with one on the fourth try and he tumbled.
The stun spell wouldn’t last long, Brice wasn’t unconscious, simply stunned for a few moments. Silva pounced and dug her claws into his throat.
“Don’t move,” Silva ordered harshly.
Celia was busy chanting a spell in her mind that would put him to sleep. It was borderline too much magic, but she stretched it out a little and was relieved when Silva didn’t panic and cut Brice’s throat. The spell flowed through her paw and into the wolf, knocking him out. She growled and shifted back, throwing the wolf over a shoulder and jogged back to the clearing. Naked.
So much for not making a habit out of it.
She focused on Tony and Natalie when she got back on the field, they acted like it was no big deal, but Ed stared at her for a moment and then awkwardly turned his back. She almost asked if he liked what he saw, but now wasn’t the time for flirting or mischief. Paul was behind her doing the same thing, changing, not staring. That made her feel self conscious, but curiously not as badly as a few days ago. She dropped the wolf on the ground like he was a sack of grain and quickly pulled on her clothes.
Tony’s face was closed off, he picked up Brice rather roughly and they all followed him into the house and down to the basement. It was Brice’s turn to go into the cage.
Tony ordered, “Wake him.”
The cat in her wanted to ignore his order, but she knew better. He was one of her bosses after all, even if she wasn’t in the pack. She dispersed her spell and the wolf woke up. Then she felt Tony’s shifter magic do something she couldn’t quite figure out.
Tony ordered, “Shift, now!”
It didn’t look to her that Brice had any choice, as his body immediately began to melt and flow into his human form. He looked up at her with hatred on his face.
“You stupid bit…”
Tony yelled, “Silence! You will tell us the truth, and you will do it now, or your death will take weeks.”
She shivered at the doom in that voice. Note to self, she should never piss off Tony. She did almost burst out laughing though, when Silva replied, “Noted,” which would have been… bad. So far only Paul knew she was soul broken and had a split personality, she wanted to keep it that way. Plus, they’d think she was laughing at a three week torturous death, which was just… wrong.
Tony demanded, “Tell us what happened that night, in plain words.”
Brice shivered and it made her wonder just how strong an alpha’s order was. Brice was clearly trying to fight it, and just as clearly wasn’t succeeding.
Brice’s voice was full of spiteful hatred, “That piece of shit raped Jennie, he was as good as dead as soon as I heard it. We tracked him down to a bar, Tom was just as mad, and the anger only built as time passed. You know Tom, my anger was cold, determined, he needed to die. Tom was… out of control angry and not thinking at all. He jumped Bruce and pulled him into the alley and as I already said before, proceeded to kick his ass.”
Brice looked up, “I needed Bruce dead, but I didn’t need to be the one that did it. I figured out while waiting I could just let Tom do it. It almost worked, almost. Bruce was a bloody mess. Then to my shock, Tom threatened him, told him if he got his witch ass anywhere near his sister again he’d kill him and damn the consequences.”
Brice shook his head in disbelief, “I was shocked, sure Tom had gone over the edge, but he hadn’t, at least, not far enough. Tom took off then but I stayed, and watched him lying there, still alive. He’d touched what was min
e, I couldn’t bear it, so I walked over there and stood on his neck. It didn’t take long for the light to go out of his eyes.
“Of course, now I was the guilty one because Tom was a coward and couldn’t finish the job. So I came up with a desperate plan, I never lied, just… made it look like Tom was guilty.”
He looked down regretfully, “You know, there was a good chance Bruce would have died from that beating, I should have waited longer but I was too angry at him, and Tom.”
Tony growled, “Back on point, what then? How did you tip off and misdirect Tom when I ordered you not to reveal what had happened.”
Brice smiled almost haughtily, “You weren’t specific enough, you said not to tell Tom what was talked about in the questioning that night, but you never completely forbade the subject of Bruce’s murder. It wasn’t hard to work around it.”
He looked at Celia, “Bruce hated that you exist in an almost holy fervor. All I had to do was tell him that you all believed he was the murderer, and you all did. I saw it in your eyes after the testimony. I also may have mentioned that Celia had motive to kill him, being the jilted ex-girlfriend. That was all I said. He did the rest of the math himself, quite poorly as you know. He hated you and it was easy for him to come to the conclusion you’d somehow been there that night, somewhere, and that you killed Bruce when he left, and then framed him for it.”
Tony shook his head, “But why? Why set up Tom, betray your pack? That’s the part I’m having real trouble with.”
