The Herbalist

A wolf undercover

-Daniel-

The Elf, or half elf-half fae - whatever he claimed to be- was grumpy as hell, and had an air of arrogance that I could barely tolerate. And trust me… I’ve been around enough alphas, or alpha-holes as Cam called them, to build a resistance to their ego bullshit. I thought Thaddeus was broody but Kaelith was something else, entirely. He looked like the Witcher on steroids but had this powerful aura emanating from him. He was taller than me, and I was not short, not overly muscular, but broad shoulders and slim waist. He was taller than all the faes we saw so far and less stocky than them. He had long pale blond hair, almost white, with piercing amber eyes, similar colour to Camille’s when she was using her powers. He spoke like he belong to an era of the past, which I found very amusing. The faes didn’t seem to mind, though, which make me wonder just how old he was. I then thought of poor Agneska, how was she to tame that beast? Her very calm and gentle nature, almost mousy, would be hard to put down a notch to that arrogant t**t.

When he mentioned he met his mate already, I knew something was very wrong here. Cam and the old bear were having none of it and pressed the big lad to show us. He grumbled something about invading his privacy but complied nevertheless. He just opened a portal by a flick of his wrist and I must admit, I was impressed. We passed through it and arrived in another forest. Tobias recognised it as being the forest we rested to escaped the guild, but where they still attacked us… Apparently the Efl-hole saw it through a vision of some sort. He brought us to a hut, similar to the fae ones in the Amazonian but different, more… Swiss I guess. An older lady fae came out and was just gaping at us.

“An Ursar, Kaelith? And here I thought their kind had vanished into the mists of time…” she whispered, her voice laced with wonder and unease.

Her gaze lingered on Camille, her eyes narrowing as if piecing together fragments of an ancient puzzle. “No… it cannot be. The coven was lost to ash and shadow. But if she stands before us, then the prophecy stirs… and he rises once more.” she looked distraught. I started to understand that faes were speaking funny… Probably too recluse for so long to have pick up on modern language…

“A prophecy?” Kaelith’s voice faltered, his confidence wavering for the first time. “The one about my destined being human that I’ve already met? Who is ‘he’ you speak of?”

Elowen tilted her head, her gaze distant, as if hearing a melody only she could comprehend. “Your destined is no mere human, Kaelith. She carries the echo of ancient magic, a blessing woven long before your time. She is the thread that binds your fate to the unraveling of great darkness. Woo her, protect her, for without her… all may be lost.”

Her words hung in the air like a spell, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she truly believed what she was saying. Tobias and Camille exchanged a guarded glance, their bond rippling with unease. I sensed they were holding something back, unwilling to reveal their hand just yet.

“You’ve found his destined?” Tobias’s tone was measured, cautious. “How can you be certain?”

Elowen’s lips curved into a faint smile, enigmatic and knowing. “The dream realm whispered it to me. Foresight is my gift, and when we rescued her, the very air around her pulsed with magic—like the forest itself singing in recognition. It is her.”

“May you show me?” Camille’s voice was soft, but the weight of her question was undeniable. She placed a gentle hand on Elowen’s arm.

“So be it,” Elowen murmured, her voice like the rustling of leaves in a forgotten grove. She raised her hands, palms upward, an invitation to the unseen. Kaelith gave Camille a subtle nod, and she placed her hands over the old fae’s. Elowen began to chant, her words flowing like water over stone, an ancient language I couldn’t begin to decipher. The two fell into a trance, their forms eerily still, as if suspended in time.

The moment stretched unbearably, and I watched with bated breath. When Camille finally stirred, she withdrew her hands and offered the fae a small, reverent bow. “Thank you,” she said softly, her tone betraying none of the storm raging behind her composed exterior. But her words in my mind told a different story. “The vision is tainted by dark magic, and the so-called destined is none other than your old pal, Julia Stein.”

