Mistress of Blood and Fur

Chapter 16 - Faces

Onyx

I’m still thinking about how Grace went into a trance the other day. I know it bothers Fox, too. The witch connection somehow makes them friendlier with each other while I’m here wondering what I can offer her better so that she’ll choose me.

My dad seems eager to keep me away from her, too. I don’t know. I’m probably paranoid but somehow I get that feeling. He sends me for another errand the following day.

“Get the brides’ rooms ready, Onyx.”

“What am I now, dad? The pack servant?” I growl. I don’t mean it and I wouldn’t have normally complained if not for the fact that it takes me away from Grace for a few hours. Dad has already pulled me away from the career I love. Now, he’s bent on making me fail with Grace.

“Mrs. Johnson and Delia already cleaned up the rooms. The beds have been made and the whole place has been decorated. Supplies are already in their respective spots. You know why you’re going there, Onyx. You have the strongest sense of smell among the wolves.”

I’m no longer sure about that, but I don’t gripe aloud.

“So, smell the rooms to make sure they’re safe? Do I also get to pee on them?” I deadpan.

My father glares at me. His hands are on his hips. It means that he’s pissed that I’m making this hard. What does he expect? I will go down like a good dog and do everything I’m asked to do? I’m already here. Am I not?

“Onyx, be serious. Think about this. Dennington has given as a warning in more ways than one. We need to find out if the Ewing girl is here somewhere.”

“You think I can sniff her?”

“You know her. Didn’t you, Onyx?” he asks, simply looking for confirmation. His voice is flat, not exactly accusatory.

I didn’t lie when I told Grace that she was a witch I knew from a few years back, but just how much I knew her is another thing entirely.

“I did. It wasn’t – f**k,” I groan and pull at my hair. Rosamund Ewing was a nightmare, even more than Carlotta. But I didn’t hide anything from Grace – not really, anyway. Rosamund was never my girlfriend, but I knew her well enough.

“Would you be able to catch her scent?”

“Maybe? It’s been awhile, Dad. She’s also a witch. If she’s like Grace’s mother who can bounce smells from one person to the next, we are in deep shit.”

“Do you think she’s in danger or is she dangerous?”

I don’t want to think about her at all. She’s -

**

“Onyx, come to me. You know you want to.”

I was sixteen years old, still living in Opium Hills every weekend. My mom sent me to a boarding school. She didn’t want me growing up in the pack. She wanted me as a human. I saw a woman standing outside in the yard.

She had long, red hair that reached her waist. She looked like she was about twenty years old or slightly older than that. I was too young to gauge ages well, and was still too stupid to resist. I went down, barefooted. The soles of my feet almost didn’t feel the wet grass. Rain poured on me, drenching me. My soaked shirt clung to my body. I was already more than six feet tall and I towered over the young woman in front of me, but something about her intimidated me. Even Blaze found himself mute before her.

“What do you want? Who are you?””

“You – I want you, Onyx. Come to me. Let me hold you.”

It was a seduction. I wasn’t used to it. In the city, I pursued some girls and some pursued me. There was always the feeling of equal power. With this woman, it was different. I knew there was an imbalance. Even though I came from a powerful wolf and my powers were beginning to rise from within me, I knew I was no match for this woman. At least not yet. She looked like she had years and experience over me.

“Who are you?” I persisted, although a part of me was already crumbling. Giving in. Her lips were too close to my cheek, her hot breath juxtaposing with the cold rain.

“Look at me. I can be anyone. My name is -.”

My ears heard a gurgling sound and I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Her face seemed to change right in front of me. Several times. She became fairer. Darker. Freckled, Smoother. Older. Younger. Sometimes, her face even turned into a man’s.

“When you will see me again, you will know me as Rosamund Ewing.”

Then, she pressed her palms on my chest and I feel like I was being torn apart. The heat from her hands seemed to pull something from deep within me. A reddish light formed between the two of us. It pulses almost like a heart. I could almost hear its pounding, or maybe it was my heart roaring in my ears.

My mother found me on the grass a few hours later. I heard her screams. They had to take me to a healer, but I never said anything about the witch who came to take something that was mine.

**

“She’s dangerous, Dad.”

I decide to go for honesty this time.

“I had a suspicion that you were not telling me everything about that attack from five years ago,” he says. He remembers. I didn’t think he would. At that time, my mother was at the end of her rope, her mind unraveling. So, I thought then that his mind was only on her well-being. His two other mates lingered in the background. They both gave him sons. One should be about twenty now, and the other fifteen. They are too young to be considered, I suppose, or dad simply wants me to take charge of Opium Hills. My brothers are with their mothers, away from here. Where? I don’t really care.

“She took something from me. I don’t know what.”

“We will find her, and we can take whatever it is back, Onyx. I called for you because I believe that you can do so much for this pack. I’m proud of you.”

My chest tightens. My father calls on me when things get tough, but he has never said these words before. He has never clearly said anything about being proud of me. Still, a part of me is still pissed.

“Well, you keep on keeping me away from Grace. I almost think you don’t want her to choose me.”

“Oh, I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She’s just young and a little shy about her feelings. Don’t be an ass around her, and make it clear if you have any feelings. This isn’t like any of the games you play with your experienced college girls.”

I agree with him there.

“I better get to work then.”

“You can ask her to go with you. Let’s see what she can sniff. Her mother is a scent hybrid, and maybe she’s got that talent from her.”

Grace may actually have too much talent brewing inside of her. Maybe I shouldn’t be ignoring this part of her. Maybe we can just use it for the good of the pack.

In a few minutes’ time, I meet Grace at the front of her place. She looks excited when I tell her what we’re supposed to do.

“So, they’ll be here soon?” she asks. Maybe she’s craving for some friendship. Justine is still in her honeymoon phase and Carlotta is not out to make friends with her. So, she’s probably hoping that she’ll find some friends among the new brides.

“I guess,” I say, shrugging. It seems that Dad wants me to sniff the place. He chose me with Rosamund Ewing in mind, I can tell but I’m not ready to tell Grace that. Eventually, we will have to talk about her choices, and that it should be me. With that conversation, the deal about powers should be discussed.

“Let’s go then!” she urges, her eyes dancing. It’s like an adventure for her. For a moment there, she looks so young. I almost want to carry her away from here and make sure she registers for a college. She is too young to be responsible for a pack’s survival.

We walk to the cabin farthest away from Carlotta’s and Grace’s. It should be able to house six young women. Domino and Tamar will be housed in the mansion. They’re like our mother figures. As we get closer to the new brides’ place, I see someone run swiftly from it to the forest.

“Did you see that?” I ask, my heart hammering in my chest.

“What?”

Apparently, her sight isn’t as fast as mine. Did Dad feel this was going to happen? The one who ran from the cabin to the forest isn’t in the form of a female, though. He was shaped like a man, one who wasn’t that tall but was a man nonetheless.