Chapter 46
Owen
There is a bright flash of magic, a wave that pushes me back—suddenly, my side bursts with pain from the impact. It hits me so violently that I slump to the ground, burning from within. There is a pained, inhuman whine ringing in my ears, but I don’t know if it comes from my mouth or from the heart of my spirit.
Damn, what was that?
For a few moments, it’s just silence—in my head and all around me, all sounds are muffled with the shock of the blow—before I let out an unconscious groan and blink my eyes open, trying to sit up. It’s only then that I realize I have turned back into a human, and it’s the wolf spirit that is whimpering and growling from the burn of the hostile magic spell on my skin. Or what else could it be?
I feel dazed, but it’s less because of what happened, and more because of how it happened. My left shoulder and the side of my head are aching from the impact, but I’m used to dealing with physical injuries—wild forests don’t have emergency kits, and shapeshifters often have to wait it out until the regeneration kicks in.
What bothers me more than possible bruises is that a stranger turned out to be powerful enough to force my wolf spirit to retract, and that is not an easy feat. It means that I have to deal with someone stronger than me, and the thought sends a wave of heated adrenaline into my veins, forcing me to sit up. I can’t be weak, I have to fight back, I have to— “Owen?”
Well, shit.
I follow the familiar voice, instinctively raising my guard, my senses alarmed enough to catch even a whisper —and of course, it has to be Asya. Our eyes meet, and I see that hers are wide in shock and terror, her face pale, the last sparks of magic glimmering on the tips of her blonde hair before disappearing into the darkness. Goddamnit. It’s not gonna end well.
“Hey,” I call her, trying to smile and sound casual even with my voice still hoarse from the wolf’s growls. “Look, maybe we can—”
But Asya steps back.
“Just don’t run away, okay?”
She runs away a second later. Shit. That is not how I have planned to start our life with humans.
I groan to myself and rub my forehead, leaning on the tree trunk by my side. To be honest, it was my fault. After spending almost two days under the wolf’s guidance, I allowed its instincts to take over my consciousness. It felt natural at the time because well, that’s how I survive in the wild, hunting and catching smells of humans from afar.
But this time, something went wrong. When the wolf caught the smell of a human and a dog nearby, it didn’t even think about turning in the other direction. It was… curious? I don’t know, it was a weird sensation that I needed to go closer. And then the dog started barking aggressively, so of course the wolf needed to show it who was the boss here and didn’t even think about the possible consequences.
The wolf went straight onto the path, and I didn’t have enough mind to stop him. It was such a stupid, stupid mistake, you know? I sigh and run a hand through my hair.
Yeah, that’s why wolf shifters always need a pack to survive.
I sit there for a while, just staring into the distance with blank eyes and going over in my head everything that’s just happened, when the night chill finally gets to me. It’s never a problem when I’m in the wolf skin, but even with my own enhanced heat it’s still rather cool to sit on the ground. I shiver and look around, trying to remember the path to the clothes I’ve left in the forest. I could shift back into a wolf— but really, I don’t want to risk it again and the spirit inside of me is still too shaken from the blast to show up.
By the way, what the hell was that? Since when do witches attack shifters out of nowhere? I frown and automatically look in the direction where Asya left, remembering her wide eyes and pale face. It didn’t look like she herself understood what had happened though. Can a witch use magic unintentionally?
Can a witch not know she’s a witch at all?
I huff and get up, swaying only a little and already feeling stronger than ten minutes ago. I’ve never had close dealings with witches, so I don’t know that much about them. But well, it looks like this time there is no way around it. I gotta talk to Asya, and the sooner I do it the better.
Luckily or not, the whole scene happened near the place where I’ve hidden my clothes, so I warm myself up with a jog there and quickly get dressed. Maybe I should go to Asya right away? It wouldn’t be hard to track her scent, and I’d be able to convince her not to tell anyone before it’s too late. But after a moment of hesitation, I turn the other way and walk to the motel instead. I’m sure she needs time to process what happened—just as I do.
It’s a little uncomfortable to see the lights of the town after nights spent under the stars, the rumble of engines slashing my ears that have grown used to the quiet of the forest. I don’t linger to take it all in though, but go straight to the doors of Old Aiden’s motel that we had chosen before I left. They offer rooms only for two here, so to save a little, we have taken two rooms—one for me and Carter, the other for Gray. We don’t mind sleeping in the woods, of course, but it would look weird for the locals.
The lights are off in both rooms, but before I even knock on the door of our shared room, a lamp from the bedside table lights up behind the curtains. I hear Carter rushing through the room and probably hitting a bed on the way with a quiet thud and a muffled curse. It’s not the first time, and I chuckle, slightly leaning on the doorframe. The exhaustion of three days in the woods and the recent encounter starts to kick in.
“Owen!” Carter finally opens the door, all bouncy from excitement despite the late hour—but when our eyes meet, he frowns and tilts his head. “Is everything alright? You look like a mess.”
“Yeah, just tired.” I wave a hand, both as a greeting and to brush off the question, and enter the room when Carter moves out of the doorway. “Couldn’t find my clothes.”
I can’t really tell them I’ve messed up as much as to reveal myself as a wolf to the only person in town that can’t stand me, right? Right.