I froze, disbelief flooding me. Julia? That leech? I’d never suspected her of dabbling in dark magic, but apparently, I’d been wrong. “How is that possible? She’s human,” I mindlinked back, struggling to process.

“And yet the Purifiers’ Guild, with all their self-righteous hatred for supernaturals, seems perfectly content to wield the very thing they claim to despise,” Camille shot back, her mental voice dripping with irony. “Here we are.”

“You think Julia’s working for the Guild?” I ventured hesitantly.

“There’s one way to find out, isn’t it?” Camille smirked, she looked at Tobias with a gleam in her eyes and the old bear just said: “You’re up, Pup.” Bloody nickname would stick forever…

We retreated to form a plan. It wasn’t as though we could march up to Kaelith and simply declare that Julia wasn’t his destined; he wouldn’t trust us without proof. No, we had to show him. Luckily—or unluckily—I had a history with Julia. Our fathers had done business together in the past, and she’d been all over me at the same conference where I’d met my beautiful Camille. That familiarity made me the best candidate for Mission: Unmask Julia.

We told Kaelith we wanted to run a test, nothing more. To my surprise, he agreed almost too quickly, as if he, too, harbored doubts about his so-called destined. Perhaps fate wasn’t as infallible as it seemed, or more simply, dark magic couldn’t trick fate itself.

Once more I had to embrace the role of schmootzing to humans. The plan was to create a impromptu encounter with Julia and show Kaelith that she couldn’t be his destined if she was sucking it up to me. I also remembered smelling my mate’s scent on her and the tracking device found on camille’s coat. Putting two and two together, I concluded that Julia must have stuck it there. So if plan A: Charming her was not working, I’d switch to plan B: confronting her, in both senarios, Kaelith should realize she was not a nice person. They would be observing from a hidden spot, and at the first sight of Purifiers’ Guild minions or any trouble, Kaelith would come and fetch us with one of his handy portals.

We tracked Julia in Basel, and I pretended to bump into her in the street. She looked surprised to see me there.

“Oh my God, Julia! Fancy seeing you there!” I smiled broadly.

“Dan? Oh, I didn’t know you would be here…” she replied, uncertain and looking around.

“I know, as last minute business trip and I remember your offices were in Basel, you mentioned a partnership back in Germany, sorry I had to leave so abruptly, by the way” I put on the charm and touched her arm.

“erm, let me call my office and we can definitely talk about this” she offered tentatively. She clearly looked uncomfortable and caught at the wrong time.

“Nooo, no need to be so formal, after all, wasn’t it you who said we could have some fun together?” I teased her with her own words back in Germany.

“Of course, but I’m due to meet someone actually, so now is not a good time, unfortunately” She apologized but didn’t offer me anything.

“Sure, now is so random, but what are you doing tonight? Dinner? Drinks? Or maybe something more… private?” I said suggestively. I had to crank on the bait, Julia was so superficial in so many ways, I seriously doubted she had any interest in being with someone so rustic as Kaelith. I could see her hesitating, so I gave her my most seductive look and put on my megawatt smile, the one that shows my dimples, and makes me irresistible, according to my mate. I could see her resolved melting.

“Alright, sure, dinner tonight, there is this super fancy restaurant I wanted to try but needed the right partner at my arm” She suggested excitedly.

“Sounds right up my alley, and after dinner?” I raised my eyebrows.

“We could grab a drink at my place, I have a jacuzzi on the rooftop terrace” she giggled. “And don’t worry if you didn’t pack a swimsuit” She said seductively. Urgh, I wanted to shudder at her offer to skinny dip with her, but I have to be convincing, so I chuckled an vague interested answer before we parted ways.

Once I returned to my mated side, she jumped up and down excitedly “You did so well, I’m proud of you”, and rewarded me with a kiss. I looked up at the grumpy Elf: “So… did you get all that?” He looked like he swallowed a whole lemon tree sideways before saying “I’ve seen enough indeed”.