WITCHES OF WOLF CREEK: TRUTH

Chapter 26: Neeve

I’m still in the grip of emotion! Sixine disappeared and ran off with Jaxson, the rebel of the pack.

We were already in deep s**t, but there it is! The cousins are just getting ready to go looking for her, with a whole battalion of not-very-friendly wolves. What are they going to do to her if they find her? What will happen if she reveals her powers? Obviously, my friends forgot to be careful. Using magic will condemn us to death, both on the sorcerer's side and on the wolf's side, when they find out what we have done. What I did...

We are risking a lot, and Sixine ran off without knowing that the threat outside was even worse than the one hanging over us in the den.

"Relax, Neeve of the North," Tyler says, kissing my lips and heading for the exit, Emmitt immediately following suit.

He’s funny! If only it were that simple. I almost have tears in my eyes as I feel betrayed. By Sixine. By Elinor, too. Maybe I didn’t have the right reaction to this one. I was so happy to see her again after these weeks of separation. Maybe it wasn’t mutual...

Once Emmitt and Tyler have gone in search of Sixine and Jaxson, I get up with the firm intention of finding Eli. She spat those horrible words in my face, not knowing what I’d been through these last few weeks. Without knowing I tried everything to find solutions to our situation. How can she judge my conduct with the cousins? I don’t feel guilty for giving in to temptation. From the beginning, the cousins protected me. From the start, they consoled me… I didn’t ask that we end up in this mess.

I pace the corridors with heavy steps, ruminating on my disappointment and my anger. We have to find Sixine. We have no choice. But we’ll have to play it smart. I pass the kitchens where the wolves have gathered. They need to gain strength before the upcoming hunt. It sends shivers down my spine. Six… I quietly walk in front of the large open door. No one pays attention to me. The shouts of anger against Jaxson occupy them well enough. But I have not done two metres that I freeze. Blood drains from my face.

This feeling…

It rises from the ground, licks my legs and enters my chest. I’m suffocating.

Magic…

Lots of magic.

I scream:

"Sixine!"

Turning around, I find myself face-to-face with the whole pack. They are in tight rows in the corridor and stare at me with wide eyes. Cooper clears a passage and crashes in front of me.

"What are you doing?" he asks dryly.

My heart skips a beat. We must quickly find Sixine. But the magic... what can I say? If they find out about her powers, what will they do to her?

The feeling ebbs. My throat tightens. No choice…

"Leave immediately!" I shout.

Tyler and Emmitt make their way to the Alpha as if to protect him.

"Neeve…" Emmitt begins, worried.

"Baby, we’ll find’em, don’t panic," Tyler tells me, with a determined look.

Yes, I’ll panic! I feel the earth magic, and it is powerful. Very powerful. My mind follows the walls of the den, to the exit. It continues on its way until I feel the presence of my friend. My brain is screaming Danger at me.

"Trust me," I tell them, trying to contain my fear. "She… she’s south of the cave, six or seven hundred yards from here and…"

"How do you know that?" Cooper cuts me off, his tone becoming more serious.

I look down. His wolf side encourages me to offer him my neck as a sign of submission, but I refuse. He tenses up and grabs my arm.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" he repeats.

I free myself from his grip, my heart in my mouth, for the first time feeling his authority head-on.

"Go now, or your brother and my friend will die! Hurry up, and I promise to tell you everything when you get back. Hurry, please. Go now!"

The Alpha squints and looks at Tyler, then turns to the assembly.

"Let’s go! But don’t transform until we know more about what’s going on."

They are all about to run away, when I exclaim:

"Take me with you!"

I must go with them. Against powerful sorcerers, they all risk their lives. Now, I don’t want a wolf in this pack to die because of us. They don’t deserve this. Without knowing it, they protected us. We are indebted to them.

Cooper cuts himself off in his tracks and turns quickly.

"No way, damn it! You stay there, and don’t you dare go out. Prepare your explanations, Neeve of the North, because if they don’t satisfy me, the good life with your stallions is over. The dungeons will be your new home. Understood?"

I nod my head, I can’t help it. He scares me with his loud voice, that i***t!

