The Wizard Wolf (WindWard Triad Book 1)

by Noah Harris

  Unable to find the words, Johnny reached out and drew Kell tight against him. Kell peered up at him, momentarily startled, but his features softened as he caught the emotion in Johnny’s eyes. Johnny cupped the back of Kell’s head, tilting it back while stroking his hair. Johnny leaned forward, pressing their lips together softly.

  Every moment of warmth Kell had given him, both physical and emotional, every scrap of joy and his newfound purpose, he tried to pour into the kiss. He breathed deep, taking in the scent which he’d come to understand as being essentially Kell. Johnny could feel Kell melting against the kiss, pressing himself closer to him as the seconds passed.

  When the kiss finally broke, he and Kell were both left a little breathless. Kell’s face was tinged pink and his lips were a little swollen. Johnny reached up, brushing his thumb along Kell’s bottom lip and feeling more content than he could ever remember having felt before.

  “Not that I’m complaining, but where did that come from?” Kell asked, beginning to grin.

  “The things I was thinking about,” Johnny explained.

  Kell tilted his head back further with a laugh. “And here I’d been worried for a second you’d been delving into some dark thoughts. I see I had nothing to worry about.”

  Johnny shook his head. “No, no dark thoughts here. It’s hard to be morbid and quiet when I’ve got you walking beside me.”

  A voice quipped from the thicket of trees. “That is by far the sappiest and most sentimental thing I have ever heard Johnny Oakes say in my life.”

  Johnny whirled, dragging Kell back from the voice. Kell let out a strangled yelp of surprise and outrage as he was manhandled behind Johnny. Ignoring Kell’s protests, Johnny swept his eyes over the place where he’d heard the voice, belatedly realizing he knew the owner all too well.

  “It’s not nice to sneak up on people in the woods, Alyssa, especially when they’re trying to have a tender moment,” Johnny called.

  Alyssa strode out from between a pair of large trees, her smirk appropriately smug. She stepped forward, stopping a few feet from them in a shaft of sunlight. Johnny was tempted to call her dramatic, but he was pleased to see she was alive and in one piece.

  “Alive and well then,” Johnny said with a smile.

  “Not all together in one piece, but yes,” Alyssa said with a gesture to her face.

  It was true, the wounds from the battle at the abandoned house still showed as scars. Witch healing could only do so much, as it was more an accelerated version of the body’s natural processes. If the wounds were bad enough, there was no sparing the witch a mark which would stay with them. Only werewolves could heal most wounds without a mark left on them, save for those left by silver, fire, and those inflicted by other Children.

  “You know there are charms for that,” Johnny said.

  Alyssa shrugged. “I think they suit me.”

  They certainly added to the tough exterior her leather outfit and short-cropped hair gave the appearance of. If anything, the rough scars across her face served to enhance her tough beauty.

  Kell unlatched himself from Johnny’s side and launched himself toward Alyssa. The woman’s eyes went wide as the smaller man slammed into her, wrapping his arms tight around her waist. Johnny was more surprised that he hadn’t predicted Kell’s response. He’d spent enough time getting to know the man in the past few days after all.

  “Oh my God, Alyssa, I was so worried about you. I didn’t know if you were okay, or if I’d hurt you! I didn’t know if the Children saw how I’d moved you off to the side and decided you were trouble,” Kell rambled burying his face in her chest.

  Alyssa blinked down at Kell, looking back to Johnny in amazement. “Well, I’m happy to see you’re okay, too, Kell.”

  Kell looked up at her, smiling warmly. “This makes everything okay again.”

  Alyssa smirked. “I’ve been told that a time or two by a man with his face nestled between my girls.”

  Kell blinked, then backed away, red-faced. “Oh God, I’m so sorry! I’m not used to hugging women, especially ones so much taller than me.”

  Alyssa patted her chest affectionately. “Alas, and here I thought we had something special.”

  Kell turned to Johnny, looking lost for words. “Help me here.”

