Water Witch

by R. J. Blain

  “Hello?” Tully asked.

  “It’s Frank. Vivian has given me a list, and she’s informed me there will be no excuses, and that every item on her list will be acquired.”

  The Fenerec chuckled long and low. “I’ve got a pen. Go.”

  I relayed the list, hesitating before listing the odd items, which included a briefcase, notebooks and pens, books about Yellowknife and the surrounding area, snowmobile catalogs, and candy.

  Lots of candy.

  On second thought, I understood the candy. I didn’t understand the briefcase and other supplies. What was my mate scheming?

  “Has your mate lost her mind?”

  I growled, partly annoyed he dared to question my mate’s sanity, partly irritated I was questioning my mate’s sanity. With her listening, I’d go the safe route and make positive assumptions. “No. She’s being nice, and so help me, if a single item of that list is missing…”

  The threat hung between us, and at my wolf’s urging, I growled softly enough Tully could hear me without alarming Vivian.

  “Now you’re talking. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

  “Did you look at his wallet and passport?”

  “Yeah, we looked.”

  “Then you know why my panties are in a bunch.”

  Vivian giggled, and glaring at her only made her laugh harder.

  “This is going to be tough to get tonight, but we’ll see what we can do. Amy’s in town, so if anyone can get the stuff, it’s her. I’ll call you back if there are any problems.”

  Since Vivian had already given them a list of things to buy, I decided I’d add to it. “Have her find some toys for the kid too—and up the age level on them. He’s already counting and spelling, so I’m willing to bet he’s ahead of the curve.”

  “You got it. Don’t get yourself killed yanking our Alpha’s tail tonight. I’ll see you in the morning—maybe.” Tully hung up, and I returned the phone to its cradle, shaking my head.

  “He asked if I was nuts, didn’t he?”

  Busted. “He did.”

  “A briefcase makes a boy feel like a man, and he’s going to need to man up since he’s going to be your Alpha.” Vivian lifted her chin, and I admired the challenge in her narrowed eyes.

  I couldn’t actually read minds, but I suspected I knew what Vivian schemed, and it involved clothing stores on Boxing Day. “We’re getting him suits too, aren’t we?”

  Vivian gave me a slow round of applause. “It seems you’re almost as smart as you are pretty. Well done. You figured it out.”

  I needed every scrap of my willpower to not grin at her rare display of irreverent attitude. “You’re quite sassy tonight.”

  “Watch it, or I’ll show you just how sassy I can be.”

  “You have my undivided attention.”

  “Good.”

  Since the couch was covered in blood thanks to Richard and the moose in the sitting room and neither one of us wanted to sleep in the master bedroom, I nestled with Vivian in front of the fireplace. It was the perfect place to watch over the front door and the staircase leading upstairs.

  Maybe I had meant to stand guard until morning, but my mate had other ideas, and by the time she had finished with me, my wolf and I had just enough energy left to wrap around her and cover us both before falling asleep.

  I woke to a young human puppy pulling at my hair and squealing in my ear. My wolf recognized Alex before I did, and he silenced my yelp before it left my throat. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I lurched upright. “Alex?”

  “It’s ten.” The toddler lifted his chin, looked down his little nose at me, and sniffled. “T-E-N. Ten.”

  I had the unreasonable urge to murder whoever had convinced Alex ten was a sacred number. “Let me guess: ten is a very important time of day.”

  “Breakfast time.”

  Right. Breakfast. I couldn’t expect a hungry kid and a skittish young Alpha to hike all the way to the lodge before breakfast. Vivian scooted closer to me, securing the blanket around us. “Alex, sweetie, can you go to the kitchen for a minute? We’ll be right with you to make breakfast,” my mate promised.

  Clothes. Right. Clothes first, then breakfast. Clothes without a young audience worked best. I stifled a yawn. Alex, wearing a shirt far too large for him, waddled towards the kitchen.

