Two Halves of a Whole

Chapter 20

Sattira was relieved when they entered the dining hall for lunch. The packed dining hall was different from her experience that morning. There were still a few curious stares but they lacked the open hostility that had been present that morning.

She had made plans with her mother to train with her magic after lunch. She was excited to learn more and find out what else she would be able to do. Sattira was also impatient to learn what her special power would be.

She knew it was very nearly unheard of to get the same power your parents had but part of her thought it was a very fitting power for a werewolf-mage cross. It almost seemed an extension of the alpha aura. She was hoping that she would have something cool that went with her werewolf side.

Lugos waited with her in her room. He was hoping to sit in and watch what she could do but Sattira had made it clear it was up to her mother.

They hadn’t been in her room long when there was a knock on the door. Sattira’s mother entered without waiting to be let in as she knew they were expecting her. She gave Lugos a long thoughtful look but to Sattira’s surprise said nothing as she motioned for help setting up the circle they had used the last time.

Sattira helped roll back the rug to expose the hardwood floor underneath then laid out the large mat her mother brought with her to protect the floor as her mother set out the supplies.

“Do you remember the symbols for the outside of the circle?” Her mother held out the salt mixture to Sattira.

“I believe so,” she answered. She took the mixture and made a large circle on the the mat and made the marks she remembered from the last time.

Her mother watched her with a satisfied look on her face. Lugos was curious about the circle but didn’t want to say anything that would get him banned from the room so he would remember to ask her about it later. When the circle was done both women stepped into being careful not to touch the salt mixture.

Once they were seated across from each other her mother took the diamond Sattira recognized as being from her home office that she now had a replica of tucked among her things out of a bag and sat it on the floor between them.

“Today I want you to work on manipulating items.” Her mother had caused the large diamond to rise up off the floor and spin completely around before letting it land gently where it had started, all while saying this and without giving one look in its direction.

“How do you do that without looking at it?” Sattira knew her wolf could help her find things with their enhanced senses but her mother didn’t have a wolf and she just seemed to know where it was.

“You are looking at this the wrong way. You have used the senses of a human until recently and your wolf only enhances those. What I need you to do is close off your other senses for a moment. Close your eyes, ignore what you smell, and other than the sound of my voice you are to tune out all sounds.” Her mother caused the diamond to rise into the air and held it there. “Let you magic tell you what is around you. Feel for the diamond, when you find it tell me where it is.”

Sattira sat for a moment and imagined what the area around her looked like. She imagined her magic gently sliding around on the floor inside the circle. It was almost like she could feel when it reached the salt mixture. She could feel it moving along the floor towards her mother. She knew when her magic reached her mother because she could feel her mother’s magic ripple across the older mage like a second skin. She sent her magic up into the space between them until she finally found a small ripple about the size of the item in question, only it was coated in magic. She could feel her mother’s aura intertwined with the magic and was shocked to realize this magic had a signature.

“Does all magic have the caster’s aura mixed with it?” She wondered what hers would look like to others.

“Yes, every caster leaves a magic fingerprint when they use their magic. Once the magic is used up the fingerprint fades but if you find an active spell you can use the fingerprint to identify the caster. So from this question can we say you found the diamond?” Her mother was trying to keep her on task.

“I believe so,” she said trying to sound certain but she still wasn’t sure.

“Imagine your magic as a hand reaching out to grab the diamond and place it back where it was before you closed your eyes.” Her mother’s voice seemed confident she would easily do this.

Keeping her eyes closed she tried to follow her mother’s advice. She felt her magic wrap around the diamond. She was surprised she could feel the smooth surface as if she were holding it in her hand. She imagined lifting it from her mother’s hold and was surprised how easy it was.

Once the diamond was in place she opened her eyes to see her mother smiling at her. “I told your father you would pick this up easy enough.”

“You didn’t have to close your eyes though,” Sattira said slightly frustrated.

“I have also been at it a lot longer than you,” her mother said back to her.

“I hate to interrupt but what good will it do her to learn to levitate an object? Maybe she should be focusing on her wolf abilities since they will serve her better and won’t take her as long to master.” Lugos jumped them both by saying.

Both women had forgotten that he was even in the room with them. Sattira’s mother looked angry and this shocked the young woman as she had never truly seen her mother as anything but patient and kind. She had disappointed her parents a few times but her mother had always been patient even then.

“No one asked you to be here for this, Wolf!” She spat the last word as if it were an insult. “Every mage starts with the basics to make sure they can handle them. Just like you wouldn’t build a house without first building a strong foundation, you don’t teach advanced magic until you teach the basics,” she said as she looked at her daughter. “But make no mistake, even the basics can be deadly.”

Suddenly a globe of water appeared over his head and rained ice cold water over Lugos. He jumped with a start and tried to shake himself dry.

