The Witch and the Wolf

Together in the Past

Serah pulled the basket she’d packed over the course of the afternoon out from behind an old stack of hay. She’d hidden it here when she and Uncle Albert got home and had found excuses throughout the day to come back out to the old barn and stock it with the necessities for a ritual. The most surprising thing she’d found today was Aunt Ann’s stock of candles. In the closet under the stairs Aunt Ann had shelf upon shelf of candles of different sizes and colors. Serah knew Aunt Ann made her own candles - she’d seen tallow and wax on the shopping list this morning too - but she didn’t know that Aunt Ann was so creative with it. She found the seven candles she needed and wrapped them in a large cloth napkin, but when she turned to leave Aunt Ann was there, watching her.

She studied Serah a moment before speaking.

“I know what growing up with Granny Reed is like. I've been there too. Though my lifestyle has changed, I still have respect for nature. I will not stop you, but I must warn you: I cannot protect you if you are caught. I will not risk my family in that way, so you must be careful. Do you understand?”

Serah smiled to herself as she strode quickly into the wood. She'd have to light a candle in gratitude for Aunt Ann in a future ritual, but that was not what tonight was for. Tonight was about past, present, and hopefully future. Tonight was about a bond stronger than destiny. Tonight was about love.

Serah stopped walking when the word love crossed her mind. She tossed the word around in her head for a moment before firmly deciding that its use had not been a mistake. Knowing what she did meant full commitment - she loved him. But… What if she showed Cassian what she had seen and he didn't feel the same? Could that happen?

Suddenly Serah was nervous. She continued toward the glen, but her thoughts were occupied with worry and gnawing fears. Her spirit fell even further when she reached the glen and Cassian was not there. For a brief moment she debated running back to the house, throwing herself on the bed and crying - but she steeled herself instead. No matter if Cassian showed or not, she would still seek the guidance of the Goddess. She had not done a ritual since she had arrived in Melrose and she needed to.

Quickly she got to work placing the candles and setting up the altar. Then she moved the basket from where her circle would be and sat down to remove her boots. She loved to cast circles and do ritual work completely skyclad, but her stomach tightened nervously at the thought of Cassian showing up and seeing her naked. She compromised by stripping down to her shift. She folded her skirts and blouse and placed them in the basket.

As Serah rose she locked eyes with Cassian. She hadn’t even heard him come up. He stood in the moonlight, shirtless and barefoot, watching her. He stepped forward when she noticed him and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Did you think I wasn’t coming?”

“I… I didn’t know. I hoped you would.”

“I said I would, and I will always keep my word.”

Serah lost herself in his golden eyes for a moment, then gently took his hand and led him into the glen. She expected him to be awkward or uncomfortable with the ceremony of the ritual, but he seemed completely at home. She anointed him with oil and spoke the sacred words and he took the oil and did the same for her. Then as she cast the circle he knelt by the altar reverently and waited, following her movements with his eyes.

Finally the preparations were complete, the circle was cast, the spirits and gods were honored and invited. Serah knelt next to the altar as well, facing Cassian - they were close enough for their knees to touch.

Cassian’s eyes never left her face.

“Remember when I said my Granny Reed said we would always know when we’d met someone from a past life?” Serah asked softly.

Cassian nodded.

“When we kissed before…”

Cassian smiled and Serah blushed slightly before continuing.

“I saw you. I saw us in our past lives, together. I wanted to share those memories with you, if you’d like.”

Cassian’s smile grew and he nodded. Serah reached up and traced the curve of his cheek and the line of his perfect jaw before drawing their foreheads together. Serah felt the tingles again where their heads met.

She kept her eyes locked on Cassian’s as she began to chant. Granny Reed had taught her a latin incantation for sharing and bounty, so she used that now. She changed the intention behind the words to sharing memories. She was fairly certain it would work, but to her knowledge it had not been done before.

From outside the circle it appeared as though a bright light was emanating from the spot where Serah and Cassian’s foreheads met. Power swirled around them - slowly at first, then faster. A tall, impossibly beautiful woman wearing a dress of stars formed in the Northernmost part of the circle of power as a handsome man with antlers growing from his head, just as tall and clad in animal skins appeared slowly in the South. Together they moved towards the still kneeling couple and each placed one hand on both of their supplicants heads.

Time seemed to move slowly within the circle, but from where Cade stood in wolf form, further back in the forest, the vision lasted no more than a minute. He had followed when Cassian left this evening, hoping that the pup wasn’t going to cause any issues at the Fens. Cade recognized the signs of the Choosing - when a were’s wolf had found their mate - in Cassian’s behavior and he knew that the emotional rush that came with finding one’s mate could be… overwhelming. He needn’t have feared anything on that point he supposed, still watching the enraptured couple. They had clearly both chosen each other and rejection would not be an issue.

