The Witchling Apprentice

by B. Kristin McMichael

  The front door to the house opened; it was too late to pretend they didn’t make it home yet.

  “I won’t let them force you to do anything. I promise,” Whitney told Cassie. “I got your back.”

  Cassie wasn’t sure what that meant. So far all she knew was that Whitney could disobey the alpha, but that didn’t mean she could stand up to him or Nate. What was going to stop them from physically making her leave with them?

  Whitney got out of the car, walked around to Cassie’s side, and opened the door.

  “You’re going to be fine,” she tried to reassure her.

  Cassie looked up at her friend bleakly. There was no use staying in the woods if John couldn’t reach Maria. Whitney was right that they had to come back to find a way out of everything, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t terrifying.

  “If he tries to force you to bond to him, I’ll bond to you myself. So don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’ll stand by you.” Whitney held her pinky out for Cassie. “Bestie pinkie promise.”

  Cassie couldn’t help but smile at that. Whitney was always making pinkie promises, and the best part was that she had yet to break a single one.

  “Fine. But if I end up married with monster children, I will blame their Aunt Whitney for the rest of her life.” Cassie took her friend’s pinkie in her own. There wasn’t much choice, and it was best to face it together.

  Cassie walked up to her house with her waiting uncle in the doorway. He gave Whitney a grim smile, and she nodded back to him. Cassie held onto her best friend for support and to keep anchored. She was close to bolting again. She had to keep telling herself it was better to face the monsters she knew than the one she didn’t.

  John led the two girls into the living room. Nate was sitting, watching TV. He stood as soon as Cassie and Whitney entered. He looked to Whitney first, and then to Cassie.

  “You didn’t run into any trouble?” he asked, not divulging anything in particular.

  “No,” Whitney answered curtly.

  “Good. We plan to have people run shifts around the house twenty-four seven,” Nate continued. Whitney nodded in agreement.

  “Shifts?” Cassie asked.

  “You know the night human you saw the first night? That wasn’t one of ours,” Whitney explained.

  “What?” Cassie was getting a bit upset. What more was Whitney leaving out?

  “I didn’t want you to worry on the hike. It wasn’t like they would attack in daylight anyway,” Whitney added. “Now it isn’t an issue. We’re back, safe and sound.”

  “Obviously it is,” Cassie replied. “Wait. Why would they be protecting my uncle?”

  “Yeah,” Whitney replied, both girls turning to Nate at the same time.

  “He doesn’t need protection,” Nate replied, rolling his eyes at Whitney. Nate turned to Cassie, his expression serious. “You do since you want to stay here. John can take care of you while he’s awake, but winter is coming, and he sleeps soundly at night.”

  That much was true, but Cassie had no clue how Nate knew that. She glanced at her friend who nodded in agreement with Nate.

  “Okay, what am I missing now?” Cassie asked Whitney.

  “Well, you know how we change into our totems at night?” Whitney began. “John isn’t of the feline variety skinwalker.”

  Cassie looked over at her uncle who was back in his chair in front of the TV. She wasn’t sure if he was listening to them or not. He didn’t even turn to them as they talked about him.

  “Then what is he?” Cassie asked, realizing John was back to sleep. At least that much seemed normal, even if the rest of her life was more than a bit messed up.

  “What animal do you think he acts like?” Nate prompted.

  Cassie shrugged. Her uncle slept through the winter months and had quite the temper. People often times described him …

  “He’s a bear?” Cassie guessed. Whitney nodded.

  Everything about her childhood and being raised by John clicked into place. It all made much more sense now. The moody falls, and sleepy winters. Bulking up and endless meals all fall long to cold, slow, meager winters. Cassie had never seen a bear in the wild before, but everyone knew they hibernated for the winter. Cassie looked at Nate and Whitney, who were both waiting for her to do something.

  “Do you think she’s going to freak now?” Whitney asked Nate.

