Wolfsbane: The Wolf Within

by Bethany Shay Porteous

  Hannah.

  My eyes flashed open and just as it hit, I spun around and met the dark green light with a jet of crystal blue, taking a full defense that sent Hannah shooting back a few feet and stumbling on the grass.

  “Oof!” she grunted.

  Before I could congratulate myself, my father lashed out and the force startled me, hitting me hard in the stomach before knocking Aiden down also. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me and I coughed and heaved on the ground as I tried to get my breath back.

  “You lost focus,” my father admonished. “Now you and Aiden are dead. Stunning your opponent isn’t good enough. You caught her quick enough, but you need to use a rougher force than that, even if this is just practice. One day this will be real, and you’ll be going for the kill.”

  I nodded quickly before I scrambled to my feet, Aiden doing the same.

  “Alright,” he wheezed. “Again then?”

  Two hours and a thousand bruises later, Aiden and I stood under the hot bliss of the shower, trying to relax our tensed and knotted muscles, sniggering every now and then as we found a new injury from the exercise.

  Flecks of water looked like small crystals in his short buzz cut and I ran my hand over it, watching as they dissolved entirely before my eyes met his and I flushed from the way he stared.

  “What?” I mumbled.

  “Nothing,” he said simply, a small smirk creeping on his face.

  “Okay,” I shook my head.

  “I love you,” he told me lowly as he leaned toward me, pushing me into the corner of the shower with his hands bracing on the wall either side of my head. “Every time I look at you I only seem to fall that little bit more in love with you.”

  I warmed from his words and couldn’t help the smile that appeared. “I love you too,” I murmured, my hand going to the mark on his neck and his eyes shut instantly before flickering open once more. “I’m so sorry for everything Aiden—and everything that’s to come.”

  “Don’t,” he ordered. “No more apologizing. I don’t want anything hanging over your head, you need to remain focused on what’s to come.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “But still—”

  He cut off the forthcoming apology by pressing his lips to mine, gently before lightly pulling back and looking at me. “No more.”

  We stared at each other for a moment before I bit my lip and asked him the question I’d been burning to ask since all of this started.

  “Do you think I can do this Aiden?” I whispered fearfully.

  “I do,” he said assuredly, taking no time to hesitate. “You have the power Evelyn, you’ve proved it many times. You just can’t let yourself—or anyone—get in the way of that and tell you how to use it. Trust yourself, you’ll be okay.” He stroked the side of my cheek and sighed. “I’m not going to lie, I don’t like it, but I have to live with it and I’ll help you through it as much as I can.”

  I nodded at him, feeling my fears and doubts slowly ebb away and I relaxed. If Aiden believed in me, I could do this. I needed to know he was on my side and with me, the strength he gave me—he’d never know the power of it.

  I leaned up and pressed my lips to his, enjoying the feel of his arms instantly encircling my waist and pulling me up against him. I felt safe and I felt secure, and that was what I needed most right now.

  ∞

  “Look!” Grace shouted as she ran into the house after school. In her arms were a pile of thick envelopes and my eyes jumped to Aiden’s quickly, who perked up with great interest. “These are definitely acceptance letters guys!”

  My stomach flipped as I removed myself from Aiden’s lap and he got up with me.

  “Mom’s in the kitchen with Cornelius,” he said. “Let’s go in there.”

  We made our way to the kitchen and The Luna was ready and waiting for us with an eager smile, clutching her mug of coffee. “Alright, let’s see who responded!”

  Aiden and I easily got into our reserve schools, but the one’s I was looking at were the two holding the NYU logo and University of Pennsylvania. My father watched with avid interest and my hands shook as Aiden tore open his NYU envelope first, a huge grin on his face as he punched the air.

  “Well we know where Aiden wants to go,” The Luna joked, but her eyes held a dim sadness as she watched her son’s enthusiasm.

  “Come on Ev,” Grace encouraged as she held her Brown acceptance letter.

  “Okay,” I breathed. I opened the NYU letter and only had to read the first few lines to know I was in there. “Yes, for NYU,” I said calmly and if possible, Aiden smiled wider.

