by E Gregory
“Thanks for everything,” Niki said as he hopped out. Then he hurried up the steps to his house, unlocked the door, and stepped inside where he breathed a sigh of relief.
He turned to lock the door behind him and could hear the car start back up, the thumping bass getting softer and softer as Ethan drove away. Now, he just needed to talk to Michael and they’d be set.
Chapter Five
‘You got a minute or is it too late to call?’ Niki texted Michael after saying goodnight to his dad and walking to his room. He got a reply immediately.
‘You can call!’
So he clicked on the call button and dialed Michael up. “Hey man, how did it go with Jessica?” He asked right away.
“Good. In fact, that’s why I’m calling. We’re sort of hatching this plan to figure out what’s come to town and Ethan wanted me to run it by you to see if you were in.” Niki told him.
“Alright, hit me with it,” Michael said.
“It’s a locator spell, to find something or someone hidden. I’ll have to brew a potion that all the wolves would need to drink and then I’d say a spell over you. Then you should feel drawn to the creature or whatever it is.” Niki explained.
“And where will you be?” Michael asked as if he already knew the answer.
“With you guys, of course. What if you need your mage?”
Michael chuckled. “Okay, you’re right, just checking,”
Niki sighed. “You know I can protect myself. I’ve done it before.”
“I know. We’re good. Tell Ethan I’m in.” Michael told him.
“You can tell him yourself tomorrow night. Dinner at the Birns house followed by creature hunting. Bring everyone. Jessica and Elaine can stay back at the house while we go hunting.” Niki said.
“Yeah I’m sure they’ll love that,” Michael said, his voice wry.
“We’ll convince them together then.”
“We will.” Michael agreed.
“Ethan didn’t say anything about working a shift at the firehouse tomorrow night, but how about you and Oliver? You guys are free right? You’re not having to switch shifts and just telling me you’re in, right?” Niki asked. ‘And Elaine is off too?”
“That was one time, and no, Oliver and I are off for the next three nights. Elaine is off tomorrow afternoon.” Michael assured him.
“Great.”
After he hung up the phone, Niki changed into his pajama bottoms and brushed his teeth before pulling out all the ingredients he needed for the potion. Luckily the moon shone right into his window or else he’d have ended up in the backyard doing the brewing and after his experience earlier with the strange presence, he had no desire to be outside so late.
Niki used his side table for the alter. He would eventually need to get a real alter to use here at the house, but for now, the side table would work. He cleared off the lamp and alarm clock and then laid a black cloth over it. He sat it before the window and drew back the curtain so that the moonlight lay right across the table. Then he pulled out his little makeshift cauldron which was really just a metal bowl he’d set aside for such things. He also pulled out holy water which had been blessed by Mage Loreen over the summer, and all of the herbs he needed. These he lined up next to his cauldron along with a black candle and a white candle. He lit the candles and called on the universe for help. His magic tingled inside of him, waking up and recognizing that he was about to use it.
Then he spoke a blessing over the herbs. Carefully he ground the herbs that needed to be ground with his mortar and pestle before putting them into the bowl. Those that didn’t need grinding went in whole. Finally, he topped all of this off with the holy water and left it to steep in the moonlight.
All in all, it was a fast process. It didn’t require heating. The potion just had to be strained afterward so it would be drinkable. He waited an hour, said a final blessing, and strained the herbs out of the water. Then he poured the potion into several little vials for the wolves to drink from. These he wrapped and packed into his backpack for the next day.
After all was said and done, Niki broke down the altar and put away his tools. Then he climbed into bed with his phone and scrolled Facebook and Tumblr until his eyes got heavy. Right before he fell asleep he got a text from Ethan.
‘Sleep safe’ was all it said.. Kind of cryptic if you asked Niki, but still thoughtful. He did feel safe in his house and he hadn’t felt any instances of being watched since he’d been home so he texted back.
‘You too.’
He fell asleep with his phone on his chest and his mind full of what might have been lurking in the woods earlier that day.
Thankfully, Niki didn’t dream about it. Sometimes his anxiety got the best of him and gave him nightmares, but if he had dreamed about the weird presence, he didn’t remember it, which worked out just fine for him. He was awake early enough to hear his dad still in the kitchen working on breakfast and could smell the fresh coffee brewing. So he hopped up and padded down the hall into the kitchen where he poured a cup of coffee and slouched into one of the chairs at the table.
“Morning sunshine.” His dad said as he sat opposite him.
“Morning,” Niki said quietly, but he managed a smile for his dad not wanting to make him feel bad just because Niki wasn’t really a morning person.
“You were up kind of late huh?” His dad asked. That was the one downside to living in such a small house. No matter how quiet you were someone could always hear you.
“Yeah, I was brewing a potion for a spell we’re going to use tonight to figure out what’s come to town. It should help the wolves locate whoever or whatever it is.” Niki told him.
“I see. And I suppose you’ll be there too?” His dad asked over the rim of his coffee mug.
“Yup. Same as always.” Niki reminded him.
His dad frowned ever so slightly. “Just be careful. You all going against something you know is bad enough, but going up against something you don’t know sounds really dangerous to me.”
