Page 6 of Witch

Can we curl up for a nap now? Sora grumbled. Mika’s already sleeping.

Kana’s answer was interrupted by a wide yawn.

“All right, enough chitchatting. We can figure out what we’re doing about the witches when you’re more awake,” Ember said.

Kana tried to answer, but with Mika already sleeping and Sora quickly following, Kana, wrapped in the comfort of Ember’s arms, couldn’t help succumbing to exhaustion as well.

Chapter Three

LIGHT WAS FILTERING in through the cracks in the room-darkening shades over the bedroom window, so Kana knew it was much later than he normally woke. His body felt refreshed, which was nice, but his magic channels were still sore. He could cast magic if he needed to, but it would be better if he rested for a few days.

“Finally,” Mika groused. He sat on the side of the bed with a thump. “It’s already ten o’clock. I was starting to worry you’d sleep forever!”

“Hah! As if you didn’t just wake up not even an hour ago,” Sora cut in. He walked into the room from the direction of the bathroom, completely naked except for the towel he was using to dry his hair.

Mika stuck his tongue out at Sora but turned back to Kana instead of retaliating. “Hurry up and shower so we can go get something to eat.”

Kana’s stomach immediately rumbled at Mika’s words. He had missed dinner and breakfast, all after expending a ton of magic, so it was no wonder he was hungry.

“Where’s Ember?” Kana asked as he pushed off the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

“He got up with the alarm you slept through,” Mika answered. He collapsed into the warm spot Kana had left behind on the mattress and flapped one hand at Kana. “Hurry up.”

Kana obeyed, hurrying through his shower and getting dressed as quickly as possible. Ten minutes later, his hair still a touch too damp, Kana left the bedroom and ventured into the halls of the werewolf house. Mika and Sora had changed into their cat form—it meant they didn’t have to wear clothing, which they were forced to whenever they walked around in human form—and they vanished down the hall ahead of Kana, toward the kitchen where someone would take pity on them and give them food. Kana had two options: he could make something himself in the small kitchen adjacent to his witch’s room, or he could go to the mess hall where he would have to eat whatever happened to be available at the moment. The latter option was faster, and Kana wouldn’t have to clean up after himself, so he turned in that direction.

Once there, he made a cup of tea and grabbed some toast. Only a few people were still in the room, most of them chatting over coffee. The city pack house served a number of purposes, but in times of peace most wolves only used the dining facilities if they worked or lived in the building. Over the last few months, most of the wolves who could afford it had purchased their own homes. A lot of the ones who couldn’t, instead lived in the second pack house out in the suburbs north of the city, which was bigger, nicer, and a lot more private. Ember split his time between the two houses, but because Kana worked with the hunters next door, Kana mostly lived in the city house. The majority of the wolves who still lived here too were guards for the building or worked in the city.

Kana’s tea was finally cool enough to drink, so he took a sip. He looked up just in time to see one of the kitchen staff walk over with a plate in hand.

“You need some protein,” he grunted as he placed the plate next to Kana’s plate of toast. He walked away before Kana could say anything, leaving behind two perfectly fried over-easy eggs.

Kana happily dug in, quickly assuaging the rumbling in his stomach. By the time he was done, Mika and Sora had reappeared.

I guess I should go to work, Kana said to them.

Ember wanted to walk you there, Mika replied. I’ll go find him, and we’ll meet you at the door. He hopped off the table and dashed out of the room.

Kana returned his dishes to the cleaning station and waved his thanks to the kitchen staff before heading back to his room to get his wallet and phone. After retrieving his items, Kana walked to the front door, where he found Ember and Mika waiting for him. Ember smiled when he caught sight of Kana.

“Sleep well?” he asked when Kana reached his side. He bent his neck and tilted his head in obvious invitation, so Kana obliged with a quick peck on the lips. Kana would have preferred more, but as alpha, Ember had to obey certain proprieties, including not making out like rabbits with his boyfriend in the foyer of the shared pack house.

“I’m feeling better, thanks,” Kana answered with a smile. “My magic is still a little sore, but I can use it if I have to.”

“But it would be better if you didn’t have to for a few days,” Ember added, immediately understanding what Kana was saying. “Maybe we should add a gate in-between the pack’s property and the hunter’s,” he added. That would certainly make it so Kana didn’t have to leave the protected grounds to travel to and from work, but it would open the wolves to a potential vulnerability if the hunters ever decided they didn’t want to work with the wolves anymore.

Kana shook his head. “I think we put the witches in their place yesterday, and our outside defensive procedures worked. If we hide away, we’ll seem like we’re scared of them.”

Ember sighed. “Fine, but you have to call when you’re leaving work so I can come pick you up.”

“Will do.”

They walked outside together, and down the long driveway. A wolf nodded to them from the window of the guard building when they reached the gate, and a second later the gate slid open just enough for Ember and Kana to walk through. Sora remained inside, where he wouldn’t be seen by the witches, and so he could stay with Ember for the day in case Kana had to pass messages to him like he needed to yesterday. Either Mika or Sora usually stayed with Ember; they liked him, and Kana appreciated having one of them near Ember in case Kana had to cast a spell through them to protect Ember. Today was Mika’s turn to join Kana at work.

The gate immediately shut behind them and they continued down the road to the hunter’s gate. Kana could feel eyes following them from within the witches’ house, like hot spots on his back, but he never sensed even the slightest spark of magic. The gate at the driveway for the hunter’s compound slid open when Kana approached.

“Call,” Ember repeated. He bent and Kana happily kissed him again, then stepped back to watch Kana walk onto the property and the gate close safely behind him. Kana stayed by the gate, watching as Ember walked back alone, until Ember was also safe in pack territory again. Kana hurried inside, heading to Johanna’s office first to check in.

“How are you feeling?” she asked the second she saw him. “That was crazy yesterday.”

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