Chapter 51 #3
“Oh, you are all kinds of fucked up,” she says with a cackle.
Julian glares at her as she steps closer to me, rubbing the sides of his head.
“It’s an emotional thing,” she says, back to being serious at the drop of a dime.
“Your wolf’s buried himself into one of the deepest parts of your mind.
It’s pulled him away from the place he’s supposed to fill in your soul,” she explains while she bats at the wheat swinging beside her.
“He’s hiding, and the path back is closing in. I felt a lot of pain … betrayal.”
Julian shifts from Katerina’s sombre deliverance to look at me. “What happened between us shouldn’t have done that to him.”
“No, it shouldn’t have,” I mutter. Whatever I’d done, I didn’t have a relationship with Alex for him to take it that hard, but maybe he’s more sensitive than Julian.
It’s me, Max admits, voice low with shame. The bond twists, flooding with his grief until my chest aches.
What did you do?
I broke a promise, he says, and guilt rattles through me.
I force a breath. “It’s Max.” Julian and Katerina both look to me. “He said it’s because of him.”
“I’m guessing Max is your wolf?” she asks. When I nod, she hums and taps at her chin. “I can pull him out, but it’d be by force. And if he fights it, that’s gonna end badly for you.” Her gaze cuts to Julian.
His brows twitch with annoyance and panic spikes in our bond.
“And you know all of this, how? What makes you the expert?”
Katerina shrugs, picking a piece of lint from her shoulder. “Never said I was.”
“I don’t like the idea of forcing him to talk,” he says to me. “Alex is a hard-headed guy. It would—”
“Wolf,” Katerina says, interrupting him.
Julian turns, fixing her with a glare. “What?”
“He’s a hard-headed wolf,” she corrects, looking between us with slight awkwardness. “He’s a wolf, not a guy.”
When we just stare at her, she continues.
“Look, I don’t know what happened that made your wolf bolt, but he’s a wolf.
W. O. L. F. Wolf. Meaning he feels things much deeper than any of us.
It’s how they’re wired—pack-driven, bonded, all that soul-connection crap.
If he felt betrayed, it cut deeper than it could ever do you or me.
So, yea, he’s a wolf. And you can’t approach this as if he were anything else. ”
A beat of silence passes.
“I really hate witches,” Julian mumbles.
Katerina beams like it’s a compliment.
“He’s not coming out any other way,” I say, refocusing his attention. “I think … I think we should do this while we still can. Max can talk to him. Maybe convince him to stay or … I don’t know Jewels, but it’s better than nothing.”
Julian rubs at the back of his neck. “I don’t want to betray him like this.”
“Me neither, but we have to do something before he’s gone.”
Katerina raises a brow. “So, you guys are just going to ignore everything I just said about how he already feels betrayed? Cool. Cool, cool, cool.” A flick of her wrist, and a small flame sprouts above her open palm.
Julian exhales, resigned. “Fine. Will this hurt?”
“Like a bitch,” she says cheerfully. “But who said I’m doing this for free?”
We both still.
“You said—”
“That taking a peek wasn’t hard,” she continues, stepping back. “But pulling a wolf spirit out? That’s a whole other ballgame. I’ll need something for that.”
“Something like what?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Back to tapping her chin, she looks between us. “A favour.”
Julian doesn’t hesitate. “No.”
“You haven’t even heard what yet,” Katerina whines like a child. “It’s nothing bad. I don’t even need one right now. But let’s say that when the time comes and I need a favour, I’ll come to cash in.”
“No,” he repeats, already stepping back towards the tear.
She throws up her hands. “We’d have terms, of course! Nothing against your moral code. Nothing that gets you in trouble with the Supernatural Board or your special Mutt Council.”
We both growl at the slur, but she keeps talking. “You wouldn’t be forced if you genuinely didn’t want to. Just … a favour, by your means—by one of your means, that’s all.”
“So basically anything we decide to do for you,” I say, watching her closely. “How’s that worth anything to you?”
Katerina shrugs. “I don’t know yet. But I’m alone out here, and everyone needs a hand in a stitch sometimes.”
And just like that, she’s back to looking like a person. Not an all-powerful witch, but a person who is clearly trying to outrun something. Maybe her coven, maybe her own head.
I can’t believe I’m even considering this, I say to Julian.
He chuckles in response. There aren’t enough words for what our parents would call us right now.
That just makes me want to do it more.
This time, Julian laughs out loud, startling Katerina.
“So?” she asks carefully. “What’s the verdict?”
“A favour,” I confirm. “From one of us by those exact terms.” I extend my hand.
Katerina jumps off her toes as she rushes in to clasp our hands together. A sliver of magic rushes through me, tugging at my blood and sealing itself as a promise.
I yank my hand away, shaking it off as I gesture to Julian. “Now bring Alex out.”
“One inner wolf, coming right up,” she says before she gives me a hard look. “If I’m doing this, he’ll feel some pain and I’m going to need you to not attack me. Can you do that for me?”
“No promises.”
“Barrier it is.” She snaps her fingers, and an invisible wall hums between us.
I’ve never seen a witch in action before, but from all accounts, they don’t usually do magic like this—so quickly, without serious concentration or vocalised intent. No spells or ingredients, just raw will. And she does it as easily as breathing.
She sets one hand over Julian’s heart, the other on his forehead, closes her eyes and breathes deeply. Julian tries to do the same, but his heart hammers, pounding with anxiousness—until it begins to slow. Something makes it slow.
That’s when she starts chanting, and there’s no fooling around this time. It’s a real spell.
The words mean nothing to me, just a stream of guttural nonsense, but the ground beneath our feet begins to shudder. I frown as I struggle to stay put. This is exactly why I don’t fuck with witches.
The wind picks up around us, growing stronger as her voice climbs with it. And that’s when Julian screams.
The sound guts me. Instinct takes over and, even knowing there’s a barrier around them, I can’t help but try to get through it.
Let me come forward, Max says as Julian’s scream rips through the clearing and tears at my chest. I can do it. I can wait for Alex.
I don’t want to leave him, especially not with a witch, but Max is right. He’s the one who needs to talk to Alex.
Reluctantly, I let him come forward and don’t fight it as I sink into our mind, praying to Goddess that when I return, this hell would be over.