The Shifter and the Witch

Lucy

After chatting with Deklan, Hannah, and Blake for a short while, I’m exhausted. I don’t say anything, though. I don’t want them to go anywhere. I fight off sleep until I can barely keep my eyes open. Every time I blink, my lids seem to grow heavier and heavier. I don’t even realize when I start to drift off until a hand settles lightly on my shoulder. I open my eyes to find Hannah leaning over me.

“We’re going to go,” she whispers.

I nod sleepily. They might as well. I’m done for the day.

“Alright.”

I glance over at the clock on the wall. It’s a little after eight-thirty. Normally, at this time on a Thursday, I’d be looking forward to my gig at Elixir. Not tonight. Shortly after Deklan, Hannah, and Blake showed up in my hospital room, I asked Hannah to go check on Jinx for me and get my phone, which I left on Deklan’s bedside table this morning.

I called Jack, the manager of ‘Elixir’, and let him know I couldn’t make it tonight. After getting off the phone with him, I called the managers of ‘After Hours’ and ‘The Spot’, Lorie and Greg, and went ahead and cancelled my performances on Friday and Saturday as well. With the way I’m feeling, I’m not going to be up for much the next few days.

“We’ll be back first thing in the morning,” Hannah tells me and gives me a hug.

“Okay.”

Deklan leans in after Hannah steps back and presses his lips to my forehead.

“Good night,” he murmurs.

“Night.”

Blake wishes me good night from his spot near the end of my bed.

“Night.” I smile over at him.

I watch Hannah go over and flip the lights off, then come back and clasp hands with Blake and Deklan. I blink, and the three of them are gone.

My next blink lasts all night.

***

The first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning is the machine I’m hooked up to. I don’t know what most of the numbers on the screen monitor mean, but I guess the 68 is my heart rate.

I roll from my side onto my back and look over at the clock on the wall. It’s just before eight. I’m still extremely tired this morning, even after getting a full night’s rest, but I feel better than I did yesterday. I hope everything has been normal through the night and that the doctor gives me the green light to go home. Hospitals are not one of my favourite places.

Not too long after I wake up, a male orderly brings in my breakfast tray. He’s tall and burly and sports green scrubs and a hair net over his ginger hair.

“Breakfast,” he kind of half sings as he comes into the room. He comes around the bed and sets my tray on my hospital bed table.

“Thanks.”

I raise the head of my bed as he leaves, pull the rolling table over my lap, and remove the lid covering my food.

Ugh. I wrinkle my nose at the watery-looking scrambled eggs and overdone sausage patty I’ve uncovered. I’m hungry, but I’d rather wait until I’m back at Deklan’s and can have some decent food. Pushing the table off to the side, I try to get out of bed, but I’m stymied by the bedrail. It takes me a moment to figure out how to lower it, but I finally get it down and start towards the bathroom.

The stupid hospital gown I’m in flaps open in the back, and I have to reach behind me and hold it closed as I cross the room. My reflection catches my eye as soon as I step into the bathroom. There are dark circles under my eyes, and I’m really pale. I look as exhausted and weak as I feel, and I’m fine with that. Exhausted and weak is a million times better than six feet under.

I do my business, wash my hands, then get back in bed.

Just that little trek cost me a lot in energy.

Laying back down, I turn my gaze out the window. The sun is out, and there are white, fluffy clouds dotting the sky and a soft breeze ruffling through the branches of the trees. I watch the world outside my window as I wait for a nurse or doctor, or Hannah and Deklan, to show up.

Picturing Deklan, I get a fluttery surge of energy. Yesterday, when that blast was racing towards me, I realized that I’ve done something I thought I never would. I’ve fallen in love.

My last thought - or what I thought was my last thought - was for him.

I want to tell him how I feel about him, but I’m not ready to just yet. We’ve only known each other for a short time. And I have no idea what he feels for me. Also, there’s the fact that he’s a werewolf.

Yes, we're together right now, but that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe he’s just having fun with me. Maybe he has no plans to get serious about me because I’m not a werewolf.

I’ll have to do some research and find out if werewolves only settle down with those of their kind.