“A well trained mage can call forth a silver blade from thin air using the basics and drive it through your heart before you even realize what has happened.” He mother wore a satisfied smirk at his discomfort. “I suggest if my training style dissatisfies you that you find other things to do while I teach MY daughter.”

Lugos was far from happy. His wolf wanted revenge but he knew any move against this witch would only upset his mate. Mages, as they preferred to be called, had always had an uneasy truce with the shifters and werewolves as well as other mythical beings but their need to remain hidden from humans had made it necessary for all the mythical beings to try to get along no matter their feelings about each other. Although he loved his mate he felt they might be better off if she didn’t bother with her magic. Apparently it was important to her though so no matter his true feelings he would try to support her in whatever she wished to do. He just thought her wolf abilities might be easier to master and if she was only on the basics she might want to concentrate on something he realized from her sparring this morning she was already advanced in.

All that aside, at this very moment he wished to be dry so he stood up and headed towards the door without saying another word. Sattira suddenly stood and started after him but he was faster than her and the door shut before she could reach him.

“Was that really necessary?” She was not one to talk back to her mother so the older woman was caught off guard by her question.

“He was disrespectful and needed to be taught a lesson,” her mother told her.

“A lesson maybe but you didn’t do that, did you? You tried to humiliate him. I heard the way you called him a wolf, as if it were a dirty word. Well I am a wolf too, do you love me less because of it,” she asked as tears start to gather in her eyes.

“No, Hunny, you know you are different. You are our daughter and we love you very much, just like I loved your mother,” she tried to hug her daughter but Sattira stepped away from her.

“That wolf is my mate. If he doesn’t except me because you drive him away I don’t know how I will survive it,” Sattira was so upset she turned around and ran through the door.

Her mother was shocked to find her daughter was mated to the young alpha. She knew that her daughter had been spending a lot of time with Lugos and she had noticed his interest in her but believed he was just drawn to her beauty and innocence, which had made her dislike the young wolf as she was protective of her only child. She would have thought the need to complete the mating would have been too strong for them if they were mates and there would be a mark on her daughter to show their bond. Seeing there was no mark she had wrongly assumed that his intentions were not pure. She had only been attempting to drive the young alpha away to protect her daughter but her assumption was wrong and now her daughter was angry with her and rightfully so.

By the time she got over her shock Sattira was already gone. Even as she sent her magic to try to find her daughter she was shocked to find that she was unable to locate her. She suddenly felt panicked and moved to knock on the door across the hall from her daughter’s room. She had seen the young alpha go in and out enough to know it was his room.

“Can I help you?” He didn’t look thrilled to see her there but seeing the panic on her face Lugos forgot about his irritation with the older woman.

“I can’t find Sattira. She left her room. She was really upset. I have never been unable to find her.” She was starting to become frantic knowing the danger her daughter could be in with Rob and his supporters being free within the pack grounds.

Lugos didn’t wait for her to finish. Without removing his clothes he shifted into his wolf form and started down the hall with Sattira’s mother following close behind. He paused occasionally to check the direction his mate went.

Sattira wasn’t sure where she was headed in her heart broken state. She managed to reach the edge of the woods behind the pack house but in the state she was in she failed to notice she was being followed. She didn’t worry about getting lost or that she had no idea what was in the woods that might be waiting to attack her. The anger she felt at how her mother behaved fueled her desire to be away from her. She didn’t want to see her right now and her magic seemed to know it as she blocked her mother’s locator spell without even knowing she was doing so.

She had been running for a while when she heard a snap of a twig breaking. Only then did she realize the possibility that she might be in danger as she turned to see what had caused the noise.

“Look who we have here. It’s the alpha’s little w***e,” Julie sneered at her as the two girls with her giggled.

“Why are you doing this,” Sattira asked. “I have never done anything to you.”

“You came along and stole what was mine. I worked hard to be a top warrior so Lugos would realize that I am supposed to be his Luna,” Julie growled out. Her friends had started to spread out to the sides in an attempt to surround her and give them the advantage.

“What are you saying, only his mate can be Luna. You grew up knowing about mates. You should know this stuff,” Sattira didn’t understand why these girls didn’t already know about this.

“If he never finds his mate he will have to choose a mate. He will need a strong Luna to give him heirs. Once I give him an heir it won’t matter if he finds his mate because the mother of the heir will be Luna until his son becomes alpha and finds his own Luna. He should not risk wasting his seed on a tramp when he could have a strong well liked Luna like me. Without you crawling around him like the tramp you are he will realize that I am the only choice,” Julie screamed as she started to lunge at her and her friends followed her lead.

Sattira was so upset. Why don’t you all just stop, she thought with such force. She was startled when all three girls stopped mid attack. She waited for them to move but they just stared at her with looks of shocked horror on their faces.

Suddenly a huge wolf she recognized as Lugos crashed through the trees closely followed by her mother.