Page 66 of Protected By the Wolf

“And yet, here you are by Bruno’s side, helping his family with something you only just learned about. I’d say you’re pretty responsible.”

I smiled. I hadn’t thought of that. “I trust Bruno.”

“And I do too. He’s very good with potions, did he tell you that? He is Miti’s main helper and has learned a lot from her. He will be a great resource for you too.”

“I did not know that.” Bruno knew how to make potions? That was comforting to know. “Thank you, Bubbie, for your insight.”

“You are a dear girl. Just keep believing in good. Don’t give up like me.”

“I will try.”

“That’s all you can do.”

Bruno

We could smell the enemy, but they were still far away. Two of the traveling packs had showed up last night, ready to join us in this war. The witches Miti had recruited had arrived as well. I looked around our small town and was glad to see that downtown was empty. We had sent the humans away, who had thankfully listened.

Our sentries were on the perimeter of our property, watching for signs of any incoming enemies. It was almost noon when the first sentry came running in.

“They’re coming in fast from the east and the north, about a hundred of them. Witches have appeared, too, hiding behind mirages, but Miti has been able to spot some of them. We haven’t spotted Esmi yet.”

Luc shouted out the orders for us to get ready for an attack. I went to look for Lira, who I found with Millie and the girls. They were busy making potions with Miti; ones that would confuse the shifter, ones to make them explode, and even ones to shrink them so we could capture them alive. Trixie and Mod had come to help, but they had left very soon after arriving. Finn had left, too, but we were keeping tabs on him.

Luc had given the command to let Finn keep doing what he was doing, but Luc had Rocco, Dad’s most trusted soldier, trailing him whenever he left the pack.

“Where do you think they’ve gone off to?” Sandy asked, coming up to my side.

“I’m not sure, but something tells me he’s headed to see Pac.”

Sandy let out a low growl, and I could see her nails elongating and her body starting to shift. I put a hand on her shoulder. “Let me check in on Lira quickly, then I’ll go with you to check the property and make sure he’s not hiding somewhere.”

She nodded, knowing full well Rocco was already on Finn, but I knew she needed to see things for herself. When it came to Pac, it was personal to Sandy. She grunted, “They’ve moved to Mom and Dad’s house.”

“Got it.” I headed over, and sure enough, I found them all busy filling containers with the different potions Miti was measuring out.

I was used to seeing Miti use her magic. Bottles were coming out of shelves all by themselves, and their tops were opening just in time to have the potions poured into them. This was all happening while Miti was busy doing something else. But what I wasn’t used to seeing was Lira doing the same, not to the scale Miti was doing, but with one or two jars.

“How are you doing?” I said, coming up to her in full view so I didn’t startle her.

She looked up, and even though she looked frazzled, she was still smiling. “I’m doing great. I feel so useful.”

“Lira! Can you help me with this?” Millie called.

I looked over to see Millie carrying jars piled on top of each other, more than what a normal human would be able to balance. Lira and I ran over to her and helped her carry them over to the table.

“Sorry, I thought I could carry all of them,” Millie said.

“Clearly,” Lira said. “You’re not used to the power yet, so don’t overdo it. Just help fill the bottles.”

“Oh, don’t go telling me what I can or can’t do. I’m getting the hang of it,” Millie said.

“You’re showing powers too, Millie?” I asked.

“No, but Lira shared some of her flower power with me. Just a little,” Millie said, already busy with Jill and Becca on the next round of jars.

“I’m glad you came,” Lira said. “I wanted to give you some too.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “There’s no need to share?—”

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