The Unwanted Wolf

“Rumors of this child spread through the ranks of all sorcerers. It was the first time a hybrid child had been born. It had been forbidden for the different species to mingle with each other, but the reason why faded over the years. A vampire and a sorcerer fell in love and produced a child. The Council of Magic decided to let the child be, thinking no harm would come of it. It was just a child after all.”

Ginger stopped talking for a moment. The way she spoke told me there was so much more to the story.

“I sense a ‘but’ in there,” I said.

“Everything was fine for a while. Years passed, and no other news of the hybrid child emerged. The initial shock of a hybrid child faded as well. My parents stopped talking about it, and I just assumed nothing came of it. But on the night of the red moon, things changed. Screams echoed in the middle of the night. Fires spread through the village I lived in during the middle of the night.

“My family ran out of the house, trying to figure out what was going on. I remember looking up at the sky and seeing the light of the red moon shining down on us among the chaos. It made everything around us look red, and soon everything was red.

“I saw him, just briefly. He was just a child, a little younger than me. He was covered in other people’s b***d. I saw him use magic to pull the b***d out of my neighbors’ body and then drink it. It was one of the most horrifying scenes I had ever seen. His l**t for b***d was greater than I had ever imagined. I was only eight years old that night, but that is one of the most vivid memories I have to this day.” Ginger stood up and turned away from me.

“So the Son of B***d and Magic is your age?” I asked, not understanding fully.

“He would be, if he were alive,” Ginger said. “What you must understand, girl, is that after that night, the council realized they messed up. The hybrid child was more powerful than anyone realized, and the council made the decision that the child must be controlled. The only problem is, they didn’t know how to control someone much more powerful than them.

“It took them a while to finally capture him. I don’t know exactly what happened to him at that time. He disappeared, and the council never told the rest of us what was going on. He just disappeared, and the rest of us just had to move on with our lives and rebuild what we lost that night.”

“They didn’t tell you anything? What kind of a council is this?” The more I heard about the Council of Magic, the less I liked them. I didn’t hear anything good about them.

“There’s a reason I left the sorcerer’s society. I didn’t agree with a lot of rules and regulations,” Ginger said. She turned back to me, sadness filling her eyes. “Before I left though, there was an execution planned for the hybrid. I was in my twenties at the time. He was strung up in front of the public as a warning against breaking the rules in the future.

“I was there that day.” Ginger’s eyes seemed to grow far away. “There was a craze in the young man’s eyes. He was desperate for b***d. He was spouting nonsense, saying that even if they killed him, he would be back. When they pulled the trigger on his execution, he exploded into a billow of dark shadows.”

“Is it even possible for someone to survive that?” I asked. If sorcerers could live, even after being killed, it would put them on a different level than I ever imagined.

“I have never heard of anyone who did it successfully, but theoretically it’s possible. It would take a really strong sorcerer to actually do it. I just assumed he died that day.”

“I have come across some strange dark magic recently,” I said. “Theron was using dark, shadow magic when I was fighting him, and I have seen it in my dreams. I even saw it in the forest. Do you think that was him?”

Ginger took a deep breath. “I’m not sure, but that would be a good guess. It’s possible he survived in some form but couldn’t take a human form again. I would guess that whatever form he was able to take lay dormant, waiting for you.”

The room grew quiet at the thought. I didn’t know what that meant for me. If he was a super powerful sorcerer back in the day, I wondered if he still had the same level of power, and if he didn’t, I wasn’t sure how I would face him.

“What does this mean for me?”

Ginger looked at me. “If you are part of the prophecy, he likely wants you to grow stronger.”

“How do I stop that from happening? I don’t know how I can stop him from finding me in my own home and in my dreams.” I felt scared, realizing I wasn’t safe anywhere.

“Don’t start panicking on me now, girl. Just take a deep breath. I’m not exactly sure what you might be facing, but I know magic. I can help put up some protection spells on the house, and teach you to put up a block in your mind to prevent unwelcome visitors while you sleep. We can continue your magic training too.”

“What about the Council of Magic?” I asked. “The Son of B***d and Magic is not the only one coming after me.”

Ginger’s face fell. “The Council of Magic is after you too?”

I nodded slowly. “My father-my real father-came to me, wanting me to leave my life behind and go with him. Apparently, he convinced the Council of Magic not to kill me if I agreed to give up my life as a werewolf and train solely with the sorcerers.”

Ginger sat down again. “Don’t trust them, girl. After what happened with that hybrid boy, I doubt they will spare you. Even if you agree to their terms, I don’t think they will risk you growing more powerful than them.”

“I wasn’t planning on trusting them anyway. I’m not going to leave Mark. He’s the only one I want to be with.” I was firm in this decision. I wasn’t going to run away this time. No matter what I was facing, I planned to face it with him.

“Good. That boy is good for you. Don’t let go of him. Do you know if the Council of Magic is already after you?” she asked.