  Vivian and I scrambled for our clothes and dressed before any unexpected visitors came waltzing in through the door or down the steps. “Remind me again what I was thinking? Damn it, why is my shirt all the way over there?”

  “You weren’t, Frank. For good reason too. I’ll distract the kid. You’ve got your pants on, so you’re fine. Alex’ll get used to seeing half-naked men soon enough.”

  “Nudity doesn’t bother him,” a voice so deep I felt it as much as heard it rumbled from the top of the staircase.

  I jumped halfway across the sitting room and landed with a startled yelp.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  It took several deep breaths to lower my heart rate out of the danger zone. “Quite all right.”

  Was I supposed to call him sir, like our old Alpha required? At a loss of how to address the young man at the top of the stairs, hidden just out of sight, I waited. Vivian laughed, shook her head, and went towards the kitchen. “I’ll get breakfast started, and then we can get ready to go to the lodge, Frank.”

  “It’s all right to come down?”

  “Of course. Your brother already woke us.”

  Richard’s exasperated sigh convinced me Alex likely had a problem with wandering off, something I’d have to warn the rest of the pack to watch for. Discontented, worried Alphas made everyone unhappy. “I’m sorry about that. If I sleep in even a minute…”

  “Let me guess. Ten?”

  “Ten,” my new Alpha confirmed.

  I wasn’t sure what to expect hearing the light footsteps on the stairs, but a model-gorgeous young man wasn’t it. He wore one of my old Alpha’s shirts and a pair of sweats, and while he was several inches shorter than me, he moved with a dancer’s grace while his bare arms hinted at defined muscles used to hard work.

  Rich brown eyes watched my every move. When I kept still for several minutes, Richard broke eye contact to look around the sitting room as though seeing it for the first. “I killed your Alpha.”

  Guilt had a scent, and Richard’s was strong enough it made me want to sneeze to get rid of the stench. “You did everyone a favor.”

  He jumped as though I’d pinched him. “What?”

  “You did everyone a favor,” I repeated. At my wolf’s encouragement, I closed the distance between us and held out my hand. “I’m Frank.”

  For a while, I worried he would either bolt or go for my throat, but Richard finally reached out and shook hands with me. “Richard Murphy.”

  “Welcome to Yellowknife. We’re glad to have you.” I meant it too, and even my wolf agreed.

  Maybe misfortune had brought Richard Murphy to the pack, but I couldn’t help but think the young Alpha was a Christmas present none of us would ever forget.

  Two

  Richard: Alpha

  From the Witch & Wolf world

  Three days after my eighteenth birthday, an American with more twang than a steel guitar informed me that since I had killed an Alpha, I had to take his place. If I didn’t agree to his terms, he assured me he’d find a nice mated pair of Fenerec willing to take in my brother until I understood I had no choice in the matter—or I died.

  “I don’t care either way, Murphy. You can do it the hard way, you can do it the easy way. You could just take over the job. It’s happening. Unless I have to have you killed of course. You wouldn’t be in a position to care what I did at that point, now would you? It really doesn’t bother me, son.”

  Great. I’d spent months dodging my parents so they wouldn’t put Alex down for not having been born a Fenerec like me just to end up a sitting duck for them to hunt. “I have a condition,” I growled through
clenched teeth.

  The old man on the other end of the line chuckled. “This is going to be good. What’s your condition?”

  “If we stay here, my parents’ll try to kill my baby brother.”

  The line went quiet, and I fidgeted in the worn chair in front of the equally battered desk. If this so-called Shadow Pope of the Inquisition could guarantee my parents wouldn’t harm my baby brother, I’d do anything, even become the Alpha of a Fenerec pack full of womanizing wastes of air.

  I had no idea what they expected me, a submissive so low on the totem pole humans could dominate me, to do for a pack. The other wolves loathed me for killing their Alpha, and I hated them for what they’d done to their unwilling mates. I hadn’t met many of the pack’s females, but my nose told me everything I needed to know. The pack had one bitch, Hillary, and she flinched whenever a male got near her, and she often smelled of fear. The other woman, Vivian, seemed comfortable enough around her mate, Frank, but she too shied away from the other males. Her fear partnered with rage so strong it stirred my wolf’s ire.

