Fletch stilled. “If we don’t change me back before the full moon then I will be like this permanently, is that what you are saying?”
Brian shrugged. “As I said, it’s only speculation, but based on what I have learned, my answer is yes. We need to turn you back on the full moon next Saturday or you will lose your humanity to the wolf. He will get stronger inside you every day. But you need to accept him, not fight him, or you will battle for your body and he will probably win. That is something I have seen happen, and it doesn’t make for a happy ending.”
Iris clapped her hands to get our attention back to her. “Well, that’s simple then. We must return Fletcher to his human state, and then he can leave and make peace with his wolf somewhere else.” Her fierce expression clearly said that he should do it somewhere far away.
“Ah, but we can’t do it until Saturday,” Brian said with a sorry smile.
“What! Why not?” Iris looked shocked.
“Because we must wait for the wolf to be fully present. Fletcher must join with his wolf. Only then can his soul go back to his body, otherwise both the human body and the wolf body will probably die. His soul will be ripped if you attempt to divide it further. It is unnatural for them to be separated like this. The wolf is a part of him now, it is in his blood, it shares his soul, they must unite; you cannot part them. It is too risky any other way. All Emily’s magic has done is to move his combined soul into his wolf body instead of his human body. You were very lucky that that is all that happened. Trying to reverse it could cause them to separate and the chances are, as I said, that he would die.”
Fletcher looked like he was going to be sick, and I hoped it wasn’t my breakfast taking effect.
“I don’t think I can control the wolf,” he whispered.
The wizard looked uncomfortable. “You don’t control him, you reach an understanding between you. I’m sorry, but not being a werewolf myself I can’t help much with that. But you have to do it; if you don’t then you will never return to your human state and you will be a danger to everyone. You could bite people you care about if you have no control, and then they will become werewolves too, or more likely they will die.”
“That’s what I’ve been afraid of.” Fletcher’s voice remained low.
“Your fear could be what has prevented it.” The wizard advised, “you simply have to use this week to embrace it and get comfortable with it.”
“Okay,” Fletcher looked determined. “Then that’s what I’ll do. Then what?”
“Then next Saturday, I suggest that young Emily here do some kind of spell to bring back your human body to join with your wolf form.”
I nodded, “Whatever I can do, I will. Should we use the power of the Coven?”
Iris seemed about to agree but the wizard shook his head. “I don’t want to worry any of you, but by the full moon Fletcher may be a danger to any human. The less people we have around the better, just in case.”
Fletch and I exchanged nervous looks again. I felt like we were starting to talk without words, when I remembered that the wizard was a psychic and could hear our thoughts more clearly than we could! I glanced at him and he answered me inside my mind. “I’m afraid so, sorry.”
I gasped. “You just spoke in my head.”
“It’s how I communicate with the wolves. And other animals too. Right now I can hear that Lyra is getting hungry and wondering if Iris will be cooking fish for lunch.”
Lyra looked up from where she had been quietly licking her paws and gave the wizard a disdainful look. “I don’t like him. When can we go?” was all she said.
I looked at my watch. “I ought to get back. What do you want to do, Fletch?”
I could see in his eyes that he didn’t want me to go, but he just nodded and said, “I think I should stay and talk to Brian. I want to hear more about the other wolves he’s met.”
“Okay.” I didn’t really want to leave him either, so I said, “Where will you stay tonight? Do you want to come back to mine again later?”
He smiled his wolf smile at me. “You bet.”
I rolled my eyes at him, but I was glad.
Iris turned to the wizard. “Would you like to stay with me? I have a spare room.”
He shook his head, “I have a camper van, it’s parked nearby. I would prefer to be closer to nature, but I thank you for your offer.”
Iris and I stood, and our Familiars made noises of relief that we were finally leaving. Bob flew in circles around my head, clearly eager to get me away from Fletcher.
I addressed the wizard. “Thank you for coming. I guess we’ll speak again soon?”
