Chapter 3 - Shane
Standing in front of Hyacinth in the woods, I wait for something, anything to happen. A faint breeze stirs my hair, and the soft sounds of night creatures trill around us, but nothing more.
Crickets. Literally, fucking crickets!
“What are you talking about, Shane?” Hyacinth asks, her voice trembling. “What do you mean, married?”
I look her up and down, feeling a confusing surge of emotions inside me. I’m worried I’ve done the wrong thing, but deep down inside, there is a strong sense that this is right.
“I’ve initiated an ancient ritual that binds us together,” I say. “Like a traditional marriage, but far more binding. It should help my pack.”
She breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, good,” she says. “It’s one of your magical-world things. I don’t have to worry about it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, stepping a little closer to her and looking into her eyes. She gulps, glancing up at me uncomfortably.
“I mean… it isn’t legal or anything like that. It’s just made up.”
“It is an ancient ritual passed down by my people that connects two souls,” I say, my voice getting rough. “I need you to take this seriously.”
“I’m sorry,” she replies. “I just can’t. You dragged me away from the bakery and forced me out into the park, babbling about werewolves or something. Now you tie a piece of cord on my wrist and tell me we’re magically bound? I can’t take any of this seriously, Shane.”
“What can I do to fix that?” I ask.
“Proof,” she says, crossing her arms across her chest. “Give me some evidence, then I might believe you.”
“I told you, I can’t. My powers aren’t working.”
“Wasn’t the ritual supposed to fix that?”
I want to protest, but she actually has a point, so I take a step back from her and close my eyes. My wolf is running deep in my blood—still there, very much a part of me—but I know if I try to summon him, he won’t come.
“Nothing’s changed,” I say, sighing. When I open my eyes, she’s watching me with narrowed eyes.
“You really believe this, don’t you?” she asks, and her voice is soft, almost comforting. “Why do you believe it, and how long have you felt this way?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter, running a hand through my hair. “Don’t fucking head-shrink me. You’ll see—I’ll show you I’m not making this up.”
Hyacinth goes to say something, but swallows her words when I grab her arm and march her through the woods back towards my car.
At first, she doesn’t struggle, but the further we go, the more feisty she gets.
When she elbows me in the side and pulls free, I actually pause and roll my eyes to heaven.
This is going to be a long night.
Even without my wolf powers, I catch her easily, and as I grab her arm and pull her towards me, she falls against my chest, forcing me to step back. For a few seconds, we both hover in a moment of inertia, almost falling to the ground on top of each other.
Even though her eyes are very close to mine, I can’t see what color they are.
It’s just darkness, something deep and somehow soft, that threatens to swallow me.
Her scent rises from between our bodies, a sweet, sugary aroma that I assume clings to her after baking all day.
My mouth waters in response, and I tighten my grip on her arms.
A wave of heat flows through her, and Hyacinth turns her face up towards mine, her lips very close to my mouth.
We sway back and forth, still caught between staying on our feet and crashing to the ground.
My imagination runs ahead of the present moment, showing me a vivid premonition of the two of us falling into the soft leaves at our feet and wildly tearing each other’s clothes off.
“Shane!” a sharp voice cracks through the silence of the woods, breaking the spell.
I tighten my grip on Hyacinth and set my feet so we aren’t in danger of falling. I want to dismiss the moment of heat between us, but Hyacinth’s chest is rising and falling with rapid breaths, and her cheeks are colored with a dark red hue.
She felt it. Whatever that was, she felt it, too.
“Shane!” the voice comes again, echoing through the trees. There is a tone of command, and I feel like I couldn’t move if I wanted to.
Witches. I still don’t trust them.
“Yes, Sadie?” I answer, trying not to sound condescending. “What do you want?”
Sadie and Trina emerge from the shadowy tree line, both of them looking stern. I glare back at them, ready to defend my decision—and challenge them for not telling me about Hyacinth in the first place.
“You found me!” Hyacinth cries, trying to run to them. I grab her arm to keep her by my side as the others approach.
“I got your text,” Trina says to Hyacinth. “And we did a locator spell to track you.”
Text? Damn, Hyacinth must have messaged them back in the parking lot!
“Spell?” Hyacinth asks, her voice a tiny squeak.
“Yes,” Sadie says firmly. “I’m assuming Shane has already explained why he’s done this?”
“Yes,” Hyacinth gasps. “But I thought it was all bullshit—are you saying you actually did a spell to find me, and you think it worked?”
Sadie sighs, closing her eyes for a moment and shaking her head. “Shane, did you give her any proof?”
“My wolf won’t come,” I answer a bit angrily.
Sadie nods. “Okay, Hyacinth. The supernatural world is real. I need you to accept that before we keep talking.”
“If we aren’t too late, we might be able to wipe her memory,” Trina says.
What the fuck?
“Look at her wrist,” Sadie says. “Dead Silk.”