  Johnny chuckled, pulling Kell back to him. “Be nice to him Alyssa, he’s been through quite a lot in the past five days.”

  Alyssa sighed, placing a hand on her hip. “And here you two are, roughing it through the woods.”

  Kell’s shoulders tensed in Johnny’s arms. “Oh shit, does this mean the Coven is after us again? Do they know where we are?”

  Johnny snorted, peering down at Kell. “I swear, your language grows fouler as we get to know one another.”

  “I think I have every right to swear when we’ve got witches hunting us down!” Kell insisted.

  Johnny chuckled. “If the Coven were after us, I don’t think Alyssa would have begun this conversation with a joke at your expense.”

  Alyssa nodded. “I’m not going to lie, the Coven is why I’m here, but no, they’re not actively pursuing you as we speak. I haven’t come as another herald of danger and death.”

  Kell eyed her. “As comforting as that was probably meant to be, I’m not comforted just yet.”

  Alyssa chuckled. “You had your intended effect on the Children. You managed to single-handedly drive them away and make them think long and hard about what it would mean to have you as an enemy.”

  Johnny snorted. “Hard to believe, even if I did see Kell’s power for myself. The Coven is quite stubborn.”

  Alyssa grinned. “Oh, not just the Coven. The Pack has been around as well. Kell’s singlehanded counterattack on the Children has given both wolf and witch pause. They’ve been deliberating for days now, well, when they weren’t too busy arguing about whose fault it was that the Vigil jumped us, or that no one expected Kell’s strength.”

  “I want to be annoyed that they’re still bickering but I’ll stick with being happy that they’re somewhat getting along,” Kell said with a roll of his eyes.

  “This is obviously not you warning us of an act of war against us, so what is it?” Johnny asked.

  Alyssa reached behind her, fishing out a piece of paper. “I have here, a letter of immunity. With it, both the leaders of the Coven and the Pack have offered complete immunity from anything that’s happened before, and protection from here on out.”

  “Right, because I’m going to accept their word just because they signed a paper?” Kell asked doubtfully.

  Johnny cocked his head, sensing the air. “That’s a binding document.”

  “Did they get a lawyer?” Kell asked with a laugh.

  Alyssa shook her head. “It means there’s a lot of magic poured into this piece of paper. The leaders all signed it, agreeing to the terms, and it becomes binding the moment you sign it. From the moment you sign it, you agree to obey their laws while in their territory, though you will not be expected to fight for them unless you so choose.”

  Kell looked at Johnny. “Is that a good thing?”

  “If I’ve got the meaning of what Alyssa is aiming at, it means you’ll be expected to obey the laws of hospitality, but you won’t be beholden to them. Think of it like becoming a temporary citizen of another country. You obey its laws, but you aren’t forced to be a soldier in their armies. They’re offering you help without forcing you to be their weapon,” Johnny explained.

  “That’s one hell of a deal,” Kell said slowly, reaching for the paper to read it over.

  “Oh, no doubt some members of each faction will try to win you over to their side. The stipulation is that you cannot be forced, but you can be persuaded and you can be tricked. So long as they don’t violate their end of the agreement, they’ll be safe,” Alyssa said with a chuckle.

  Kell looked up from the page doubtfully. “What happens if they or I violate it?”

  Alyssa’s gaze flicked to Johnny. “Since you’re
unused to these things, your end being violated means a dissolution of the original agreement. Should they, the most venerable and knowledgeable of leaders do so, I…well, I’ve heard that broken bindings can be quite painful and deadly.”

  Johnny snorted. “The agreement will be dissolved, which means a new one must be drawn up. And I’m sure if that happens when he’s in the heart of their territory, it puts him at quite the disadvantage for the next one.”

  Kell looked at Johnny, tapping the page. “When we are in their territory.”

  Johnny frowned. “Pardon?

  Alyssa laughed. “Do you really think I wouldn’t let them include you in this?”

  Johnny took the page from Kell, reading it over until he spotted his name each time Kell was mentioned in it. “They included me?”

