“Four. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine, and they’re good kids, they’ll leave you alone.”
“And Travis?”
Simon laughed. “It’s Travis. I’m betting he gives you grief for being bitten.”
Once upon a time, Travis and I didn’t get along. Our first meeting, he slammed me into a wall and threatened me. Since then, we had grown to an understanding, what that was, I wasn’t really sure yet, but it worked.
“Okay, he gets one jab, and then I’m going to bed.”
Simon nodded, and we went to the kitchen area. It was newly remodeled because someone once shot a flaming arrow into the kitchen at us and burnt most of it. I sat at the breakfast bar to watch him cook. I didn’t say much because I was just enjoying watching him cook dinner for me.
“Can I have my phone back?” I asked, realizing he hadn’t given it back to me.
“Nope, Merick and Levi have both been informed what happened, and I sent Liz a text letting her know you were up here for the night and that if she needed you, then she could send an SOS text and I’d let you have the phone. Tonight, you focus on resting.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if Liz needs you.”
I rolled my eyes, but it was a sweet gesture, really. “Fine.”
“Good.” He put a burger in front of me. “Eat up.”
The front door opened, and he chuckled. “Guess I should cook some more for them.” He turned back to the stove. Four completely nude scraggly looking guys came in, and I shielded my eyes as they walked by. Travis stepped up next to me. “You act like you’ve never seen a naked werewolf before.”
“Go put some clothes on, jerk.”
Travis let out a booming laugh. “I’ll put on a pair of pants, but that’s it. Our territory, our naked rules.”
Werewolves, creatures that preferred to be nude or almost nude when in the woods. Some witches weren’t much different, but I wasn’t a happy naked witch. I preferred to be clothed unless I had to be naked to perform magic.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, go.” I took a bite of my burger, not meeting Travis’ gaze.
He wandered off, and I looked at Simon. “He’s in a good mood.”
“He just went for a run. Of course he is.” Simon shrugged. “I’m always in a good mood after I run too.”
I at my burger and watched Simon cook one patty after another and call the young wolves in. They each walked out with three burgers each. Travis returned with jeans on. He sat next to me. “Looks like you had a rough night.”
“Yeah, don’t really want to talk about it. In fact, I’m going to finish eating and then go to bed.” I held up the last bite of my burger. “So, you two can arrange for me to give the pack over tomorrow, and I’ll no longer be a Witch Alpha, just a witch again.”
Travis nudged me. “None of us think of you as ‘just a witch,’ you should know that.”
I smiled. “Yeah, some of your pack think I’m a scary ass witch.” I finished the last bite. “I’m going to go crash now. Thanks for the food.”
“Hey, tomorrow’s ceremony, I’ll get it all taken care of, but you need to know that you have to willingly hand over the pack to me.”
I raised a brow. “Why would you expect me to do otherwise?”
“I don’t know, but I wanted to let you know.” Simon shrugged. “I’ll be in bed in a bit. I want to talk to Travis about a couple things.”
I stood and gave them a little wave. “I’ll chat with you later.”
“I’m betting you’ll be asleep long before I get there.”
I wasn’t going to take that bet. I wandered to his bedroom and laid down in the bed. I had left my gun in the car because of pack laws, so I didn’t have to worry about taking it off. I closed my eyes and buried my head into the pillow. The familiar smell of Simon was there as well as something a little wilder. I always assumed it was his wolf. Tonight, I was sure of it.
I woke to the sun streaming over my face and Simon wrapped around me. I snuggled into his bare chest and let out a content sigh. I didn’t remember him coming to bed last night, but it was pretty damn nice to wake up next to him.
“Morning sleeping beauty,” he whispered into my hair. “Are you ready to face the wolves?”
I shook my head and tried to snuggle closer into him. “No, I haven’t showered, and I haven’t had coffee.” I also didn’t have any clean clothes up here, not that I thought the wolves would care.
