by K A Faul
Maybe Thomas is right, and I’m overthinking it. Other than that weird garbage about two legs spitting fire, everything I’ve heard sounds more like they are just worried about the pack. We’ve killed animals here, so it’s not like the animals don’t have a reason to be afraid of us.
The explanation made perfect sense but did little to calm the extra tension in her muscles. Maybe if she hadn’t had a cracked-out hallucination about being strangled by a faerie and a giant English housecat, she’d be more willing to blow it off, but the paranoia lingered.
Wolves die on Rites.
Thomas said it. So had her dad. The Rite wasn’t totally safe. It wasn’t even intended to be.
Okay, what would it take for something to get from Esper to Earth? An angel? Probably no angels running taxi services for manticores.
What else? Faeries or spellslingers coming over? Either with angel help or some special magical way? But why would they come to this forest? It’s been used for generations.
A third disturbing possibility entered her mind. They wouldn’t be able to get back through the portal without consuming a special mushroom on Esper. Thomas hadn’t mentioned anything about them being guarded. Some stupid monster might have munched on mushrooms and wandered through by accident.
Mina tried to take stock of her available evidence. The animals were scared, and it could be because of the pack or something else.
Wait. Two legs who spit fire.
Her stomach knotted. Spellslingers. That was the only explanation. Some bastard mages had come through the portal and now were wandering the forests.
Okay, but it’s not like they have any reason to come after werewolves, right?
Mina wanted to believe that, but she had no clue. She knew very little about the potential of magic, and harvesting a rare supernatural creature seemed like the kind of thing some spellslinger might do.
Mina needed to return to the pack. Even if she were wrong and letting the lingering side effects of the mushrooms cloud her thoughts, there would be strength in numbers.
Several howls sounded in the distance as if responding to her thoughts. Some of the tension fled. Thomas chewing her out would help remind her exactly of what was real and imaginary.
Chapter 18
Mina charged toward the howls. She threw up another howl of her own, and her heart soared when the pack returned her call.
If she were in human form, she might have laughed. She hadn’t realized until that moment how much the strange hallucinations bothered her. It was nice to retreat into something normal. Well, as normal as a werewolf about to travel to a different world through a magical portal could be.
The wolf barreled through the forest toward her packmates. She needed only a few minutes to catch up to the rest of them.
Thomas growled once she arrived. Where the hell were you, Mina?
Passed out in the forest.
Why the hell did you leave the cave?
Mina let out a low growl of her own.
Hey, you can’t be pissed at me. It wasn’t my fault. Your super mushrooms really did a number on me. I thought I was on Esper being attacked by fae and crap. It took me a while to even figure out that I was just hallucinating.
The light-coated wolf stared at Mina for a moment. Everyone immediately shift back to human form.
No one bothered trying to communicate as they underwent the pain of the shift.
“Why did you want us back in human form?” Ryan asked.
Thomas nodded toward Mina. “For whatever reason, she had a really strong reaction to the mushrooms. I want to make sure we’re all a bit more controllable in case anyone else is more affected than they might realize. We can hike on two feet as well as four.”
Mina opened her mouth to shoot out something snarky, but nothing emerged. Thomas wasn’t harassing her or blaming her for weakness. Instead, he was trusting her report and operating like a good alpha should: by minimizing unnecessary risk to his pack.
She would never admit it aloud, but he’d managed to earn more than a smidgen of respect with his leadership in that moment.
“Mina, how do you feel now?” Thomas asked.
“Lucid, I guess. I mean, assuming you’re all real, I think I’m okay.”
He chuckled. “We’re real enough. Let’s get going.”
The pack fell into silence over the next few minutes, until Anna hurried forward to walk beside Mina.
“I was worried about you,” the blonde girl said, patting Mina on the shoulder. “I noticed you were gone, and I looked around the front of the cave, and you wouldn’t respond when I called out for you. So I woke everyone else up, and we decided to follow your scent.”
Mina smiled. “Thanks, Anna. I just… you know. I don’t know. One minute, I was in the cave. The next, I thought I was in Esper. I must have walked a long way in a daze before that part.” She shrugged. “But everything was fine in the end. Nothing weirder than, you know, totally hallucinating that I was on a different world.”
The others all glanced at her but didn’t say anything. Curiosity burned on Ryan and Jorge’s faces. Thomas looked amused.
Anna smiled. “What did you see? You mentioned being attacked by fae. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want. I’m just curious. It’s sounds so much more involved than what I saw.”
“I thought I was on Esper. The plants looked different, but not like crazy different. Just different. I saw like a floating tower, and yeah, there were some faeries. At least, I kind of think they were.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was more like I saw faerie-like shapes.”
Anna nodded. “How did you know they were faeries then?”
Mina fought down the wince. She didn’t want to mention she’d been dreaming about faeries a good chunk of her life, and she knew a faerie in a dream when she encountered one.
“Pointy ears? Esper? Tall?” She shrugged. “I just kind of knew.”
“Okay, and you said they tried to kill you?”
Mina stared at the other girl. She liked Anna and trusted her as a fellow Initiate, but she wasn’t prepared to tell her, let alone everyone else, about the depths of her issues with faeries. A few careful details would need to be removed, like the fact she’d been choked before in a dream by a faerie.