  Nate smiled. “No. She’s tougher than that.”

  Cassie shook her head. It all suddenly got a lot more real. She might have been able to pretend it was a dream, or the people around her were crazy. But they weren’t. Cassie was now part of the world she wanted to be a part of since she was a kid. And it was nothing like she had expected to be.

  CHAPTER 7

  Returning to school was strange, and not just because Cassie had skipped a few days. It was weird because now instead of blending into the background, people actually looked at her. She had grown used to people ignoring her or even a few fearing her from her lack of control over looking into their memories in the past. Now people actually spoke to her. It was beyond bizarre. The amount of hello’s she received on her way to her locker in the morning was enough to make her want to go back home.

  At least she was going to get out of afternoon classes since she passed her exam. All she had to do was make it through the ten minutes of updates for the class and coven, and she would be free to be on her way. She already had plans to hit the library, and Whitney planned to go with her and skip her lessons. It turned out that Whitney had only kept taking the witch classes to be with Cassie once they became friends. As a skinwalker, she wasn’t expected to take classes, so she was there by choice.

  “And did you see how Corey Tegan almost bowed to you when you walked by?” Whitney whispered to Cassie as they sat in the auditorium, waiting for the teacher to talk. Whitney found Cassie’s new celebrity status humorous, even more so that Cassie wasn’t taking it well.

  “That’s not funny,” Cassie complained. “Did you see how Jennifer looked ready to curse me on the spot?”

  The guys had all taken to staring or being quite courteous to Cassie, but many of the girls were not as keen on her new status. It had only been half a day, but it was already apparent there was going to be something more happening. Most of the other witchlings-in-training had never liked Cassie, and her new-found status among the males of the school didn’t help anything.

  “You’ll be fine. Since the mark Than put on you can only be seen by night humans, they’re always slow to accept the news that someone is taken, especially by the next alpha,” Whitney replied. Cassie had heard it all perhaps a dozen times since she complained to Whitney, but it didn’t make it any better, nor was it a status she wanted to have. “When he makes it public, they can’t do anything to you without being forced to leave the coven. They’ll all get over it.”

  “Makes it public?” Cassie asked cautiously.

  She had noticed Nate talking with the teacher for more than five minutes. How could she not? She noticed everywhere Nate was now. It was like she could feel him looking at her. Somehow she had developed Nate radar, and it was more than annoying. It was worse than when she had her crush last year.

  Mrs. Anton cleared her throat, and the whole room began to settle down. Nate stood just to the side of the teacher, looking like he was bored, but Cassie knew otherwise. He was actually really anxious. He relaxed and leaned against the table, hiding his hand which was tapping out a rhythm. He always tapped his fingers when he was nervous. Cassie hated that she knew that much about him.

  “The only upcoming event we have planned is still the ceremony for our own Cassie a week from Friday,” Mrs. Anton began her list of updates. “You will all be expected to attend. It’s not every day that I get to lead the ceremony, so I expect you all on your best behavior. For those of you going with your mothers to the retreat the week after, make sure you have all your work done prior to leaving. That only gives you two-and-a-half weeks to get
caught up. Other than that, Nathaniel would like to address the room.”

  The room full of teenage girl witchlings grew excited with chatter. Cassie tried to tune them out, but more than half of them were telling their neighbors about the one time they kissed him and how sure they were that they were going to be the next mate to the alpha. If she could, Cassie would have given that opportunity to any of the girls talking, but she still didn’t know how. Cassie and Whitney couldn’t get to the library soon enough to start researching.

  “As some of you know, the seer predicted that I’d find a mate before leaving high school,” Nate began, facing the crowd of female admirers.

  He looked around the room, stopping his gaze on Cassie. All traces of nervousness instantly vanished.

  “While I didn’t think she was correct, it was a lesson I had to learn. I have indeed found my mate,” Nate continued. The room filled with quiet excitement.

