The Scarlet Witch

Chapter Six - The Drive

The drive heading back towards the Scarlet Moon Pack was far more peaceful and less chaotic than the drive heading to the Midnight Moon Pack. There were no more feelings of anxiety or anger while Dimitri was driving home, like there were with Cody driving just an hour earlier. Amaranth was looking out the window, taking in the view of the landscape as they passed by. Dimitri was focused on the road, occasionally stealing glances at Amaranth and back at Cody through the rearview mirror. Cody was sitting comfortably with the white dog lying across his lap. The black dog was lying on the seat every now and again perking up to look out the window.

"So," Cody spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence, "What are their names?"

"Oh, well, that sweet girl is Bella", Amaranth said as she turned in her seat to point at the white dog. "And this sweet, stoic boy is Bruce", she laughed as the black dog came over and put his head under her hand as she pointed at him.

Dimitri smiled as he drove, eyes on the road still, listening to the conversation. Hearing Amaranth speak calmly and not sensing any anxiety was good. Hopefully, they won't have another moment like they did on their wedding night. Cody and Amaranth continued to talk about the dogs, how she trained them and if she had any difficulties.

"I trained them slightly differently based on their personalities. Bella has qualities that make her a good emotional support animal. And Bruce was really protective, so I trained him to kind of be a guard dog, but he naturally just stays by my side, so it wasn't really a lot of work training him."

"Did you train them to fight?" Cody asked, glancing at Dimitri through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, but I didn't want them to always be on the defensive if that makes sense. So I paired a specific whistle tone to that command."

"How sure can you be that they won't be triggered to attack if they hear a whistle coming from someone else?" Cody asked.

"Trust me, no one can prompt them but me", Amaranth smiled, seeming proud of how well she trained her dogs.

"You mentioned having a dream about leaving that pack soon. Is that something that you are capable of? Like having visions and dreams of the future?" Dimitri asked, jumping into the conversation.

Amaranth turned to look at him, "Well, yes and no. I'm not necessarily a psychic if that's what you were thinking. But I have had dreams that felt more vivid than the average dream since I was young. When we went to talk to someone about it, they said that it was normal for someone with the lineage that I have. The dreams don't really happen that much anymore though, so when I had the dream about leaving, it stood out to me."

"How long were you living in that cottage?" Dimitri asked, thinking about how far and isolated the cottage seemed to be.

"Since I first got to that pack, about two weeks before my 16th birthday. My mother and Alpha Michael thought that in the case that I experienced my first shift, I should be around a pack. But Luna April didn't want me living in the main pack house. I guess she didn't want people wondering why a young witch was living on pack land. So they had the cottage built as far away as possible." Amaranth answered, looking out the window. "But with the wedding and knowing that it meant that I'd be leaving that pack, I gave the cottage to Matty. He wanted somewhere to live where he could be comfortable and be with Derek, until they decided where they wanted to live. So they moved into the cottage with me a month before the wedding."

"Well, do they have any idea what they want to do?" Cody asked.

"They are either going to just stay put, leave and not be associated with any pack, or find a new pack. But I know that Matty only stayed this past year because of me, so they might already know what they want to do." Amaranth responded, still looking out the window.

"I can't believe that Alpha Michael let you guys live on the literal edge of the pack grounds with rogue attacks happening. Seems pretty irresponsible to me." Cody huffed.

"Rogue Attacks?" Amaranth turned in her seat to look back at Cody.

"Yeah, the main point of the agreement was because Michael claimed that the pack needed help with rogue attacks..." Cody trailed off, looking at Dimitri for confirmation.

"Yes, it was said that there had been an increase in rogue sightings, leading to the concern that the pack could be attacked. So the purpose of the agreement was for the Scarlet Moon Pack to provide assistance in the event of an attack", Dimitri confirmed.

Scarlet Moon Pack, Amaranth thought about the name of her new home, her heart doing a flip. Scarlet. She was so hung up on the name that it took her a moment to register what was just said to her.

"Wait, increased rogue sighting? What are you talking about?" Amaranth was completely confused. "We don't have many rogue sightings and when we do they are never hostile. Mainly just people wandering onto the pack land. And most of the time, pack members don't even know that there was a sighting, because when rogues come they mainly head towards my cottage."

"You have rogues walking up to your cottage?" Dimitri asked, his hands tightening around the wheel.

"Well yes, but they have never been hostile and usually leave once they realize someone lives there and it's on pack land. The most interaction I ever had was with a family. They have an eight-year-old daughter who was sick, so I helped them nurse her back to health. I'm still in contact with her, they were a sweet family." Amaranth smiled.

"But I do remember Alpha Michael talking about rogue attacks when he made the announcement to the pack about the agreement and wedding. I thought it was just him doing what he always did though, spreading fear onto the pack members so that when nothing happens he can turn around and say that it was because he handled the issue. I mean rogue attacks? An increase in sightings? The pack doesn't even have consistent patrols, so they don't really seem to have a real concern about rogues." Amaranth huffed and rambled.

Dimitri and Cody were particularly speechless. Both thought to themselves that if rogues were not an actual issue for that pack then why ask for a pact between packs? Why refuse to let Amaranth leave that pack after the wedding, when she was clearly used to get the pact in the first place?

How did he know or be sure enough to bet that I had enough affection for Amaranth that he knew offering her hand would make me agree to the pact? What does he truly want? Dimitri wondered.

"Wait, no patrols? No one patrols the perimeter of the pack?" Cody asked, pulling Dimitri out of his thoughts.

"No, I asked Beta Simon about it years ago. He said that Alpha Michael apparently does not see a use for patrolling when the pack is so close to a high-ranking pack that is closely related to the royal family." Amaranth said, "Thinking about it now, I guess that was in reference to your pack".

The SUV pulled up to a guarded gate. Dimitri rolled down his window to greet the guards, who welcomed him back before opening the gate to let them in. Silence filled the inside of the SUV as they continued the drive towards the main pack house. Amaranth and the dogs were looking out the window, taking in the new environment. Cody was looking out the window as well, petting Bella. Dimitri's mind was racing, he had so many things to talk about with his grandfather, so many things to plan now that his wife is home, so many things to worry about when it comes to the alpha of the Midnight Moon Pack. The man was cunning and there was no doubt now that the pact was suggested with some sort of ulterior motive.

Power, Dimitri thought. Without a doubt this has something to do with power.