Page 12 of Lycan Witch

I glare up at him, and another slap cracks across my face. “Hey!” I put my palm to my hot cheek, glaring down at the small spitfire before me.

“Well! Why aren’t you listening to your wolf? We’renatural fighters,”she huffs.

“I don’t want to fight you. You’re just a kid!”

“I’m awolf. Don’t be such a lummox and open your mind toyourwolf.” Jaz narrows her gaze at me, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sighing, I stop rubbing my cheek, the sting subsiding, and close my eyes. “I don’t think I even know what a lummox is,” I grumble, as I reach into myself to find my wolf’s presence. She evades me, snarling.

Jaz’s heel stomps onto my foot, and I growl at her, squeezing my eyes shut tighter.

Reaching out again, the scent of spruce and burning paper surrounds me just as my fingers brush against my wolf’s fur. The back yard fades away—the scents, the sounds, everything melts into a winter forest. Snow blankets every branch and the ground below my feet as I spin in a circle.

“But it’s only September…” I whisper. “Where the hell am I?”

You’re in my territory,my wolf says.The part of your soul that is mine. That isme.

Clouds fill the sky above me, a hazy sun diffused behind the overcast fog. Birch and maple trees fill the space, dark green firs and pines mingled throughout as a splash of life to the barren winter landscape. “It’s… beautiful here.”

The black she-wolf darts between the trees like a shadow, stalking me through the brush as I stand in the middle of a small field.Why do you refuse to see that this is what we could be?

Confused, I tear my gaze from the trees to stare at the wolf’s silhouette in the darkness of the forest. “Because together, we pose a threat to everyone. We have nothing, no one. We don’t belong anywhere.”

We belong with Gideon. He’s our mate, our one true mate. Together, we could rule. We could be more powerful than any other wolf or witch out there. Because we’reboth.If you could just accept me, we—

“No,” I say, putting two fingers to my temple. “W-we can’t. We aren’t powerful. We’re weak.I’m weak.I don’t stand a chance against the wolf council or the coven or my godsforsaken mother.” I shake my head, a burning headache forming behind my eyes.

Accept your life! Accept your power! This is your responsibility now, to bear the power that could save Gideon. That could save everyone!

“No! This will only get everyone killed! Monique will kill him—and Jules. She’ll kill everyone to get what she wants, and all she wants isyou!”

The black wolf exits the trees, stalking toward me, her lips curled back in a snarl.Accepting your power is the only way you’ll grow strong enough to defeat her and save them. If you want to call upon me again, upon the powers you so desperately want yet refuse to acknowledge, you should consider what it is you’re actually afraid of. Monique being who she’s always been—evil, selfish,predictable—or the happiness you refuse to think you deserve, as if you only deserve it if you’re strong with no weaknesses. Strength isn’t measured by lack of weakness, princess. It’s measured by resolve against those weaknesses to persevere.

A loud whoosh makes my ears pop, and I try to cover them, but a blazing heat sears my skin. The forest erupts into flames, the fire licking at every tree, melting every inch of snow. A wolf howls in the distance, and somehow, I’ve never felt so cold. A hazy image of Gideon staggering toward a burning house in the middle of the forest fire enters my mind, and I try to push it away because it isn’t real.

But itlooksreal. His screams of agonysoundreal, guttural, heart wrenching. Goosebumps scatter across my arms, and the piercing pain in my chest as he screams for Ella, for Grace, over and over and over, feels agonizinglyreal.

Squeezing my eyes shut, a scream escapes me as I will everything away. This winter wonderland burning up into a hellish nightmare. This pain. This heartache. This man haunting my every waking moment.

Another scream startles me, the voice terrified and not my own. My eyes snap open to find Jaz watching me with a look of horror on her face. I’m sitting on the ground before her, the grass around me burned and scorched. Reaching out to touch it, I notice my hands—wolf claws where my nails should be.

My gaze darts back up to Jaz. “Are… are you okay?” I ask, my voice hoarse, my eyes scanning her for burns or injuries.

She nods frantically, a small thrill passing across her face as Darrold rushes up behind her. “Gideon’s on his way. Are you alright?” He bends down to check on Jaz, his hands resting on her shoulders. He glances over at me, eyes roaming over my body. “And you?”

I nod meekly, not sure what to say. Glancing around, I see the rest of the group is gone except for the three of us. My mouth goes dry. “Did… anyone…”

Darrold shakes his head. “Thankfully, you two were in the back, and I’m assuming it was your raven who scratched my car to set off the alarm and divert our attention.” He grimaces.

I look into the trees, and Kaylus caws, flying down to settle on the burned grass by my hand. Swallowing hard, I look back to Darrold. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I-I can pay for the damages and—”

He waves his hand at me, a soft smile revealing a dimple in one cheek. “Don’t worry about it.”

Tears prick at my eyes. There’s no doubt he now knows exactly what I am, even if Gideon hadn’t told him, and yet there’s no malice in his eyes. Nothing but kindness and sympathy stare back at me.

A truck’s engine rumbles down the street just before tires squeal into the driveway, and I quickly swipe away the tears as Jaz scoots over and grabs onto my hand, making the lump in my throat grow.

This is true family, my wolf says, but all I feel is grief at knowing I finally found people who could love me, and all I can give them in return is a death sentence.

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