As soon as the sun rose, Leon came out to the car.
‘You look worse every time I see you, Magnus.’
‘Are the girls ready to go? I want to get out of here.’ I say, ignoring his observations of me.
‘Yeah, I’ll tell them to hurry it up.’
‘Good.’ I say and sit in the front passenger’s seat.
The girls climb in the back, talking to one another as I stare out the front window. I pull the visor in front of me down and slide the panel across, exposing the small mirror. Leon wasn’t wrong when he commented about my appearance. The bags under my eyes have only gotten bigger and darker. I notice May give Nina a look and gesture her head at me. She was hinting to Nina to say something to me. Nina glares at May, shakes her head no, and looks out the side window, avoiding me.
Leon enters the driver’s seat and puts the radio on to break the silence.
May sings along to half the songs throughout the day. We stop for petrol and Leon buys snacks for everyone while we are there. The girls tell Leon they are going to the lady’s room. Leon offers me to take some snacks, but I refuse. I haven’t eaten much since Nina told me to go.
We all get back to the car and continue the drive.
‘One more night at a motel, and we should arrive at Shadow crest mid-morning tomorrow.’ Leon says.
The girls are thrilled and excited. I look forward to seeing Flint, Josie, and my parents. I wonder how Zak and Pipsqueak are going? He is so lucky to have found his mate straight away. I’ve been through dozens of towns searching for Nina with no traces of a mate along the way. I would have smelt her scent if she was in the towns or villages. My inner wolf would have forced me to follow her scent.
‘My wolf is aching to get out for a run.’ Gianna says.
‘Mine too, but I’ve been trying to hold it off for as long as possible. We can shift and go for a quick run when we reach a rural area.’ Leon says.
‘That would be great.’
Half an hour goes by, and Leon pulls over by some fields. He shifts behind the car and runs through the field. Gianna shifts and follows him on the run.
‘I can’t wait until I can shift.’ May says, watching them.
‘You only have a couple more years to wait, and you can cast magic at least in the meantime.’ Nina says.
‘That’s true. Let’s go practice while they are having their run.’
Nina nods and exits the car. I’m the only one left in the vehicle. I can’t shift without it causing unbearable pain to join the others, and Nina doesn’t want me near her. I feel like an outsider that I don’t belong here. My inner wolf whines and whimpers, but I ignore him. He doesn’t like my thoughts, but I don’t care.
‘What was the spell to cast water?’ May asks Nina.
‘I think it was aqua something?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’ I watch May swirl her wand around ‘Aqua beads!’ nothing happens. ‘Aqua shoot!’ again nothing. ‘Aqua burst!’
I remember reading the spell. It’s “Aqua bedew,” but I decide not to say anything and keep watching instead.
Leona and Gianna return from their run.
‘What are you girls doing?’ Leon asks.
‘Trying to summon and cast water.’ May says nonchalantly.
‘Girls, I don’t know how I feel about you doing magic. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. You know magic is forbidden. So why do you think the last remaining few witches are in hiding? I want you girls to promise me no more magic until we have spoken Alpha Ryker and our Luna?’
‘Yes, dad.’ They both groan.
May and Nina begrudgingly get into the car, and we drive for the rest of the day with no more stops until we reach the last town for the day.
Leon pays for two rooms again. One for the girls and one for us. Leon has a shower as I flick through the channels on TV. The girls are giggling and carrying on in the next room. Frustrated with the TV, I turn it off, remove my shoes, and climb into bed. I’ll be happy to be home tomorrow, and everything can go back to normal, and I’ll finish the last few weeks of school graduate then mum and dad will probably tell me to hurry and find my mate so I can take over and become the next Alpha.
I sigh at the thought. If only it were going to be that easy.
The girls have become quiet. They have probably gone to bed. I switch the bedside lamp off and go to sleep.
As soon as I wake, I have my shower and dress. Leon hands me a plate with an egg and lettuce sandwich.
‘You need to eat something, Magnus.’
I don’t argue with him. Instead, I accept the plate and eat the sandwich.
‘Can you knock on the girl’s door and tell them to meet us in the car?’ Leon says.
‘Sure,’ I sigh.
I leave our room and knock on the door. Nina answers, and we stare at each other in silence.
‘Your dad wanted me to tell you, girls, we are ready to get going.’
‘Oh, okay.’ She says and shuts the door.
Feeling defeated, I hop into the front passenger side of the car. Leon is already in the car. After twenty minutes, the girls all climb into the back seat.
After hours of driving, we drive past the Welcome to Shadow Crest sign. As soon as Leon parks the car, I jump out and run inside the packhouse. My mum is the first one I have seen. I wrap my arms around her tiny body and lift her off the ground-hugging her tight.
‘Magnus, my boy. I missed you so much.’ She cries.
‘I missed you too, mum.’ I say and wipe her tears from her face.
Josie and Flint come running down the stairs. Josie flies into my chest first. I hug her tightly, then Flint and I hug each other.
Leon, Nina, May, and Gianna enter the packhouse. Mum hugs Nina.
‘I’m so glad you are back home.’
‘Me too, Luna.’
‘Nina?’ Amelia yells, running out from the kitchen. ‘Nina.’ She wraps her arms around her and kisses her face a hundred times.
‘I was so worried.’
‘Mum, I’m okay now.’
My dad enters and brings me in for a hug.
Gianna stands there awkwardly.
‘Mum, Dad, this is Gianna. She was a slave in Moss’s pack.’ My mum and Amelia gasp.
‘Is it okay if she joins our pack?’
‘Of course, it’s okay. You poor thing.’ Mum says and pulls her in for a hug.
‘Gianna can have the spare room next to Nina’s room until she finds her mate.’ Dad says.
‘Thank you for letting me stay.’ Gianna says.
‘I’ll show you to your room.’ May says and takes her hand.
‘You must all be hungry. Let’s have lunch, and you can tell us everything.’ Mum says.
Leon explains how we met Mabel, and she led us to Moss’s pack.
‘Magnus was trying to fight his wolf from shifting. They heard his cries of pain, and that’s when May summoned a storm, balls of fire and fog saving us all.’ Leon says, then nervously laughs.
Mum, Dad, Seth, Mia, Josie, and Flint burst into laughter. Except for Amelia, whose face becomes suddenly pale.
‘Good one, Leon, so continue. Tell us what really happened.’ My father says.
Leon and I give each other a nervous look. Nina won’t even look up from the table and fiddles nervously with her fingers.
‘Well, Alpha… that’s what actually happened.’
The room grows silent as they all stare at Leon.
‘It’s true dad, Nina can cast the magic from the wands too.’
‘That’s impossible. May and Nina are wolves, not witches.’ He says in a serious tone.
Nina gives me a worried look.
‘It’s okay, Nina, show them.’ She hesitantly nods and stands up.
She pulls the wand from her back pocket and swirls it around.
‘Aqua…’
‘Bedew.’ I whisper.
She gives me a small smile.
‘Aqua Bedew.’ She says, and swirls of water appear, and she directs it into a cup on the table.
It is so quiet that I can hear everyone’s heart rate rapidly increase.