He chuckled. “You have time for both of those before everyone gets here.”
“What? Did you spend last night making phone calls to them all?”
“No…” He laughed. “Mass text message, it’s much easier.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did my phone go off at all last night?”
“Nothing that was important. If it were, I would have woken you. I promise.” He kissed my head. “Now, go shower, and I’ll make coffee. Travis is on breakfast duty, so he’ll cook something for us and the pups. People will start arriving in about an hour.”
I groaned as he slipped away from me and out of bed. “Five more minutes?”
“Come on, Abby, this ceremony is important.”
I sighed and crawled out of bed. “I know it is, but so is sleep, and it’s been a while since I’ve gotten any solid sleep.”
“Well, hopefully with Hannah back on Samuel’s leash, your sleep can be more peaceful.”
I nodded. “Assuming Samuel knows she can use her magic in that way.” That was a scary thought. There was still a way that Hannah could hurt me without Samuel knowing. The fact that I was depending on him reining her in was also terrifying.
“Go shower.” He gave me a gentle nudge toward the bathroom. “I’ll see you for breakfast.”
There was a small part of me that wanted to ask him to join me, but I’m sure he had things he needed to prepare for this morning. I gave one last stretch and headed to the bathroom to shower.
After a hot shower and a few repeated reminders that I was grounded and today was a new day, I finally got dressed and followed the delicious smell to the dining room.
Two of the pups were already there, working on plates full of pancakes. Travis stood there, watching them eat with his hands on his hips. “Slow down and save some for the rest of us you hogs.”
One of them had the grace to look embarrassed, and the other one didn’t even slow down. I sat down, and Travis turned away and disappeared for a moment. He came back with another plate and a big mug of coffee.
I let out a happy sigh as he sat the over-sized mug in front of me.
“Drink up.” Travis laughed and then sat down at the table. “Simon will be here in a minute. He wanted to take the other two pups for a quick run. They were getting antsy.”
“That’s fine. I’m not here to disrupt things. Actually, the only reason I came last night was because I wanted my circle.” Travis leaned toward me and whispered. “That’s not the truth.”
I glared at him. “You’re right. I wanted to feel safe, and this was the first place I thought of,” I growled.
Travis sat back as if he was satisfied by the answer. There was an amused smile on his face. I was getting ready to ask him what was so entertaining when some wolves walked in the door. They looked familiar, and they all gave me a slight bow as they walked in. I realized they were from my pack, so I gave them a small head bob to acknowledge them.
It was a weird exchange that ended with them standing by the table, taking a couple pancakes off the middle plate.
I smiled at the almost sibling-like exchanges between all the wolves. Travis snorted. “We’re family here, that means we have the same attributes as a family. We pick on each other, steal each other’s food, some of us don’t get along, but in the end, we’d fight and kill to protect each other.”
Day to day life of the pack wasn’t something I really got to see. I didn’t respond to Travis. I just sat in silence and watched as I drank my coffee.
It wasn’t long before Simon and the other two pups ca
me in and sat at the table. They all started chatting about jobs and daytime things as if we weren’t about to do a ceremony where leadership changed again. The second time in a month for this pack.
Watching them interact did show me that they really belonged together though, and not that I was tempted to stay Alpha, but it was comforting to know they weren’t going to be treated like outcasts.
I finished my breakfast and then stood. “I’m going to be outside for a bit.” I wanted to feel the sun on my face before I went back to work in the office, trying to hunt down a man that was supposed to be a ghost to most people.
I walked out to see Simon coming into the clearing with a couple wolves at his back. I smiled. He had been nice enough to throw on jeans, and the pups behind him were still in wolf form. Maybe they were waiting until they got back into the cabin to shift back into human form.
Simon came up and gave me a hug. “Did you enjoy breakfast?”
I nodded. “Yeah, thank you. I’m just taking a few minutes to walk in the sun.”