“Yeah. Well, one did. It wasn’t a big deal. She didn’t finish me off or anything.”
Ryan pumped his fist in the air. “Show the faeries what for. Werewolves are coming, Esper. Watch out.” He high-fived Jorge.
Thomas snorted.
Mina sighed. “That wasn’t the weirdest part.”
Anna blinked. “A faerie trying to murder you wasn’t the weirdest part?”
“Remember Megasnuffly?” Mina chuckled quietly.
“Vaguely. You mean the joke about the giant cat?” Confusion reigned on the other girl’s face. “I guess. What about it?”
“Well, he was there.”
“The giant cat?”
“Yep. The giant kaiju cat. Super huge. Plus, he talked. He sounded like some rich English dude. I don’t know, like Colin Firth in Kingsman. And he was complaining about my manners. I guess, also a lot like Colin Firth in Kingsman.”
It sounded totally ridiculous when Mina said it out loud, and now she couldn’t help but think of Megasnuffly with Colin Firth’s voice. The thought made her smile.
Thomas chuckled. “Apparently, even your subconscious knows you have an attitude problem. You should listen to it, Mina. It’ll make your life easier.”
She didn’t stop walking but did flip her acting alpha off. “He pissed me off, so I attacked him.”
“You attacked what you thought was a giant cat?” Thomas asked, a smirk on his face. “Yeah, excellent self-control there.”
“Whatever. I’d do it again.”
“Did you win?” Anna said.
Ryan clapped his hands together. “That’s right. Golden Claw is here, taking down faeries and giant cats. That’s what I’m talking about.
”
Anna sighed.
“It was just an hallucination,” Thomas said. “Don’t get too excited. She probably charged some tree.”
Mina rolled her eyes. “It disappeared when I ran at it. That kind of made the situation a lot clearer to me.”
“That counts as a win, I think,” Ryan said. He looked over at Jorge, but the other man shrugged.
“What about the rest of you? It seems like you didn’t wander out of the cave at least.”
“I didn’t experience anything all that strange,” Anna said with a sigh. “I just saw some weird colors, and for some reason, they seemed like the funniest thing in the world, and then I got sleepy.”
“Guess that explains why you were doing that creepy giggling,” Ryan muttered.
Anna’s cheeks reddened.
Mina glanced around. Compared to the day before, many more birds rested on branches above. She didn’t know if that meant anything or if it was just a coincidence.
“That was like what happened to me,” Jorge said. “Just some colors and weird sounds, then I passed out.”
Ryan shook his head. “It’s unfair. I thought I was going to see hot babes or something. I just really got this strange feeling I was being watched, like there were hidden cameras in the cave or something.” He kicked a rock. “Why was Mina the only one who had a really cool time?”
Mina tore her attention away from the birds. “It wasn’t that fun. I thought I was on Esper and got attacked and insulted by a rude English kaiju cat.”
Thomas chuckled. “Self-control all the time apparently can help.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And what about you, mighty alpha? You wouldn’t tell us about your Rite, but what about this time? We’re all sharing, so you should. That’s part of being a pack, right?”
The corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk, and he shrugged. “Fair enough. Nothing as impressive as you. That’s for certain. I thought I saw weird shadows, but it was more interesting to me than disturbing. I was too damn sleepy to keep my eyes open.” He nodded toward Mina. “You know, during my Rite, no one wandered off. I wonder how common it is. It’s not something I’ve heard of before.”
“I’m glad I can be so entertaining,” Mina muttered.
She considered bringing up the animal communication, but her confidence fled. Thomas wouldn’t believe her, and no one else had as elaborate hallucinations as her. He’d assume she was still suffering from the effects of the mushroom, and even if she tried to bring up the past, he wouldn’t believe her.
All it would accomplish was causing trouble. In any other situation, that might be fine, but not during her Rite of Passage.
A squirrel rushed up a nearby tree. Mina focused on the squirrel.
Nuts. Nuts. Nuts. Grab nuts. My nuts, two legs.
Not exactly the secret to life or the truth about Rogan, but about what she’d expected from a squirrel.
No. Whatever was going on with her animal communication, she was certain it was real and that it had nothing to do with the mushrooms.
Thomas might not be ready to accept the truth, but she would pay more attention to the forest as they traveled. If she was right, then some mages might be prowling the woods, and there was no way she’d let some spellslingers ambush the pack.
Chapter 19
Every damn animal in the forest Mina spotted seemed on edge, and she no longer suspected that the presence of the pack had anything to do with it. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could conceal the full extent of her new abilities from Thomas and keep the pack safe.
After all, half the stupid point of the Rite of Passage was a bunch of young werewolves learning the importance of operating together as a unit rather than individuals. She possessed a useful talent that provided information they otherwise wouldn’t have, and she needed to bring it the attention of her alpha sooner than later.
If only I thought Captain Tightbutt would believe me.
As the pack walked by a small tree, Mina spotted a raven sitting on a branch. Even though its normal size made it clear it wasn’t a shifter, the presence of the familiar bird filled her with a little comfort. It was almost like Linh was there, watching over her.
