WITCHES OF WOLF CREEK: TRUTH

Chapter 18: Sixine

It’s so long! Even the most boring hearings never seemed to me to last so long! And although this bed that replaces my old bunk is a little less hard, it remains as uncomfortable as the spartan wooden benches of the Court of Justice.

Are girls bored too? Why were we separated? First Eli, then Neeve… Is this an attempt to destabilize us? Are they living through an even more unbearable ordeal? Are they tortured? Abused perhaps?

That’s enough, Six! Stop extrapolating. They are fine...

They are well…

They are well.

They are well.

Unable to remain static, I jump out of bed and stomp around in my tiny four-square-meter cell. It has at least the merit of warming me up, I’m freezing in this cellar!

A lap.

The eroded and oozing stones were the only spectacle.

At least those new clothes don’t smell musty anymore, but fresh plants. I imagine that they are eco-friendly, these wolves since they live in the heart of the forest and their laundry is a priori made up of ivy and plants of all kinds. At least we have that in common. Just that, actually.

Four rounds. Five rounds.

"Open the door, please."

This voice, hoarse and warm, I recognize it! It’s the only thing I’ve found to be friendly and comforting in this damn den: Jaxson! What is he doing here? Hasn’t he regained his place at his brother’s court?

The door squeaks horribly and makes my eardrums twist. A few drops of oil would not be a luxury. But there’s never anyone to take care of such things.

"Hello, Sixine," Jaxson greets me, squatting with difficulty in front of my cell.

His face is mottled with yellow and blue marks, remnants of the violent beatings he received the day before. It’s both impressive and reassuring: if he seems to be in pain, these wounds nevertheless give the impression that he is already at an advanced stage of healing. Soon, they will be totally gone. But even in this state, I find him captivating. My heart drums between my ribs, and my legs falter in front of his incandescent green gaze. The emotion that crosses my chest kindles the fire in my cheeks.

"Uh... hi," I stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"Does my presence bother you?" he quips.

"No! No! No way!"

I feel so alone that any visit would be enough to fill this void that inhabits me. So his is unexpected! Usually, when I’m not trapped in a pack of wild wolves, I’m surrounded by a crowd of anonymous people or I’m accompanied by Neeve and Eli; I’m not used to loneliness. Finding myself face to face with the only frequentable wolf in the area is a godsend, even if it is only temporary.

"Are you OK?" I asked, pointing to his wounds.

He nods, a wide grin on his bruised face.

"Thank you," he just replies.

"Thanks, why? You’re the one visiting me."

"For your saving intervention."

"I only defended what seemed right to me. Well, to oppose what seemed unfair to me, rather."

"You did more than that. You allowed Cooper to help me without losing face in front of the pack."

"Help you? Did all this... violence help you?"

"It saved me the life of a lone wolf."

Does he really believe what he says? This Cooper is willing to conceal their bond to preserve his Alpha status and he, Jaxson, naively thinks that his brother has just saved him.

"He should never have thought of inflicting such a punishment on you. You are of his blood!"

"That’s not how it works, you know that. He is a prisoner of his condition, subject to a form of extremely rigid protocol. What the pack wants, he must offer it, even if he suffers from it personally."

That doesn’t make any sense! Who would agree to sacrifice their loved ones and submit to such an absurd rule? Even in our coven, we aren’t so stubborn, although sometimes the logic of certain decisions escapes me.

"You don’t blame him, then?"

"No. Although we rarely agree, we grew up together. He did what he could to save me, but here I went too far. And above all, I got caught. Your reckless intervention tipped the scales in my favour, and I am grateful to you."

His voice adopts an even warmer tone than during our previous exchanges, deeper, and more sincere too. The gleams of his eyes intensify along with his dazzling smile.

"And I admire your courage," he adds, sketching a smirk that makes me melt. "No one had ever defended me with such conviction. Nobody does that sort of thing here, actually. The fate of an individual is of little importance when it comes to ensuring the safety of the pack."

"I can’t help it... Professional bent. In the North, I was a lawyer. My… pack authorized me to do so, I acted in defence of its environment. It’s always been more by vocation than by choice: I have a visceral aversion to injustice. I am incapable of keeping silent when I am confronted with an unfair situation. This time, it was useful to you, but sometimes the result is more mixed."

"At this point? Tell!"

"My last fight, the fight against the felling of hundred-year-old trees. Yes, I am a bit green too. In short, a big lobby wanted to fell three emblematic oak trees of our territory to erect in their place a shopping centre and a car park! I couldn’t bear to see them knocked down without it bothering anyone. The moral? We all ended up in custody. As for the trees, they were sold to the highest bidders…"

"It’s very sad that humans don’t understand their place in nature."

Wow! This sentence, I could have said it!

"You are surprising, Six."

Why, when he pronounces this sentence, and this usually so innocuous nickname, does my heart race? Six. He called me Six. And besides, he finds me surprising!

I look into his gaze and smile at him silly, unable to answer.

"It’s time!"

My jailer interrupts this silent communion and escorts Jaxson to the door.

"See you tomorrow, Six."

See you tomorrow?

Don’t dream too much, my girl. Tomorrow, he will have returned to normal life and will forget how to get back to this stinking dungeon.

However, day after day, Jaxson arrives in my cramped hallway and poses nonchalantly against the wall, just in front of the rusty gate that separates us. Soon, his bruises fade and his skin regains its original golden colour.

