The Witch's Gamma

Chapter 6

Five Years Ago

Allie

"Leave her the hell alone," Allie yelled as she charged down the alley.

When she'd seen the man threatening what looked to be a young teenage girl, she knew she couldn't walk past. She might live a very solitary lifestyle, moving from place to place, before settling in Western Washington a year ago.

In the current human city Allie got a job waiting tables at a family-owned Italian restaurant. The owners looked the other way when she didn't want to talk about her past. They were good people and Allie owed them a lot. It was why she stayed longer than the initially planned six months.

But seeing the man towering over this small girl, she had flashbacks of the wolves attacking Erstwhile. She knew no matter what, she had to intervene. Unlike then, she was stronger now, both magically and physically. Allie’s magic trickled back to her, much to her immense relief, after a year of living among humans. But she hadn’t wanted to return to a magic only village.

The man's eyes swerved towards her, and she saw the yellow bright and blazing.

"Dammit, a werewolf." She muttered to herself, but kept her shoulders back.

"I said leave her alone!" She yelled.

She put her hands up and began preparing a spell in her brain, moving her fingers back and forth instead of speaking. Since her magic returned, Allie took it upon herself to find as much as she could on offensive and defensive magic spells. It'd been hard to find at first, but once she recognized reliable sources, her path forward became clear. She would not let herself be ambushed and she would not let an innocent get hurt ever again.

The young girl looked up at her, terrified, before looking back at the man. She was definitely no older than 15.

"Mind your own business." He growled at Allie.

"No," she quipped back.

He blinked at her for a moment, as if he hadn't expected his intimidation tactics not to work.

She threw up her fingers and blasted him with magic, moving her arms to make symbols in the blue of her magic. The shapes flew towards him in a binding spell. Quickly, his limbs slammed against his body, and he fell over as if he was just a solid piece of wood. She could hear the growl coming from his throat, but he couldn't open his mouth to voice it.

She turned to the young girl, bending slightly, so she was at the same height.

"That's spell should last about an hour. Can I help get you out of here?"

The girl was clearly trying not to cry as she nodded. Allie stood up and held out her hand. The young girl put her much smaller one in Allie's and the two of them walked briskly out onto the street.

"You want to tell me where you live, honey?"

The young girl sniffled, then looked up at Allie warily, as if she was unsure whether she trusted Allie with that information. She stared into Allie's eyes for almost a minute and whatever she must've seen there comforted her because she exhaled.

"I'm part of the Spring River pack."

Allie balked. A werewolf, she had inadvertently helped a young werewolf. That was not something she would've planned. Not that she wouldn’t have helped the girl if she had known, but getting involved in werewolf politics wasn't safe.

Rolling back her shoulders, she gave a nod. "All right, I'm going to escort you back until you're safely on pack grounds."

The young girl gave her a wide smile. "Thank you. I was hanging out with some human friends. I go to the human high school. I just started. I convinced my dad I didn't need an escort. There's no way he's ever going to let me out of his sight now." The last part was said more to herself than Allie.

Allie agreed with the girl's father. A wolf in the city, especially one this young, who probably hadn't changed into her wolf form yet, was a sitting duck. It made Allie wonder just how small this pack was. Allie went out of her way not to learn too much about werewolves and how they worked. She knew they attended their own academies, at least until they were old enough to defend themselves. But in the year she had been in the city, Allie went out of her way to avoid all other supernatural creatures, including other magic users. So, what little she knew about werewolf society was probably outdated. She had grown up on the Oregon coast where there were more witches than shifters and she had come to learn Erstwhile was an incredibly isolated community, even for magic users.

"Oh, I'm Marsha, by the way," the young girl said with a start. She had been in the middle of some story Allie had not been following when she stopped walking, looked up at Allie and smiled. She then pulled out her hand for Allie to shake.

Warily, Allie took her hand. "Allison, but you can call me Allie."

The girl's smile grew bigger as she gave Allie's hand a firm shake.

"It's nice to meet you, Allie. I've only ever met two witches before. And they were visiting my uncle to ask for his help with a project or a treaty or something." She trailed off, frowning in concentration.

"Your uncle?" Allie asked warily. She had a feeling this young woman was better connected than Allie would’ve liked as somebody who keeps a low profile.

It was a habit now. In that year without magic Allie struggled, a lot, and avoided supernaturals at all costs. Then, once her power started to return, she avoided them because she didn’t want to look weak. She still felt wary, though she was above and beyond where she used to be, even though her magic felt different now.

She had almost given up hope when one day she reached for her coffee pot and the pot came to her, soaring across the kitchen into her hand. She'd been so startled that she put the coffee pot back and tried to repeat it. It'd taken almost half an hour, but she managed it and she cheered so loud she was worried her neighbors heard her. Since then, she practiced every single day. At first, she only practiced the spells she remembered from childhood. Then, once she found literature, she doubled down. Allie didn't know if it was her age or just pure determination, but she was a force to be reckoned with now and part of her felt guilty she hadn't been this strong when her village was attacked. Maybe she could have helped. But as a solo practitioner in a big city, she wanted to keep her head down. She didn't know what covens were around or what power-hungry creatures might want her magic, so she kept to herself. It wasn't much of a life, but it was the best she could manage.

Now she was about to walk into a wolf den, or at least up to the wolf's door. All because she wanted to help this little girl.

"Oh, my uncle Danny is the alpha of the Spring River pack." Marsha answered excitedly as they continued walking.

Dread curled in Allie's stomach. An Alpha, with any luck, the young lady would forget her name or wouldn't mention the situation to the alpha. Even as that thought occurred to her, Allie knew it was wishful thinking. Her time in the shadows was probably coming to an end and all she could hope was this pack was a group she could trust.