“How do you know all this?” Allegra wondered.
“After I fled the coven, I was lost and alone in the woods with only my magic to guide me. I found other witches who had been cast out by the elders. They saved me. They lifted the curse that blocked my memories and everything opened up. I saw how the elders were, what they had been doing to us for so many years.”
Iris nodded as Allegra continued to hold herself.
On the staircase, Caspian listened intently, already aware that everything Uma said was true. The wolves had aided witches in the past, and Theo regularly spoke of the true darkness that lived hidden within the coven.
Allegra believed her sister, but something in her story didn’t add up. Something that had nipped at the back of her mind ever since she had suddenly left all those years ago.
“Why did you never contact me?” Allegra asked, her voice small. “You never sent me a message on the wind, or even in a dream. You just abandoned me. You knew how dangerous the elders were and you left me there.”
“I had no choice,” Uma admitted guiltily, lowering her head to her chest and sighing. “The village is protected by powerful spells, spells which I alone could never penetrate. It was impossible for me to make contact with you. I tried countless times but it never worked.”
The fire spat and crackled as a thoughtful silence fell over the trio. Allegra stood up and walked over to the window of the small house, glancing out into the main yard that was now bustling with villagers setting about their daily tasks.
“I find it hard to accept the part our mother played in all of this,” she whispered despondently. “She willingly held me so that they could bind me to that stake. She never once moved to help me as she never helped you.” She glanced up at Uma and saw that her sister’s eyes were watering. She had also clearly been badly burnt by their mother’s betrayal.
“The darkness has corrupted her.” Uma coughed slightly, forcing the emotion out of her voice. “She’s lost to the wickedness of the elders.”
“But she’s our mother,” Allegra implored. “How can she abandon us like that? To just stand by while they murder us!”
“She’s evil, Allegra!” Uma cried. “Let it go, forget about her as she forgets so easily about us. All our mothers are lost to the darkness of the coven. They will one day become the elders who perpetuate the brutality.” She glanced briefly at Iris as she said this.
“Not my mother,” Iris said flatly.
“Trust me, Iris, they are all rotten to the core,” Uma seethed.
“No, not my mother, because she is dead.”
Caspian stiffened slightly on the staircase, his feelings of guilt still raw.
“She is?” Uma asked, confused, before realization sparkled in her eyes and she turned her gaze up toward Caspian, who sullenly looked away from her.
“He did the right thing,” Uma told Iris, her voice gentle and kind. “Death is a mercy for our mothers, trust me. I’d rather my mother die than go on to become withered and corrupted like the elders.”
Iris nodded stiffly and looked upon the fire.
“Why don’t we show Uma around the village?” Allegra suggested brightly, wanting to ease the tension in the room and raise their spirits.
“Okay.” Iris stood up, grateful for a reason to leave the house and get some fresh air and renewed perspective on events.
Both girls wrapped their shawls around their shoulders and stepped out into the crisp morning air. Uma made to follow after them but she stopped when she heard the staircase creak. Caspian came and stood before her. He was tall, lean and strong, and she knew better than to just push past him when he was blocking her way.
“Why are you here?” he demanded icily.
“You love her, I get that. You killed half of our coven to protect her. But you don’t have to worry about me, I’m not here to hurt her.”
“Then why are you here?” Caspian repeated, his patience wearing thin. He didn’t like Uma’s sudden appearance within his village. He couldn’t help but think that perhaps she was a spy for the coven, looking to infiltrate Allegra’s home and attack her when she was at her most vulnerable.
“I’m here to help,” Uma explained. “Now that my sister is out of the coven, I was able to find her. She wasn’t bound beneath all their protection spells.”
“How can you help her?”
“I can teach her magic. She’s so much more powerful than she realizes but she’s never been able to practice magic, not properly. I can open up a whole world of magic to her, magic that will keep her safe if they ever come for her again.”
Caspian weighed this up, still dubious about Uma’s intentions.
“I love her,” she said sincerely. “She’s my sister. The moment I heard she was free of the coven, I came here. All I want to do is help.”
“Well then, make sure that’s all you do,” Caspian warned. “She’s been through enough. I don’t want her discovering any more family members she cannot trust.”
Uma lifted a hand and placed it on his shoulder, smiling warmly. Caspian flinched in surprise at the gesture.
“You’re a noble man, Caspian, and you love Allegra dearly, I can see that. I’m glad she has you.”
Then she let her hand fall away and headed outside to where Allegra and Iris were waiting for her.
***
“What are we doing out here?” Iris queried dubiously as she and Allegra watched Uma frantically create a pentagram out of leaves on the forest floor.
Allegra’s sister had led them out in to the forest to a secluded opening. She’d constantly listened to the wind as they moved, careful to position them beyond the reach of prying eyes.
“Shh,” Uma hissed as she continued the pick up handfuls of leaves and carefully arrange them upon the muddied ground.
Iris rolled her eyes and looked at her friend but she remained silent. Once the pentagram was complete, Uma stood up, looking satisfied and wiping the dirt from her hands and knees.
