Waylen's Witch

"Christ lad, you're wearing a hole in the carpet" Uncle says, not looking up from his book. I mumble an apology under my breath but don't manage to still my feet. "Ah dinnae ken why you're so anxious. 'Tis but a lass". A smirk appears on the corner of his lips "Though bonnie may she be". "Aye" Lyla is stunning. She's also smart, funny, and kind. She's my best friend and everything anyone could hope for in a mate. And in just a few hours it will be her birthday and we will finally know for sure, one way or another. "WE NEED TO GO TO HER!" Solus bellows in my head, just as worked up as I am. "The last thing we need to do is get her in trouble tonight". I remind him. Lyla's father was Alpha Arron's Bata. He was there 5 years ago on the night he was killed. The same night Lyla's mother and both my parents were killed as well. So it makes sense that Doug's love for his daughter is second only to his need to protect her, and why she is under such heavy guard. The loss of our parents was what brought Lyla and me together in the first place. On the day of the funerals, I was inconsolable. I had run off from the ceremony, needing to escape the sorrow that threatened to swallow me up. Lyla must have followed me because she found me by the creek, crying under a fallen log not long after. I remember my 12-year-old self being embarrassed and trying to hide my tear-streaked face. I barely knew her then, but I remember looking up at her, and even with her own puffy red eyes and tousled auburn hair, she looked like the closest thing to an angel that I had ever seen before, or since. She never said anything, just crawled under the log with me, laced her arms around mine, and laid her head on my shoulder. Together we just sat and cried for hours, till my uncle found us and brought us home. From that day on we were as thick as thieves, and that log by the creek became our spot. Any time one of us was upset or needed the other, somehow we always knew and found one another there. I found her there when Evalin McDonald broke the necklace her mother has left her, by ripping it from her neck in the heat of a fight, and She found me when Jonah Locklain called me a worthless orphan, and I got a suspension for kicking his arse. "I wonder if she needs me now. Like I need her?" "We need to go to her". Solus whines. "Aye, for the love of the goddess, go!" My uncle breaks into my thoughts. "You're driving me nuts!" "Stay out of my thoughts old man" I shake my head and push him out. He smiles wryly and looks at me over his glasses "You're getting better and pushing me out, but you need to keep the barrier up all the time. You never know who might be listening. The voice of the pack is as much of a curse as it is a blessing". A deep frown appears on his face "Especially in times like these". I nod, knowing all too well. Since the death of Alpha Arron, his son Alpha Ewen has led the pack, and to say that things have gone downhill would be an understatement. One of the first things he did was outlaw "poaching". We now need express permission to hunt on pack land. However, it is also illegal to cross the border without permission. Unable to do what we do best, our food supply was effectively cut in half. He then restricted trade and put the pack into lockdown. No one and nothing comes in or out of our territory. No goods, no services, and no food. At least not for us. "Somehow, while the majority of us are starving, Ewen and his men seem to be unaffected". "WAYLEN!" Warden, my uncle's wolf bellows at me, making Solus shutter. "Damn it, lad. What did I just say?" "Sorry uncle". He sighs, lifting himself out of his chair and limps into the kitchen. It is unusual for our tiny pack to have more than one pup per mated pair. It's not a rule, but we just don't have a lot of space, and more recently, not enough resources to go around. However, if my uncle hadn't been born with a clubfoot, my grandparents might not have felt the need to "replace the broken son" with my dad, and then I wouldn't be here. I'm flooded with guilt. I hate his pain. I hate how bad he was, and continues to be, treated. Words can't express how grateful I am to have him, and for everything he has done for me. I have no idea where I would be without him. He could have rejected me when my parent died. He could have continued to live his life as a hermit on the edge of the pack. But he stepped in and stepped up. I owe him everything. I follow him into the kitchen and watch as he fumbles around in the fridge. He produces something wrapped in brown paper and hands it to me. "What's this?" I start to unwrap the paper, but he stops me by grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me in. "I ken I am hard on you lad" he slaps my shoulder "But it's because I see so much of me in you, and I want you to be smarter, and make better choices. You ken?" I nod. "Good. Now, go to your lass. Before that wolf of yours does any real damage" he folds my hands around the package "And take this". "Meeeeat!" Solus all but moans as he catches a whiff. "No uncle" I push the package back into his hands "I can't take all this, and besides..." I lower my voice and check the barrier is firmly in place "We shouldn't even have his". He shoves it back at me harshly with a humph "The unlucky beggar died in an unfortunate snaring accident. The crime would be to let her go to waste." He gives a wry smile and winks at me. "Now get". It's late August and the night is nice and dry. I don't shift and instead, make the trek back to the creek on two legs. "Why do you torture me? Let me run". "Not yet Solus". I push him back down as he keeps trying to leap forward. He's excited, but coupled with my nervous energy it's hard to keep him in the background. I wipe the sweat from my palms. I don't know why I'm so on edge. Lyla will be the same person tomorrow as she was yesterday, but the weight of what may or may not be different between us is crushing and I am finding it harder and harder to breathe. I force a calming breath. She might not even be there. I could have reached out, but I don't like talking that way. It feels invasive, and like my uncle always reminds me, I don't know who else could be listening. Accidentally linking with Doug about seeking around with his daughter would be... Solus wines and I agree with his opinion. He is not someone I would want to cross. light filters through the dark forest just before Solus gives an excited howl. "They're here!" We follow her scent to the creek bank and notice the small fire Lyla has started by our log. Her scent is everywhere, sending shivers down my spine, but she is nowhere to be seen. