Page 57 of Protected By the Wolf

“Are you sure about Plan B? She was a grandmother to you.”

Pac had his back turned to me, but I saw his hand clench the desk in front of him. “Are you questioning me?”

“No sir. I just worry.”

He turned to face me. “You worry about me?”

“Yes. You’re our leader, and being the primary guard for you, I want to make sure you are safe and well taken care of.”

Pac grunted, but a small smirk appeared on his face. His hand clamped onto my shoulder. “You’ll do well, Finn. If the flower appears in the next few days, then there will be no use for Plan B and we can leave Bubbie alone, but for now, she is our plan.”

I left Pac’s place feeling good about letting him know how I felt about him. He had taken care of me and would make a good leader once we got rid of the McCullough Pack. I trusted him and his decisions.

Lira

After Trixie and Piya left, I marched to Charli’s room and waited for her to appear. It didn’t take long since I brought my handheld fan with me. She liked having me point it at her and whoosh her around the room. I thought it was amusing how she had fun with it, so I entertained her with the fan as much as I could. But when Charli turned up, she wasn’t in the having-fun mood.

“You should not have gone to the grove, Lira. And for a second time too!” she yelled as soon as she appeared.

“I know.”

Charli stopped and stared at me for a bit, surprise flitting across her features. “What? No comeback?”

“None.”

She nodded and floated down to me so we were eye level. “You did good in the grove for the little time you were in there,” she admitted quietly.

Her praise had my chest warming. “Teach me how to filter all those voices, Charli. Please, I need to know why Bruno keeps showing up in my visions.”

She eyed me closely. “You like him.” It wasn’t a question.

“I—”

“No, you love him.”

I gaped at her. “How do you know?”

“Your aura glows brighter when you talk about him.”

I blushed. I was still disappointed Bruno hadn’t shown up, but given he kept reappearing in my visions, I was sure I’d see him again soon.

“Alright, Lira. Let’s get to work. Sit down here.”

“Okay.” Happy she’d agreed, I quickly sat down and crossed my legs, waiting for Charli to give the next set of instructions.

“Close your eyes and slowly breathe in and out.”

This time, I listened to what my body was telling me. I let the ache in my heart feel its way through the pain of knowing Bruno hadn’t come to see me before it slowly found a spot to settle in.

“Listen to your heart. Accept that you are a witch. Believe that you can be a powerful witch. You must believe.”

“I believe!” I ground out.

“I’ll believe it when I see it. I think that’s what you say sometimes, isn’t it?”

I grunted at her throwing my words back at me. Great. This is going so well. But I only had myself to blame. “Yes.” I wasn’t going to be snarky today; I needed to know why Bruno was in my vision.

We sat in silence for a bit while I regulated my breathing, letting myself release from everyday busyness and just focus on my thoughts.

---