Medic and the Wolf

The Witch

Jake

I heard a knock at the door. I answer it groggy from my sleep or should I say lack thereof. Troy is standing at the door and pushes his way in, knocking me off balance as he slams the door shut.

“ What the hell man?” I almost yelled at him.

“ Hey sorry… There are a lot of wolves out there and they're getting more agitated. We need to move her NOW. I have reinforcements on the way.”

I had a strained look on my face, running my fingers through my hair. I know it's gonna be a fight and I don't know how long I can keep the Council in the dark. I have to figure out where to take her safely. Troy sees the frustration and concern in my face.

“ Do you have a place for her? I’m concerned this pack will follow us.” I shook my head no.

“ We can't move her without a plan. She keeps having night terrors whenever we are not in touch. The only thing to settle her is the sparks from our touch.” Just then Kate’s breathing picks up, she starts to sweat and thrash. I get back next to her and hold her until she settles down again. Troy has a look of concern and sorrow seeing her suffer.

“ Has she always suffered like this?” he wondered out loud.

“ I don’t know, but I only know one person that may be able to answer that and help with a protected place for her. I’m calling the witch.”

Troy tells the reinforcements to wait nearby until they are called. We have to have this set before we move her. Troy starts packing her things up, as I call the witch. I told him to put out some fresh clothes to change into.

“ Yes Sir I was expecting your call.” a sweet voice answered the phone. “ I checked on the North Trail as asked and the protection spell is still very much intact. I don't know how a human found it.”

“ Well, that is more troubling than I thought, but not the reason why I’m calling. I need your help.” I explained everything that is going on with Kate and the male wolves, telling her she needed a protected place.

“ I see… I have a few questions, the more info I have the better the spell.” Annoyed, I tell her to go on.

“ Is she sweating a lot?”

“ Yes”

“When and what happened before she became in this state?”

“ Long story short the other day. We lost a pup in a flood. She tried to save him but was not able to. She became very emotional, then fell asleep. During the night she snuck out of the station and went to her room. It took us a while to find her. She is somehow staying at the High Water hotel. Now where do we bring her too?”

“ There is a cabin in the forest that's pretty far from where you are now. I’ll send you the location. You have to bathe her, put fresh clothes, but not hers on her and shake those wolves! They can not follow you. I’ll do what I can to help from here. Everything will be ready when you get here.” her sweet voice turned stern and I knew it was serious.

I didn't have to tell Troy anything, as he heard both sides of the call. He runs a bath for Kate as I lift her into my arms, we head to the bathroom and he heads to the door. I stripped Kate and lowered her into the tub. I wash her thoroughly as well as myself, but I’m at a loss about what to put on her. I can't give her my clothes. They have her scent on them and it sounds like we have to try and hide hers. So not only she needs clothes, but I do as well. Troy calls from the door. Hey, “Hey, I have clothes for you both. I’m going to leave them at the door here.” He must have realized the same just a bit faster than me.

We get out of the tub. I quickly dyed myself, then Kate and dressed us. I scrunch my nose up at the scent. It smells awful and I’m going to have to wash us again when we reach our destination, but in the meantime, hopefully it will hide her. We went out of the bathroom. I have Kate in my arms. Troy states reinforcements are clearing out the hallway. It only takes a few minutes and they knock on the door letting us know it’s safe.

When the door opens, I see the team. It's no wonder it only took a few minutes. It’s the best team we have. They are in full protective gear with non-lethal weapons (rubber bullets and bean bags) . We move down the hallway in a diamond pattern. Troy, myself, carrying Kate and the two guards in the middle of the team surrounding us. I didn't even realize the guards were in their boxers. We get to the bottom floor and cross the lobby to the front doors. I can see the cars waiting for us, out of nowhere wolves come running out of the stairways heading straight for us. The team acts fast, laying down some cover fire trying to hold them back as Troy and I run for the cars. Troy opens the back door for me and Kate and jumps into the front. We take off speeding out of there. Most of the wolves are held back but a few slip through and chase after us. I told the driver to lose them and head south. After a while of not seeing anyone behind us, I gave the driver the location.

It’s a long drive so I start to relax and settle in when we are safe. I keep my hand on Kate’s lower back, making sure we maintain skin contact to keep her calm. She had not even steered during all that commotion. Troy looks back and sees her sound asleep in my arms. His brows furrowed together.

“ She didn't even wake up?”He reaches back and touches her forehead, checking her temperature. “ Oh man she's hot!”