Brice replied, “That should be obvious, if Tom had been questioned and cleared, you’d have realized I’d been a little too vague about how Bruce actually died. Plus, to be honest, I hated the bastard. Tom was a dick, and I didn’t like the way he ordered my mate around all the time.”
She blew out a breath. She’d been right on almost every detail, then why did she feel so bad about it all? Maybe because this would hurt the pack, a betrayal, especially Tony and Jennie, who she did like, although she couldn’t say what the full fallout from this would be.
The most surprising thing for her though, was that Brice was clearly… a coward.
Was it worth it? Well, the truth came out, and there would be justice, she’d done her job. As for if it was worth it, only time would tell.
Tony asked, “Do any of you have any more questions for him?”
They all shook their heads.
Tony turned to Ed, “Normally it would be a shifter enforcer, either Paul or Celia who would execute the guilty. I would request that I be allowed the privilege in this case. Not for the murder of a witch, but for betrayal of the pack.”
She felt an odd surge of relief at that when Ed agreed. She’d killed in self defense, but execution was… different. She didn’t know how she would feel about that, and she better figure it out quick because eventually she would have to do one if she continued this work. But then, she couldn’t imagine stopping and just going back to living… no, hiding in a store all day every day.
It was living for the old Celia. The new Celia would be hiding if she simply retreated to the store.
Her work there mattered of course, but it wasn’t everything in her life anymore, and she knew there was no going back to that life. The truth was, she didn’t even really want to.
Tony unlocked the cage, stepped in and in one quick movement twisted and snapped Brice’s neck. She flinched at the sound, but at least it was quick and humane. She’d been half expecting a wolf battle where he got torn apart.
When Tony turned to her she saw the thanks in his eyes for discovering the truth, of what was hiding in his pack. But he couldn’t quite bring himself to actually say it, and she understood, she didn’t want to hear it either.
Ed and Paul took her back to the store, and Paul reminded her they had training in their other forms tonight. She waved and headed back into the store conflicted. Proud of what she’d done, but also sad at the results. Perhaps now her nightmares would stop, at least the one about Tom anyway.
She looked up, “Berny? What are you doing here on your day off?”
Berny snickered, “Mia’s got the store, and I’m taking you out to update your wardrobe.”
She scowled, “But I like jeans and t-shirts.”
Berny sighed, “For the shy store clerk behind a counter that works fine, but not for the sexy kick ass enforcer.”
She wanted to rebel but tried for distraction, “You think I’m sexy?” she asked in a sultry tone.
Berny just ignored her panic and went on making her case, “You see how Ed and Paul dress, and Fran along with the witch council. How you dress reflects on them. Casual is fine, but it needs to look professional at the same time.”
She tried again, “But I need to do my report.”
Berny waved it away, “Later, it can wait.”
She frowned, “Why do you care so much?”
Berny giggled, “Because I needed someone to go shopping with of course. To tell the truth jeans are probably fine, you can’t fight in a dress after all, but the silly t-shirts have to go. You need nicer tops, and jeans that don’t look so old.”
She opened her mouth to object but Berny grabbed her arm and gently pushed her toward the door.
She rolled her eyes, “Fine, but only because I love you so much. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…” she finished dubiously.
Berny nodded, “Of course it wouldn’t. Plus, Ed and Paul won’t be able to keep their eyes off you.”
Wait… what?
But she liked Paul… Ed was a friend. Sure, they seemed to connect better than the first time she met him the last day or so, but that didn’t… Did he want her? That’s all she needed, another complication in her life.
Silva agreed, their life was more than interesting enough already…
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would appreciate greatly any constructive feedback or opinions. This story is complete as is, but is the start of a series of books about Celia Winters. I tried not to leave any cliff hangers, but obviously character development and world building was unfinished and will continue through other books.
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
Book Description
Celia Winters was raised by her single mother, and her earliest memories are of the store her mother owns and the nearby coven, who have always been her family’s close allies and friends.
She grew up believing her magic was weak, but she was satisfied with her life, and happy. She was a midwife, healer, and supplier of surrounding covens.
Then her mother died, and she’s about to discover she isn’t who, or what, she believes herself to be, not completely. She will learn that her entire life up until now was a lie. She’ll need to figure out her place, who she is when she no longer recognizes herself, and try to hold on to her closest friends as she gathers enemies for the simple crime of her existence.
She’s stronger than she believes, but will it be enough?
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Witch's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1 Page 16