The Green Witch and the Alpha

Chapter 9: Ian

Samantha’s reaction when I answered the phone was too adorable; I couldn’t hold back from chuckling slightly. She must have been nervous. There was a slight pause in the conversation after telling her I’d been looking forward to her phone call all day.

“Ian, I hope it’s not too late to call,” she finally replied. “Today was kind of extra busy and the time got away from me. We’re getting everything for the farmer’s market on Saturday so there was a lot to get done.”

“It’s not that late, Samantha, and as I told you yesterday; you’re welcome to call me at any time; day or night. You could call me at midnight and I’d happily answer.”

“But are you sure about that?" she inquired, "Wouldn’t you be scared to hear the voice of a wicked witch in the middle of the night, worried she’s going to take all the werewolf children while the pack sleeps?”

So, this phone call wasn’t going in the direction I’d hoped. Might as well get this part over with.

“Samantha, I would really like to clear the air about that. As I told Moira, both three years ago and yesterday, I don’t agree with the comments made about witches by members of my pack. That being said, werewolves have a complicated history with witches in general and as the Alpha, I’m responsible for addressing the concerns of my pack and keeping peace with our neighbors.”

I continued, “For what it’s worth, most of the comments came from the old folks. I think they were recalling old legends and fairytales; some of the things they were saying were too absurd.”

“Oh,” she replied, “what were these absurd comments?”

“Well,“ I answered with trepidation, “That all witches keep wolfsbane in their pockets and use it to poison our pups so they can steal their blood. There were also other comments made about blood rituals and summoning demons.”

Samantha started laughing and the sound of it went straight to my heart and warmed my chest. I’d give anything to see what her face looked like right now.

“Wow. That is…ha! That’s hilarious! I have to tell the others about this.” she continued while laughing so hard that she snorted.

“Moira didn’t tell you all this already?” I asked.

She took a breath and replied, “No! Moira and Jimmy made it sound like werewolves were some kind of isolationists. She said you wanted to just keep to yourselves, I guess, and quoted you as saying both groups should ‘stick to our own kind’ and not interact unless we absolutely had to, like if we came across each other in town.”

“I did say something along those lines. At the time, it seemed the best way to keep things peaceful and everyone safe. There are still a lot of pack members who believe witches are not to be trusted.”

“Why do they feel like witches can’t be trusted?” she asked, with all the previous mirth almost gone from her voice.

“Samantha, I’m going to be upfront with you. We…werewolves, that is, are taught that witches in general are untrustworthy. I’ve never been given an actual example of proof for that; it’s just been talk, mostly from the elders. My theory is that someone, a long time ago, was swindled or made a bad deal with a witch. It’s the old ‘one bad apple’ effect; somebody had an experience with one witch that went bad and now all witches are seen as bad.”

Samantha replied calmly, “Do you yourself see witches as untrustworthy?”

“Your coven hasn’t given me any reason to consider any of you as deceitful,” I answered, “And any other encounters with witches were just in passing. So…no, I don’t believe witches as a whole to be untrustworthy. Before your coven moved to the area, I did have a bias against witches, based on what I’d been taught growing up. But I’ve seen no reason to continue believing those things and am trying my best to move my pack forward.”

I stopped for a moment to think. I had hoped for some lighter conversation and maybe even flirting with my mate, but this topic would’ve reared its ugly head at some point anyway. The best thing to do was to continue being open and honest about it.

“I don’t know if Moira mentioned this or not,” I continued, “But one of the reasons I proposed we go into business together was because of the prejudices some of my pack are holding onto. I thought if we could craft a mutually beneficial relationship, and have some pack members working with the coven, we could put these old beliefs to rest once and for all. So far, the reaction has been positive. We even have a waiting list for positions available to work on this project.”

What I’d left out was that all of the pack members who had applied were overwhelmingly young; none were over the age of 25. The elders in our pack had been very vocal about their dislike and distrust of witches. The members in between these two age groups were who worried me, since they'd given no indication of where they stood on us working with the coven.

“Yeah, Moira mentioned that as one of your motivations for the alliance,” Samantha replied.

A few moments ticked by; I needed to turn this conversation around, and fast.

“Ian, I appreciate how forthcoming you’ve been,” she sighed audibly then continued. “Look, this is a little awkward. I was just teasing you when I brought it up at first, then the conversation turned serious. But now we can get this out of the way now, I guess. There are witches who practice dark magic, but they usually don’t last long because the price of that kind of magic is high, and it tends to blow back on folks in an awful way. Our coven doesn’t do anything like that. We want to be caretakers of the earth and help people.”

I was thankful she couldn’t see me facepalm myself. Moira’s words about werewolves taking ourselves too seriously came back to me at that moment.

“Samantha, I’m…sorry; it’s been awhile since I’ve done this.”

“Done what?” she asked.

“Talked with a woman like this. I am really rusty and you’re my fated mate, which makes it a million times more important to me. I was serious earlier. I’ve been thinking all day about what to say to you. I really want to get this right.”