He clasped my hand. “I wouldn’t have missed this opportunity for anything. You and I will have some preparation to do, but we can communicate through Bob or Fletcher. I dislike phones.”
I turned to Fletcher. “I’ll see you later then.” I ruffled my fingers through his fur and felt the familiar tingle.
He grinned. “Don’t forget to wear the reindeer pyjamas.”
Chapter Ten
I spent the rest of Sunday doing homework. It was really hard to keep my mind focused, though. I was supposed to be going through a poem for English class, called “The Listeners”, but it just reminded me of Fletch. There were lines about the forest’s ferny floor, and ’neath the starred and leafy sky, that had me looking out the window into the gathering dusk and wondering if Fletch was still in the woods or if he was coming back to me soon.
I knew he would have to wait until it was dark, but it was winter and would be dark by half past four. It was nearly four now. I tried to think of a way to get him some dinner. Clare had made a roast for Sunday lunch, so we wouldn’t be having a big meal tonight, but perhaps I could hide mine in a napkin and then sneak it upstairs?
I sighed and tried to concentrate on my homework again. I was supposed to be spotting political undertones in the poem, but it seemed to be about a knight and his horse and an empty house, and not politics at all.
I spent half an hour half-heartedly looking for the answers on the Internet. Then I looked up werewolves and found myself inundated with clearly inaccurate information.
In the end I gave up and rang Kate for something to do.
“Is there anybody there? Said the Traveller,” was how Kate answered the phone.
“Hey, girlfriend. You too, huh?” I sympathised.
“Yeah, this poem is doing my nut in. Is it supposed to be about ghosts or something?” She sounded stressed.
“I don’t have a clue. I found an article on Wiki, but you know Mrs Drew will have checked it so we don’t plagiarise.”
“Well, I’m going to make it up. I think I’ll write a load of waffle about the Victorian obsession with the paranormal; everyone likes a good séance story, right?” Kate was vague but I got the impression she’d already written most of it. She loved anything paranormal herself. I just wished I could have told her about my own brush with a ghost.
“I was thinking of doing an essay on Victorian sexual repression, and how the house is a metaphor or something, for the traveller not getting any action.” I was hesitant in case Kate thought it was a dumb idea.
“Oh, good one! Mrs Drew will lap that up.” Kate sounded almost jealous of the idea, which made me feel relieved. At least I knew where to start now, and the essay wasn’t due until Thursday. Though I wished I’d started it ages ago, I don’t know why I always left these things to the last minute.
“So, have you heard from Sean this weekend?” Kate fished.
My shoulders slumped. I hadn’t really thought about Sean until this moment, but now I realised that almost the whole weekend had gone by and he still hadn’t called me. “No,” I answered dejectedly.
“You will.” She sounded too giggly, like she knew something.
“How do you know?” I pushed.
“Matt told Bryony, and she told me, that Sean is going to invite you to the cinema on Friday.”
“Really? You’re sure?”
&
nbsp; “Yup. Just the two of you apparently. He’s planning to smooch your face off.” She giggled again.
My heart skipped. “I can live with that.” I grinned at the idea. Then reality struck. “How will I get my dad to let me go on my own? You know what he’s like.”
She thought for a minute. “Don’t tell him? Just say you’re coming over to mine?”
“Mmm, maybe.” I wasn’t comfortable with that. I’m not a good liar, and I didn’t really like doing it.
“Um, Kate?” I asked tentatively.
“Yes?” She was instantly suspicious at my tone.
“I don’t suppose you might have any, uh, feelings for Duncan, do you?” I should have just been able to ask this without awkwardness, but I’d made a big deal, until recently, about hating Duncan, and my friends had been firmly on my side that he was a moron, and now I felt bad for trying to change Kate’s attitude for my own gain.
“What kind of feelings?” She was hesitant.
“Look, he really likes you, and well, if you could like him back, then it would be cool.” It sounded lame even to my own ears.
“He’s not horrible,” she said grudgingly.
I grinned. “You do like him!”
“I guess we had fun when we all went bowling,” she admitted cautiously.
