Bewitching Waters

Chapter 10: Captivating Surveillance

Chapter 10: Captivating Surveillance

Tommy leaned against a gnarled oak tree, its rough bark pressing into his back as he squinted through a pair of binoculars at the old and modest farm house in the distance.

The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that stretched across the fields, but the scene before him felt mundane—just another day in the life what seemed a small and struggling farm. However these were no ordinary farmers, the old man was once a feared leader of werewolf hunters.

Havig been tasked by Alpha Bryce to keep watch on this family scout and relay information back to the pack with who this was. Yet, with each passing week, the thrill of the hunt faded into a monotonous routine.

A tree nearby had dosens of tally marks for each day he had spent here. He barely looked at it, not other than to mark it once a day.

Shifting back to his human form,“Anything interesting, or just information?” Jake whispered as he approached, his best friends' presence a welcome distraction. Jake had already completed his transformation, a fact that made Tommy feel envious and a bit out of place - yet, the Alpha had tasked the scouting of this place to Tommy. Despite not being a full wolf yet. Jake was a full member of the pack now, while Tommy still felt like an outsider, still tied to his human form. There were family members who were born without a wolf, it happened, and Tommy only hoped he wouldn't be so unlucky.

“Just the same old stuff,” Tommy replied, lowering the binoculars and shrugging his shoulders. “They’re-..." Tommy corrected himself, "The young girl is tending to the small crops. There's some garlic being grown but not a suspicious amount, and it's not relevant to us anyway. Fixing fences, taking care of the horses, and keeping their distance from the woods. Boring as hell, the closest thing that comes near is the horses, and even then, not while im at one side of the field, so I have to keep moving round so it doesn't raise suspension.”

Hazel green eyes sparkling with amusement and his curly brown locks bouncing with each of Jake's chuckles, “You’d think they’d be on high alert if they were planning something. With someone watching them, I'm surprised you havent been noticed or caught already. You're getting smellier by the week," teasing comments being slipped in was their usual banter, "...but I guess they’re too focused on their little farm. You even said you barely see the old guy.”

“Or maybe they’re just that confident,” Tommy replied, a hint of something creeping into his voice. “It’d be easier if we could just step onto their land, but those old witches… it’s a pain we don't really know what they did.”

The two talked a while longer that day. Jake caught Tommy up on the latest pack gossip as the turning party, or festival, was two weeks away - aligning with the full moon. It was Tommy's time soon to turn, and that would be his turning party as much as it was a few others.

Who had asked who to go to the event. "Anna refused Matthew to go to the turning party, but Summer ended up asking him instead. You should ask Anna if she'd go with you, now you're a bigshot she might say yes if I ask her for you." Jake plotted away. He hadn't yet found his mate and enjoyed trying to find his own while trying to set up other mates.

It sometimes the turning party, or festival, depending on how old the pack member was who was talking, broke up childhood crushes with mates being matched that night. It was rare but it happened.

"I might go alone" Tommy thought to himself but it escaped outloud.

Jake protested against it and the bickering and banter when on a while that night, before finally the older packmember said fairwell and promised to return in a fee days. As long as Brycr allowed him to be the relay.

As the days passed, a sun dipped lower, Tommy had began to find himself thinking about Saorsie, the hunter’s daughter, and alleged witch - making the while situation worse.

He had caught a conversation between them at the side of the farm houses, and that is where he learned their names, well, Saorsie's name. All he found out about was the old man? Was that he was "grandpa".

From that day on, he became more confident and paid more attention to gain intel. At least, that's how it started.

He had caught glimpses of her over the next week—a flash of jet black hair and the graceful way she moved as she worked the land herself to provide for her family. His eyes would fix and follow her as she did her duties around the farm.

Tommy began to think of her as selfless. She rarely ever leaves the farm.

Each time he saw her, he felt a strange tug in his chest, a pull that felt both exhilarating and confusing. She was the enemy: a hunter and maybe even a witch, yet there was something captivating about her, something that made the hours of surveillance more bearable. Wherever he caught his mind drifting that week he tried to pull himself back and remond himself what he was here for.

“Still thinking about that hunter girl?” Jake asked, a teasing lilt in his voice almost exactly 7 days later, as he crossed his arms. “What’s her name again? Saorsie?”

Tommy shrugged, trying to play it cool, but he could feel the heat creeping up his neck. “It’s not like that. I just… I don’t know. She’s interesting.”

“Interesting? Tommy, she’s a hunter. They’re not exactly known for their friendly disposition towards our kind... and you know our stories and history. You'd get banished! Kicked out the tribe!”

“I know, I know,” Tommy sighed, running a hand through his light sandy blonde hair, he had been there for a month and it had grown longer that ever. Even he felt like he needed a hair cut, as it now ran past his shoulders. “But there’s something about her. I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Jake raised an eyebrow, the teasing glint in his eyes fading into hard concern. “Just be careful, okay? You’re not just crushing on some girl; she’s part of not one but two of the families that wants us dead.”

Tommy nodded, but the concern didn’t fully register. He continued to watch Saorsie from afar, captivated by the way she laughed with her brothers, how she tended the garden with a gentle touch. It felt wrong, yet exhilarating. Each time he observed her, the bond of matehood felt just out of reach, a whisper in the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite grasp. He didn’t realize that the connection he felt was a prelude to something deeper.

Weeks rolled on, and the surveillance continued. Tommy found himself spending more time relaying intel to the pack, sharing mundane details about the hunters’ routines while his own thoughts drifted to Saorsie. During one of his reports, he caught Jake’s eye and felt a surge of courage. “I think I like her,” he blurted out, surprising even himself.

Jake’s expression shifted to one of disbelief. “You can’t be serious, Tommy. You’re talking about a witch, and worse a hunter! You’re not allowed to have feelings for her, she doesnt even know you exist. You know about her because your gathering intel on a matter Bryce believes poses a risk to all of us.”

“But—”

“No buts! This isn’t a game. This isn't even normal! You’d risking everything, and for what? A crush?” Jake’s voice was firm, but Tommy could see the concern behind it.

Knowing his friend was correct.Tommy sighed, at the weight of Jake’s words. “I don’t know, man. It’s just… it’s complicated. I’m not even turned yet. How can I even feel this way?” The strange feeling when he watched her, he wondered if it was something type of witchcraft for it was hypnotic.

“Maybe you’re just lonely, you've been put here scouting alone, for weeks. That can go to anyone's head. Plus The shift is coming as well dude," Jake hypothesised, talking with his hands, "and that also will begin to do it’s own messing with your head. Focus on the intel, not on the enemy. I'll be back in 3 days with your replacements, for the timebeing while you're at the turning festival.”

As Jake walked away, shifting into his wolf form and taking off into the night.

Tommy leaned back against the tree, his heart heavy with confusion. He was on the brink of a life-altering transformation, yet his thoughts were consumed by a girl he had no right to be captivated by. More than that, a who might get him killed, who hated his kind. Yet, why did he feel a strange compulsion to talk to her?

The shadows of the farm loomed large, but within them danced the flickering image of Saorsie, a reminder of the thin line between puppylove and enmity. A dangerous line that he didn't want to walk.

Tommy started listening to the owls as he turned in for the night, thinking about what his wolf might be like. How powerful he could be and become.

Little did he know, the bond they would share could change everything, but for now, he was just a boy caught in the web of fate, waiting for the night that would come soon when he would finally embrace his true nature.