His High Priestess Luna

9

Mia

I sat in the middle of the floor. After some argument between my parents, grandfather, and the older woman, I found out was my great-grandmother. We cleared everything out of one of the guest rooms. Making it into my new training room. One of the younger witches sat in front of me on the floor. She was trying to help me calm myself and tap into my powers. Supposedly when I could master this, I would be able to do anything I wished. They would teach me a few quick spells and how to control my power, even in wolf form. But calming myself was more complicated than I thought. My wolf was on edge and wanted out. We didn’t get to go for a run after we shifted like we usually would have. But leaving wasn’t something I could do right now. The silence in the room was deafening as I tried to breathe calmly and clear my mind. But even my wolf hated this. We weren’t used to sitting and doing nothing. Growling, I stood up, “I can’t do this. This is worse than torture.”

The witch sighed, shaking her head. “You are overthinking it.” I shook my head. “There has to be a different way.” Turning, I left the room, walking down the hall where the rest of the witches sat with my mother and father. “We have to find a different way. I can’t sit there doing nothing.” Standing, my father pulled me into a hug. “You can do this.” I shook my head. “There has to be a different way.” Rubbing my back, my father tried to calm me. But it didn’t work. I didn’t want to be here. My wolf didn’t want to be here. 

The oldest of the witches stood clearing her throat. “There may be another way. But you won’t like it, alpha.” Pulling away from my father, I looked at her. “What is it?” My father shook his head. “No,” I growled in frustration. “What is the other way?” A deep growl rolled through my father. But I ignored him, moving around him, and focused on the witch. “If you were to find your mate, he would be able to help calm your wolf enough for you to focus.” I sighed. I couldn’t leave, though. “And how would I do that when we are here, and he is who knows where?” A growl rolled through my father behind me as the older woman smiled at me. “You wolves, I am surprised any of you ever find your true mates.” She shook her head. “If only you allowed your wolf the free rain it deserved, it would lead you right to the one you are meant to be with.” Standing, my mother reached out, calming my father while turning her attention to the older witch. “What do you mean?” Only glancing at my mother, the older witch’s smile grew. “Instead of controlling your wolf, if you were to let your wolf take over, it could lead you to your other half.” A growl from my father had the older woman looking back at him. “Or it could allow the wolf to overtake our human side and be lost forever.” Tisking, she shook her head.

“Losing control to one's wolf only happens when you all choose not to listen. So stubborn, if you all learned to listen to your wolves more often, you would be so much stronger.” Sighing, I shook my head, “How would that even be an option when we can’t even leave?” Growling, my father pulled me back away from the witch. “It doesn’t matter you aren’t doing that. You can do it on your own. You don’t need your mate to do it. You just have to keep trying.” From the look in my father’s eyes, I knew there was no convincing him. He would fight this to the bitter end, and we only had a couple of days for me to figure this out. 

Sighing, I nodded and let it go for now. I would wait until later and speak with the older witch on my own if there were another way I would do it. Until then, I might as well keep trying to do it on my own. Turning, I left the room, heading back down to the room with the younger witch. For the next six hours, I sat in the room trying to clear my mind and calm myself. But my wolf wouldn’t stop. She wanted out and wouldn’t listen and calm down. By the end of the day, I was sure my head was going to explode. Giving up for the day, I spent time with one of the other witches who showed me pages from a book. Inside were different incantations, many of which I could memorize and use for defense if needed. It was all so intriguing. But even trying to focus on that was hard. My wolf was itching to be free. 

I waited until late in the night. First, I had to be sure my parents were fast asleep. Cayden as well. He was in agreement with our father. Who happened to tell him what the witch told me and that I was interested in the idea. Both of them agreed that allowing my wolf to take complete control was the worst thing that could happen. I waited until I was sure they were all asleep, then waited an hour longer just to be sure. Then slowly and as quietly as I could, I slipped out of my room. Cayden’s bedroom door was open slightly. Stilling, I listened, making sure he was sound asleep. He was a light sleeper, so any sound and he would be awake. Leaving my door open slightly, I ensured the sound of me closing it wouldn’t wake him. Tiptoeing down the hall, I made sure to miss the spots that creaked. Holding my breath, I made my way down the stairs making it to the front room where I found the older witch and my great grandmother waiting for me. “Come, dear. We don’t have much time.” From upstairs, I heard the floorboards creak.