“I’ll be careful dad. No unnecessary risks, I promise.”
“Thank you.” His dad offered him a half-smile. He wasn’t happy, but he knew he couldn’t really stop Niki’s involvement. He never had been able to, even when Niki was younger.
They ate breakfast together, a rare event, and chatted about his dad’s day. He was going to be looking at Niki’s car for him and they were both hoping it wasn’t something too serious. Niki was going to spend his day preparing for the pack meeting and the spell, gathering what he needed and double-checking that he had everything. Then he planned to catch a nap before going over to the Birns. Ethan’s twin sister, Cara, had already texted him that she was going to pick him up when it was time, so that was handled. He said goodbye to his dad and headed back to his room to get ready for the day.
When eight o’clock rolled around that evening Niki packed everything he needed into his backpack and waited in the living room for Cara. His own car had blown a gasket and his dad was working to repair it for him. Cara was right on time and texted him when she arrived. He walked out to find her in the family’s Jeep, his second favorite car of theirs. They also had an SUV that Ethan and Cara’s older sister usually drove, but it was weirdly small and Niki always felt like he had to duck to get in and move the seat far enough back so his long legs fit. So he was relieved to see the Jeep.
He hopped in and buckled his seatbelt. “Hey.” He said. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Can’t do tonight without you,” Cara said with a laugh. She was Ethan’s twin, and her looks heavily favored him, but their personalities were nothing alike. Where Ethan was curt, Cara was expressive. Where he was cold and gruff, Cara was warm and gentle. It was amazing that they got along so well, but they really complimented each other, like yin and yang. It was really something to see. They rarely fought. Niki thought it was probably because Ethan was more like Cara than he cared to let people know. Though it might partially have been due to the fact th
at Cara was a nurse and was therefore trained to keep people calm and if anyone needed that around them it was Ethan.
Now Ethan and Brianna were a different story. Brianna was their older sister and could have been the alpha after their parents passed away, but she rejected the position, and Ethan and Cara had to decide who would lead. She was freckle free and dark-haired with caramel-colored eyes. Brianna was a free spirit and the fact that she’d stayed in Rush Creek was a surprise to everyone who knew her. She seemed like the type to travel and live out of her backpack, but she quietly told them all that someone had to take care of the family, alpha or not. And they were all thankful to have her. She worked as the librarian now, though for years she hadn’t been able to settle into a career, jumping from one part-time job to the next. It seemed to suit her, though, Niki thought.
The other two Birns, Liam and Ryan were a complicated matter. Liam was technically Ethan’s father’s cousin. So he was much older. In fact, his daughter Ryan was almost the same age as Niki and his friends. She was only a year younger than them. The reason it was complicated was that Liam hadn’t originally taken Ethan as his alpha and there had been a concern that he would try and overthrow him. A werewolf could become an alpha one of two ways. By taking up the mantle left by a parent’s death, as was the case for Ethan or by killing an alpha as was the case with Michael who’d had to kill a rogue alpha that was terrorizing the town. It took years for the family to trust Liam. In fact, his own daughter didn’t really trust him, which was why she switched packs and pledged her allegiance to Michael instead of Ethan when she saw the chance.
Niki still didn’t trust Liam. He didn’t like the cool way Liam acted all the time or the dark looks he gave Niki when he thought Niki wasn’t looking. He especially didn’t like the smarmy way he questioned almost all of Ethan’s decisions for the pack. He was a tool for sure, but deep down Niki felt he was even worse than that. He would never turn his back to Liam in a fight because Liam probably wouldn't protect his back if need be.
Niki had never voiced any of this to Ethan, but he felt he didn’t have to. Ethan had made it clear enough that he didn’t trust Liam either, so Niki felt saying anything about it would be redundant.
All in all, Cara was Niki’s favorite Birns aside from Ethan. She was friendly and teasing and easy to get along with. And now she was shuttling him to the pack meeting. Niki was grateful.
“You’ve got everything you need?” Cara asked as they pulled out.
“Yup, everything.”
“Good, good.” She nodded to herself. She was probably double-checking with him because Niki was known for being a bit scatterbrained, but he felt like he’d gotten a lot better about that since college started. It didn’t bother him though, in fact, he was glad to have her watching out for him like that.
On the drive out to the Birns's house, Cara had Niki describe what he’d felt when his car had died on him and he felt something watching him. It gave him chills just to describe it, but he did it for her. He told her how cold it had left him and how he felt whatever it was must be ancient. This was nothing like they’d seen before. Nothing like anything he’d felt before.
It worried Cara, he could tell. Hell, it worried him too.
“And you’re sure you need to come with us as we hunt this thing?” She asked as they pulled into the drive up to her house.
“I’m sure,” Niki said. “You may really need your mage, we can’t know what you’re going to face.”
“I know you’re right, I’m just worried. I don’t like that you’re the only one who felt this presence. It makes me feel like you were targeted for some reason.” She said.
Niki hadn’t really considered that and it caused the hairs on the back of his neck to prickle.
“Don’t worry, we’re going to protect you.” She told him, probably because she could smell the anxiety on him.
“I could say the same to you.” He reminded her with a laugh.