  Cassie silently groaned. She didn’t want this at all. First off, she didn’t want to be his mate. Second, she was going to try to find a way around it as quick as she could. Nate making it public was just going to complicate everything. Cassie glanced at Whitney, who was smugly smiling at all the girls who were sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting to be named Nate’s mate and actually expecting him to do so.

  “Cassie passing her exam last Friday was enough for me to realize she is the one.” Nate was interrupted by the blonde at the very front of the room.

  “If that was all you were waiting for, I’d have taken it last week also. You should have told us. I’m sure there’s more than one person here that would gladly take the exam to be considered for your mate,” Jess said as she stood. Several girls nodded along with her.

  “I wasn’t waiting for anything and that wasn’t the requirement. It was seeing how she was brave enough to do something the rest of you chose not to do made her stand out a bit,” Nate continued. “In all honesty, I kind of have felt for years that I’d be paired with Cassie. I just needed to wait until she joined the coven to do so.”

  Cassie slid down in her seat. It was bad enough when people whispered about her when she was in earshot, but these guys were outright having a conversation.

  “But it’s not fair,” Jess continued to complain.

  Nate moved faster than a blink and was immediately in front of Jess. She jumped at his sudden appearance, and for once, instead of the smug, superior look she normally wore in class, she seemed frightened. Cassie glanced from Jess to Nate and saw his blue eyes almost glowing. Cassie didn’t fear Nate, but it wasn’t the same for everyone else. It was kind of strange. For all the years she had been teased by these people, she never knew how much they seemed to dislike her.

  “A bit of advice for Jess and anyone else in the room that would care to tell me how to live my life. I may not be in charge yet, but I will be someday. It would be best for you if you kept your opinions to yourself if you want to stick around.” Nate stared directly at Jess, and she shrank back into her seat. “No matter who your mother is.”

  Nate casually walked back to the aisle and began climbing the steps to leave. He stopped at Cassie’s row and motioned for her to come with him. She turned to Whitney, who nodded to her.

  “I’m sure you’ll all welcome her into the coven and clan with open arms,” Nate added before opening the door to leave.

  Nate reached back and took Cassie’s hand to pull her into the hallway with him. The doors clanged shut behind them with everyone still frozen in their seats. Well, everyone except for Whitney, who was grinning like a cat who just caught a mouse. She enjoyed the show, probably a bit too much.

  “Sorry about all of that. I know this has all been kept from you, but it hasn’t from them. A little power can make even the nicest person a bit crazy,” Nate explained, not letting go of Cassie’s hand.

  Cassie hated herself for not pulling her hand back from him either. His hand was warm and soft. She was more than sure the anger back in the room was directed at her, but holding onto Nate made her feel safe.

  “I’m really sorry about Saturday night. I could have handled it better. I never knew Jess would go that far,” Nate apologized again.

  That wasn’t like him. Searching her mind, she couldn’t remember a time Nate had apologized for anything in the past eight years. She could vividly remember the last time when she was seven and the first time she was teased about not having parents. He was sorry he was late and not there to protect her.

  Cassie shrugged. Jess hadn’t liked her before Nate broke up with her. He was just one more reason in a long line for that anger.

  “I know you don’t understand all of this, and again I feel bad for that. I never wanted to keep the night human world from you, but my father decided it was better that way. He was worried your father wasn’t a skinwalker, and you were possibly sent to ruin us. John had him convinced the best thing to do was to keep it all from you. That was never my choice. Your friends had orders also to keep everything from you. They were just following them.”

  Nate was now defending her friends. Cassie gawked at him. Where was the jerk she was used to?

  “If you’d let me make it up to you, I’d like to take you out on a date. Like a real date with just the two of us,” he continued.

  Cassie looked up at him. The blue glow in his eyes was now muted, but they were still just as beautiful as he stared at her. He was completely serious. He reached up and hesitantly touched her face, his thumb tracing the line from her ear to her jaw. Just that simple motion made Cassie’s heartbeat pick up. He leaned forward slowly. He was going to kiss her again, and Cassie was unable to stop it.