  Alyssa shrugged. “Kell’s concern that they’d noticed his kinder treatment of me wasn’t completely unwarranted. They noticed, and it gave me a little bit of say in their final decision to reach out a helping hand. I told them that after Kell’s display—there’s no way he’d accept any deal unless it included Johnny.”

  “You’re goddamn right I wouldn’t,” Kell piped up fiercely.

  Johnny read the words, which would forgive him upon signing it, and hope rose in his chest. While he’d always be an outsider with the Coven, this was his path to return to society again. For so many years, his choices, made to keep him alive and strong, had driven him away from the arms of his people. The Coven had turned him away after The Choosing, and the Pack had allowed him to go without a group, disliking the paths he chose to walk. With one stroke of the pen, he could cut through the legal chains which kept him away.

  Taking a deep breath, Johnny handed the page to Kell. “This is your decision.”

  “I see your name on here too,” Kell pointed out.

  “I go where you go,” Johnny said softly.

  Kell turned to him, a stubborn set to his jaw. “And I’m not going anywhere you don’t want to go. Now, Mr. Alpha, you tell me.”

  Ignoring Alyssa’s amused chuckle, Johnny looked between Kell and the paper. Signing it would mean not only bringing himself back into the fold, but hopefully greater protection and knowledge for Kell. More importantly, it would give them the chance to help Kell with his growing powers and possibly find more Wards. With a way in, they could help to bring the disparate groups of Children together once more and strive toward peace.

  All they’d have to do was carefully navigate the deadly hazards of Child politics.

  “Do you have a pen?” Johnny asked Alyssa, who grinned.

  Chapter 11

  Keller

  Kell stretched his arm over the points of the short picket fence. His fingers wiggled as he inched forward, the air still and unmoving. As his shoulder moved closer to the points of the fence, the shimmering began. It was subtle and might’ve been missed by anyone not looking for it, but Kell looked up and down the wall of energy as it showed itself. As his fingers grew closer to it, the shimmer turned into a crackle, and Kell could feel the threatening hum of electrical energy buzzing just shy of an inch from his fingertips.

  Johnny’s voice called in exasperation from behind him. “Please stop trying to poke the electric fence, Kell. We both know it’s there and that it’s for our safety.”

  “Seeing is believing,” Kell called to him, smirking. Wiggling his fingers caused the buzz to drop and raise its pitch.

  “If you keep playing with it, you’re going end up feeling instead of seeing,” Johnny warned.

  Kell pulled his hand back with a laugh. “I’m not going to get electrocuted. I knew right away where it was after they put it up the other day. I just wanted to see if it would respond like they said.”

  “Whereas you could simply utter the phrase they gave us if we need it and watch the wall disappear so you could pass,” Johnny said.

  “Yeah, but that wouldn’t be as much fun,” Kell snickered, eyeing a stick near his feet.

  “Please don’t start throwing things at it,” Johnny intoned.

  Kell turned a frown on him. “You’re a spoilsport, and I told you not to read my mind so freely.”

  It was Johnny’s turn to grin. “I don’t need to read your mind. I just need to know you.”

  Kell stuck his tongue out but decided to leave the stick where it lay. The Coven had erected the barrier as an extra precaution around Kell and Johnny. They apparently were constructing a more suitable home for them, which would be far more secluded and safer than the one they were temporarily housed in. Kell squinted past Johnny toward the cabin and wondered what would be so special about the house under construction. The cabin was certainly fit for habitation by the both of them, with all the amenities they could need as well as a couple of extras.

  “Come out to do some more gardening?” Kell asked.

  Johnny held his hands up before him, smiling shyly. “I wanted to make sure the plants made it through last night’s chill.”

  “Well, go on then, go play in the dirt,” Kell said, trying to contain his smile.

