Law of the Pack, page 3
“Excuse me?”
“Your mother.”
My confusion seems to shock him. “What has my mother got to do with anything?”
“You just seem so calm about it all. I thought… nevermind. We are talking about the same thing, right?” he asks, rubbing a hand through his hair.
I turn to face him, still entranced by how his eyes pick up the light. “The fact that you turn into a wolf,” I state. It doesn’t sound right saying it aloud. “Yeah, I think we’re on the same page, but I want to know how my mother is involved. She would never tell me about her past here, and now, I think I’m beginning to see why.”
“Come with me back to The Estate. You can meet my Alpha. I’m sure she’ll know more about this than--”
I hold up my hand in protest. “Yesterday, none of this existed to me. Now, you’re asking me to head off into the woods with you. I think I’ll pass. I have more sense than Red Riding Hood.”
I can tell Beau is trying not to laugh. “Fairytale analogies, really?”
I’m set to retort, but a horrible feeling comes over me again. The same heavy sensation I felt this afternoon. Beau’s head darts around and he sniffs the air.
“You feel it too?” I ask.
He grabs my hand and drags me up the hill toward my house. I can barely keep up with him. “We need to get out of the open.”
I don’t ask twice. The feeling is weighing down on me with such force that I feel physically sick.
When we get to the house, Mum is already flying out of the door, sheer panic on her face. “You again!” she snarls at Beau.
“There’s a witch!” Beau snaps back. “Get her in the house!”
“Did you just say witch?” I gasp.
Beau practically shoves me through the front door, and Mum slams it shut on me from the outside. What the hell is she doing?
I can’t see anything from the ground floor, so I run up the stairs to the conservatory. Mum and Beau stand in the garden, their stances ready for action. Then, as if from nowhere, two females burst into visibility in the garden. At the same moment, Beau transforms into his huge werewolf form in the blink of an eye. The same muscular, oversized wolf form with dark brown fur that I recall from this morning.
Mum glances up at me briefly with the most haunting look on her face, and when she looks back to the witches, she bursts into the form of a werewolf alongside Beau. I actually scream at the sight. The ashy blonde creature on its haunches in the garden is my mother.
Chapter Eight: Long Awaited Arrival
Beau
From her screams at her mother’s transformation, it’s obvious that Margot hasn’t been in the know about anything. I knew there was something different about Margot. I can sense her like I sense witches, but her energy feels different. Then, I smelled her mother when she got out of the car at the beach- wolf.
Samia and Coby agreed too. In fact, Samia felt Margot’s energy from the woods before we even made it to the cove. Thank God she did, otherwise that witch would have finished the job.
The two witches - who appeared in style just a moment ago - suddenly don’t look so confident at the sight of two werewolves. The air stinks with their dark magic. It literally oozes off them like a rot. I stalk to the left, whilst Margot’s mother maintains her stance in front of the house. They want Margot. I don’t know why, but they were drawn to her just like the male witch. And just like him, they also didn’t bargain on a run in with multiple werewolves either.
One of the witches casts a spell, firing towards Margot’s mother. She deftly avoids the impact, but the house takes the hit, plaster exploding everywhere. Before the witch has a chance to cast again, she pounces on her, taking her out in one move.
The second witch is momentarily distracted by her companion’s demise, but still aims a powerful spell at me. I avoid it, rolling away from the dirt that is launched from the impact. Teeth bared, I rush the witch before she can cast another spell at the window where Margot stands transfixed. I see fear in her ungodly eyes as I collide with her, full strength pinning her to the ground before I sink my teeth into her throat.
I take in the surroundings, smelling and feeling for any more of those filthy creatures, but there is nothing. Margot’s mother must sense it too, for she heads behind a bush and shifts back into her human form. I do the same, aware that Margot can briefly see me in my natural glory until her mother throws me a towel from the washing line. My clothes lie in tatters on the floor, hence why we usually strip before shifting forms.
Margot runs out of the house, tears streaming down her face. “You’re a werewolf too,” she says to her mother, pulling the sheet tighter around her shivering frame.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner, but my goal was always to protect you. It’s why I felt the need to come back to Hallow Cove.”
“It wasn’t a dog I saw this afternoon,” Margot sobs, taking a step toward me. “Beau protected me from one of those… witches.”
Her mother looks utterly winded. “You should have told me!”
“Like you told me the truth, right?” Margot retorts.
“We can go over the details later,” I interrupt. “Right now, we need to get Margot to The Estate. It’s the only place she’ll be safe. Now is the time to tell me why they are after her.”
Her mother shifts awkwardly. “I know you must have sensed her when you first met her. Margot is a White Mage.”
“A what?” Margot asks.
I think my ears deceive me. There hasn’t been a White Mage born in over a century. Am I really standing in the presence of one of the most powerful beings ever to walk the Earth? The sobbing girl being comforted by her mother isn’t quite what I expected.
“How is that possible?”
She leads Margot into the house. “First, let’s get her to The Estate. I’ll find you something to wear. Oh, and can you shove the bodies in the Jeep, so we can burn them?”