Someone was up and headed this way. Moving quickly, I followed them to the back door. “Don’t fight your wolf, dear. She knows where to go. You have two days before our spell begins to weaken. Trust your wolf. She knows what to do.” Someone was on the stairs moving quickly down them. I nodded. “What if I can’t find him and get back here in time?” My great-grandmother shook her head, “Trust your wolf.” Reaching out, she opened the back door, and the barrier they had created fell. The protection on the house, gone. “You only have a moment before the alphas realize, quick now, dear.” Nodding, I moved forward out the door. “Mia…” I had to force myself to ignore my brother for the first time in my life as I ran as fast as I could into the trees. Behind me, I heard the door close and felt the protection spell be placed back around the house. 

Running as fast as I could, I let my wolf take control, shifting as I ran. Allowing myself to do the one thing I was always taught not to do. I gave her full control, letting her completely free. I gave up all control, only seeing what she allowed me to see. Only feeling what she allowed me to feel. It was something we were taught shouldn’t happen. I was always told to keep control of my wolf, or she would be wild, and I could become stuck in my wolf form forever. I had to force myself to allow her to keep full control. I had to trust she would take us where we needed to be. Pushing harder with her legs, she ran faster. Throwing her head back, she let out a howl, long and deep. Behind us, we could hear others begin to follow us.

Pushing harder, she sped up, changing directions every few hundred feet. After a good hour or so, we didn’t hear anyone behind us anymore, but she never slowed. Running through the night until we found shelter just as the sun came up. Finding a shallow cave, she crawled in and got comfortable. We will have to wait until nightfall. We couldn’t afford to be seen by humans in the daylight. We were much larger than a regular wolf, and our purple eyes would raise suspension. And well, humans weren't known for their ask questions and shot later ideals. Being out in the woods, they would shoot first then ask questions later. 

Sleeping in my wolf form was strangely comfortable. I only hoped she wouldn’t want to eat while in this form. And she promised to do her best for my sake. Slowly we inched out of our hiding place just as the sun fell. Stretching, we listened carefully to all the sounds around us. Everything was quiet, almost too quiet. Looking around, she sniffed at the air. Nothing, but that didn’t mean we were in the clear. Moving quietly, we headed out, staying on alert just in case. We made our way around a human town heading west, doing our best to keep out of sight. When the sun was completely down, and it was dark, running would be easier. We could risk getting closer to the towns and running right by them and not have to go out and around. Our black fur would hide us well enough.

Slowly picking up the pace, we started to jog, moving us along faster. But only for a couple of yards. The sound of a twig snapping had us stilling. Turning, we sniffed at the air again. This time the scent of a wolf hit our nose. It wasn’t from someone we knew. Turning, we ran, moving as fast as we could. The wolf behind us picking up speed as well. Whoever they were, they were fast. But not as fast as we were. They did well keeping up but never getting close. A couple of times, they tried to go around us, but we were faster. We were almost there. I could fill it. Only a few more yards now. The wolf behind me veered off again, attempting to cut us off again. Turning slightly, we ran parallel to them for a few minutes before flipping around and running back the way we came cutting behind them before they realized what happened. 

We were cutting it close to them. The move was risky, allowing them to be closer to us than we wanted, but it was better than cutting in front of them. They would have caught us for sure then. Clearing the trees, we flipped around just as the wolf caught up with us. We made it, but this wolf wasn’t the one we were looking for. Growling, my wolf readied for the wolf to attack. The wolf in front of me growled, deeply challenging me. Stepping forward a half step, another growl rolled through us. This one more of a command than a warning. The wolf in front of us continued to growl but couldn’t stop themselves from lowering to the ground submissively at the same time. Growling again, I continued to stare the wolf down. But my focus shouldn’t have been on the one wolf. That was my mistake. Catching me off guard, another wolf slammed into me, knocking me off my feet. Again it was a wolf I had never seen before, but his scent I recognized as Christoff’s.