Hey, raven, she sent. The werewolf was still unsure how much the animals could understand of what she sent to them, but trying her powers out more wouldn’t hurt. See anything? Two legs who spit fire?
The raven tilted its head back and forth as it looked at Mina. The more she used her new abilities, the more relaxed many animals seemed in her presence.
Two legs no spit fire. Two legs fly without wings.
In metal birds? Mina couldn’t be sure the raven understood what an airplane was, though Linh was fond of pointing out how intelligent even non-shifter ravens were. She claimed they were smarter than normal wolves. As if.
No metal birds. Two legs fly without wings. Tree to tree.
The raven flapped away, apparently done with his little tête-à-tête with a werewolf.
“No manners,” Mina whispered under her breath.
She tried to piece together the information she had collected thus far. There were obviously humans in the forests, and they were probably spellslingers, especially if they could fly without wings or an airplane.
Maybe they aren’t here to cause trouble, though. Some stupid spellslinger might have bumbled through the portal, and they just don’t realize this is werewolf territory. Thomas can be diplomatic and all that, and we’ll avoid some sort of interplanetary war. Best-case scenario.
A few other less pleasant scenarios played out, most of them ending with a pack of dead wolves, the forest burning, and mages, manticores, and kaiju house cats flooding into Golden Claw territory.
You bastards probably have Megasnuffly sitting on the other side of the portal, just waiting to come through. Well, guess what? We don’t need a giant robot to beat a giant cat. Maybe just a giant ball of yarn.
Mina snickered.
Thomas glanced over his shoulder at her. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, but…” Mina sighed.
“If you’ve got something to say, then spit it out. Not like we’re talking about anything else right now.”
Mina stared at the man’s back for a few moments as they continued trudging along. A better opportunity to bring up her abilities wouldn’t arise. Even if her communication ability grew stronger, it wasn’t the same thing as controlling animals, and she lacked any way of proving it. If she waited any longer, the manticore-kaiju housecat army might already be through the portal and laying waste to the county.
Okay, maybe that’s not the most likely scenario, but who knows with mages?
“I think there are mages in the forest,” Mina declared.
The entire pack halted at once and turned to look at her.
Thomas narrowed his eyes. “What? Did you just say what I thought you said?”
Mina nodded. “Yep. Mages. You know, wizards and witches, and all that. Wands or… do they even use wands? Whatever. Mages, still, wands or otherwise.” She shrugged. “Spellslingers? Sorcerers?”
“Explain yourself. Because the only magic we’ve dealt with is from the mushrooms, and I’ve never, ever heard of anyone encountering a mage on this side of the portal during a Rite.”
“But you have heard of people encountering mages on Rites? You see, that’s evidence right there.”
“In Esper, a long time ago, decades ago. It’s not a big deal. Esper’s their world.”
“Don’t you see? ‘Two legs who spit fire.’”
Thomas groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you even listening to yourself? You’re obviously still under the influence. It’s fine. Just keep walking, and it’ll wear off eventually. You’re not the first person to have to deal with this. We’ll just need to keep a close eye on you.”
Mina shook her head. “No, you’re not understanding. The animals… they’ve told me that there are other people in the forest, other than us.”
&n
bsp; Her acting alpha nodded slowly. “Uh-huh. The animals told you. Is that before or after you talked with the giant housecat with an English accent?”
“I can tell the difference between a hallucination and reality.”
Thomas stared at her. “Really? Could you before?”
Mina flung a hand toward a nearby tree. “We’re in damn reality right now, aren’t we?”
“Not all hallucinations are heavy-duty.”
The disbelief in his face ebbed away to be replaced by something even more infuriating: pity.
No. This wasn’t happening. Mina could take his anger, disappointment, or disbelief but not his pity.
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re acting like it’s insane that I can communicate with animals, but we’re damn werewolves. You’re not even upset that I’m blaming mages instead of how I’m claiming to have gotten the information. I want you to run that through your mind a few times while you figure out how crazy you think I am.”
Thomas sighed and shook his head. “Maybe it’s stupid to argue with someone who is hallucinating, but the difference, Mina, is that werewolves aren’t all that rare, but I haven’t heard of any werewolf who could speak with animals.”
“Some legends claim Rogan could,” Anna interjected. She moved to Mina’s side. “So it’s not unprecedented.” She gestured to the red streak in Mina’s hair. “She carries the Mark of Rogan.”
Mina nodded energetically. She’d never thought she’d be grateful for the other girl’s zealotry, and given everything that was going on, she would have to admit that maybe Anna was on to something with all her Rogan nonsense.
Thomas scrubbed a hand over his face. “Mina can’t talk to animals. She’s hallucinating because of the damn mushrooms. Don’t feed into it. If we want to have any chance of finishing this Rite, we need to do it as a pack, a pack that can rely on each member.”
Ryan stepped toward Mina, a confused expression on his face. “So you can like understand their little squeaks and stuff?”
She shook her head. “It’s not like that. It’s more like a combination of feelings and something close to our wolf thought. It’s like I’m translating their feelings into concepts.”