“Holy shit,” Trina curses, then looks at me with fierce eyes. “You really went and did it, didn’t you?”
“What the fuck is going on?” Hyacinth wails. She puts her hands on her temples and shakes her head, almost violently. “You’ve all gone fucking crazy, and I can’t take this—”
“Hyacinth,” Sadie says in that low, commanding tone. “Look at me.”
Hyacinth slowly turns her face towards Sadie, who stretches out one arm with her palm up.
There is a faint rustling sound around us that gets louder and louder until leaves begin to whip up from the ground, surrounding Sadie like a little tornado.
The dried leaves twirl up to her palm, then dance in a little trail upward.
When Sadie releases the magic, the leaves fall all around us, drifting back to the ground.
“Holy fucking shit!” Hyacinth cries. “What the fuck did I just see?”
“We can show you more, if you like,” Trina says. “That was a small demonstration.”
“I’m…” Hyacinth chokes out, shaking her head. Her eyes are wide, and I can hear her heart beating wildly.
Hmm, my senses feel a little sharper, but I don’t want to bank on it. It might just be wishful thinking.
“I know,” Trina says, hugging her. “It was a shock to me, too.”
“What’s going on?” Hyacinth looks up at Trina with tears in her eyes.
“The supernatural world is real,” Sadie says. “The three werewolf packs that live in this area are affected by a curse, and only finding their true loves can break it. I was the first, Trina was the second, and you might be the third.”
“Might be?” I snap. “She’s the only one the ritual named. Isn’t that right?”
“It was a faint positive,” Sadie argues. “And it only happened once.”
“Still, it was the only lead we had,” I shoot back. “And you weren’t going to let me pursue it, were you?”
“You overheard the meeting,” Sadie says in realization. “I should have realized you were there.”
“You were never going to tell me, were you?” I push. “What if it did come up as Hyacinth again? Would you have even let me try?”
“We would have come with you!” Sadie says, exasperated. “There are many better ways of doing this, Shane!”
“I had no choice,” I say through gritted teeth. “We couldn’t wait one more day. It was better than doing nothing.”
“You say that,” Sadie sighs. “But what if she really is the wrong girl?”
I want to protest again that we had no other leads, but for the first time, I really consider the possibility that Hyacinth isn’t the right one. I realize I truly have no idea what will happen to my pack in that instance.
The short answer is: we die. I do nothing, and we die. I go after her, and we die. Great choices.
“What if?” I say, my voice low. “A choice between dying and dying. I don’t see the difference.”
Sadie glares at me, and I know she’s about to let me have it, when Hyacinth pulls away from Trina and jumps in front of Sadie.
“Wait, what do you mean?” she asks. “I still have next to no idea what’s going on here, but if I’m the wrong person and my… ah, magic… can’t save the pack, what happens? Shouldn’t we break the bond right now so Shane can find the right girl?”
Sadie sighs, looking down at the loop of Dead Silk on Hyacinth’s wrist. “If we simply break the ritual and separate you from Shane, it will create a ripple effect through the pack. That’s just a simple fact of the binding ritual—it’s that strong that every wolf will feel the split.
It’s not great for the sick people, and that’s just a best-case scenario. ”
“What’s the worst case?” I ask, a hint of fear trickling into my voice.
“The worst case is that undoing this bond also destroys the other binding vows, our spells will be reversed, and every wolf in all three packs dies,” Sadie answers, her face grim.
“Fuck,” Trina gasps.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “Fuck.”
“So, wait,” Hyacinth says, holding up her hands. “I’m still not sure I believe all this, but just saying—what if I stay, but it doesn’t work, and I’m the wrong one?”
“We’ll know in a week or so,” Sadie says. “I’ll be able to feel it. If you are the wrong one, I’ll be able to use that energy to break the bond in the safest way possible. It won’t be without risk, but it will be far less risky than trying to do it right now.”
Hyacinth gulps and takes a step back towards Trina. Her friend immediately puts her arms around her.
“Shane,” Sadie says. “You acted rashly. Your pack may pay for it.”
“All due respect,” I retort, “I did what I had to do, and I don’t appreciate you speaking to me like that. You aren’t my superior.”
“In this, I should have been!” Sadie replies angrily. “The spell is too important to screw it up now, and no one knows more about it than me.”
“I couldn’t trust you,” I say. “I heard it all go down at the meeting. We are dying, right in front of you, and you don’t care.”
“Shane,” Sadie’s voice catches, and she shakes her head. “I care too much. Surely you can see that. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you earlier. We just wanted to try it one more time—”
“The spell named Hyacinth a week ago,” I reply. “If we tried it again and got nothing, would you have let me go to Hyacinth then?”
Sadie shakes her head a little, and I have my answer. I want to hammer down on this point and fight with her, but I know that deep down, I just want to blame someone else for this.
Because I truly don’t know if I’ve done the right thing. And now, I might have doomed us all.