  I’d already isolated five males who smelled of guilt, and they treated the two females with the most respect. I gauged them by Vivian’s reactions over Hillary’s.

  Vivian didn’t recoil from all the males, only a select few, and whenever she looked at someone, I could see her thinking, analyzing, and biding her time. She’d cause trouble given half a chance, and I wasn’t sure what I thought about that.

  If she growled at me, I doubted my wolf would be able to withstand her. How could I do what the so-called Shadow Pope wanted?

  My wolf and I were submissive. We weren’t supposed to rule with an iron paw. We were supposed to be quiet and do as told.

  “Why?”

  I glanced at the clock ticking away on the wall, which informed me the Shadow Pope had spent three minutes mulling over a one-word question. “He isn’t what they want for their pack.”

  “The both of you are Fenerec-born, then?”

  I’d already been warned to tell the man the whole truth and nothing but the truth if I wanted to see the New Year, and I grimaced at the thought of what I’d have to tell him to survive. It was bad enough Yellowknife’s pack knew I was a Fenerec.

  Why had I been so stupid as to think it’d be a good idea to explore the woods outside of the city? How could I have been so utterly foolish?

  Alex had almost died because of me, and to keep him safe, I had killed five people.

  “No, sir,” I whispered.

  “Well, what are you, then?”

  “Alex is Fenerec-born.”

  “Ah. You were born before they became Fenerec?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Enlighten me, Murphy.”

  “I was born a wolf, sir. Alex wasn’t, so he wasn’t what they wanted.”

  Silence once again fell on the other end of the line. While I waited, I spun a pen between my fingers, my body so tense I quivered.

  Could I find some way out of Yellowknife with Alex? I’d heard of the Inquisition before; my parents had spoken of it, warning me it’d be my death one way or another if I let them find me.

  I had believed them.

  “You’re a True-born.”

  “Sir,” I whispered.

  “I was informed you still have your puppy coat, so you’re still pretty young. Since I don’t know of a True-born by your name, son, I’m going to assume your parents are the reason you aren’t in the Inquisition already. I will expect a full report on them; their description, their habits, and any relevant information on them. Part of my job is ensuring my Alphas are capable of doing their job. If protecting your brother is a requirement for you to be able to do your job as Yellowknife’s Alpha, then arrangements will be made. I’ll assign a team to keep an eye out. Should they be deemed a risk to the Inquisition, I trust you understand what will happen to them?”

  Relief flooded through me, and I slumped in the chair. If it meant keeping my little brother safe from them, I’d never step foot outside of Yellowknife ever again. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. We’ll keep our end of the bargain, you keep yours. You’ll take over as Yellowknife’s Alpha. Now, I don’t know much about you son, so start talking. What do you bring to the table?”

  An entire lifetime of managing affairs for my parents, doing all the work they found beneath them, left me without a real education, something I regretted. Wandering country to country, city to city, and stopping only long enough to skim some funds off the top of my parents’ accounts to live on while staying out of their sight hadn’t left me with me time to pursue an education for myself.

  Instead, I taught Alex and used the skills I did have to cover my tracks and make certain when my parents checked their finances, they saw what they expected. Out of sight and out of mind worked best against them, and they hadn’t cared what I did as long as I obeyed without question.

  “Mr. Murphy?”

  I drew in a deep breath, held it until my lungs burned with the need for air, and exhaled. “I don’t have a diploma, if that’s what you’re asking, sir.”

  “How long have you been a runaway?”

  “Three months.”

  “All right. Why don’t you have an education, son?”

  His tone made it sound like I was a waste of time for lacking a diploma, and despite my wolf’s hesitancy, I bristled. “I’m not stupid. I can balance banking accounts, manage stocks, and handle investments. I can do taxes and accounting work. I’ve done business negotiations before; my parents dislike it, and they liked I was able to get them better deals.”

