Magic and a Mate

Chapter 4

Juniper’s POV

Music and laughter fill the crisp, cold night air as Fern and I walk arm in arm to the festival clearing. We alternate which one of us pulls the wagon over the narrow, bumpy forest trail. The clean smell of pine, earth and moss fill my nostrils as our feet crush the leaf litter on the path. The closer we get to where the gathering is held every year, I can feel the prickle and static of magical energy flowing freely through the woods, making a shiver run down my spine. I can tell that Fern feels it too as her aura has changed since exiting the car and the smile on her face could not be missed, even with your eyes closed.

A nostalgic feeling washes over me as the spruce, ponderosa pine and redwood trees part and the gathering comes into view. Joyous, organized chaos is the best way to describe it. The clearing is a large area that is mostly clear of trees, with the exception of a few saplings and felled trees here and there left behind by loggers long gone from the area. They were driven out of the area by the werewolves. After the wars ended, the local werewolf packs were able to once again focus on their packs environment and safety. The loggers were the first thing to go.

As a teen, I once overheard my mother and father talking with a coven elder about how the three werewolf packs in this area all wanted the land. The elder said that after some disagreements and a scuffle or two, the three alphas decided to pool their money together to buy out the logging company and purchase the land.

Now the land between the three packs is co-owned, essentially tying the packs together in an alliance agreement. Any werwolf from any of the three packs are free to use the land in human and wolf form at will. Since the three pack’s borders surround the land each individual pack is responsible for protecting their own boarder, making the center lands one of the most protected land in the area. The three packs use this central area to conduct meetings with one another as well as any non-hostile being that is unaffiliated with any of their packs. And from my understanding, they all own some joint business on the central land.

Overhearing this conversation helped me see the werewolves as more than just a bunch of hotheaded, killing machines, driven by their beasts. Honestly, I had a hard time seeing them as much more than blood hungry beasts, after seeing the memories of my great, great grandmother magically played out for my viewing. The brutality and gore from the war between the werewolves and the vampires will forever be branded in my mind.

I am brought out of my thoughts when I am almost bowled over by my younger sister. “Juni, Juni, Juni!!! You’re here!!!” I’m yanked away from Fern and the wagon so forcefully that I almost trip over a root and face-plant on the ground.

“Lily, sweety. Maybe give Juniper a chance to follow you, eh?” Fern’s calm voice seems to bring my sister back to the moment as realizes how rough she is being with me.

“Oh no, I’m sorry Juni. I am just so excited you are here, last year you barely made it.” She gives me an exaggerated scowl and pops her hip out as crosses her arms over her chest. Her pretend angry stance is betrayed by the happiness shining in her eyes.

“How about you pull the wagon and show us where the family is setup?” I give her the handle to the wagon, while I put my arm over her shoulders. Lily is just ten years old, she was my parent’s surprise child. She isn’t just the youngest in our family, but she is also ten years younger than my youngest brother and thirteen years younger than myself. And seeing as her and I are the only two girls, I know she misses me differently than our other siblings. I need to remember that my work and personal life cannot keep me away from the family for too long.

“Guess what?” Lily looks up at me with excited eyes shining in the moonlight.

“Give me a hint.”

“But you haven’t even guessed yet,” she giggles.

“Okay fine, but don’t blame me if my guesses are ridiculous. Hmmmm…..grandma really did get run over by a reindeer?”

“Juni, that isn’t even a real guess.”

“Like I said, don’t blame me. Hmmm, let me think. You lost a tooth and were super excited until you found out it was one of your permanent teeth. Now grandma is making you try on grandpa’s bridge to see if it will fix the gap?” I sing-song my crazy response.

Lily’s little face scrunches up in disgust as she glares at me. “Nooooo, come on Juni, at least try to guess.”

I chuckle at her expressions. “Okay, okay, I’ll try. You made cookies to share with your favorite sister because you love her so much?”

“Nope. One more guess.”

“Hmmm, better make it a good one then. You got a solo in the Christmas music program for solstice night?”

She spins around so fast I almost don’t see the movement. “Who told you?” Her little fists are balled up on her hips and she actually looks angry this time.

I hold my hands up in surrender. “No one, I swear. I only knew that the schedule would be coming out soon and who wouldn’t pick you with that angelic voice of yours?”

“Who. Told. You?”

I don’t wait and bolt away leaving Fern to pull the wagon while Lily chases after me. “I didn’t know it was a surprise.” I toss over my shoulder as I sprint away from her. For how sweet she is, she is equally scary when mad, typical Gemini child. “Mom may have slipped in her excitement for you.”

“MOMMMMMM!!!!” Her voice echos through the clearing in an angry shriek. Who would have known she would be this upset, she must have told mom not to tell me.

As I weave between people, I see my mom up ahead wide-eyed as I move faster towards her. She looks like a deer caught in headlights, seeming to not understand what is happening. Her eyes shift behind me and realization crosses her face before she pales.

She flicks her wrist and smiles. The air around me suddenly feels like I am running against hurricane winds, everything around me seems to carry on like nothing unusual is happening. I don’t know if she shielded everyone from seeing her use of magic or if nobody really cares. As long as she slowed Lily down too, all is good.

As I finally reach my mom, I dash behind her and whisper, “sorry” before moving past her to say hello to my brothers, leaving her to deal with an irate Lily.

My brothers are hard to miss, all three are unusually tall, each over six feet with my oldest brother closer to six foot five inches. They all also look like replicas of my father, dark brown wavy hair, olive skin tone and rugged good looks. I swear, every friend I have ever had, has had a crush on at least one of them. Fern may be the exception to that, but that is because she grew up with us and is more like a sister than a friend.

I sneak up behind my eldest brother, Micah, and wrap my arms around his middle. “Hey, big brother.” I give him a squeeze before releasing him to stand next to him.

His heavy arm flops on my shoulder, as he grins down at me and looks at his watch on his other wrist. “Wow, the ever busy sister actually graces us with her presence. And look, she arrives with time to spare.”

I playfully punch his arm. “You know last year wasn’t my fault.”

“Yeah, yeah, it never is your fault. How is good old Scrouge Mc Mitchell? Planning his hostile take over of the orphanage so he can use the space to store all his gold?”

My other two brothers, Cole and Hunter along with their friend Jasper all bark out in laughter.

“Probably.” I shrug.

“Did you ever find out what crawled up his butt?” Cole joins in the questioning.

I can only shake my head, not wanting to talk about my annoying boss when I have finally escaped that place. “Can we not talk about him, I really just want to enjoy the night.”

“Where is Fern? I thought the only way you would be on time was if she dragged your ass out of there.” Micah gives me a questioning look.

My eyes widen and my whole body stiffens, she is going to kill me. “s**t!” All of their head turn to me with questioning looks.

“She told me not to leave her and then Lily was mad at me, she chased me all over the place, then mom slowed us down with her magic and I came right here to avoid Lily’s anger.” The words tumble out of my mouth almost faster than I can speak them. “I better go find her.”

“Why did she make you promise not to leave her alone?” Hunter’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Cole smacks his chest and says, “don’t you remember last year? All those elite asshats with the side comments, putting her down all night. I’m sure, she would like to avoid another night like that.”

The serious expressions on all three of my brothers tells me that Fern will be protected by all of them for the night. Nothing bothers my brothers more than the hierarchy that often looks down on the less powerful families.

I turn to find Fern and am soon flanked by my three overly protective brothers and Jasper. I smirk, knowing Fern was right, tonight will be more than we expected.