I shook my head. “It depends on if Cain, my father, has told them I won’t go with him. He’s been desperate to get me to go with him. I don’t think he likes the idea of the council taking his daughter.”

Ginger thought about this for a moment. “Hopefully we have a decent amount of time before he runs to the council. It’ll give us more time to prepare. Do you think he’ll help us?”

“No,” I said without hesitation. “He doesn’t want the council to come after me, but he is too afraid to go against them.”

“That’s fine. I’d rather not work with him, anyway. We’ll figure this out. Don’t look so stressed, girl.”

I took a deep breath, wanting to believe Ginger, but it still felt like a lot. “What if that’s not enough?”

Ginger rolled her eyes. “Girl, you need to have more faith in yourself. Have you forgotten you’re a hybrid as well? This means you have great power within you. You just have to find out how to unlock it.”

I thought about this for a moment. Magic still felt like a strange thing in my body, but I had several moments of pushing my powers to a limit I never thought possible. Ginger was right. I had the power inside me. I just had to find it and learn to control it.

I stood up, feeling much better with Ginger’s words. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Ginger smiled. “There’s the spunky girl who insisted I help her a few months ago.”

–

I walked around the house with a bag of salt, moving slowly around the perimeter with it. Ginger said it was the first task that needed to be done. Salt was able to keep unwanted magic from spying on the house. There were other layers of protection Ginger was currently working on, but that involved a deeper level of magic. As much as I wanted to learn more about those protective wards, I knew there would be time for that later. It was more important to put down as much protection as possible first.

It was getting late, and most people were eating dinner right now, which I was grateful for. I don’t think people would question me much if I explained to them that salt helped keep away magic, especially after Reyland’s speech. He did a good job making sorcerers out to be the enemy. While he wasn’t wrong in that sense, I was still worried werewolves would start thinking of all sorcerers as the enemy, and I knew firsthand that wasn’t the case.

I would rather not discuss the magical help we were receiving, just in case it caused issues for Ginger. I warned her about our company, but she seemed to be aware of everything going on already.

“Adira!” Daniel called out, running up to me.

My heart skipped a beat before I processed who was calling out to me. I was grateful it was just Daniel.

“Oh, hey Daniel.” I set the bag of salt down, needing a slight break from the weight of the large bag in my arm. I wiped off a small layer of sweat from my forehead.

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere after the meeting,” Daniel said. He looked at me and then the bag of salt. “What are you doing?”

I laughed, feeling a little awkward. Daniel of all people would understand, but I still felt like my actions were a bit strange. “Ginger says salt can help ward away magic. We have had some privacy issues with certain magical entities, so I’m trying to add some protection to the house.”

“Gingey is here?” Daniel was the only one allowed to call her that. Ginger had never admitted it, but it was pretty obvious that she was rather fond of Daniel. She acted like he was an annoying little boy, but I was positive she actually thought of him like a grandson. She always responded to his letters and answered his questions. It was a pretty cute dynamic.

“I asked her to come. I figured we could use some help of the magical nature, since none of us really know what we’re up to,” I explained.

“Where is she? I want to say hi.” Daniel’s voice grew a pitch higher, and he was practically bouncing in place.

His excitement made me smile. Of course he was excited to see her. “She’s wandering around here somewhere, putting down her own protections. Just keep her presence on the downlow.”

Daniel wrinkled his eyebrows together. “Why? Is there something wrong with her being here?”

“Not exactly. I just don’t want people harassing her. I think most werewolves here haven’t met a sorcerer before, so I’m not sure how they will react to her.”

Daniel looked over his shoulder. “I see. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. By the way, I got those books from Alpha Lyna. I haven’t had a chance to look at them, but I’ll probably be up all night, studying them.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Make sure you’re getting some rest. Don’t kill yourself by doing this.”

Daniel laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep, knowing there is some juicy information waiting for me to study it.”

“You’re strange, you know?” I laughed at this. “But I’m happy to be friends with someone so eager to learn. It makes my life easier.”

Daniel smiled at this, not affected by my words. “I’m happy to help. I’m going to go find Ginger now, but I’ll give you an update when I have one.”

Daniel skipped off towards the house like a little kid on Christmas. As far as I knew, he hadn’t seen Ginger since I did, so I was sure he was thrilled to talk to her in person. I was a little sad I wasn’t going to see that, since I was sure their banter would be as amusing as ever.

I picked up the bag of salt again, knowing the sooner I finished, the sooner I would be able to relax for a bit. My body ached as I picked it up, but I pushed through it, reminding myself it was almost done. I continued pouring salt on the ground, going all the way around the house. When I was done, I set the salt down and took a deep breath, grateful to be done.

I took a step back to head into the house, but I was surprised to bump into someone behind me. My eyes went wide when I saw Alpha Lyna hovering behind me.