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me gooooooooooo!" Solus howls. "All right, all right". I strip down, storing my things under the log, and let him loose. Solus wastes no time. Nose to the ground he tracks her scent along the bank and I let him do his thing. He is hyper-focused on a pile of leaves where she clearly rolled only moments before and doesn't hear the snap of a twig that comes a millisecond before Macy barrels into us, sending us rolling down the bank. "Gottcha!" Macy laughs jumping on top of Solus and pulling his ear playfully. Sorry guys, Macy is a little over-excited. Lyla apologizes as her small red wolf continues to bounce and nip excitedly. "How are you?" I ask Lyla as Solus and Macy continue to play fight, nipping, licking, and rubbing their bodies together as they race laps around the log. "I'm good." She says unconvincingly. Macy whines and licks Solus's face. "Ok. Maybe we are a little nervous". She admits. "Everything will work out, I'm sure of it". I do my best to sound convincing, even though I am equally as worried. "We brought meat!" Solus says excitedly. "Really?" Macy and Lyla ask at the same time. I look Macy over and realize that I can see her ribs beneath her red coat. I wonder how long she has gone without. The thought of her going hungry makes my blood boil. A low growl sounds from Solus's chest. "When we are mated, I will never let you go hungry again. I swear it". He says rubbing his face into Macy's neck. Lyla laughs. "At least one of us sounds confident". "Let's eat!" Macy leaps over the log excitedly and a moment later Lyla peeks her head over the log. I shift back too, pulling on my jeans and taking a seat by the fire just as Lyla comes around the log dressed in my favorite purple sundress. I take her in, from her long pale legs to her bright blue eyes. Her hair falls in its usual wild curls over her shoulders and down her back. I don't think that I will ever get tired of looking at her, She notices me staring and I watch as her cheeks heat "Do no look at me like that". "Like what?" I chuckle. "Like you're starving," she says boldly but looks away, pushing hair behind her ear. "I am. In more ways than one." She turns her back to me. "I'm sorry Ly, I did no mean to offend" I rub the back of my neck "You're so beautiful is all". She looks at me over her shoulder and I can see that she's upset. "Ah, come here" I pat the ground next to me. She starts to cry as I pull her against me "I'm scared Waylen" she confesses "I don't want things to change between us". For long moments I just hold her tight, breathing in her scent as her hair tickles my nose. When I pull back, I tilt her head up so I can look into her eyes. "I love you, Lyla. I have loved you since the moment you found me, right here, five years ago, and I have only loved you more every day since." I brush a tear away from her cheek with my thumb. "It does no matter what happens tomorrow." I lean in, resting my forehead on hers "I'm yours. Body and soul. Whether our goddess says so or no". Her eyes shut and she leans in, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. But it doesn't last. Instead, she pulls back and rests her head on my shoulder. "I love you too Waylen" her voice breaks "I pray every night that the goddess will bind us together. I want it so bad, I feel like I could break in two". Macy whimpers and Solus echoes her. I try and lighten the mood with a laugh, kissing the top of Lyla's head "Well, it seems we are all in agreement then. Let's no spend our time dwelling on the things we can no control, Aye?". She gives me a small smile, sitting up and wiping tears away with a nod. We spend the next few hours cooking the rabbit Uncle gave me, eating, talking, laughing, and holding each other. At some point, we must have fallen asleep because when I wake, the sun is just coming up, and Lyla is gone. Pain, like a stab, hits me. I already ken. But I have to be sure. I make the trek to her house but stop short in the treeline. Her little farmhouse is abuzz with activity, and I watch from my hidden vantage as guards put a suitcase in the back of a black SUV. My mind refused to register what is going on. Lyla appears in her bedroom window and even from here, I can make out her sobs. My feet are instinctively moving in her direction. "DON'T". Doug's voice stops me in my tracks. I didn't see him before now, but he is standing by the door. "I need to go to her. Please." I plead. "Don't make this harder on her than it already is". He says, looking genuinely sympathetic. "You're a good lab, and you would have been a good match for her, but it was no meant to be. She is destined for more". What does that mean? I watch as a guard leads her out of the house and another one bows his head as he opens the car door for her. No. Oh goddess no. Anything but that. My sadness is suddenly swallowed up by fear. Solus bellows with anguish and I am too overwhelmed to hold him back. Within seconds he is charging toward Lyla. One of the guards intercepts us, but we fake left before leaping clean over the massive black wolf. But the second one slams into us with blinding speed, knocking us to the ground with one paw on our back, and his jaws stretching the skin on the back of our neck. "STOP" Lyla bellows and everyone stills, unable to resist the command of their new Luna. "Please Lyla, you don't have to do this", I beg. "You can reject him, I can take care of you. I can keep you safe". The wolf on top of me laughs mockingly, pressing me down harder into the dirt. Pathetic. Tears stream down Lyla's face. Her eyes filled with hopelessness. If it was anyone else, it might have worked. But there is nothing that we could do, and nowhere we could go that Alpha Ewen wouldn't hunt us down. Taking something that belongs to him might as well be signing our own death certificates. And we both know it. Lyla looks at me one last time, studying me like she is trying to memorize what I look like. "I love you, Waylen, I am so sorry". She says with a sob as she climbs into the back of the car. "NOOOOO!" Solus howls in agony as they are hauled away. The moment the car is no longer in sight the grip on our scruff tightens and the second guard joins the first. "Alright, little Baird. Our orders are to teach you a lesson. If you do no fight back, we'll go easy on you. But, if you do no stay away from our Luna, we're to kill you and that cripple Uncle of yours. So, if I were you, I'd learn my lesson well the first time. Do you understand?" A fierce growl rips through Solus. The second guard laughs. "See. I told you he would no go down without a fight. Just like his da." "Good. I've missed the taste of blood."