Page 20 of Wandering Witch

When we first met the only things he could interact with were us or the chains I had explicitly conjured for him. But once we left his park, it was as though he had to fight more to do the same things. So maybe this training that Locke was insisting on was a good thing after all.

Farren

Istayed up and watched the boys train until sunset when I decided that if I wanted to eat I had to prepare my own supper.

As I carefully moved around the guys to reach the fire to cook my meal, I caught my foot on a raised rock and went sprawling forward.

I slammed my eyes shut as I squeaked in fright. But my face never collided with the rough ground. When I risked cracking open an eye, I saw the earth moving away from me as I was lifted back to my feet.

“Are you falling for us, Fare one?” Locke whispered in my ear as he pulled me close enough that I felt the muscles of his chest along my back.

I flushed and stammered as I tried to get my feet back under me even as I was being held inches off the ground. He laughed as I was eased back down and I swore I saw the tips of Roan’s ears pinken.

“I think we’ve worked long enough, our girl is getting hungry.” My bear teased as he guided me to the spot that I was originally aiming for.

I stuck my tongue out at him as he turned away with my food in his giant paws. I slouched back with my arms crossed in a pout as Roan came up to rest on the ground beside me.

“He’s really not happy unless he’s taking care of either of us, is he?” he asked in a hushed tone.

“It’s a shifter thing,” Locke answered for me over his shoulder. “My father grew up in a pack community and I guess some of those traits must have passed onto me.” He shrugged as he started cooking for me.

“And what exactly does that mean? For those of us who don’t speak shifter,” Roan asked with his hand raised like a student in school. I had to hold back my laughter at his antics.

“You’re a bit of a movie buff, right?” Locke replied, looking back long enough to see Roan nod. “Think about the movies that feature multiple wolves. They live in packs and those packs take care of each other. It’s pretty much like that. I just have a natural instinct to want to take care of my pack since I have one now. Before I, I lived my life as a pure bear. Solo.”

I nodded along. It made sense at least from what I had learned in my travels. It didn’t matter what the animal was, all shifters had a natural instinct to live in communities.

Roan seemed to still have questions but was willing to drop them as Locke passed me my cooked meal.

I ate while watching Locke prepare his own supper. We finished about the same time, so I stood up to give him my seat. As he bent down to assure me that it wasn’t necessary, I told him I was tired anyway and went to lie down in the tent.

Farren

Iwoke up only once during the night when the boys came into the tent and each placed a kiss on my cheek before Locke bundled me into his arms and lulled me back to sleep with his steady breathing. When I woke up again, it was morning and I was alone but could hear the boys shouting outside.

I crawled over the sleeping bags until I was at the entrance and risked a glance out of the opening to see what they were fighting over. My voice caught in my throat as I saw they were squared off against something blocked from my sight.

“Look boys, I’ll make this easy. Let the girlie go and I’ll let you live.” A voice that must have belonged to the intruder came. “There’s not enough room in this mountain for more than one demon and I don’t share.”

Fear flooded my system. What was a demon doing here? Only the strongest ones could be summoned to this plane of existence and of those, only the real cream of the crop had enough power to stay after their summoners died.

“No way in hell are we going to let you have our girl,” Locke growled as he lunged at the demon.

“Fine, it’s the fun way then.” I could hear the smirk in his dark, silky voice before small sparks of light appeared over the guys.

Once Locke had passed in front of Roan, I could faintly see through to the other side and could barely make out a lithe form as he dodged my mate’s swinging fists.

Periodically one of the sparks fell to land on either guy and I heard them yelp out before faint whiffs of something burning hit my nose. Just as I was about to stumble to my feet and dash out to help them, the tent zipper slid shut.

I screamed as I tried to pull it open, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge.

Benny

Iwas miffed with myself as I came upon a trio of campers in my woods that I hadn’t even sensed breaching my lands. There were wards placed all around the perimeter so nothing would ever be able to sneak up on me.

The frustrating part of these intruders was that they were of supernatural heritage. Humans I always allowed free rein to enter as they please. If they chose to break any of my unspoken laws, I would happily play judge, jury, and executioner. Regardless if they knew any of that or not.

But supernaturals, I had learned, could very rarely be trusted to leave well enough alone. So I always made sure to catch them as soon as I could to stop any unwanted behaviors before they could begin. And, I mused to myself, to eliminate any other demons who might try to send me back.

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