“Answer me one more thing,” I call after her. “Are you Trina Yeo?”
The woman nods. “I was... once upon a time.”
Chapter Nine: A Bizarre Inheritance
Margot
We drive along in silence. Beau sits in the back with me as the passenger seat is full of our luggage and supplies. Well, there’s no room in the boot with two corpses in there. I look back, glad it is dark.
“You’ll be safe when we get to The Estate,” he says, quietly.
He wears a pair of Mum’s jogging bottoms and nothing else, not even shoes. The street lights illuminate his chest gleaming in sweat. He feels super hot as if he has just got out of a sauna.
I pull my sweater over my fingers. “I thought I was already safe,” I whisper.
We drive through the cove and my tummy twists. If those people knew what had just happened not even half a mile away, or what we have in the boot.
“It was you in the garden during the storm, wasn’t it?” I ask him.
Mum glances in the rear view mirror.
Beau shifts in his seat. “I had to be sure of what I felt at the cove. I was drawn to you, could sense you. It’s kind of like with the witches, only different.”
“With the witches it’s like fear, sadness, and death all rolled into one,” Mum adds. “You have a light, pleasant energy, but it is so strong at the moment.”
“Because I am a White Mage or whatever.”
Mum reaches her hand back through the chairs and squeezes my knee. “I promise to explain more later.”
“But when Trina got out of the car at the cove, I sensed her right away. I could smell she was a wolf.”
“I sensed you too,” Mum tells Beau. “Why didn’t you tell your Alpha?”
Beau shrugs. “I wanted to be sure, so I asked my friends to see Margot for themselves. We were in the woods today, so they could sense you both. Thank God we were because that witch came out of nowhere.”
Mum growls in her throat. “I should have taken you to The Estate as soon as we arrived. I was being a coward.”
“Just up here,” Beau says, pointing to the turning on the left just a little ways up the road past the church.
“Yes, thank you,” Mum replies. “I know where I’m going. I did live here, remember.”
I sit forward at the admission. “You lived on The Estate?”
Beau looks at me like I’m stupid. “She’s a werewolf. Our pack has lived on The Estate for centuries.”
“I told you when you were a child that my family was unconventional. Now, you’re finally going to see why.” Mum puts her headlights on full beam to counteract the darkness from the trees looming on either side of us. “I left the pack because I was in love with your father and I fell pregnant unexpectedly. Pack Law stated that we couldn’t form relationships with anyone outside of the pack. I left before they found out I was pregnant as I would have been cast out anyway at that point. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, apart from saying goodbye to your father.”
Beau checks his phone. “Penny is waiting for our arrival,” he announces.
Mum inhales sharply.
I look to Beau for answers. “Penny is our Alpha. She is also your aunt, your mum’s twin sister.”
“Of course she is,” I scoff, sarcastically. A thought suddenly dawns on me. “Wait a minute! Why am I not a werewolf? How am I a White Mage?”
Mum smiles now. I can see her ears rising. “We did prepare for you to be a wolf like me, but alas, it seems you are your father’s daughter.”
“Dad was like me?”
“No, but he was from a bloodline of White Mages. The last known White Mage was his grandmother. Your father’s father didn’t even know of his existence. He was the result of a brief love affair. When I met your father he had no idea of his heritage. I learnt of a family secret about your father’s birth and did a little digging into his paternal family. Needless to say, I was more shocked than him. The gift must have skipped two generations. I think that the grief of Dad dying started something within you. I could suddenly sense you. I knew that you had inherited the gift. It also brought witches to our door. The night I was attacked, it was by a witch not a mugger. I knew we had to keep mobile after that.”
We approach some kind of barricade, not dissimilar to the ones in car parks. Two men appear from a small hut, and Mum slows the car to a stop.
Beau winds down the window. “Hey, Dave, can you tell Penny we’re here?”
The men’s attention is drawn to me, but Beau puts the window back up rather than answering any questions.
“She’s like a beacon,” he tells Mum. “It’s surprising you managed to keep her hidden for so long.”
The men raise the barrier for us to pass.
“I knew Margot was gaining more strength recently because it drew more witches to us. I had to kill three in as many weeks in our last town, so I couldn’t deny the fact it was time to bring her here.” I hold my head in my hands. Information overload is turning my brain to mush. “I think she is ready to manifest her powers.”
“Manifest my what? I’m going to wake up in a minute.” I close my eyes and hold my arm out to Beau. “Pinch me, please.”
He does as he is asked and just shrugs when I open one eye to see him still sitting there.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, Sweetness. I’m sorry it had to be this way,” Mum says, fighting back the quiver in her voice.
I don’t reply. My hands shake and I try to hide them in my lap. Beau must see because he reaches over and squeezes one.
“Deep breaths. You’re going to be just fine,” he says, his thumb rubbing mine softly.
The heat of his hand is comforting, so I focus on that.