“We’ll start the ceremony as soon as everyone is here.”
“Good.”
He laughed. “I’ll be back out in a few minutes.” He kissed me.
He and the wolves went back inside, and I found my center. The sun warmed my skin and welcomed me. Some days I worked too long and hard to enjoy the sun. These few minutes were a nice break from the chaos. The illusion that the sun provided safety didn’t hurt either.
That thought turned my mind back to Samuel and the words he’d spoken the night before. About me looking like my mother and him not being able to break Levi. I shook the thoughts from my head to clear it. I need to focus on the wolves.
The wolves came one by one, and it wasn’t long before I found myself staring down not only my small pack, but also Simon’s pack. Simon, Travis, and I were all together, standing in front of them.
“Today we gather to merge the packs back as one, under one Alpha. Abigail Collins has chosen to step down from her alpha position. As we all know, this is a situation that is unusual for us. Abigail is not a wolf by nature or by blood, but she came into ownership of the pack because of a challenge. Today, she makes the choice to give up the family she could have had and continue as a lone wolf.”
There was something so formal about the words that I wanted to ask him about it. But this was some form of a ceremony. Many times formal words were required, but there was a small amount of guilt and loneliness that filled me with the last sentence. Was I really a lone wolf?
That was silly. I wasn’t a wolf, I was a witch. I was a lone witch…
I frowned. No coven. I didn’t care for the one we had locally anyways, especially when they kicked me out for something completely out of my control. Levi was my only family, and more often than not, he was either distant or overprotective.
Clarissa was dead.
My partner was a mystery.
My top boss was dead.
And my lead was now also my bodyguard.
I swallowed. Simon made it sound like I was giving up everything I had left.
I closed my eyes. That was ridiculous. The wolves weren’t even mine. I became an alpha by accident, but this whole thing made me realize something. Maybe I needed to rethink what I surrounded myself with.
“Abigail Collins, why do you wish to give up your pack?” Simon asked me, and it pulled me out of my thoughts.
I thought carefully about my words for a moment. “Because I am not a fit Alpha. I can lead, and I can command, but I cannot offer what your pack and your leadership offer. Family and acceptance, teaching and patience. I’m not a wolf, I’m a witch.” I looked at the wolves in front of me. “You are wolves, family, for better or for worse, despite what has tried to tear this pack apart, here we are reuniting it.”
There were few howls in the audience and a couple yells of agreement. Simon placed a hand on my shoulder, and I knew that he was happy with my words. “So, with that said, I step down from my place as Alpha and let Simon take you in.”
Simon stepped up a little bit. “I welcome you all back with open arms. Let us leave our differences in the human world and become family here. Together we hunt, we run, and we heal a community that has been broken for some years now. All those who choose to stay are welcome. Those who do not may leave and search out other packs.”
I expected a few people to leave, but none of them did.
Simon grinned. “Then let’s hunt.”
The howls and yells became louder as the wolves shifted and waited for their alpha. Simon pulled me close and gave me a deep kiss. “You did perfect. I’ll see you later.”
He stepped away and shifted. I couldn’t turn away from the way his body bent and snapped into a new form, with wet sounds that never should have come from a human body. Fur flowed over him, and without looking back, he launched himself towards the forest, and the others followed.
I stood there alone for a couple beats before Travis stepped up next to me. “We’ll run and hunt for most of the day and then come back to sleep. Head home, stay safe.”
I nodded and turned to leave. I strolled to the car, listening to the sounds of the wolves. I gave a small smile before I got into the Hummer and started it.
On the passenger seat was my cell phone with a note under it. “I’ll call you later.”
I picked up the phone and found no missed calls, and no missed texts. I scrolled through my texts and found that Simon had texted everyone that needed to know where I was and told them to leave me alone unless it was an emergency.
I chuckled. He really was trying to take care of me.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
My phone rang when I was halfway home. I clicked the button to answer it on the hands-free. “Special Agent Collins speaking.”
