Chosen Wolf

by Stacy Claflin

“I can—”

  She grabbed my arm. “Stay right here, thief. I’m calling the cops.”

  I froze. “The police?”

  “What do you expect? At least you’ll be able to eat all the free meals you want.” She pulled a rectangular device from her pocket and slid her finger around the shiny part.

  I didn’t know what kind of witchcraft she was using, but I wanted nothing to do with that or the local law officers. I yanked my arm from her grasp and ran from the establishment.

  She called me names. Several men ran after me.

  At least I had food in my stomach—and I had died in my best leather shoes. I kicked it into gear and ran as fast as I could. My body seemed to remember all the previous exercise. Glancing back, I noticed I was lengthening the gap between me and my pursuers.

  I ducked between a couple buildings and darted down one alleyway and then another.

  They shouted, but couldn’t keep up.

  All the years Father had made us train finally paid off.

  I continued running, even after I was sure they’d given up. No one called for me now, but I wouldn’t stop until my body made me. My muscles burned, but I didn’t care.

  The suburban setting turned into open fields. I could hear farm animals not far away.

  I paused in the middle of a grassy field, gasping for air. An apple orchard wasn’t far away. Maybe I could rest there and have some snacks when my appetite returned.

  “Hey, there she is!” came a masculine voice. The familiarity of the voice sent shivers down my back.

  I spun around.

  My stomach sank.

  Father.

  He’d found me.

  My throat closed up.

  He and several of the lead pack mates ran toward me. I had to run to the orchard—it was my only chance of hiding.

  I burst into another run. My joints and muscles cried out in protest. My lungs felt like they would explode.

  How had they found me?

  My scent. I hadn’t even thought to try to cover it up. Having just eaten so much, it would have been even stronger. It also wasn’t like I had wolfsbane on me, nor had I seen any of the flowers along the way.

  Not that I had time to worry about that now. My aching body begged me to stop, but my adrenaline pushed it forward.

  They gained on me.

  Who knew what my father would do to me? He probably knew I’d been the one who had been seeing someone in the rival pack. In fact, Toby’s father probably told him about us and even boasted of killing me.

  I reached the orchard. Though there were plenty of apple trees, they were spread far enough apart to be of little help. Hiding would be a challenge—I certainly didn’t have the advantage of a forest.

  I pushed forward, afraid of what dying a second time would do to me. Would I be sent somewhere worse than the other side? There were rumors of a nasty jail, but I’d never seen any proof it actually existed.

  Maybe death was my only freedom from my father.

  If I did manage to find Toby, and he wasn’t leading his own pack, married with a bunch of pups running around, then we would be on the run if he still held any feelings for me and wanted to be with me.

  Would giving in to my father be the best option? This world hadn’t ever done much to protect me. Even in the arms of safety—Toby’s—I’d managed to lose my life.

  As I darted between trees, my mind went back to that fateful night.

  I shook my head. I had to focus. If there was any chance of finding Toby or my sister, I needed to stay strong and fight.

  They shouted at me. Shots rang out through the air, reminding me of the night of my death.

  Somehow I managed to run faster and dart around more trees. I turned around one and crashed into a ladder.

  “Hey!” a voice shouted from above.

  I rubbed my sore eye and continued running, but I was dizzy. My feet got tangled with each other and I fell to the ground. I pulled myself up.

  Hands grabbed my arms. “I got her!” My father glared at me. “Finally, I get my chance with you. Both you girls soiled my reputation with the pack that night, and you never paid.”

  “Dying wasn’t enough?”

  “My enemy killed you. All that did was add to my humiliation. Do you know how long it took for me to regain my pack’s respect?”

  I struggled to get free, but just like the night he’d killed Elsie, he overpowered me. His nails dug into my skin.

  Toby’s father strutted over, sneering at me.

  My jaw dropped. I turned to Father. “You’re working with him now?”

  “A common foe can make enemies allies.”

  “Who…?” I asked, but realized I already knew. “You’re against Toby?”

  “He managed to kill us,” my father said, “but now that we’re free from the other side of death, it’s payback time.”

  Toby’s father glared at me. “And you’re going to be the bait.”

  Blood drained from my face. “What do you mean?”

  My father hit me across the face. “Stop talking, girl.” He turned to Toby’s father. “Let’s get to the jaguars. It’s time for them to hold up their end of the deal.”

  Another man wrapped a blindfold around my eyes and stuffed a gag in my mouth. I struggled, but my father held me down. They led me for what felt like forever as the sun beat down before finally throwing me in a motorized vehicle. The air was hot and stuffy. I rolled around with each turn. Muffled music played from somewhere.

  Finally, we stopped and they brought me out into the fresh air. I gasped, and lightheaded, wove on my feet.

  Someone—probably my father again—grabbed onto my arms, squeezing hard enough to bruise. They led me inside a building with icy air. I walked, stumbling, until someone shoved me to the ground.

  “Stay there. You’ll regret it if you try anything.”

  I was in no position to try anything, blindfolded and gagged with no clue where I was.

  Footsteps sounded as others came into the room.