  He wanted the big cities and the break from wolf life, witch life—all of it. So did I.

  “What about Pennsylvania?” my father asked.

  We both quickly scanned the next document and were not surprised with the results there either. We’d gotten in everywhere we had applied.

  “Now it begs the question,” The Luna murmured. “Where are you going to attend?”

  I chewed my lip as I looked at Aiden. I had the knowledge that the University of Pennsylvania was closer to my father and my family… but that’s also what made me lean toward NYU—it was away from everything. It would be like taking a gap and having time by myself. No wolves, no magic—just pure living like a human and existing.

  “NYU,” Aiden and I said at the same time.

  “Definitely,” I murmured.

  “Well I’m proud of both of you,” The Luna said thickly, and tears gathered in her eyes. “I’ll miss you both, but I know how important this time of your life is. Enjoy every minute of it.”

  “At least you’ll be a shorter plane ride away,” my father smiled.

  “This is so exciting—” Grace was cut off as Sienna barged into the kitchen, her face red with anger and Phoenix storming in behind her.

  “Don’t even think it’s okay!” he growled at her.

  “You have no right!” she screeched back, and my father jumped up instantly.

  “What is going on?” he demanded.

  There was a pounding on the door suddenly and Aiden frowned at the sound, walking off to answer it, giving my two siblings a sideways glance at the same time.

  “Phoenix is an asshole!” Sienna shouted.

  “Language!” my father growled.

  “You are betrothed to someone else!” Phoenix snapped.

  “I’d say it’s pretty null and void now!” Sienna countered before she tore her hair away from her neck, revealing the mark of a wolf and we all gasped collectively.

  “What?” Grace demanded, breathing in deeply and trying to catch the scent.

  “Sienna…” my father said breathlessly.

  “Oh my,” The Luna looked at me with wide eyes and I knew mine would be just as wide as hers.

  “Alright calm down,” Aiden was telling someone as their footsteps approached the kitchen. “She’s right in here Lucas, don’t freak out. It was her brother who took her away, not a rival.”

  “Sienna,” the frazzled wolf breathed, and I tried to place his face.

  “Lucas has come to see his mate,” Aiden announced protectively as he glared at Phoenix.

  “She’s betrothed to someone else!” Phoenix countered.

  Lucas growled violently, and my father put up his hands, trying to calm everyone and looking as if he were trying to calm himself too.

  “Okay,” my father said. “Everyone just stop for a second and breathe.” The room silenced for a moment, and the quiet exhales could be heard amongst us. “Young man, I’m Cornelius your mates father.”

  Lucas nodded nervously, seeming to have more hold on himself. “I’m Lucas, I’ve just come back from college and I’m training to be a doctor in the pack. Sienna is my mate.”

  “I’m aware she’s your mate,” my father said tiredly. “This is going to get messy.”

  “She’s been marked,” Aiden stated. “She’s his now.”

  “And I marked him,” Sienna announced.

&n
bsp; “Sienna!” my father snarled angrily. “You don’t even know him!”

  “He’s my mate!” she exploded. “I’ve hung around these wolves long enough now to know how legit that shit is. Besides, he’s a doctor.”

  “And you’re going to marry the future head of a coven!” Phoenix said.

  “No, I’m not,” she said simply.

  “My girls will be the end of me,” my father put his head in his hands and I felt instantly bad for him.

  “You still have Aliyah and Jasmine,” Sienna shrugged. “And Phoenix, considering he loves the idea of betrothals.”.

  “Okay,” The Luna put her hands up. “Let’s all take a moment to just think rationally. Cornelius, you know there’s no possible chance in removing these two from each other. It’s fate, it cannot be undone. Especially now that they’ve both marked each other. Yes, this is all very sudden, but Sienna has been around wolves for some time now, she understands the mate bond. Hence why she’s allowed herself to be marked so suddenly.”

  “She’ll never be with anyone better,” Hannah piped up softly.

  “I won’t be with anyone else,” Sienna said flatly.

