Winterlust (COMPLETE)

Wolf Rising

Peter

“Hey Travis! What’s up?”, Peter asks. “Something is wrong”, Travis answers. “What do you mean? I was there last night. Nobody has been there but us.” “Why were you there and not Janie?” “Well, apparently Violet caught wind of Janie’s scent. She came with me, but kept her distance”, Peter replies. “I have a business meeting tomorrow, but I’ll come immediately afterwards. Something isn’t sitting well with me. And how did she catch Janie’s scent if her wolf is suppressed?” “Hm, I never really thought of that.” “I need you to keep an eye on her until I get there. Do NOT let her out of your sight”, Travis commands.

Peter hangs up and finds both women staring at him expectantly. “Travis is coming in tomorrow. He says something is off”, he tells them. They both nod. “Janie, get some rest. We’re going on 24 hour patrol as soon as school finishes for the day.”

Violet

Sitting in English class, Violet can’t stop thinking about the dream she had. Somewhere far away, she can hear Mrs. Lowell droning on about Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “Violet”, she hears a whisper. Snapping her head up, Violet looks to Mrs. Lowell. Nope, still droning on. “Violet”, she hears again. All the hair on the back of Violet’s neck is standing straight up. Who is calling her? Where’s it coming from? Violet desperately scans the room. Not one person is looking in her direction. Some kids are even asleep. She raises her hand, “Mrs. Lowell? May I be excused? I’m not feeling well”. Violet doesn’t wait to hear the answer before she gets up and stumbles out of the room. “Run home, Violet”

Bursting through the front doors of the school, Violet breaks out into a full run. She runs as fast as her legs will take her. “Keep running, Violet”. She runs the three kilometres home in twelve minutes.

Pushing the front door open, Violet falls into the house. Immediately she is hit with the smell of lavender. “Violet?” Muriel steps out of the kitchen. “Oh, hi Auntie Muriel. I wasn’t feeling well so I came home.” “Violet, dear. Where’s your coat?” Violet looks down at herself in shock. “I guess I forgot it”, she mumbles. “Let me make you some tea, dear.” Muriel says, grabbing a blanket from the closet and placing it over Violet’s shoulders. “Are you burning a candle, Auntie Muriel? It smells like lavender in here”. “Yes I am. Lavender is very soothing, don’t you think?”, she leads Violet by her shoulders into the living room. “Sit here on the couch dear, while I make you some tea.”

Violet slowly sinks herself into the couch. She hears someone breathing slowly and steadily nearby, but she’s alone in the room. What. Is. Happening. Muriel emerges with a giant mug of peppermint tea and hands it to Violet. “Did I see mom’s car is here? Shouldn’t she be at work?” Violet asks shakily. “She’s lying down, Violet. She has a migraine.”

Violet drinks only a quarter of her tea before she feels her eyes to begin to get heavy. Maybe if I just close my eyes for a minute…

Unknown POV

“Gotcha”, a man says out loud when he sees a young woman run by him at an impossible speed, her scent leaving a rippling wake. “Follow her”, he commands to his driver. They had been parked by a used car dealership, looking at a map when she caught his attention.

They stop at the end of the nearly invisible driveway. “We’ll come back tonight”

Peter

Peter stands outside the school until he doesn’t see a student for more than ten minutes. They’ve all gone home. He hasn’t seen or picked up the scent of a single wolf. “I don’t think she’s here, Janie. Let’s go check the house.” “Got it”, Janie links back from half a kilometre away. She puts the SUV in drive and goes straight to Peter’s location. He hops in and they take off toward the house. “This can’t be good” he says in a low voice. “Let’s wait until we know more before we sound the alarm, Peter.”

Janie drops Peter off at the edge of the woods by Evelyn’s house. He walks two blocks before stepping into the woods, just to be sure no one is around. To humans, a random man wandering the woods is far more alarming than a giant wolf. Peter folds his clothes neatly and ties them to a tree before throwing his head back and allowing Baron to take over. At the edge of the clearing by her house, Baron picks up the scent of a new wolf. There are three heartbeats coming from the house. Two are slow and rhythmic like sleep, the other is definitely not asleep. He retreats back into the woods before the wolf can catch his scent. “Take the west side. I’ll settle in over here”, Baron links to Elvira.

Muriel

This gig is up. Evelyn hasn’t been able to sense Violet’s wolf, thanks to the wolfsbane. I need to get them out of here. The mild sedative I gave them should allow them to sleep, and we’ll make a plan tonight. They’re going to need their energy. Handling Violet will be the most difficult task tonight.

Muriel opens the fridge and rummages through until she spies a bag of carrots. Moving to the freezer, there’s a box of breaded chicken breasts, and she opens up the box to find three remaining. Perfect.

Several cupboards later. Muriel find the potatoes and sets to work fixing dinner. Muriel flits back and forth between the stove, counter and table, making three place settings. She’s whipped up some glazed carrots, mashed potatoes and the breaded chicken. Opening the fridge again, she finds a bag of salad and some dressing. She dumps it into a large bowl and places it in the centre of the table.

“Muriel?”, she hears from behind her. Muriel lost track of time, it’s now about six o’clock. “Evelyn,” she smiles, “you got a full six hours of sleep”. “Yeah, I don’t know what came over me”, Evelyn replies as she moves to the coffee maker and sets up a pot. “Are you cooking dinner?” “Yes, is breaded chicken okay?”, Muriel turns to face her daughter. “Smells great!”, Evelyn smiles weakly. “Where is Violet?” “She’s having a nap on the couch. She came home early from school, she wasn’t feeling well. Sit down and let’s talk before she wakes, shall we?” Muriel pulls out a chair for Evelyn.

“Evelyn, Violet’s wolf is rising. Her scent is very strong, now. I suggest you stop your own course of wolfsbane now, too. Unless he’s on another continent, there’s no way Daniel doesn’t already know”, Muriel says solemnly, placing her hand overtop of Evelyn’s. Evelyn’s eyes widen in horror. “Hush now. I need you to stay calm so we can decide what to do next, but first, we’re going to have to tell her. The process has already begun, and there’s no way we can stop her wolf in time without hurting her in the process. Without a pack doctor to rely on, she’ll die.” Evelyn nods slowly in disbelief. All these years spent trying to protect my baby, wasted.

“Dinner should be ready in about an hour. I want you to go start packing, you will leave tonight.” Evelyn nods slowly and rises from the table. Without a word, she disappears down the hall.