Seduced by Innocencey(2)

My favorite romance novel sat on the dresser next to my bed, and I reached for it, grateful that I could at least breathe in vicarious passion through the lives of others, if not my own. My hands stilled on the book as shivers of energy traveled through my body, connecting me to the earth, to my coven and to my family. Mother's voice called out to me through one of those lines. "Rose. Help! Hurry!"

We almost never communicated telepathically. The drain on energy and resources was just too much, and, with the modern convenience of cell phones, unnecessary. Besides that, most members of our coven didn't have enough power to do it. Heart racing in my chest, I ran out the door and through the dark with Sandy at my heels, straight to the lower level of the main house where Mother lived. The air crackled with fear and desperation and the ramped up emotion of it all forced my gut into uncomfortable knots.

As leader of the coven, Mother commanded the most power and respect. She'd never reached out to me for help before, which made this all the more alarming. I forced my legs to pump faster, Sandy running at my side, as I navigated through the icy paths masked with shadows of the night.

There should have been others out with flashlights, checking the property, but I didn't see or feel anyone. Perhaps the mental cries of Mother drowned out everyone else?

When we reached her door, I hesitated. Mother didn't like people barging in on her. While everyone else in the coven had a default open door policy—meaning literally anyone else here could walk into your house without knocking—Mother was immune from that. To some extent, so was I, but only because my coven feared an accidental touch. Only in my own home could I go gloveless. My best friend and roommate, Ocean, was the only person in the coven not scared of me and my dark gift.

Sandy whined and clawed at the door, jarring me out of my thoughts. Inside, something clattered to the ground, and Mother screamed. I pushed the door open and tried to mentally ready myself.

But nothing could have prepared me for what I found.



A giant brown wolf stood before Mother, baring his teeth with a low, throaty growl that sent shivers of fear up my spine. Mother cowered in the corner of her couch, eyes like saucers as she backed away from the wolf with her hands in defense position. She made eye contact with me as I walked in and yelled, "Help! Rose, help! He attacked me."

Sandy growled and the puppies in the kennel barked and yipped. Sandy stood in front of her puppies, ready to attack this new threat, hackles raised on her back.

Feeling utterly useless, I shouted at the wolf. "Get away from her!"

It turned its head to me, large golden eyes glowing in the dim light. For a moment I felt a connection to the beast, as if he was trying to tell me something, but the moment shattered when Mother shrieked at me. "Do something, Rose."

What did she want me to do? I didn't know self-defense… no one would let me study it. I had no weapons… other than myself. Mother, who—even cornered by this magnificent beast—looked in control and poised, with her midnight black hair in an up-do and her face made up with flawless makeup, glanced down meaningfully at my hands.

This couldn't be. She couldn't possibly want me to use my power on the wolf. It didn't even work on animals.

But this wolf, three times the size of even a large wolf, felt more than animal. Something tickled at the back of my mind. Something I should have known but had forgotten. It hovered on the edge of my memory, teasing me with knowledge just out of reach.

The wolf howled, his head high in the air, and more howls tore from the nearby woods, echoing through the cold night.

Then it all clicked and I took a step back. So it was true. All the stories and rumors. The O'Conner clan really could shapeshift, and they were here, on my land, attacking my family.

For months they'd been terrorizing our coven, trying to drive us out of our rural home in Washington. We refused to be bullied by the wealthy Druids who commanded the public favor in the local, and even international, spiritual and business communities.

We didn't have the money to fight them legally.

We didn't have the power to fight them magically.

And we had no idea what they wanted from us.

But they'd attacked relentlessly. Sabotaging our cars, destroying our property, leaving dead animals for us to find. Now, they'd sent someone to hurt Mother. Maybe kill her. Anger boiled inside of me, reaching through me and around me, and the steel traps around my power uncoiled as I took measured steps toward the wolf.

Reason left me. Fear abandoned me. Only rage sustained me as I reached out with a bare hand to touch the flesh beneath the thick fur of the wolf.

With a final push, it flooded out of me. My darkest secret. My cross to bear. It pooled into my hand, turning it into the worst kind of weapon. My flesh turned into a fire only I could withstand, and the wolf howled in agony as his mind, or soul, or whatever part of him made him 'him', turned to ash and left him forever.