Chapter Ten: What Lies Within the Woods
Margot
Finally, we emerge from the trees and follow the road as it curves downward to a settlement. The Estate is lit with lights much like the cove, only these are a warm white that is for practicality not aesthetics. Little log cabins spread out before us, the type you might go glamping in. They appear to starfish out from a centre point of a playground and a fountain. Any excess land seems to be cultivated for growing food or building more cabins.
As we draw closer Mum’s breathing gets faster. The largest building up ahead is swarming with people outside. One figure, a lady, stands statue still with her hands on her hips and watches our approach.
Mum rolls the jeep to a stop and inhales deeply through her nose. “Here we go,” she sighs, opening her door. “Margot, stay here for a moment.”
Mum and Beau get out of the car, leaving me alone with the corpses in the boot. Not wanting to miss out, I lower the window.
“I know what you think of me, Penny,” Mum snaps. “But this is bigger than both of us.”
Penny, my aunt, looks so much like Mum it’s unreal. She is smarter dressed and her hair is short and copper red, but there is no denying they are sisters. I wouldn’t say they’re identical twins, but the family connection is apparent.
“What have you got to do with this, Beau?” Penny asks. Her tone is accusatory. She tries to look in at me through the windscreen. “Who have you got in there? What are they?”
What are they? How pleasant. More people have emerged from the surrounding buildings. Are all these people werewolves too? I suddenly feel very small and insignificant. This really is a community. A whole village in the woods.
Beau opens my door and holds out a hand to me. He helps me from the car as a resounding gasp rolls through the crowd.
“This is my daughter, Margot,” Mum states. “She’s a White Mage. Pack Law means you are all sworn to protect her. This isn’t about me anymore, Penny. Please, help my daughter.”
Penny just stares at me much like the rest of the crowd. “Can she really be…?” She takes my hand from Beau. “How is this possible?”
Mum steps closer to me. “The man I was forbade to marry was the illegitimate love child of Francis Mounthavern.”
I can hear the bite in Mum’s words. She’s not happy to be back here with the people she believes betrayed her. She’s only here because of me.
“Margot has only discovered her heritage today,” Mum says, apologising to me with her eyes. “But I think she is due to manifest very soon.”
Penny gathers her composure and nods. “We will protect her.”
I look to Beau for some familiarity. He is in a whispered argument with a man who I assume to be his father. He has dark hair like Beau’s just slightly shorter and highlighted with grey. His overalls are covered in oil and he inadvertently wipes some over his forehead as he argues with Beau.
“Beau, a word, please,” Penny asks, eyebrow raised. “You too, Neal.”
He’s in for an ear bashing for sure.
Beau obliges, but throws her the keys to Mum’s jeep. “Sure, but there are two dead witches in the boot that need burning.”
Penny looks at the jeep in shock. “I think it’s time we all had a serious chat, don’t you?”
Chapter Eleven: New Roommates
Beau
Margot glances over her shoulder at me as she is ushered into the community hall by Penny. Dad strides past me and into the hall in a rage. I tried to tell him about Margot this morning. He knows that, and I think the fact that he didn’t hear me out properly is the real reason he is angry. It’s not like I lied to him. I just didn’t keep him in the loop.
Samia and Coby throw me a concerned look from their place at the back of the crowd. I feel bad for getting them involved, but I won’t implicate them if I can help it.
Penny doesn’t even give me a chance to sit before firing questions at me. I can feel her temper coming off of her like a wall of heat. “How are you involved in all of this? It’s clear your father has as much clue as me.”
I clear my throat. “I first met Margot at the cove yesterday morning. I sensed her, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was I was sensing.”
Margot nudges me a little. “And then we bumped into each other again tonight.”
I follow her lead, gratefully skipping the part about the witch by the church. “I actually headed back to the cove hoping to see Margot again. I wanted to see if I read her energy right before I informed you of her existence.”
Penny doesn’t look convinced. “And the witch you killed in the woods yesterday with Samia and Coby? Just a coincidence?”
“Beau told me about that on the way here,” Trina interrupts. “It seems Margot is drawing them. We were in the cove for hot chocolate, so I’m sure it would have sensed her if it was close by. It started happening more frequently in our old town too, and seems to be happening even more so here.”
Both of them have saved my skin, and Samia’s and Coby’s.
I look over to Dad who simply rolls his eyes and continues glaring at me. He knows I actually went back to see Margot last night. That was what I was going to tell him this morning if he only would have listened.
“When did you get back?” Penny asks Trina.
Trina shrinks a little. “Three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks!” Penny roars. “Christ, Trina, we could have used this information before. We have seen a surge of witches close to Hallow Cove. We’ve been picking them off left right and centre these last few weeks. Now, we know why.”
“Do you blame me, after such a warm welcome?”
The two sisters stare at each other in silence. The air fizzes with tension.
Finally, Penny caves. “How could you do it? How could you leave the pack? We nearly fell apart. You nearly destroyed us.”
Trina slams a hand on the table. “Do you think it was easy for me? I was in love with Gerry and I was told that we couldn’t be together.”
“The pack comes first!” Penny roars.
Dad steps between the two of them. “I think we need to calm down before we say or do something we regret.”