"Any news from the girls?"

"Not really," he replies, "but I’ve been assured they’re fine."

I still don’t know where Neeve and Elinor are. I cling to regular visits from Jaxson, who is kept away from pack discussions. I only live to see him pass through the riveted door, the creaking of which I now appreciate. Deprived of my closest friends, I only have him to give meaning to this endless imprisonment.

I am scared.

What will happen when the spell stops working when I become a witch again without my wolf attributes? Will I be killed? Can the bonds that we weave between Jaxson and I survive our irreconcilable differences?

We don’t mix.

If only we had stuck to it, we would have spared ourselves this nightmare.

"Tell me what’s going on outside."

"What would you like to know this time?"

"Surprise me."

"Routine. Each day tastes quite similar to the previous one."

"So, it’s all right?"

"More or less. I understand that disappearances are increasing."

"The disappearances? You mean members of your pack are disappearing? How is it possible? Do you think they’re being kidn*pped?"

"No. I believe they are decimated by vampires."

His voice has taken on a sharp tone and is tinged with deep disgust, which he doesn’t even try to conceal.

"The vampires? But why? Don’t they respect the Law?"

"They interpret them and emancipate themselves from them with disconcerting ease."

Ahem, yeah we got rid of them too.

"How do you know they’re guilty if you don’t have any clues?"

"Who else would be strong enough to take on wolves? Besides, everyone knows they’re hostile to us, Six. If they hate sorcerers, for wolves it’s even worse; they despise them and consider them as vermin that should be eradicated!"

Really?

"Their leader is a monster. A cruel and bloodthirsty being."

A bit like wolves.

"He swore that vampires would dominate other species and is doing everything he can. No matter what it will cost. One of these days we will have to face them."

I hope never to meet him. The wolves were enough for me. I just want to get back to our life among humans, our coven, our loft and our girls’ nights out, far from this war that doesn’t concern us.

At the same time, I can’t see myself leaving this place and abandoning Jaxson here when he is the only one to have held out his hand to me when his people have thrown me into oblivion. I got used to this glow in his dancing irises, to the warmth of his words and to his presence, which exerts an obvious magnetism on me.

I straighten up and pass my cheeks between the icy bars that I grip with my clenched fingers, covered with the cuffs of the sleeves of my sweater. Careful that my face doesn’t come into contact with the silver, I let my eyes gaze into his. Even if I dream of it, rediscovering our former existence is henceforth impossible: I cannot forget it and chase away this filter that it has placed between me and the bland reality.

Jaxson approaches. My breathing is jerky. My eyes can no longer leave his and I cling to their glow so as not to sink into the darkness.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks, and his pleasant breath warms my cheeks.

"I…no, nothing."

"Tell me."

My heartbeat quickens. He’s still getting closer. I no longer breathe.

"Don’t you trust me, Sixine?"

Scarlet, I nod. A gentle warmth envelops my chest. His warm hands rest on mine. Too busy drifting through the intense curls of his iris’, I hadn’t anticipated the tsunami of emotions that this simple contact would provoke in me. A delicious shiver runs up my spine. I still tremble when, for a brief moment, he puts his sugary lips on mine. I’m daydreaming. Feeling his kiss in the depths of my soul. Soft, warm and… so delectable. How I would like this moment to last, for time to freeze. I would like it not to set off again in its interminable momentum and imprison me in an infinite loop.

It’s too much to ask apparently, because Jaxson walks away. I swallow when I realize the feelings that go through me when his lips leave me.

"See you tomorrow?"

I nod again limply, already overwhelmed by his absence.

I hear someone at the door. He is coming!

I try to discipline my hair by running my fingers through it and staring at the door. The handle turns, and the panel opens... And it’s Neeve who appears in the c***k!

"Neeve!"

"Six! I’m so happy to see you! How’s it going?"

"Wonderfully, as you see," I quip, taking a little turn on myself to show her the horror of the unbecoming outfit I wear. And you? Are you being treated well?"

"Yes, I’m fine."

"Eli?"

"It seems that she is getting better and better..."

I breathe a sigh of relief to know my best friends are alive and well, before suddenly noticing something in her sentence.

"It seems?"

"Eli is locked up in Cooper Bretton’s quarters. And as for me, I’ve been placed in the good care of Emmitt and Tyler."

"At their home?"

"At their home."

I’m left speechless. Anger wells up inside me like a poisonous snake coiling itself around its prey. My eyes narrow and glare at Neeve, who I’m sure now is taking advantage of the situation as I vegetate in a stinking hole. My words are acerbic when I proclaim:

"So it’s only me in jail? And no one thought to get me out? What are you girls up to with those wolves?"

"Not so hard," Neeve whispers to me, clearly afraid of being discovered. "I tried, believe me, but from what the boys told me, Cooper can’t get you out now; he would lose face in front of the pack."

"I don’t care about this Cooper and his stupid fears! Without me, he would have lost his brother, he can thank me, right? Or is he waiting for me to get pneumonia?"

It’s a joke, right? What am I missing here?

"And you? What are you doing with these guys?"

"Me? Nothing, I’m hiding, like Eli and you, Six."

"You’re hiding beneath the sheets of these guys to be sure that no one will find you!"

She looks at me as if I had stuck an uppercut on her jaw. I’m so mad at her that I admit I wish I could hit her for real.

Have I lost my friends?