I’m distracted from my thoughts when Dr. Reynolds comes into my room. He’s freshly shaved and his dirty blonde hair’s combed back. He’s wearing dark blue scrubs under a white lab coat. A manila file folder’s tucked under one arm.

“Good morning.” He smiles as he approaches my bedside.

“Morning.” I push myself up higher in the bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, coming to a stop next to me.

“Good,” I reply. “Just tired.”

He nods. “That’s to be expected,” he tells me. “Your body, especially your heart, suffered a lot of stress. You’ll probably feel tired for a few days yet.”

He slips the file folder out from under his arm, flips it open, scans its contents, then closes it and tucks it back under his arm. “Everything was normal through the night,” he informs me. “No changes in your heart rhythm, no abnormalities.”

Thank goodness.

“So, I can go home?” I ask hopefully.

“Yes,” he replies. “But I want you to take it easy for the next few days. Plenty of rest and fluids.”

“Done and done.” I agree readily.

His attention turns to the wires connecting me to the heart monitor. “I’ll disconnect these for you,” he says.

He sets his file on top of my breakfast tray, bends forward, and starts unhooking the wires from the electrodes that are stuck to my chest.

“Do you have someone you can call to come and pick you up?” he asks after he’s unhooked the last one.

He turns off the machine and picks his file back up.

“Yes,” I reply.

And I can’t wait to text them.

“Alright, then. Consider yourself discharged. You go home and veg out,” he tells me. “Doctor’s orders.”

If he insists.

“Thanks, doctor.”

He shares a smile with me and takes his leave. As soon as he’s gone, I grab my phone off the bedside table and text Deklan.

Doc was just in... I can go home!

I wait, watching for those three little bouncing dots that will tell me that Deklan’s texting me back, but they never appear. Instead, he and Hannah appear at my bedside.

“How are you feeling?” Hannah asks right away.

“Okay. Tired,” I admit.

“What did the doctor say?” Deklan asks.

I look over at him and try to ignore the way my heart reacts to him.

Shit.

My feelings must be clear on my face.

“He said everything was normal through the night—no fluctuations or abnormalities in my heart rate,” I tell them. “He said I’ll probably feel tired for the next few days, and he wants me to take it easy. Lots of rest and fluids.”

“So, when can you leave?” Hannah asks.

“Any time,” I reply. “He discharged me and told me to go home and veg out.”

“Well then,” Deklan murmurs. “Let’s get you home. Where are your things?”

“On the chair behind you.”

Deklan turns and collects my clothes and boots off the chair, then Hannah teleports us from the hospital. A second later, the three of us appear in Deklan’s bedroom.

“Did you have breakfast yet?” Deklan asks as he sets my clothes and boots down on the chair sitting in the corner.

“No. They brought me scrambled eggs, but they looked gross.”

“Are you hungry?” he asks. “You want me to make you something? Eggs? French toast? Pancakes?”

I am hungry, but eating isn’t my top priority. My top priority is getting changed out of the hospital gown I’m in and into my own clothes.

“I am hungry,” I reply. “But I want to get out of this hospital gown.”

“I’ll go grab you a change of clothes.” Hannah offers.

“Actually, can you take me to my place?” I request. “I want to go home and check on Jinx. I’ll grab a shower and get changed while I’m there.”

And I’ll pack some things to bring back with me.

“Okay.”

I get up and set my phone on Deklan’s bedside table.

“Alright, then. While you guys are gone, I’ll make you something to eat,” Deklan says. “How does French toast sound?”

French toast sounds delicious to me. “That sounds great,” I reply as I take Hannah’s hand.

Deklan starts out of the room as she and I teleport away. Back at my place, I shower and change into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt. I don’t have the energy to dry my hair, so I just throw it back in a ponytail. When I get back to my room, I’m surprised to see Hannah has packed up Jinx’s stuff. She’s emptied and cleaned his litter box and piled his food and water dishes in it, along with his cat food, kitty litter, and a few toys.

“I figured we may as well bring him with us,” she says.

I think we should ask Deklan first, but I suppose if he’s allergic or something, or just really doesn’t like cats, Hannah can bring Jinx right back home.

“Okay.”

I hope wolfy doesn’t have a problem with it. I’d rather have Jinx with me.