“So why are we here?” Allegra asked, glancing at the ground. “Why have you made that shape?”
“We are here,” Uma announced grandly, putting her hands upon her hips, “to practice magic.”
Allegra folded her arms across her chest, feeling uneasy. “What sort of magic?”
“Not dark magic, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Uma explained, pacing around the pentagram, inspecting her handiwork. “I don’t practice dark magic. I practice active magic. Magic that can protect me, that I can use to defend myself.”
“But isn’t magic used to inflict pain on others dark?” Iris enquired, repeating the teachings of the coven.
“That’s what the elders want you to think,” Uma quickly corrected her. “The only magic that is truly dark is the magic used to manipulate and deceive others. Which is exactly the sort of magic the elders practice.”
Iris’ arms remained folded across her chest in a guarded stance. A cool breeze danced around the trio, disturbing some of the arranged leaves.
“You’re going to need to know more powerful magic if the witches do attack,” Uma advised.
Allegra nodded thoughtfully and approached the pentagram, kneeling down beside it as Uma knelt down in the center. They both looked at Iris, who continued to stand stiffly on the fringes of the opening.
“Iris, you need to learn this,” Allegra implored her stubborn friend. “We both do.”
“Let me teach you,” Uma beseeched the younger witch. “Let me make you strong.”
Iris thought of the attack upon the coven. How Caspian in his wolf form had torn through witches’ flesh as though they were made of paper. No one had known how to protect themselves, or even how to slow his surge of destruction. They could only hide or be slaughtered. The only witches who knew how to safeguard themselves were the elders and they didn’t share power. They kept the rest of the coven in oblivious darkness so they could hold a monopoly on all the magic. It was wrong.
If Iris had been a more powerful witch,
she could have saved her mother. Even after Caspian’s claws had ripped through her, she could have performed a healing spell. But she knew nothing. All she’d learned within the coven was how to listen to the wind for whispers or to hasten the growth of a dying plant.
“Okay.” Iris knelt down beside Allegra. “I’m in.”
***
The hours of the day fell away like minutes as Uma passed on her knowledge to the two younger witches.
“This is how to protect yourself,” she explained, uttering an incantation within the pentagram and scattering dirt around herself. Seconds later, a glittering shield surrounded her entire body.
“Touch it,” she urged.
Tentatively, Allegra reached out and touched the glittering surface. It immediately shocked her and pushed her body back several feet. Stunned, she looked back at Uma from her position on the floor, her hair prickling with static energy.
“That was amazing,” Iris cooed, leaning forward to examine the shield but not daring to touch it herself.
“How do you take it down?” Allegra asked, rubbing her back, which was now sore from her abrupt landing.
“Un dessa di som,” Uma uttered, and the glittering shield instantly fell away. “Protection spells can be really useful, so can repellent spells.”
Allegra and Iris listened intently, eager to soak up all of Uma’s impressive magical knowledge.
A repellent spell saw them using the magic of the protection shield but delivering that shocking force into their hands so they could use their fingertips as weapons against advancing attackers.
“You can make the shock more powerful,” Uma explained, “depending on how much magic you channel. Practice a low dose on one another.”
Laughter filled the air, coupled with flashes of light as the two young witches practiced their repellent spells on one another. The shocks they could inflict were only light, but it was still fun to learn magic of this kind. Allegra would run at her friend, preparing to pounce on her, and Iris would whisper a quick incantation before sparks flew from her fingertips and pushed the advancing Allegra back upon the ground.
Seconds later, Allegra was on her feet and the roles were reversed as Iris came sprinting at her in a mock attack.
“Good! You’re getting it!” Uma enthused, impressed by her students who were proving themselves to be quick learners.
“See how easy it is!” Uma clapped as Iris and Allegra began to master the protection and repellent spells. “There’s so much I can teach you! I can teach you location spells, healing spells, hiding spells.”
“Then teach us!” Allegra cried from behind the glittering shield she’d conjured around herself.
“Yes!” Iris concurred. “Teach us! We want to know everything!”
Uma looked upwards as the sky, which had darkened whilst they practiced and now shimmered with stars. “It is late,” she noted. “We should really return to the wolf village.”
“But we’ve still so much to learn,” Allegra said, disappointed as she let her shield fall away.
“We should get back.”
“Can’t we stay a little longer?” Allegra pleaded. Her body tingled deliciously with each spell she cast. She could feel herself growing more powerful. She’d never known that such spells existed and now an entire world had been opened up to her.
Uma bit her lip and glanced in the direction of the wolf village. “Won’t Caspian wonder where you are?”
“I suppose,” Allegra admitted, lifting a foot to break up the leaves of the pentagram. She was about to kick them and disrupt the shape when Uma held up a hand to stop her.
“Unless you want to send him a message on the wind, telling him we’ll be out practicing magic all night?” Uma suggested with a smile playing upon her lips.
“Now that,” Allegra grinned, “sounds like an idea.”
***
Caspian stoked the fire and listened beyond the door for the return of his beloved but all the footsteps he heard walked by, destined for another home. The hour was late and darkness descended upon the vale and still Allegra did not come home.
