Savior of the Wolves

Emma’s POV

Ethan had a few hundred of his strongest fighters meet at the front of the house while he and I waited for the girls to join us in the sitting room.

I’ve tried not to bother them. I couldn’t imagine how Jess was feeling. I wanted to believe that Sophie had helped her in some way. We all needed someone like that, and it appeared that we had all overlooked that while she had been here. She was inadvertently left to figure this out alone and we all should’ve paid more attention to her. We should’ve looked for the things that so many of us never say. Everyone needs that someone who can see the things we don’t say aloud.

I looked around this empty room that was typically bustling with the sounds of the younger members of our pack. Most days the chairs would be overcrowded with bodies, laughing and playing without a single burden resting upon their shoulders.

I often felt proud that our pack was able to shield them this long. Give them a start to something that felt normal...like we used to have so long ago. We used to train out of discipline but today the training was for the day when the scourges would eventually come. The training was for survival.

Jess never had any of this. She wasn’t around for us to shield her. She fought her own human monster and had to do it alone, for Goddess knew how long. Today we would do everything within our power to take care of her like our own. The way she deserved.

As their Luna, I wanted all my pack safe. Today, however, Ethan and I had to focus on just one.

Ethan met with all the parents to advise them of the risk to their younger ones. We were hiding the minors with Sophie in the hidden rooms under the house while every door to the house was protected by multiple wolves.

The Breguet wall clock seemed to have an unusual appearance to me tonight. It was a gift from my parents, with the moon’s cycle moving above the time and tonight it was looming...with the full moon exposed at the very top. I always enjoyed its appearance before but tonight it felt like a warning to me.

My eyes moved quickly to the sound coming from the hall when I suddenly saw the girls. Sophie gave me a weak smile and Jess’s eyes seemed to linger as if trying to determine something by studying my expression. I gave her the same soft smile that I could barely muster for Sophie. My eyes then drifted down to see that their hands were clasped together.

I felt an ache in my heart and I fought back tears. I was overwhelmed at how quickly those two formed this special friendship. It took just a moment. Sometimes that’s exactly how the most special ones form. In an instant.

I felt an arm on my shoulder and was surprised at Ethan’s expression. Of course, he sensed my pain. I just gave him a quick shake of my head and he understood and simply placed an arm around my back and avoided drawing any attention to the pain I felt for these beautiful girls before us.

The two embraced each other as a tear ran down Sophie’s face as she turned to go back downstairs with the others.

Jess quietly followed Ethan and me outside. We passed through a group of wolves who tried to respectfully not stare as we crossed the threshold to outside.

We kept close to the main house but entered a clearing that would allow us all to gather under the unobstructed view of the moon.

Odia and Lexie were already there with a team of wolves who had been running a parameter check.

“We can begin when you’re ready,” Odia spoke solemnly to Jess.

“I’m ready,” she said numbly.

The wolves stood close as Odia asked us to sit tightly together and place our hands on Jess.

The moment my hands touched her I begged the goddess to let us keep her safe. I pleaded for her to answer Jess’s prayers as well, whatever they may be.

As Odia began to chant, I looked at Jess who had closed her eyes along with Odia and Lexie. A tear ran down her fair cheek. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew that this needed to move forward...for both her safety and ours.

Ethan’s eyes remained open. He angled his head upward toward the sky as he began siphoning power from the moon. I watched my mate as his eyes turned from brown to white.

Odia was right. It was working. As Ethan used the moon’s power, he was slowly able to absorb some of the spell that was locked on her. The more the witches chanted, the more I could feel the spell lifting. I took my eyes off my mate and held my gaze on Jess as I concentrated on her face. I began to see further inside her thoughts. I could only see the most recent at first. That was the part of my gift that I didn’t like. It could sometimes feel like an invasion of privacy. Like then, I didn’t want to see it, but I saw my son’s eyes longing for her. I’d only seen that look from one other man. And it was when my mate looked at me.

Odia’s chant grew and Lexie began to repeat it after her. It was harmonious.

Without warning, a flash of light burst out in front of me. I grimaced but couldn’t look away. Into my view came the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was just as I remembered. Hair, the richest brown that looked almost black, with soft natural waves that draped past her shoulders. The same that I had envied for years. She smiled at me. But it wasn’t at me this time. It was the memory I saw, and the smile was for Jess. Her light green eyes were filled with love as her hand came forward and she placed it on Jess’s cheek as the vision turned to another lady, a bit older, who put a hand over Jess’s heart and began to whisper:

“Ad locum praesidium”

“Ea vero abscondam”

“Removere cum rediit ut carorum”

“Corium hi memorias donique”

“Maleficia emotus”

place this protection

hide her truth

remove it when returned to loved ones

hide these memories until the time when

the spell is taken away

“They were hiding her identity from someone,” Odia spoke softly. Confirming what I already knew.

I wanted to tell them what I’d already learned but there was no time as I had to continue to study her thoughts and Ethan had to focus his energy to continue absorbing the spell.

I watched intently at the vision of the witch as she held Lilly’s hand and repeated the spell again. As the spell seemed to distort time around Jess, fear entered my friend’s face. I could see that Lilly was frightened but begged the witch to continue.

Lilly slowed all time around them. My visions were in slow motion, just as they had been for them on that fateful day. Jess’s spell was nearly complete when razor teeth cut into the vision, slicing the witch and Lilly’s throats. And as the scourges continued their violent attack, Jess’s vision left that horrid scene and suddenly she was in her mother’s home...waking up alone.

“It’s done,” Odia said. She had siphoned the magic.

----chapter continued...