The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

"Which is why it intrigued me to find out today that you are a witch."

I'm still holding my breath but I try to remain casual.

I frown at him as if what he's saying is utter nonsense.

"I think you've been reading too many of those books, Ezra."

He stares at me impassively, clearly not buying my façade.

After a minute or two, but really it feels like forever, he cracks a smile.

"Vera, the first thing my grandparents ever taught me about a witch was to watch for the eyes. Your wolf has those eyes they implanted in my mind with their stories. I'd never seen them before, and I'm quite unfamiliar with wolves, but I'm not wrong."

I clench my jaw, unsure of what to do next.

If he's so confident about me being a witch, and he had a problem with it, he would try to kill me. But judging by his lack of action, I think it's safe to assume he doesn't have ill intentions, right?

He sighs after I chose to remain silent.

"I'm only interested because, other than knowing that we're here to protect you from rogues as we make our way to wolf territory, I wasn't told anything else. If this has anything to do with witches, warlocks, or magic in general, I feel like as the leader of this team, I should know, otherwise we'll be completely unprepared if something were to happen." Okay, he has a valid point.

"All you need to know is that I don't expect any trouble as we reach wolf territory. Once we get there, I'll handle everything and you guys can relax at the Pack House."

"Relax at the Pack House? We're coming with you to the second location."

"Absolutely not. Sofia, our Alpha, is permissive with you guys because of me; these are special circumstances. Before Noah, Lucas, and Eli made it to us all those months ago, a lycan would be

killed on sight. This other Pack I'll be visiting is not this open; they *will* kill all of you, and maybe us too for bringing you."

"This was not the plan," he clenches his jaw, obviously distressed by this news.

"It's okay, I'll be with Sofia and the rest of the party. Us wolves are cordial amongst ourselves, even friendly, unlike lycans," I explain.

After a few moments, he finally nods.

"And they won't suspect you?" He asks.

"Suspect me of what?"

"Of witchcraft and stuff," he says.

"Of course not. I don't plan on shifting to my wolf in front of them anyway, it's the only giveaway I have."

His eyes widen, showing his amusement.

"So you *are* a witch?!"

I frown.

"Isn't that what you told me?"

He laughs.

"I was going off on a suspicion but you just confirmed it! I didn't actually think it was true. This is sick!"Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

I narrow my eyes at him.

"You motherfuc

"Hey, guys! It's time to go," Arlo comes close to us.

I turn to look at everyone else and they're either still sitting on the ground, or up and about, stretching and getting ready to resume our journey. "Come on, Vera. It's time to go," Ezra says, standing up and offering his hand for me to stand.

I slap it away.

"I'm going to kill you the first chance I get." I say under my breath, storming off as I hear him laughing out loud behind me.

I'm fuming.

The Moon Goddess is my witness, I *will* kill him.

I step behind the tree again to change, neatly folding my clothes into my duffel bag before turning.

Again, a few moments pa*s until I can reach my wolf and we can turn.

Once we have shifted, we place the duffel bag on our back.

When I return once again to the clearing, everyone else is already in their lycan form. The site has been cleaned so that nobody even knows we were here.

Ezra nods at me and I nod back.

We begin to run, picking up the pace with every passing minute to ensure we make it to the camp before nightfall. From what I've learned, rogues are often seen at night rather than during the day. They use the cloak of the night to survey campsites, farms, and vulnerable, unprotected land they might take for themselves to advance their position. The only reason why they haven't taken the campsite we are going to now is because it is much too close to wolf territory and we are not their target.

As we run, we pass by several spots I saw in my vision, making me feel confident that we won't find any trouble as we reach the campsite.

Several hours have passed since our last break, we have now settled into a jog since the guys were getting very tired. It requires a lot of stamina to keep up this pace for several hours, and most of us aren't going off on much rest from last night.

Truth be told, even our paws are beginning to hurt a little from the rough terrain, and since my wolf and I haven't had much time to run in this form, our paws are not used to this level of activity. I'm going to have to put something on them so they don't blister and bleed.

Fortunately, according to my vision, we are only a few miles from the campsite and we will be able to rest there for a while.

In only a few minutes more, we arrive at the campsite.

"Thank the Goddess!" I hear someone behind me.

Arlo has turned into his human form and just plopped on the ground right before entering the camp. His chest is violently falling and rising, showing just how worn out he is. For a second, I fear this man is going to have a heart attack right here, right now. "Alright, gentlemen, find yourselves a bed so you can rest. There will be no more running for today, we will continue on first thing tomorrow morning." Ezra says, "Vera, you will stay in Noah's quarters, he told me you know where they are."

I nod and walk inside the tent, where the guys have already laid in bed... naked.

I do my best to avert my eyes as I make it to Noah's tent, finding everything exactly as it was when we last came here.

Before changing, I take a look at our paws.

*They're not too bad* I think, and my wolf nods inside my head.

Before turning back to human form, my wolf instinctively starts licking her front paws to provide them with some relief.

*I'll ice my hands, too* I tell her.

I don't know to what extent that'll provide relief to her, but from my experience, any damage done to us in wolf form, somehow translates to my human form.

When I'm back to my human form, I immediately lay on the bed.

I'm so tired; of course, the running took its toll, but I think tapping into the magic of the forest also wore me out.

Without a second thought, I close my eyes and almost immediately, I'm asleep.