“Abby, I need you to meet me at the Academy,” Liz’s voice came over the phone.
“Yeah, you have something?”
“Yeah, the director wants to meet with us, and I think shit’s going to go down. I talked to Landry and Kris, and well, they found the director’s body.”
My stomach churned. I didn’t like the guy, but I didn’t want him to be killed. “Okay, I’m not too far away. I was on my way home.”
“I hope you’re rested up and ready for a fight, because you know that’s what’s coming.” She sounded a bit out of breath. “I’ll meet you up there, do not engage without me. Is that understood?”
I snorted. “Is that a command as my lead or as my bodyguard?”
“Lead. I know you, Abby, sometimes you need a helping hand, but you sure as hell don’t need a bodyguard.” She disconnected the phone. Her words made me happy, because I knew it meant she wouldn’t be all up in my business while I was trying to live life as normal as I could.
I took the next junction to get to the highway I needed to for the Academy. I tightened my hands on the steering wheel. Crystal’s words flashed in my mind as I tried to picture the director. He and I had issues when I was in the Academy, not just because of me losing control of my magic, but because he thought I was too mouthy, too cocky, and well, he thought that my reasons for entering the Academy were wrong.
But I didn’t want him dead, and I certainly didn’t want Vlemeinheil to be in his place. Who knew what kind of chaos that would cause.
I pulled up to the gate of the Academy, showed my badge, and then drove to the parking lot near the administration building.
Liz had asked me not to go in and approach him alone, so I wouldn’t. I sat in the Hummer with my arms crossed and focused on everything this man had done. Everyone he had killed.
I couldn’t find a motive behind it all, but of course, sometimes there is no motive, and people are just insane. People with a massive amount of magic were at risk of going crazy. I’m sure Vlemeinheil fit that profile.
I jumped as someone knocked on my window. I turned to see Kris and Agent Landry standing there. I let out a sigh and got out of the car. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“Maybe you should be paying more attention. What were you thinking about?” Landry asked.
“Vlemeinheil masquerading as the director of the school.” I shook my head. “How old was the corpse of the director?”
Landry hesitated. “Best guess? A couple months. Liz told us not to call it in until you and she confronted the ‘director.’” She used air quotes for the word director. “So as soon as you guys are done, then we’ll be calling in the ME and figuring it out.”
I nodded. “Good, better to not lead with the fact that we know Vlemeinheil is the director.”
Liz’s PIB SUV parked next to my Hummer, and she jumped out. “Okay, let’s go do this. I’d like to be home before dinner tonight.”
I raised a brow. “Hot date?”
“Coven meeting.”
I wrinkled my nose, and she waved a hand at me. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” She headed toward the admin building, and I followed her. Kris and Landry stayed back.
“Best that just the two of us go in or Vlemeinheil might know we’re on to him,” Liz said as if reading my mind. “He wanted to speak to just the two of us. If things get too dicey, they’ll join us.”
That was probably a good idea. Backup was always a good idea.
We walked into the building, and I felt a strange familiar magic press against me again. Originally, I had thought it was Boss Man’s, but now I thought it was Vlemeinheil’s.
Liz looked at me like she understood what I was thinking again. She remained silent, as did I, because now we were in his territory, and it was important that we kept up the facade.
He was Director Ridgway, nothing more, nothing less.
We walked into the office and paused when we found it empty. “Agent Ridgway?” Liz called, and the door snapped shut behind us.
We both spun around with our hands on our guns. There was Vlemeinheil, looking just like Agent Ridgway.
“Welcome, Agents, I’m glad you could join me. We have a few things to discuss in terms of you meddling in the affairs of the investigation going on at the Academy.”
Liz took point, and I let her. “We were not meddling in the investigation. We had permission to continue on our part of the investigation to further the research and insight that we could provide.”
A Handful of Skulls (Here Witchy Witchy Book 9) Page 25