  I watched on with wild interest, amazed at my sister’s ability to instantly open herself up to this stranger. She had more faith and belief in the Moon Goddess and Morgana combined than I did, and I’d met the witch! It took me a long time before I allowed Aiden to mark me as his and, yet Sienna had met this guy once…

  “You know they won’t stand for it father,” Phoenix worried. “They already met twice and exchanged tokens—they’re such a proud family. This would be a smack in the face for them.”

  “They’ll be aware that this connection overrules a betrothal Phoenix,” my father said. “They have to be aware…”

  “And if they aren’t?”

  “Who is this family?” I asked with a frown.

  “They’re old style,” Sienna explained. “Almost as old as our coven but a million times more traditional. They’re uh, very against inter-race breeding as well.”

  “Oh lovely,” Hannah said dryly.

  “They’re happy that you’re related to me then?” I asked.

  “They like the idea of how powerful you are,” she shrugged. “Your bloodline… not so much. Not that it matters anymore, clearly our families won’t be linked.”

  “So now we have to rely on Aliyah and her engagement to New Orleans and Jasmine?” Phoenix spluttered. “Aliyah is a loose cannon and Jasmine is away with the bloody fairies, who’s going to marry her?”

  I frowned and folded my arms. “Why is it down to the girls to find you security? Why don’t you marry for the family?”

  The room went quiet and Grace’s eyes seemed to light up with excitement at my interjection and even Sienna looked impressed.

  “I’m a future coven leader,” Phoenix said. “I can marry whomever I want.”

  “No,” I said. “As a coven leader or soon to be, it’s your responsibility to ensure its security. Which means, you should take a wife from one of these powerful covens and tie her to our family.”

  “It’s different for Phoenix,” Sienna explained tartly. “He’s going to be the big boss man. He makes his own rules.”

  “Can it Sienna!” Phoenix snarled.

  “Enough!” Aiden rumbled through the room and even I jumped in shock. “I’m future Alpha of this pack and I’m not entering into another discussion over this. Lucas is a highly educated and smart wolf and he’s going to make an exceptional pack doctor. He found his mate in Evelyn’s sister and that’s how it is, that’s how it will stay. If anyone has a problem, march onto my territory and try and take her, we’ll see who’s more powerful.”

  My phone buzzed in my pocket and I quickly looked at it, surprised to see Lucy’s name.

  Can we meet? I need your help. Bring Hannah.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I know that you’re pregnant,” I blurted out to Lucy as I settled on her bed. “I can feel it and I saw the aura.”

  “I know you did,” Lucy said shakily. “Hannah had masked it for me, but it’s clearly worn off. If you saw it then who else could have scented it?”

  “There’s still no scent,” Hannah assured her. “I can’t smell anything. Evelyn only saw through my magic because she’s more powerful than me. No one knows Lucy, I promise.”

  I looked between the two nervously, all thought of Sienna and the doctor—heck even the Rosewood sisters, flew from my mind as I took in my friend’s problem. She was pregnant, and clearly unhappy about it. Of course, the timing wasn’t perfect. We were about to graduate, and everyone was getting ready for college…

  “I don’t know what to do,” she choked on a sob and clapped her hand over her mouth. “You guys must think I’m so selfish.”

  “No!” Hannah soothed quickly. “Absolutely not.”

  “So, Geoff doesn’t know?” I asked nervously.

  “No,” Lucy cried. “I didn’t want this Evelyn, he knew that, and I made it very clear. I didn’t want this for another seven years or so! I don’t want to be mommy! I don’t want to stay here while everyone goes off to college and has a life!” She sat down on the edge of her bed and put her face in her hands. “What am I going to do?”

  “Well there’s no reversing it,” Hannah sighed as she rubbed her back. “You have to face up to it Lucy, that’s the only advice I can give you right now. Tell Geoff, tell your parents—but we can’t keep hiding this forever.”

  “I’m not ready!” Lucy panicked. “I can’t tell people!”

