The older woman grabs the younger woman’s shoulder but stares at me.
‘It’s over for now, but this won’t be the last you see of us.’ She hisses.
I growl and step towards them. May places her hand on my back.
‘No, let them go. We need to find Nina. We can worry about them later.’
She says as the two women quickly shift and run away. I shift back and yell in pain. After a few minutes, I’m in my human form. Leon shifts back as well.
‘Nina!’ I cry out.
There are dead bodies everywhere. Gianna is sobbing. May approaches her and unties her from the post and the rope from her wrists. I hear a moan and a mumble and run towards the sound. Pushing a couple of bodies aside, I find Nina.
‘Nina, I’m here. You’re safe now.’ I say, untying her wrists. She squints her eyes, letting them adjust. The look of relief shows on her face. She sits up and lunges into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck, and cries into my chest.
‘You came for me. You found me.’
‘Of course, we came for you, Nina. I would search the ends of the Earth for you.’
She cries even louder and holds me tighter.
‘I thought I’d never see you again.’
Leon approaches.
‘Dad.’ Nina stands up and runs into his arms.
‘My baby girl, I was so worried.’
Nina looks over to May, looking at the whiplash on Gianna’s back.
‘May, Gianna.’ She says, releasing herself from Leon.
May and Nina hug each other.
‘I thought you hated me?’ May asks.
‘Although you have been a horrible sister to me all my life, I’m glad you’re here.’ Nina checks Gianna’s back.
‘It’s already healing.’ She says.
‘I’ve had my wolf for a month now, which means I heal quickly.’ Gianna says to me, May and Leon.
‘Are you okay?’ I ask Gianna.
‘I will be now that Moss and his rogues are dead.’ She says, forcing a smile.
‘How long have you been captive here for?’ I ask.
‘Over a year… I think so anyway. The rogues would never tell me what day or month it was.’
‘What pack did they take you from?’
‘I was never in a pack. I lived in an orphanage, and they kicked me and anyone else who turned sixteen years old out. I spent a year living on the streets until one night, when I was about to fall asleep, a man approached me, sniffing the air. He smiled at me and said, “She-wolf,” and took me away to join them. They wanted me to join for breeding purposes. I tried to escape many times. I didn’t want to be there. I was better off in the streets than here.’ She frowns.
‘Gianna, we would love you to join our pack, a real pack where you will have freedom and friendships?’ I offer.
‘You would want me to come with you?’ she says with a raised eyebrow.
‘Yes, we would.’
She looks at Nina, who smiles and nods her head yes at Gianna.
Gianna cries and hugs Nina.
‘If it’s not too much trouble, I would love to come with you all.’
‘Well, Gianna,’ May smiles. ‘We must introduce ourselves. I’m Nina’s younger sister May, and this is our father, Leon and our future Alpha, Magnus.’
‘I’m so happy to meet you all.’ She smiles.
Nina takes a step back in thought.
‘Um, May, how did you summon a storm, fireballs, and fog?’
‘Well, you see. We can across a witch who led us here. She gave Magnus and me a stick and made it light up like a torch. When we were in trouble, the wand illuminated more, and I had the sudden urge to say a spell out loud from the book of spells and hexes Magnus showed us. Then I realised they weren’t just sticks but wands. So, I shouted one spell out loud, and it worked.’
‘But only witches can use wands, so how is this possible?’ Leon asks.
I take the wand from my pocket, whirl it around, and point at a shrub, ‘Inferno Flamo.’ I say, and we watch as nothing happens.
I pass the wand to Gianna. ‘Inferno Flamo?’ she says. Again, nothing happens.
‘Why does it only work for May?’ I ask.
Nina takes the wand. ‘Inferno Flamo.’ She says, and a gigantic ball of flame appears and flies fiercely through the air over a mountain. We hear the impact in the distance, causing a touch of smoke to rise into the sky.
Everyone has shocked faces as we all turn to stare at Nina.
‘Umm oops, a daisy?’
‘Oops, a daisy?’ May says. ‘You just summoned a ball of flame the size of a house and made it fly a kilometre away! And all you can say is, “Oops, a daisy?’
‘Well gee May, ever think I might be just as shocked as you all are with what I did? What do you expect me to say?’
‘I just want to know why you girls can use wands? This is not normal for a wolf to wield magic.’ Leon says, confused.
‘Maybe it’s just temporary?’ I suggest.
‘It will take us a week to get back to Shadow Crest. This is very dangerous. We mustn’t mention this magic to anyone in the pack other than Alpha Ryker and Our Luna Astrid. Got it?’
We all nod in agreement and enter the cave to leave.
‘Keep to the right.’ I say as we reach two separate tunnels. Nina and May hold their wands up, illuminating the cave. We step out of the exit and into the woods. The only light we can see is from the wands lighting our path: Nina and May yawn.
‘Let’s make a fire and sleep here the night. We are all exhausted, and it must be around 2 am.’ I say.
The girls sit down next to Leon, and I gather sticks and bundle them together.
‘Inferno Flamo.’ Nina says, pointing her wand at the bundle of sticks. A flame the size of my hand shoots from the wand to the stick, setting them alight. Leon and I give her a look.
‘What?’ she says.
I sit next to Nina on the end as she hovers her hands close to the fire, warming them up. She leans her head on my shoulder. I can feel her body shaking from the cold. I drape my arm over her shoulder to give her my body warmth.
As I wake up, I can feel something warm covering me. I open my eyes and see Nina asleep with her hand and head on my chest.
My hand strokes her arm until she wakes. Her eyes flutter open, and we smile and sit up.
‘Let’s wake the others.’ I say.
Nina nods and wakes Gianna and May up while I wake Leon up.
‘I’m so thirsty.’ Gianna says, stretching her arms out.
‘We have bottles of water and snacks in the car. You can help yourself as soon as we are there.’ I tell her.
‘How far away is the car?’
‘About an hour’s walk.’
‘Okay.’ She smiles.
Nina and I walk side by side as the others walk ahead.
‘What does it feel like to wield magic?’ I ask her.
‘Honestly, it feels amazing. It’s a shame I won’t be able to show it off back at Shadow Crest.’ She laughs.
‘Josie would think it’s the best thing ever.’
‘Until I turn her into a frog.’ We both burst into laughter.
‘Was that spell even in the book? I don’t recall reading it in there.’
‘No, but I will have to study the book thoroughly to learn all the spells I can cast.’
‘If my parents learn about the spellbook, they might take it away. It’s the only thing we have that can help us break your curse.’
‘Then the book can remain a secret then.’ She smiles.