Frustrated, he headed upstairs and opened the upstairs window, letting in the cool night air. It felt refreshing upon his face as he leaned out, his dark hair fluttering around his intense eyes. He inhaled, savoring the scent of the breeze. He found her intoxicating aroma, located in the forest beyond the village. He looked in the direction where she was and noticed flashes of light illuminating the dense darkness. The witches were still practicing magic.
Disappointed, he pulled himself back in to the warmth of the room. He was glad that Allegra had the opportunity to strengthen her magic but he missed her. He liked it when she fell asleep in his arms and her eyelids started to flutter as she became lost to her dreams. He wanted to always keep her safe and close. Each moment she was apart from him, he fretted about the witches of her coven returning her to their wicked embrace and burning her at the stake.
Perhaps he could turn and roam the forest with some of his pack. He enjoyed running free and wild under the cover of night, chasing prey and howling at the moon.
“Caspian…” He froze when he heard Allegra’s voice surprisingly close. It felt as though she were whispering in his ear but as he pivoted around the room, he saw he was very much alone.
“Caspian,” she said again, her voice more distinct this time. Confused, he looked around. Nothing. Her voice seemed to be carried on the wind, not bound to her physical form.
“I’m out in the woods practicing magic. I shall return at dawn. I miss you. I love you.” Her message danced on the wind, stroking at his cheek before it dissolved away and silence resumed once more.
Caspian ran a hand through his thick hair and smiled lazily to himself. He was pleased that Allegra was growing stronger. With her voice still singing sweetly in his ears, he went downstairs and out into the night to meet up with the rest of his pack for a late-night run.
***
The sound of numerous wolves howling in unison made the hairs prickle on the back of Iris’ neck. “The wolves won’t hurt us, will they?” she asked nervously as Uma cast a location spell using a crude map she had drawn in the dirt with her fingers.
“No.” Uma shook her head, still focused on her current spell. “The wolves won’t hurt us, don’t worry.”
“But in the village…” Iris trembled when she thought of the attack. It had been so savage, so swift. So final.
“That was different,” Uma said with certainty. “That was an attack, there, all witches were the enemy.”
Iris closed her eyes and thought sadly of her mother, how she had spluttered her last breath and died in her arms.
“Don’t let that cloud you,” Uma said sternly, suddenly looking up from her spell and regarding Iris with a fierce intensity.
“What?” Iris blushed, feeling exposed.
“I sense your misgivings about the wolves. You’ve no need to fear them. What happened to your mother was a terrible accident, nothing more. Let it go.”
“I—” Iris was about to plead how she had let it go but it would be in vain. She still mourned her mother’s loss. The pain was too fresh to cast away.
“Channel the pain you feel,” Uma urged, looking back down at the ground. “Channel it into your magic. It will make you stronger.”
Allegra stood beside Iris and placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder.
“You’ve both got the potential to be extremely powerful,” Uma told them. “If you work at it.”
“We’re prepared to work, aren’t we?” Allegra glanced sideways at Iris.
“Yes.” Iris nodded with conviction. “I want to work. I want to be powerful.”
“And you will be,” Uma promised. “But first, let me teach you this location spell. It might one day save your life.”
Uma whispered over the map she had made and the dirt upon the ground started to shift and move, lifting itself into a tiny sandstorm. It swirled across the area of the map, gathering in
size and strength. The trio of witches watched it move, the ground illuminated for them by only starlight.
As the dirt continued to twirl and absorb more ground, Uma raised her hands, watched it intently and suddenly clapped. The sound made the sandstorm instantly fall away and the map returned, immaculate as though never disturbed, albeit one amendment. A small pile of dirt had collected in one point.
“What’s there?” Allegra tapped the pile of dirt with the tip of her finger.
“That,” Uma raised an eyebrow and smiled, “is where the wolves are collecting to howl beneath the moon.”
“How did you locate them?” Allegra asked in awe.
“I used your connection to Caspian,” Uma admitted. “You’ve a strong connection to the wolves, little sister. It will serve you well.”
Allegra smiled shyly.
“Want to try and locate something else?” Uma offered to the two girls.
“My mother,” Iris announced. “I want to locate where they buried my mother.”
Uma sighed and shook her head sorrowfully. “We can’t.”
“Why not?” Iris demanded heatedly. “You found the wolves!”
“Your mother will be laid to rest within the boundaries of the coven. If I use a location spell to find her, the elders will sense my magic and it will draw them directly to us. We don’t want to give them that kind of access to us, not yet, not until we are stronger.”
“But eventually we can locate her?” Iris wondered hopefully.
“Yes, of course,” Uma reassured her. “When the war is over, we’ll locate your mother and you can pay your respects. But until then, we must keep a low profile with regards to our magic. Do you understand?”
Both Allegra and Iris nodded gravely.
“Good, then let’s continue. We’ve a few hours until dawn and there is still much I want to show you.”
***
Wolf Tainted Union: The Complete Collection - 6-Book Bundle (Books 1-6) - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Page 11