“Enough fun that you would go out with him again?” Silence greeted my words. “For me?” I begged. “My dad would let me go out with Sean if you and Duncan were coming too. Oh, and I guess we’ll have to ask Bryony and Matt as well. So much for me and Sean being on our own.” I sighed.
“Actually, Bryony said she and Matt were going to a restaurant on Friday for his sister’s birthday, so it can just be the four of us. And I don’t mind if we sit well away from you guys,” she revealed.
“You’ll do it? Oh, Kate, I love you! Thank you. And Duncan will be well happy too. Are you sure you don’t mind spending the evening with him? It would be so fantastic if Sean and I could get some time on our own.” I wanted to hug her.
“Yeah, no worries. I can tolerate the cinema with Duncan, as long as it’s not a crappy film.” She sounded like she was smiling, and I was convinced that she fancied Duncan a tiny bit, even though she was unlikely to say so just yet.
“Now I just have to wait for Sean to call me. Are you sure he definitely will?” I double-checked.
“Relax, he’s just being useless. He’ll call you. He has to now, he’s already bragged to all his friends.”
I wanted to hug her even more. She made it sound like he was lucky to get a date with me, when really it was the other way round.
“Okay, I should go and get started on the essay.” I actually wanted to get off the phone so that Sean could call me, but I supposed I could at least do the essay whilst I waited.
We said goodbye, and it wasn’t until I hung up that I remembered I had much more important things to think about. Somehow my conversation with Kate had made me feel normal again. But I wasn’t normal, I had a werewolf’s soul to save…
Shortly after it got dark, Bob tapped on the window and I let him in, but he didn’t have any news. He snoozed on his cushion, with his head under his wing, while I struggled with my homework and wondered where Fletch was.
I ate dinner downstairs with Dad, Clare, and Duncan, then retreated back to my room saying I had loads of homework. I didn’t want to say anything to Duncan about Kate yet in case Sean didn’t actually phone me. He could have been talking about someone else to his friends and not me at all.
I killed some time painting my toenails, and then I put on some make-up. After a few minutes more, I took it all off again because I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard, and Fletch was bound to notice.
All in all, it was a boring and depressing afternoon.
It wasn’t until nearly nine o’clock that Bob lifted his head. “Mistress? He’s outside.”
I rushed to the window and opened it wide enough to stick my head out. I could just make out a shape moving in the garden.
“Go to the back door, I’ll be right down,” I whispered.
“Would you mind if I went back to my nest?” Bob asked. “I won’t sleep a wink with the two of you talking.”
I nodded and opened the window wider for him to fly out.
“Call me anytime if you need me,” he said, disappearing into the night.
I opened my bedroom door quietly and crept down the hall. I paused outside Duncan’s room and listened for a moment. He was yakking away about a battering ram and I concluded he must be playing an online game. He regularly shared “quests” with people in other parts of the world and would talk with them until all hours via a headset. At least he was unlikely to come out of his room for the foreseeable future.
At the bottom of the stairs I paused again. The sitting room door was not quite shut, and I could hear the TV. I took my chances and slipped into the kitchen. I decided not to turn the light on, and instead fumbled over to the back door and unlocked it in the dark.
“I hope that’s you,” I grumbled quietly as I felt something furry go past my legs. I put my hand down into his fur and felt the familiar warmth zip up my arm. I never doubted it was him, but I liked to check that we still created electricity when we touched.
Fletch licked my hand but didn’t speak.
In the darkness of the kitchen I felt able to go down on my knees and put my arms around his soft neck. “Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Yeah, a bit tired,” he answered, his voice a bit rougher than usual. I let his soft ear tickle my face, then pulled away.
“Do you want anything to eat?” I asked, standing up again.
“Nah, Brian cooked for us both.”
“Okay, that’s good.” I smiled at the thought that at least he wouldn’t have to eat anything made by me.
We went quietly up the stairs to my room and made it without being seen.
“I missed you.” Fletch’s green eyes looked into mine and his usual bantering tone was absent.
