Great. They’re talking about me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since the entire meeting was essentially called to fill the pack in on who and what I am. If it’d had a written agenda, there would’ve been only one item of business to cover.
Sable is a wolf and a witch. What the fuck do we do about it?
“Ideally, we need to know more about witches and what they’re capable of,” Archer replies with a nod. “I can continue to teach her what I know and help her harness the easy stuff, but that’s not going to be enough.”
“She’s strong,” Ridge agrees. “Maybe even stronger than a normal witch.”
Elder Jihoon speaks up, glancing over at me. “So the idea is to help Sable get her powers fully under control before she becomes a problem.”
“She’s not going to become a problem,” Trystan snaps, but I reach out and touch his arm, giving a small shake of my head.
I am a problem. And I’m enough of a problem that I need my mates to stop reacting violently and acerbically anytime someone says a sideways word about me.
Elder Jihoon ignores Trystan’s outburst and turns to meet Ridge’s eye. “I might, perhaps, have something helpful to the cause at home. Something you should see. If you’ll all come with me?”
“Of course,” Ridge says respectfully.
As my mates all head toward the door, Elder Jihoon pauses at my side and takes my hand. He pats the back of it gently, a knowing smile on his face.
“I told you,” he murmurs. “I knew there was wolf in you, girl.”
I nod my head in something like a bow, because his old-world presence has that effect on me. “You did tell me.”
“You could have warned us about the witch though,” Trystan says, turning around to come back for me. He drapes an arm over my shoulders and presses a kiss to my hair, then herds me toward the door before Jihoon has a chance to reply.
“Don’t sass the elders,” I chastise him as we pass through the large door into the golden light of the afternoon.
He just chuckles, and we walk side by side away from the meeting house, making the short walk to Elder Jihoon’s home.
The last time I was inside the elder’s tiny, cramped shack, it was heavy with the scent of incense, and I ended up racing from the room in a panic attack. Luckily, I’ve learned how to balance my emotions better, and panic attacks don’t hit me as often or intensely as they used to. I have a much better handle on them nowadays, which is saying something considering I harbor a wolf and a witch inside me, both of them vying for power.
Once we’re all gathered inside his house, Elder Jihoon opens a cabinet in the corner of his living room and extracts an aged book covered in worn, maroon leather. He brings it to the couch and opens it on the coffee table, paging forward as the five of us draw closer to watch.
“I keep journals,” Elder Jihoon informs us, his dark gaze on the book as he squints at each page in turn. “I’ve kept a record of everything that’s ever happened to me, or to this pack. It is good for finding patterns. Or simply for an old mind to retain the finer details. Ah. Here it is.”
He taps a page with one long, arthritic finger, then rotates the book so that Ridge can read it. “I met a lone wolf once,” Elder Jihoon says, “who knew of a witch with no coven. He didn’t know her name, but rumor said she lived in the Blackrock Basin.”
“The Blackrock Basin isn’t real,” Trystan says, his brow wrinkled as he stares at the journal over Ridge’s shoulder. “It’s a legend used by parents to frighten their kids from going into the mountains alone.”
“Oh, I believe it to be real.” The white-haired shifter purses his lips. “Real and protected by this witch. One of the elder shifters of my day told me the Blackrock Basin can be found past Wolfsbane Mountain, in the deepest wilderness.”
Trystan rolls his eyes. “Wolfsbane Mountain isn’t real either.”
“It is.” Dare speaks up. “Way up north, past the Two-Tone River. Looks like a giant wolf’s head.”
Elder Jihoon inclines his head at Dare in agreement, then turns his gaze to Ridge. “It’s rare for a witch to be covenless, just as it’s rare for a wolf to be packless. I know of no other witches without a coven, except for the one who created Sable. And he’s dead. My hypothesis, given that this witch has no coven, and therefore no allegiances to protect, is that—”
“—she might be able to give us answers,” Archer finishes, nodding slowly. “Or, more to the point, willing to give us answers. I see what you’re saying, Elder. If she’s amenable, she could be the help we need.” Then he grimaces. “But approaching any witch is far too dangerous.”
Ridge nods. “I agree. Just because the witch has no coven, it doesn’t mean she isn’t an enemy of wolves. Attempting to make contact with her is way too risky.”
“Perhaps,” Elder Jihoon says thoughtfully. He scratches at his chin. “Though it is possible that since she broke ties with her coven, she may not hold the same hatred of wolves as the other witches do.”
“I’m not sure those are odds I’m willing to entertain.” Ridge reaches down and closes the journal, as if he’s putting an end to the idea itself.
I’ve watched the exchange in silence, absorbing Elder Jihoon’s information with my heart pounding in part excitement, part fear. As the conversation dies out, I stand abruptly and cross my arms, catching Ridge’s gaze.
“We have to try to find her,” I say, my voice sounding stronger than I feel. “She’s my only option at this point.”
He shakes his head, his honey-colored eyes darkening. With his jaw set, he picks up the journal to return it to the cabinet. “No. There are always other options. We