  Being a submissive helped me a lot on the business front; dominants, even the human ones, hated showing aggression to me and my wolf, although most of them had no idea why I made them edgy. Their role was to protect me, not the other way around.

  “Yet you don’t have a diploma.”

  “I’ve been doing it since I was old enough to count, sir. I’ve never been to school. That’s not my fault.”

  The Shadow Pope sighed. “All right. You can’t help your circumstances. We’ll see how it goes. I will give you seed money for an investment account in addition to transferring Yellowknife’s pack funds to your keeping. You will need to go to the bank in the city. I’ll send an agent there…” I heard the rustle of paper on the other end of the line. “The seventh. That should give you a chance to get settled. Would you feel more comfortable with a witch or a Fenerec agent discussing matters with you?”

  I frowned. What was a witch, and what was I supposed to do with one? I reminded myself the truth and nothing but the truth would serve me best—and give me a chance to survive the conversation with the American. “What’s a witch? I’ve never met one before.”

  “Witch it is, then. As good a time as any to introduce you to one. I’ll also have the Chief of Police there meet with you. Your pack has had numerous issues with law enforcement in the area. I’m sure you’ll be his favorite person.”

  I hadn’t been in Yellowknife for a week, and I already had more enemies than I knew what to do with. My wolf sighed his unhappiness in my head. “Understood.”

  “Now, is there anything you need to make Yellowknife a functional pack?”

  I regarded the office with a wrinkled nose. “Can I make a potentially unreasonable request?”

  “I’m listening.”

  “They have two buildings here. A house and a lodge.”

  “I know of them. What’s the problem?”

  The stench of fear and rage hung in the air, and if I had to stay surrounded by it for much longer, I’d hunt down every last one of those responsible and tear them apart for their contribution. My wolf’s astonishment flooded through me. “I want to tear them down and rebuild them. The house first, then the lodge.”

  “Why?”

  I snarled, long and low. “They smell like fear.”

  “That will be your first order of business, then. When you go to the bank, submit a proposal to the agent I send to meet with you. I’ll
review it, and we’ll go from there. How large is your parents’ pack?”

  The change of subject startled me, and after a moment, I cleared my throat. “Until now, three—them and me.”

  “I see. How many Fenerec are left in Yellowknife’s pack?”

  I scowled, and while the question bothered me, my wolf caught my attention, and with his help, I delved a little deeper into smothering ties binding me to the other Fenerec in the Yellowknife pack. I hadn’t understood what the blanketing feeling and howling wolves in my head had initially meant when it had settled over me moments after the old Alpha’s death.

  It took me a few minutes to concentrate and count them as individuals rather than a tangled mess of noise and warmth in my head. There were supposed to be only thirty-eight including me, but thirty-nine distinct presences lingered.

  Somehow, I’d brought my little brother into the pack, too, although the sense of him in the pack bonds was so faint I doubted anyone had noticed him yet. “Thirty-eight,” I lied.

  “So, you killed four of the pack plus Roger.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Has anyone challenged you yet?”

  “No.”

  “Good. That’s promising. If you were to funnel funds out of the accounts you are currently managing, how much money would you have, Mr. Murphy?”

  Along with my wallet and passport, the messenger bag containing my checkbooks and balances had survived, although blood stained the satchel, requiring me to use the briefcase someone had left for me. I thumped it onto the desk, opened it up, and shifted through the papers to confirm my memory. “From the accounts I have ready access to without requiring their signature, twenty-six million and change, sir.”

  The Shadow Pope choked. “Say that again?”

  “Twenty-six million and change, sir.”

  “Give me the account numbers and the institutions. Do you have the routing numbers?”

  “I have them.” Considering my parents wanted to hurt my little brother, I had no problems with revealing—or taking—their finances if the opportunity presented itself. I’d earned most of it for them anyway. It took almost twenty minutes to relay all the accounts to him plus their current balances. “There’s also the issue of stocks and the investment accounts. That’s just the liquid funds.”