  “You’ll be showing soon Lucy for Goddess sake!” Hannah snapped. “We’ve been concealing this for weeks. Geoff is going to notice your body changing just like everyone else!”

  “How far along are you?” I asked.

  “Twelve weeks,” Lucy muttered.

  “How have you not been made to shift in all that time?” I exclaimed.

  “You’d be surprised how many excuses I managed to come up with,” she sniffled and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. “I can’t guys. I can’t be a mom.”

  “Well what do you intend on doing?” Hannah asked cautiously.

  “I don’t know!” she wailed again and this time I jumped to comfort her.

  “Okay look just breathe,” I ordered softly. “This is happening, that’s why it’s so scary for you because you know there’s no way out of it. You’re going to be mom, you’re going to be stuck here while we all go off to college and come back, that’s the harsh truth of it all. All you can do is, own the path your life is going down.”

  “Jeez Evelyn,” Lucy sobbed. “Could have been a bit nicer about it!”

  “She’s right though Lucy,” Hannah agreed. “We’ve spent the last twelve weeks hiding this and pretending it’s not going to happen, but it is. There’s nothing that can be done. The time has passed of stroking your hair and telling you we’ll figure something out. There’s nothing we can figure out.”

  “So, I’m going to have to come clean,” she trembled. “I’m going to have to tell Geoff.”

  “I can’t believe you kept it from him for that long,” I whispered in awe.

  “Strong magic,” Hannah mumbled before looking at me. “Well, strong enough to shut a wolf up.”

  “It’s all over,” Lucy sighed sadly. “I’m never leaving this place. I won’t get that experience.”

  “Hey,” Hannah soothed. “It’s not the end of the world Lucy. Everyone’s lives take a turn and planning is pointless because things always get thrown out of nowhere. You know that you’re going to be an amazing mom and that we’ll all be back before you know it.”

  “You’ll all be educated and seen more of the world,” Lucy growled. “I’ll no doubt be a fat breeding machine.”

  The room descended on an awkward silence, no one knowing what else to say. Lucy wouldn’t want to hear anything right now. Her world was crashing down around her and she didn’t want the truth. She wanted to hear it was all going to be okay and that
she didn’t need to be a mother—that none of this was real.

  It was always sobering when I realized I wasn’t the only one with something going on—but it was so easy to get swept up in my own problems and dramas that I needed to solve.

  Looking at Lucy and the way she hung her head sadly, with Hannah rubbing her back I knew that my future as a Luna started here. She was going to need all the support she could get. She had called on both Hannah and I—the future matriarchs of the pack and that meant something.

  “Lucy,” I said softly, and she looked up with unshed tears. “It will be okay, I promise.”

  I could see her chewing the inside of her mouth anxiously, her fists curled into tight balls and Hannah shot me a worried look over her head.

  Yep, all the help she could get.

  ∞

  I had more speed, I though excitedly as I tore through the forest. I felt as if I were flying with the way I was running and when Josh launched himself out into my path without thinking, I bounced on the balls of my feet and flipped over his head, landing behind him and quickly taking him down to the floor in an instant.

  The moment he gagged and tapped out I released him and continued my run, hearing everything and seeing everything for what felt like the first time.

  My wolf was still definitely present even if she was silent.

  The course was different today. Usually I would only have to take down Trey, Josh and Aiden. This time my father, Sienna and Hannah would be out here. They were going to make me use my magic as well as defend myself without it. While my father thought Aiden’s training methods were good, they didn’t train my magic at all and that’s what was most important at this point.

  That and drawing my wolf out.

  Trey appeared in front of me and in my distraction, he managed to trip me up. I went flying face first into the ground and the wind knocked itself out of me and I gasped in surprise, trying to breathe in air and failing. Trey was on me in an instant, trying to get a grip on me in my stunned state to get me locked in so I’d have to tap out.

  Using all my strength I threw my head back and almost felt bad when I heard the crunch of his nose breaking as the back of my head contacted it. The pain I felt was intense, but I took the moment of his slack hold to wriggle out and up from under him, running off as fast as I could in the other direction while Trey growled under his breath behind me.