  “That the girl?”

  “Yeah.” That was my father. “You got your witch?”

  “She’s on her way.”

  “What’s the plan?” asked my father.

  “I’ll throw her in the dungeon for a few days. Once she’s good and weak, the witch will strip her of her ability to shift. The girl won’t know what’s up or down.”

  My throat closed up. Tears filled my eyes.

  “Then we’ll spend the rest of the summer getting her acquainted to the modern world and all its technologies. She has a large learning curve ahead of her since she’s used to life from a different era. Once she’s up to speed, we’ll erase her memories of her past, including her time here. Then I’ll send her right into the arms of that new professor you want to destroy so badly.”

  “But you’ll let me kill my son,” said Toby’s father.

  “And I need to witness it,” my father said.

  I held in a gasp. My entire body shook.

  “As long as you two hold to your end of the bargain.”

  “We will.”

  “Indeed.”

  I needed to get away and find Toby.

  Something hard hit me on the side of the head. I blacked out before hitting the ground.

  Chapter 4

  Toby

  I stared in frustration at Gessilyn across the bed. She sat close-eyed, playing with her blonde ponytail while Victoria lay unconscious between us. She’d been this way for over an hour.

  “What’s going on?” I finally demanded.

  She opened her eyes and gave me a sympathetic glance. “I would assume the rest of her memories are returning. She’s thrashing around the same way she did when she recovered her memories of you. I’m speaking silent blessings since this has probably been brought on by a spell.”

  Victoria sat up and screamed.

  I wrapped my arms around her. “Did you remember anything?”

  “Yes. It’s all just like we thought—the ja
guars used me to lure you in. They’re also working with our fathers. Carter’s father is working with our two old packs because they want us both dead. They’re still angry about us running away together.”

  Dread washed through me. “Our fathers are the ones who want us dead—some things never change. The only question is how they convinced powerful jaguar shifters to help them.”

  “Money.” She shook in my arms.

  “But the jaguars are far richer than they are.” I tried to make sense of it.

  “It doesn’t matter, Toby. Only that our old packs are working together with the jaguars against us.”

  “Did you send them there?” she asked. “To the other side?”

  I nodded. “You’d better believe I killed them after what happened to you. It took some time, but they paid.”

  Gessilyn came over to us and put her hand on Victoria’s arm. “Did you remember everything?”

  She nodded. “Well, about that. Some other details are still filling in. They were the ones behind my memory loss. I was right to trust Carter. He had no clue about me until we met at the barbecue. His dad was behind it, but he didn’t know what was going on beyond his dad wanting him to keep an eye on me.”

  Gessilyn took a deep breath. “Killian and I will stay here a little while longer, just in case you remember anything else.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything left,” Victoria said. “If there were holes in my memory, I would know.”

  “Didn’t you say some things are still filling in?” I held her closer.

  “Just some of the smaller details. It’s a lot to take in, but I remember all the major things now.” She sighed in relief.

  Anger burned at me. “I’m sure it is. It looks like our fathers have more to pay for.”

  She turned to me. “What are we going to do?”

  I kissed her forehead. “We’re going to speak to the pack, but not until you’re ready.”

  “I’m ready now.” She jumped out of the bed and stumbled.

  “Take it easy.” I grabbed onto her sides and steadied her.

  “I’m just a little dizzy. It’s nothing. It’ll wear off in a moment.” She backed away from my hold. “Trust me. I’ve been through this before—when I finally remembered our time together.”

  “The dizziness might linger for a while, though,” Gessilyn said. “That’s just the way the spell works.”

  Victoria arched a brow. “You think this is from the spell you placed on me a month ago?”

  Gessilyn nodded. “You had a lot of memories stolen. It takes time.”

  Worry replaced my anger—for a moment, anyway. “You don’t think this will happen again, do you? What if she has other memories to uncover that we have no clue about?”

  “It’s possible.” Gessilyn put a hand on Victoria’s arm. “You said you think you can remember everything?”

  “I think so.”

  “What about being dead?” I asked. “You spent more years on the other side than you did here.”

  “I remember escaping. Let’s talk to the pack.” Victoria pulled on my arm.

  I didn’t budge. “But you don’t remember your time there?”

  She shrugged. “There probably isn’t much to remember. I was dead.” Victoria studied me. “Do you think anything important happened to me then? Anything that could help us?”

  “I’m not sure,” I replied. “I’m just saying we shouldn’t expect your thrust of memories to be over.”

  She frowned. “Okay.”

  We headed downstairs. The rest of the pack was in the family room, watching a movie.

  “Are you okay?” Soleil asked Victoria. She and Ziamara ran over to us.

  Victoria leaned against me. “Just a little worn out.”

  “Time for a pack meeting,” I said.

  Jet paused the movie and turned to Victoria. “Did you remember something about the jaguars?”

  I helped Victoria sit, and I filled them in on everything she’d told me. “Did I miss anything?”

  She shook her head. “Both our fathers want him dead for killing them.”

  “But why the jaguars?” Brick asked. “What’s so important about them?”