Cade turned and trotted back towards home. The girl was a witch. She was clearly a very powerful one for the Goddess and God to come down themselves, but that didn’t excuse the fact that she was a witch. Cade was torn. Cassian had clearly defied his orders as Alpha to have no contact with the Salem witches who had moved in, but the boy’s wolf had found his mate. He didn’t have true control over the situation. Cade growled low in his throat. He’d have to keep a close eye on the situation.

Within the circle, Serah and Cassian could see nothing but each other. They could feel the power building around them and Cassian raised his hands to cup either side of Serah’s face as she held his.

Suddenly images raced across Cassian’s mind. A dark-skinned boy and girl running across sand in moonlight. A stag and doe huddling together in a cave, waiting out a storm. An old woman, fondly tucking in children across a large bed from an old man who did the same. A triumphant queen holding the hand of a warrior in a great hall, kissing him in front of their armies. Two silvery-white foxes, leaping through snow together.

All these and more flooded into Cassian’s awareness, then faded back as memories of his own. Some were peaceful, some were chaotic, and some were tragic. He instinctively knew that he was watching himself and Serah find each other and love each other, life after life.

The power crescendoing around them finally peaked and then stilled. The roaring that had been filling Cassian’s ears stopped and he gasped in a breath he hadn’t known he’d needed. Serah was breathing harshly too. She sat back on her heels and he felt peace radiating from her. She looked at him earnestly, searching for something. Cassian had no idea of anything to say. He could feel his heart racing just looking at her and he knew without a doubt that the undying love they had shared in the past was still strong.

Cassian pulled Serah close, until she was sitting in his lap and his arm was around her back. Serah could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Now is when the truth would come out. She could see nothing but hope and love in his golden eyes as he raised his free hand to her face and she knew that her earlier worries were for nothing. She lifted her face to his and kissed him lightly, then deeply. He returned the kiss, parting her lips with his tongue and pressing her body to his. She could feel the beat of his heart and the heat radiating off of him and her arms instinctively went around his neck, her hands tangling into his hair. She gasped for air when they broke the kiss, but Cassian didn't stop. He planted kissed slowly from her mouth to her ear, then down her neck to her shoulder. His warm hands moved up her back and she arched it in pleasure, a slight moan escaping her lips.

Cassian growled his pleasure and Serah could feel his need growing under her. Gently she pulled his head back by his hair, then slowly she raised her arms for him. His lips parted in slight surprise, then his eyes darkened with desire and he ran his hands down her sides until he reached the hem of her shift. He pulled it up slowly over her head and another growl of appreciation escaped him as he saw her n*****s harden under his gaze. He dropped the shift behind her as he pulled her to his chest again. She gasped as their skin touched and kissed him. Cassian’s hands moved from her back to the soft flesh of her breasts as they kissed and he rubbed his thumbs over her n*****s. She shivered and pulled him close again, gasping and whimpering in his ear.

Cassian lowered her back onto her shift behind her and kissed her jaw, then down her neck. He took her hands and wrapped his fingers through hers, then held them by her head. Her breath was coming in short gasps as he continued his trail of kisses down to her right breast. She arched her back and moaned as he took her n****e into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it, flicking it and biting gently.

“Oh, Cas,” she breathed. “I need you, my love.”

Cassian’s heart leapt at the sound of his name from her lips. It was the work of just a moment to free them both of any remaining clothes. Cassian could see Serah’s p***y glistening with wetness in the moonlight as he leaned over her again. She drew him close and took his member in her small hand, stroking it slightly as she kissed his lips. She guided him to her entrance and they moaned in pleasure together as he entered her.

Cassian moved in her, gliding smoothly. Slowly at first, then faster and harder. His own breath became erratic as he neared his limit. He could feel her release coming quickly as she tightened around him, and her moans grew louder. At last with a final sensuous gasp she arched her back and pulled him close. Her p***y twitched around him and he joined her in climax, shuddering as waves of pleasure washed over him.

He stayed in her as he softened, stroking her face and watching as her breathing calmed. She kept her eyes on him and traced patterns on his bicep.

“Serah?” Cassian finally broke the silence.

“Yes?”

“I love you too.”

He kissed her and Serah’s heart fluttered again. She pulled him deeper into the kiss and felt his member stiffening again within her. She smiled and wrapped her legs around him, pushing him deeper into her warmth. He gasped and smiled back at her.

They remained in the forest glen for quite some time...