“Good, we’ll protect each other, that’s the best way.”
Niki laughed, but he agreed. It was good that they would have each other’s backs.
They got out of the Jeep and walked up the wide steps to the porch and headed through the front door. Most of the group was already there, though it was a little early. It warmed Niki’s heart because there had been a time when the two packs barely got along. Through many battles and the need to pool resources, the two packs had grown a connection that Niki felt certain nothing could ever sever. They were run by two different alphas, but they worked as one group most of the time. More than that though, they were friends, and it was nights like this that proved that.
They were all in the kitchen helping dinner along and chatting about things that weren’t important. Niki jumped in to help put ice in glasses for drinks. While Michael and his betas Ryan and Oliver helped set the big table for everyone. Elaine was taking drink orders and Jessica was pouring the drinks behind Niki. Ethan’s sisters were finishing the food, and though he wasn’t doing anything helpful, even Liam stood nearby leaning against the door frame to the dining room. Creeping as usual. Harper and Tony were shuttling the food to the table while knocking their hips together and flirting.
Once everyone was seated at the table, Ethan thanked them all for coming and for helping. They all dug into the roast and mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese and carrots. It was fantastic. Ethan knew his way around a kitchen, and his sisters were just as talented. They passed the dishes around, the werewolves taking huge portions in anticipation of running through the forest later. Niki took a regular amount of food. He usually had a big appetite too, one to rival the wolves, but he was beginning to feel a little nervous about what they might be facing, so his stomach wasn’t really on board with too much food.
Ethan seemed to notice this and gave Niki a worried glance, but he didn’t say anything, thankfully. It was bad enough that the wolves would all know he was anxious, he didn’t want to have to admit it out loud.
After dinner, the packs decamped to the living room for instructions. Michael and Elaine cuddled on the love seat while Harper and Tony squeezed into one of the plush chairs together. Ryan and Oliver, Michael’s betas sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. Ethan and his sisters took the sofa and Jessica perched on one arm of it. Liam liked to lurk so he stood at the edge of the room leaning against a wall. Niki stood before them with his vials of potions.
“Most of you already know how this is supposed to work, but I thought I’d go over it one more time with all of us together so we know we’re all on the same page.” He told them.
Ryan gestured to him to continue as if impatient to get to the good stuff. The good stuff for wolves was always hunting and running.
So he continued. “Each of the wolves will drink a vial of potion outside under the moon. Then I’ll say the spell which will link you to whatever’s been trying to hide from us. Or that’s the plan. We didn’t give this a test run since we didn’t want just one of you running off to meet our foe alone. Jessica and I feel confident, however, about how the spell will react. So, does anyone have any questions?”
“When does the spell wear off?” Oliver asked.
“It should wear off the moment you find what you’re looking for. That way it lasts until you reach it or them.” Niki explained.
“Is it chunky? Because I don’t do chunky potions anymore.” Harper wanted to know. Tony jabbed her with his elbow and a few of the others laughed.
“No, it’s had all the chunks strained out,” Niki assured her with a smile.
“I think we’re ready, then,” Ethan said as he stood.
The others followed suit and all of them filed outside to stand in the front lawn under the moon. It wasn’t quite full, but it was bright enough to see by, especially for the wolves. Jessica and Elaine, the only two staying behind, took seats on the front steps, their bare feet tapping on the wood while Niki passed out the vials to the wolves.
The vials were small clear glass vials sha
ped like test tubes. Unadorned and corked. This was to keep colors and materials from interfering with the spell. He had others at home that looked different to serve different functions, but for now, plain was what was called for.
Once everyone had a vial uncorked and in hand, Niki motioned for them to drink. So they did. It must have been a little bitter because there were a few unhappy faces as the potion went down. Otherwise, all seemed to be going according to plan. They passed the little glass vials up to the porch where Jessica laid them out in a tidy row to be picked up later.
First Niki sent out a circle of protection using his own innate magic. He gathered the magic from his core and felt it heating up inside him. Like a flame coming to life. This was enhanced with the power of his mage mark, allowing him to seal it around each werewolf and then himself. Next Niki opened the spell book to the page with the locator spell and began to read aloud.
“What was once lost is now found, to our spirits now be bound. Whether hidden far or near, I command you now, appear!”
As the last word was spoken, a circle of white light pulsed out from Niki and hit all of the wolves. Immediately they shifted, shedding their human forms and standing before Niki as full wolves. The first few times he’d been surrounded by so many large wolves, Niki had been afraid, but now he just felt safe having them all near.
Michael, a large gray wolf, whined and stepped close to him. “I’ll follow.” He promised. Then the wolves were off, bounding toward the forest edge and disappearing between the tree trunks. Niki chased after them. There was no real way for him to keep up with them, but he knew most of them would only be running at half speed, keeping him in mind. The spell linked him to them, even though he was only a human and couldn’t share the same mind link the wolves had. He could sense them in the back of his mind like a whisper tugging him forward.
Niki ran and ran, thankful for the new tennis shoes he’d decided to wear. The low lying branches tugged at his hoodie and several times he almost tripped, but one of the wolves would always fall back, encouraging him to continue. So he did.