  “She’d love to,” Whitney answered for Cassie as she cracked the door open farther. “But right now we need to head over to the library before they realize I’m not coming back to the room.”

  Cassie snapped out of the fuzzy feelings Nate was giving her. He wasn’t being a jerk for the moment, but that didn’t change anything. She wanted to be able to choose her own life, and a prearranged mate wasn’t her idea of choosing.

  Whitney looped her arm in Cassie’s before pulling her the other direction.

  “Wait.” Nate stopped them before they could get away. He pulled a necklace out of his pocket. “If you wear this all the girly hate stuff should stop.”

  Cassie looked at the flat, quarter-sized pendant. There were markings on it, but nothing she recognized as meaning anything. She glanced at Whitney, who nodded to her. After undoing the clasp, Nate held it up to put on Cassie. Letting go of her friend, she took the two steps back to him. He walked behind her, and she pulled up her hair as he clasped it behind her, brushing his fingers on her neck.

  “Friday night work for you?” he asked. Cassie turned and looked at him. His eyes were sparkling again, and she couldn’t help but stare.

  “Friday night?” Cassie wanted to know what he was asking, but his eyes were too distracting.

  “That works fine,” Whitney said, cutting in and pulling Cassie away from Nate.

  “You got the first shift?” Nate asked Whitney.

  “If you can get me out of witch classes,” she replied.

  Nate gave her a curt nod, and Whitney nodded back. Cassie was still reprimanding herself for getting caught up with him again. She wanted her freedom, but when she was alone with him, it was hard to keep her wits about her. He had some sort of pull on her, and she needed her aunt back … now.

  Cassie stared outside the library, watching the birds as they stepped around the low branches of the tree just within feet of the window. One of the little birds found a patch of berries and chirped to get the attention of the others. Soon the branches were filled with birds all eating away. Their lives seemed much more inviting than her own at the moment. Cassie and Whitney still hadn’t found a way to sneak access to the books they needed, and they had been at the library all week trying. It was already Friday, and the ceremony was a week away. Cassie needed to get her aunt home, and she needed the key to figure
out how to get out of the bonding.

  The worst part of everything was that Nate was being nice to her all the time. She still saw his jerk moments to others, but to her, he was being normal Nate. He was making it harder and harder to hate him.

  “I think Mrs. Elms is going to be on shift tonight. If we have any chance, it’s with her around. She’s half blind, and I don’t think they ever give her the right glasses,” Whitney said as she sat back down. “I’m pretty sure I just saw her come in. If we give them a few minutes, they should be changing who sits at the reference desk.”

  Cassie nodded to her friend. She had to hope she was right. The ceremony was getting closer every day, and she was running out of options. Without telling Whitney, Cassie already packed a bag at her uncle’s house. She didn’t have anywhere she could go, but Cassie refused to just sit by and be married off.

  “I’m going to go see if I can get the books. Have your bags ready, and we’ll run as soon as I get them.” Whitney stood up and headed to the information desk.

  Cassie watched her friend turn the corner to leave. Quickly, she packed up her bag and hoped today would be the day they finally got the books. They were going to have to search for other options if they didn’t.

  “This seat taken?” a male voice asked from behind Cassie.

  She kept packing her bag with her face down as she replied, “Nope, just leaving.”

  Seeing the chair next to her being pulled out, she looked up. There was a teenage boy with dark brown hair and the same honey brown eyes as her sitting down in the seat next to her. Cassie had never seen the boy before, yet he looked familiar.

  “You go to Atwood High?” he asked.

  “Yeah. And you?” She knew just about everyone at her school. This boy was definitely not from her high school, but she had no other reply.

  “No. Homeschooled,” he answered. He glanced up at the way Whitney had gone. A second guy stood there and held up two fingers. “Cassie, right?”