A second later, they all leave. I take this opportunity to run to Elinor’s room. The door is closed. In a hurry, I use magic to unlock it. No need to ask questions anymore, we are already discovered.

"Eli!"

She is lying in a bed of exaggerated proportions, in a fetal position. As soon as she hears me, she sits up and her forehead tenses when she discovers the concern on my features.

"What is happening?" she said, frightened.

"Six is in danger!"

"I know. I can’t stop thinking about it. Cooper went looking for her. According to him, it won’t take them long to trace her scent."

"No, you don’t understand. She was attacked by sorcerers. We must help her!"

Her eyes widen in amazement. She jumped out of bed and quickly put on some shoes, before running off to my side.

We go at a mad pace until our frightened eyes notice colourful lights emerging above the foliage, a little further in the forest. When we reach this place a battle rages. Pack members are on the ground. Seven sorcerers protect themselves from the twenty wolves who are still struggling, trying to cast spells to stop them. But it’s not easy to hit a moving target as fast as one of these beasts. And being assailed with so much violence does not foster the concentration needed to craft a spell. Sorcerers haven’t thought to bring silver weapons, and that may tip the scales in our favour.

Elinor exclaims:

"Sixine!"

My gaze follows his. Our friend stands naked, her body covered in bruises, behind a large, dark-furred wolf. Jaxson. Her terrified eyes make me understand her dilemma. In front of the pack, impossible to reveal her magic. But I still felt it. Did she reveal it to Jaxson?

I don’t have time to dwell on the thought that a man’s gravelly voice sounded right behind us.

"Well, there you go, the trio is finally complete!"

"Who are you?" Eli asks taking a step back.

"The one who has been looking for you for a long time, my pretties!"

"Are you the…the one who’s wanted to kill us all along?" stammers my friend, while I examine this large man with long grey hair.

He laughs and approaches again. Eli and I are backing up. Calm returns to the forest, preceding the coming storm. The wolves stopped their attacks. Sorcerers wait for orders from whoever seems to be their master. But who is this guy?

A grin answers my mute question, and then his deep voice rises:

"Kill them all!"

I don’t have time to turn around before a spell hits me. A laceration spell. The pain in my chest and arms makes me scream.

"NEEVE!" shout the cousins.

Blood flows from the large wounds that streak my abdomen. Elinor is attacked in turn, but she counters the spell by raising the palm of her hand. Immediately emerges a thin white streak, like a moonbeam rushing against the leader of our enemies. It imprisons him, while Sixine wields her power against other sorcerers. Some are caught in the shadows and explode with a disgusting noise, while others throw themselves on her from the sides. Despite the pain, I rush forward with a brisk step and touch the first tree nearby. Its branches stretch out and grab sorcerers who threaten us by the neck, then immediately retract and hang them. Their legs move in the void, and their eyes spring from their sockets.

Sixine takes the opportunity to shorten their suffering by repeating her explosive spell. My gaze then turns to Elinor, who approaches the chief sorcerer, ready to question him. But she’s barely a metre away from him when he finds a way to cut her face. Her hands then go to his cheeks. His cries are terrible. When she looks up at the sorcerer, a thin white streak tightens so fast it cuts him to pieces.

Calm returns to the place. An oppressive calm. A shiver runs down my spine.

Panting, I consider Elinor, then turn to Sixine. They approach me, while the wolves observe us with dark eyes and the golden halo around their pupils doesn’t bode well. Disturbing growls echo in the throats of many of them.

The two cousins transform, looking haggard. They appear before me, completely naked, their bodies stretched like a bow. Then it’s Jake who imitates them, before throwing himself on the body of a wolf lying on the ground, her throat lacerated. It is impossible to recover from such an injury, even with the lycanthrope power of regeneration, even with magic. I hear him say "Macha" in a trembling, broken voice. I swallowed, thinking of the young lovable wolf who had just lost her life. Because of us. Then my gaze lifts to Emmitt and Tyler, I see the bewildered expression plastered on their faces. An expression that doesn’t last and that quickly turns into something I’ve never seen in them: disgust.

Their lips curl over their canines. Claws replace their fingernails. Their amber eyes glare at me. And my heart is breaking.