“ I know she’s like a little heater. We’re gonna have to ask the witch about this.” I looked down at her concerned.

I’m jolted awake by Kate whining. I don’t know how long I was asleep for or that I even fell asleep. I quickly realized my hand had slipped off her back. I quickly rubbed her hair and cheek, knowing what was coming next.

“ How much further is it?”

“ Not far now” the driver said.

“ Well, step on it! We don't have much time. She's having a nightmare and will start sweating soon. We have to be in the protected area before that happens.”

Without saying anything else, the driver steps on it. We turn off onto a dirt road, and the driver reports it’s two minutes down this road. Then we hear the rumble of paws, a lot of paws. I looked down at Kate and she started to sweat. They are lured by her scent. Troy and I looked around to see where they were coming from but didn’t see any. We all hold our breath as we see the cabin come into view, hoping and praying we will make it before the pack gets to us.

The sound of their paws hitting the earth sounds like thunder and the ground starts to shake. We scratch to a stop and I jump out with Kate running into the house while Troy and the driver wait outside for the pack.

I almost fell into the cabin. As soon as we cross the threshold, the thunder sound stops and the shacking stops. It’s quiet, almost too quiet. I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor with Kate in my lap. I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes as I take in a deep breath. All my energy is spent. I need rest. I heard a light giggle, I look up to see Troy standing next to the witch. She had an amused look on her face.

I look at her questioning, “ You didn’t tell me she was your mate” she says with another giggle. Troy looks as confused as I do.

“ Does that matter?” Troy asked before I do.

“ Yes and no” she says. “ But first tell me everything in detail.”

So I told her everything. I start with her lack of identity, her being seen coming out of the North Trail, her finding the South Gate, her having more strength and a bit faster than a normal human, but, smells like one to what happened at the river and what her Chief told me to finally finding her at the High Water and what happened there. The only thing I left out was the blood test. I still want to keep that secret. The witch stays quiet and listens very carefully. She doesn't interrupt. When I’m finished she just sits there quiet like she is lost in thought. After a few minutes, she gets up and goes to a book.

“ You can put her in the bedroom, she will be more comfortable and you will be, too. But don’t stay with her, you come back out here.” I try to protest but she puts her hand out to cut me off. “ I have to see it before I can give you any answers. Don’t worry, this place is protected from sound and scent,” I give a huff and do as she says even though I do not like it one bit.

When I came back into the room, I sat at the table with Troy. I slouch in the chair and run my hands through my hair.

“ You look awful “ Troy said, looking at me. I just gave him a sarcastic ‘thanks’ look. The witch starts to giggle again. She is standing in front of the stove stirring something in a pot.

“ How long has it been since you last ate?” She asks.

“ I have no idea “ I stated in a strained voice. She puts a bowl of stew in front of me, telling me to eat it I’m going to need my strength, and handed one to Troy. We stare at her as she sits with her own bowl and starts to eat, so we do as well. No one talks, we just eat and wait for what's to come next. I am halfway through my bowl when it hits me, the driver where is he? Troy, sensing my thoughts, states he is down the road coordinating with the team in case we need them. I nob my head and dug in again. Troy and the witch start to have a light conversation about nothing, really just passing the time, then I get real stiff. They looked over at me. As I started to look at the bedroom door, Kate started to scream.

I jump out of my seat to go to her but the witch stops me saying she needs to see what happens. Troy and the witch go into the bedroom but they make me stay out of the room. I can look in tho. I see Kate thrashing around screaming at the top of her lungs and drenched in sweat. At first her screams were just those screams, but then they turned into words. ‘Come on little one, you can make it. Come back to me. Oh god, not another one. Why why why. Stay with me, stay with me.’ She goes quiet, the witch is looking at me with questioning eyes. Then, all of a sudden, Kate’s back arches up off the bed and screams out’ NO NO NO NO YOU NOT YOU MAMA’, I cant take it anymore, I barge my way in and go to her. I held onto her, stroking her face, holding her close to me, whispering in her ear. She calms down after a few minutes. The witch tells me to come out when Kate is calm enough.

When I finally emerged from the room, I didn't know how much time had passed. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep as well. I sit at the table where Troy and the witch are. They stop talking when they see me. Troy had a sad expression on his face. I looked over at the witch with a hard expression on my face.

“ Do you know what's wrong with her?”

“Yes” she states, “ but you're not going to like it.”