It demonstrated Murphy’s Law that Sean chose that moment to ring me.
Chapter Eleven
I shot Fletch a worried glance as I reached for the phone. I couldn’t not answer it, but I really didn’t want to do it in front of him. I considered taking the phone into the bathroom, but surely that was just silly; after all, I’d already mentioned I was seeing someone.
Fletch looked annoyed. “It’s the boyfriend, isn’t it?”
I nodded.
“Are you going to answer it?” he asked snappily.
In response I turned away slightly and answered the phone.
“Hi, Sean.”
“Hey, gorgeous girl. How’s it going?” Sean sounded cool and confident.
I smiled at the sound of his voice and Fletch growled quietly. I shot him a “shut it” look.
“Good, thanks; you?” I answered Sean.
“Yeah, pretty sweet. Life ticking on by, y’know? I’ve been thinking about you.”
“Um, that’s nice,” I said lamely. “All good thoughts, I hope?”
“Definitely.” He paused, letting that sink in. “I was thinking we need some alone time, make up for last time?” He paused again, and I realised he was subtlety letting me know he meant the lack of a goodnight kiss. For some reason I was a bit irritated.
“Anyway,” he continued, “how about going to the cinema on Friday night? I got us tickets for the new Bruce Willis movie.”
My grip tightened on the phone. Was he so sure I would say yes that he already bought the tickets? And why hadn’t he asked me if it was a film I even wanted to see? I was suddenly tempted to say I’d already seen it even though I hadn’t, or maybe suggest some soppy romance instead of an action move, just to make the point.
I took a deep breath. Who was I kidding? Until yesterday I’d have jumped at the offer. Also, I was a fan of action movies and perhaps I’d mentioned that to him? Why was I annoyed now? My eyes flicked back to Fletch. It was his fault. I couldn’t let him affect my fee
lings. I’d only known him a day, he was a werewolf, we couldn’t get involved without dying, he might be stuck as a wolf forever, he might even turn into a killer, and he would be gone as soon as we’d resolved the issue anyway!
“That sounds fantastic,” I told Sean firmly. “But I’m afraid we have to invite Kate and Duncan as well. But they won’t sit with us or anything,” I hastened to add.
Sean was silent for a second, then he said, “That’s cool, no worries.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. “It’s just my dad might say no otherwise.”
Sean chuckled. “I hear you. Just tell him that the movie ends at least half an hour after it really does.” His voice took on a suggestive tone.
“You got it,” I promised. “Shall we meet you there?” There was only one cinema in Dremouth, so it wouldn’t be hard to find him.
“Cool,” he said again. “Seven-thirty?”
“I look forward to it.” I said it deliberately, whilst looking Fletch right in the eye. “I have to go, but I’ll see you then.”
“Great, stay gorgeous.” Then he hung up.
In my ordinary world I would have been lit up like a Christmas tree by that conversation, but instead I just felt defensive as I put the phone down.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I told Fletch. “I had a life before you arrived – I still want to have a life!”
“Right, and helping me is getting in the way of that?” he snapped back. “Sorry to put you out, I just thought you might want to work on getting the spell right, this time,” he said bitterly.
My eyes filled with tears. “I thought you didn’t blame me,” I said quietly.
“Oh, Emily,” Fletch came and put his head on my knees, “I don’t, I’m sorry. I was just a bit jealous. That boy can have a normal life, going on a date with you, and I can’t.”
“Are you sure? What about if we put all this right?” I hadn’t meant to say that; I had no intention of dumping Sean for Fletch. Or did I?
“Yes, I’m sure. Brian and I looked up the story he told us about. The one with the werewolf and the witch. He brought all his relevant books with him. The book clearly shows two reasons why we could never become involved. Firstly the one he said: if we got close then we could bond. Your inner witch would bond with my wolf, seeing it as a Familiar. If it happened then my wolf would be bonded to you for life. I would never be able to be with anyone else.”
Werewolf Magic & Mayhem (Book Two, Magic & Mayhem Series) Page 6