Hannah gives Jinx some attention while I pack some things for myself in a duffel bag to bring back to Deklan’s. I pack a couple of outfits, pj’s, all the toiletries I use on a daily basis, and my phone charger.

“All set?” Hannah asks when I zip my bag closed.

“Yep.”

If I’ve forgotten anything, I’ll get it later or ask Hannah to get it.

I straighten up from my crouch and throw the strap of my duffel over my shoulder. Hannah gets Jinx’s litter box while I get Jinx. I cradle him in one arm and place my other hand on Hannah’s arm. She teleports us, and we appear in the kitchen. Deklan’s over at the stove making French toast.

Hannah sets the litter box down on the floor by the end of the island. At the sound, Deklan turns. His gaze meets mine before falling on Jinx.

“Do you mind?” I ask right away. “Are you allergic or anything?”

Jinx bumps and strokes his head against my chin, and I scratch between his ears the way he likes.

Deklan smiles at me. “No, and no,” he replies.

I return his smile and bring Jinx over to meet him. When Deklan raises his hand to let Jinx sniff him and give him a scratch under the chin, Jinx hisses and swats at his hand. Apparently, while Deklan may not have a problem with cats, Jinx has a problem with Deklan.

“Must sense the canine in me.” Deklan muses, lowering his hand.

“Yeah,” I agree. “He’ll get used to you.”

Deklan smiles before turning his attention back to the food he’s cooking.

“You and Hannah go sit,” he says, flipping the French toast in the pan. “I’m just making the last slices here. The rest are in the oven, keeping warm. I’ll bring everything over in a minute.”

“I’ll get drinks.” I offer and set Jinx down.

“No, you won’t,” he corrects me. “I’ll get ’em. Go. Sit.” he insists.

“Alright.”

***

Deklan

When I raise my hand toward Jinx for him to sniff, I get hissed at and swatted at for my trouble.

“Must sense the canine in me,” I muse and lower my hand.

“Yeah,” Lucy agrees. “He’ll get used to you.”

I smile at that. Jinx is going to have to get used to me. I’m not going anywhere. Not only am I mated to his mommy, but I’m also in love with her.

Almost losing her has made my feelings clear to me. When I saw her get hit with that charge, my heart stopped. It didn’t start beating again until I saw her in that hospital bed, awake and alive. If I’d lost her, I don’t think I ever would have recovered.

As soon as she’s feeling better, I plan on telling her how I feel, and that my wolf and I have claimed her.

My wolf rumbles his approval of this plan.

***

Lucy

A few days later...

“I’m beat,” Hannah announces. “I’m going to go to bed.”

I pause the show she, Deklan, and I were watching, lift my head off Deklan’s shoulder, and look over at her.

“Alright,” I say as she gets up out of the La-Z-Boy she’d been reclining in and starts out of the living room. “See you in the morning.”

As her footsteps recede up the stairs, Deklan looks over at me. “She seems to be doing okay,” he murmurs.

“Yeah.” I agree. “She seems to be.”

I’m not so sure, though. I’ve been too tired since our showdown with Malek to really focus on her. We haven’t talked about everything that’s happened.

I’m feeling better now, though, after having spent the last few days doing nothing but vegging out in front of the TV. Tomorrow, I’ll try to have a talk with her.

***

Hannah

Not too long after I claimed I was going to bed, I hear Lucy and Deklan come upstairs and shut themselves in their room. I wait another few minutes after hearing their door shut, and then I teleport down to the kitchen.

I set the note that I wrote to Lucy on the dining room table. If I don’t make it back from my outing tonight, I want her to know what happened to me.

Tonight, I’m going to take care of Savina and Calia. I put off going after the bitches until Lucy recovered from her attack, and now that she’s better, I’m not waiting any longer.

I know she’s going to be pissed that I left her out of this, but I’m willing to face her anger.

I look down at the folded piece of paper with Lucy’s name written in black on it. I know she has every right to be a part of this fight. Savina and Calia killed our mom. But after what those demons did to me, I have to be the one that ends them.

This is my fight. Alone.

Besides that, after almost losing Lucy, I’m not about to let her anywhere near Savina and Calia. Those bitches aren’t going to get the chance to hurt her.