  I leaned back in my seat and ran my fingers through my hair, pulling on it. “It makes sense, if you think about it. Their culture is completely different, and they have access to different types of magic. I’ve heard that Central America, where they originated, is full of black magic we rarely see here—things like voodoo and regularly bringing people back from the dead. Necromancers are highly sought after.”

  “Do we have a plan?” Dillon asked.

  “I’m working on it.” I assured him.

  “We’ll stay as long as necessary,” Gessilyn said. “If it gets to be too much, I’ll call on my parents. They’re still training me.”

  “You’re the high witch, right?” asked Slick, a Samoan who’d been with me for a number of years.

  Gessilyn nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t know it for centuries. I didn’t even practice magic for long stretches of that time.”

  Slick gave her a double take. “How could you not know?”

  “If you’d never seen a mirror, would you know your nose is round?” Gessilyn asked.

  “Huh?”

  “I didn’t know because I couldn’t see it,” Gessilyn explained. “Nobody told me. My mother was killed before she had the chance to teach me much, and I only recently met my father and his family. It wasn’t even until my parents were working together with me, now that everyone is back from the dead, that they saw it.”

  “It’s not something passed down from one generation to another?” Ziamara asked.

  Gessilyn shook her head. “There’s usually one high witch for many centuries, and then a new one arises from a different part of the world. It would definitely be nice if there was some training involved, but at least I have my parents.”

  “This is all great,” I said, “but let’s save these questions for later. She and Killian are staying. We need to focus on finding out where my father and Victoria’s are hiding while Gessilyn looks for a way for Victoria to be able to shift again. I don’t know what the long-term effects could be.”

  Sal rose from his chair. “What do we need to do, sir?”

  It felt good to have my pack on my side, ready for action. “We need to make sure Gessilyn has anything she needs.” I turned to her. “What do you need?”

  “Victoria,” Gessilyn said.

  Her head snapped to attention.

  Gessilyn gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, dear. I just need to see if I can find any additional spells, blessings, or curses placed on you.”

  “What’s that going to involve?” Victoria asked.

  “All you need to worry about is sitting still. You might even be able to get some reading done. I wouldn’t recommend doing math problems or typing a paper—I need you still.”

  “I’ve got about fifty pages from my psychology book to read.”

  “Perfect.” Gessilyn rose from her chair. “Give me a few minutes to gather what I need, then we’ll meet outside.”

  “Outside?” I exclaimed. It was dark out and a light wind whipped on the sides of the house. Typical fall evening.

  She stepped toward the stairs. “The elements are strong this time of year. I want to tap directly into them.”

  Victoria glanced out the window. “How am I supposed to read?”

  “You’re a wolf under the moonlight, sweetie. It’ll work.” Gessilyn rounded the corner and disappeared.

  “Do you need anything else?” Ziamara asked. “I don’t know what I could do, but I’d be happy to help.”

  Soleil’s eyes widened with excitement. “Oh, I know.”

  Victoria arched a brow.

  “Come with us to Seattle on Saturday. We’re going shopping with some of Victoria’s roomies.”

  “You want me to go shopping?”

  “It’ll be fun,” Soleil said. “And besides, the more s
upernaturals we have surrounding our unshifting wolfy, the better.”

  Jet nodded. “It’s been a while since you’ve fed from humans, too.”

  “I drink plenty of bags every day,” Ziamara said with a defensive tone.

  “We both know it’s not the same.” Jet put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “And you’ll also have fun with the girls. I know how much you need girl time.”

  She gave him a playful scowl. “I think you’re just trying to get rid of me.”

  He laughed. “Never. I’ll miss you, but I think the day trip will do you some good.”

  Ziamara turned to Victoria. “I’m in. Just tell me the time and place. What do you think I should wear?”

  “What you have is fine,” Soleil said. “Anything goes in Seattle—trust me.”

  Gessilyn returned and looked at Victoria. “Are you ready?”

  “Can I go with?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Sorry, Toby. Unfortunately, your presence will only interfere. I assure you, she’s in good hands.”

  “I trust you,” I said. “Otherwise, I’d be there with you. Where’s Killian? He’s welcome down here with us.”

  “Thanks. I needed some ingredients, so he went back home. He might bring one of my parents or siblings with him. The more witches we have on this, the better.”

  I swept my lips across Victoria’s. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  She pressed herself against me and returned the kiss.

  Gessilyn waved her over, and they headed outside after Victoria slid on her coat and grabbed her backpack.

  I went into the front room and watched from the window. They headed around to the right. I went into my office, peeked from behind the curtains, and lifted a blind.

  They stopped about a hundred feet from the house. Gessilyn laid out a blanket. Victoria sat in the middle with her bag. Gessilyn reached into a pocket and sprinkled something around Victoria. She walked around, speaking and waving her arms around. The moon’s glow around Victoria brightened.

  After a few minutes, Gessilyn stopped and said something to Victoria, who in return, dug into her bag and pulled out a textbook. She read while Gessilyn sat next to her, arranging what looked like rose petals.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered to myself.

  “Apologies, sir,” came Brick’s voice from behind me.