“Sounds like you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself,” she stated calmly. “Alex told me the same thing earlier when I was worried about what to say to you.”

“Who is Alex?” I asked.

“You met her yesterday. She was the one who tried to get in your face on the steps,” Samantha snickered. “But she’s too short to actually do that. Still, she tried her best!”

“Ah, I vaguely remember someone with a mullet and a septum piercing,” I replied. “Told me that you weren’t going anywhere with me.”

“Yep, that was Alex,” she said.

“Not many people would stand up to an Alpha werewolf so fearlessly,” I observed. “Your friend must really care about you to do something like that. That makes me happy; I’m glad you have friends who look out for you, Samantha.”

“Even friends like Jimmy, who wanted Moira to shoot you?” she asked, and I could hear the teasing in her voice this time.

“Yeah, even Jimmy,” I said with a small laugh to hide my irritation. Something about that guy really rubbed me the wrong way. I needed to look at his file from Dave; I’d had him do checks on all of the coven’s members over the years.

Wonder what Samantha’s file says, I thought, since I’d only glanced at each one briefly, looking for red flags and finding none. I would have to ask Dave to send me hers again.

“So Ian, I’ve done a lot of thinking about this…about us,” Samantha said, snapping me out of my thoughts, “I’m open to getting to know each other better and seeing where this goes. I understand this is not how werewolves usually do things, so I’d like to talk about boundaries and expectations.”

“I’m all ears,” I said, using every ounce of patience inside of me.

“Well, I’d like to keep things low-key at first,” she said. “I don’t know what you have planned as far as telling your pack, but I’d like to keep things between us until we decide, together, to tell them. I mean, Dave. Connor, and my whole coven already know, but I think sharing the news with anyone else should wait.”

“I completely agree with you, Samantha. As far as telling my pack, I’m working on that plan now and am happy to share details with you. That’s probably a conversation to have in person, though. Which brings me to my next thought: I was wondering if we could spend some time together tomorrow? I could come see you at the farm. If we were to meet in town, word would get around to my pack members.”

“You’re always welcome to come here, Ian,” Samantha replied sweetly. “We’ll be finishing up the prep tomorrow for the farmer’s market on Saturday, but I could take a break around 10. Would you be able to come by then?”

“That time works perfectly,” I said, knowing full well that I would make any time work. “Could I bring you some coffee or tea from Strange Brews? I can stop by on my way from the office.”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” she said. “Cora and Dakota know my coffee order, so just tell them you’re getting it for Sam.”

I smiled at hearing that, and already looked forward to seeing her tomorrow morning.

“Do you want to go over the rest of your boundaries and expectations now, or wait until tomorrow?” I asked.

She chuckled a little before answering, “Let’s do this now, while I’m thinking about it. I need you to be completely honest with me. We have some sticky conversations ahead of us, and if you’re not able to tell me something because it’s too personal or you don’t have the answer, just tell me that. I’m pretty straightforward and appreciate it when others are, too.”

“I certainly appreciate that as well, Samantha. What else?”

“Okay,” she continued, “the only other boundary I’d like to set right now is for physical contact. I’m going to ask that you let me initiate any physical touch, like kissing or touching of any kind. I will ask you for permission before doing anything, though.”

I facepalmed myself for the second time during this phone call. That kiss had come back to haunt me again. After three years of being celibate, I hadn’t been able to hold back when I met her. Now because of that impulsivity, I had prolonged my abstinence.

Had I managed to cockblock myself?

“Samantha, I’d like to apologize again for grabbing and kissing you like that. I never –”

“Ian, wait!” she interjected. “You’ve already apologized. It’s okay. It really is okay. That's not what my boundary is about, anyway. This is something I would bring up with anyone I’m dating, not just werewolves claiming a mate bond. I like you, Ian, and want to get to know you without rushing into anything. That’s all.”

“I understand, Samantha. Thank you for clarifying.”

“You’re welcome, Ian.” Goddess, I loved how she said my name. “What boundaries and expectations do you have?”

“There’s only one I can think of to add for now,” I said. “I will not be seeing anyone else and ask the same of you. I expect us to be exclusive and monogamous.”

“I understand, and agree with that,” Samantha answered. “I’ve always been monogamous in relationships, and haven’t dated anyone in about 6 months. How about you?”

“It’s been three years, thanks to Moira,” I said, and took a deep breath to brace myself for her reaction.

After what seemed like an eternity of total silence, Samantha finally replied.

“I’m guessing there’s a story there, but I’m going to wait and ask for the details in person,” she said.

Traitorous witches.

My dad’s mantra sprung into my head when I recalled Moira’s comments that had prompted my self-imposed period of celibacy. I realized that I needed to break the habit of letting that phrase take up any more of my headspace.

I tried to laugh it off, “I’d be happy to tell you the story tomorrow.”

She replied with a small yawn, “I’d love that! I’m so sorry, but today wiped me out and my pillow is calling me. I’ll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams, Ian.”

“Sweet dreams, Samantha. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, beautiful.”