  While Kell had been thrilled to have a soft bed big enough for the both of them and a functioning shower, it’d been the garden which had sold Johnny. Kell would have never predicted the large man’s love of horticulture, but he loved that despite all their shared mindreading, there were still things to learn about each other. He found it soothing to watch Johnny digging in the dirt, carefully checking the small shoots of plants he’d lovingly planted. After watching bloody battles, hiding in old buildings, and blasting a group of supernatural creatures into unconsciousness, Kell found Johnny’s gardening to be charmingly mundane.

  “Is this the part where you pretend to not watch me from the kitchen window?” Johnny asked as he walked over to the patch of dirt.

  Kell snorted. “I like watching you but you got self-conscious the first time I tried to, so I have to sneak glances through the window.”

  “Well, stop sneaking and come talk to me while I do it,” Johnny said.

  Kell followed after him, happy to be included even if it was from a slight distance. The two of them spent their nights and mornings together, alone in the small cabin situated in the woods. The rest of their time was spent being kept busy with the Coven. One of the first things the Coven had done after getting Kell and Johnny settled in was start training Kell. In their mind, it was of the utmost importance that Kell was taught not only of Ward history but to control his powers. In fact, Kell had the distinct feeling they were training him to make sure there were no accidents like there’d been in the bar.

  “God, it’s such a nice day, it doesn’t seem right that we’ll be spending it inside,” Kell groaned, stretching.

  Johnny knelt on one edge of the garden patch. “If you ask nicely, I’m sure you can convince the Coven to teach you outside. Witches aren’t immune to the effects of a nice day.”

  “I don’t know about that. I’m afraid if you put the Sage out in the sun for too long, he’d burst into a dust cloud,” Kell said.

  Johnny snorted. “Oh, that man was old even when I was here. At this point, I imagine it’s just magic holding him to this world.”

  “I’m really not looking forward to the time when they decide to really make me learn history and laws. Right now, it feels like they’re going easy on me with the dry stuff,” Kell said, finally deciding to sit himself down in the grass.

  Johnny’s fingers gently pushed a small green plant to one side, inspecting it. “I don’t doubt it. I imagine in their minds, ensuring your powers don’t escape your control is vital. More important than learning the laws of the Children or the history of your people.”

  “If you listen to the Sage, he’d tell you otherwise,” Kell said.

  Johnny shrugged. “That’s the Sage for you. He’s a historian, a librarian, and a grumpy old clinger-on to the old ways. I’m sure he finds it reprehensible that you’re being taught magic before you’re taught the texts. For him, the first steps into magic should be those of lea
rning before doing, and he doesn’t like seeing you take too large steps. He’s simply a product of his outdated ways.”

  Kell wrinkled his nose. “If he thinks they’re moving too fast teaching me, I hate to think what his idea of a proper speed is. It already feels like we’re moving at the speed of smell.”

  “This is not the first time you’ve used that phrase, nor is it the first time I’m left to wonder what it means,” Johnny chuckled as he shuffled around the patch to get a better view.

  “Woman who fostered me for six months used to yell that at us when we were taking too long to get ready. I never asked what it meant, one of the kids did, and all she said was because their nose runs, which was something we should be doing. Didn’t make much sense, and you’re getting off topic,” Kell abruptly accused.

  “It’s not quite as bad as you make it sound,” Johnny said.

  “They have me levitating things, Johnny, levitating,” Kell added with a snort.

  Johnny smiled, plucking something from the dirt. “It’s their way—start small, then work your way up.”

  “You sure didn’t have to start all that small,” Kell pointed out.

  “Yes, but I already possessed years of Coven training in magic before you came along. And while they do their best to not admit it, I’ve been doing magic without guidance for some years after leaving. It gives me an advantage when it comes to controlling magic,” Johnny explained.

  Kell didn’t need to be told but he smiled as he listened to Johnny anyway. They’d both been surprised when the offer of training had been extended to the both of them rather than just Kell. The Coven hadn’t spoken of Johnny’s magic use from the time he was technically a member of the Pack to when it would’ve been forbidden. It seemed in light of their agreement of granting him clemency, they’d gone a step further and decided to never speak of it at all.