Chapter 20 Chapter 20
Suki’s duty to the pack was simple – take care of the pack in any way she could. She could choose how she helps the pack, until she finds a responsibility that suits her best to do permanently. Though she found it difficult to pick just one thing to do forever, she enjoyed many of the tasks she took on within the pack.
To aid as a good distraction, she chose to use her time to keep the witches’ company as they worked on brewing herbal remedies to keep on hand for any injuries the warriors and guards of the pack may encounter.
Though the thought of Reynard getting hurt protecting the pack, or even just her, brought a sickly knot into her stomach. She worried for him daily, and she knew that was never going to stop.
“What’s going on in your mind, Suki?” Cassandra asked. She was one of the most powerful witches in the pack and, most of all, Erin’s teacher.
“Nothing,” she muttered, flicking through an old grimoire belonging to one of Cassandra’s ancestors, but occasionally glancing at her phone, wishing it would light up with a notification.
After their earlier interaction, she and Brendan decided to meet up later after she finished her duties, and he went off and did whatever he did to kill time. It was another thing she didn’t know about him…
Cassandra sat in front of Suki. “I’ve watched you grow into the woman you are now. I know when you’re lying, dear, what is it?”
This was Suki’s chance to tell her everything: her bond with two totally different werewolves, her struggles with it all, but she shook her head. “It’s nothing,” she sighed, “just thinking about how I can be of use to the pack.”
Once being something she would never do was now something she felt like she ended up doing daily. It was becoming too easy for her to lie as long as she threw in a half-truth along with what she was saying.
“Hm, you’re always a use to the pack, dear.” She could tell just by watching Suki’s slow movement that she wasn’t going to get any information out of her. “Well, if you ever want to talk, I’m here,” she smiled and stood back up to continue brewing her concoctions.
Suki smiled and nodded. She flicked through the pages of the grimoire and was in awe at the drawing of the stone – clear quartz, just like the one around her neck, but the drawing made it appear to be a much larger version. “Cassandra, what is this?”
Peering over her shoulder. “Ah,” she exclaimed, “you know what that is, you have it around your neck.”
“Clear quartz, the crystal of healing.”
“Correct,” Cassandra hummed. “It was said that this pack, amongst other special packs, are bestowed with gifts of power by the Moon Goddess. Some packs have the power tied to the Alpha bloodline, which is why they’re so strict on their bonds; for other packs, it differs. Either the power would stick within the high ranks, given that they were so powerful, it made sense that they would be bestowed the extra power, but for other packs, it was very random.”
Confused, Suki pushed for more. “Random how?”
Cassandra slid the book toward herself and scanned over the pages, “Some packs, like this one, the power is given to those who are deemed worthy of such a power, usually pure-hearted. Someone who genuinely cares to use the power to help others would gain the ability to harness crystal magic.”
“Crystal magic? You mean it’s not limited to just the clear quartz?”
She scoffed, “Of course not. Just as we witches rely on different crystals to help guide our magic, different crystals give gifted wolves of the Moonstone pack powers. In one way, they’re tame in comparison to a witch’s power, but in other ways, they can possess more power than we could.”
“Is this all true? Or is it just a myth?”
Tracing her hand over the scribbles in the grimoire, Cassandra smiled faintly. “My great, great, great grandmother wrote this grimoire. She swore that she had seen the crystal magic be used by werewolves of this pack before, but she was also driven insane by a spell that eventually led to her demise. There is no clear indication of whether it was true or not.”
Suki slumped over the table, resting her head in her hand.
“However…”
Suki perked up.
“We know special powers exist in other packs, so I believe it’s just something that got lost in time. Perhaps the Moon Goddess didn’t think we needed that power in this pack anymore, or possibly werewolves stopped believing in themselves.”
She hummed and leaned back in her seat. “Maybe it’s a shame the healing crystal is so rare these days.”
A nod. “Yes, my ancestor wrote in her grimoire about it,” Cassandra said, skipping through the pages. “Ah, here we go,” she dragged her finger across the text, “she wrote ‘though the power had been lost, enemies of the pack were concerned about the inevitability of the power returning and sought after the crystals and destroyed them, rendering the ability to harness the magic bestowed in them obsolete.’”
Suki shook her head and sighed, “That’s horrible, but as you said, maybe our pack doesn’t need that power anymore. We have the witches supporting us.”
Cassandra smiled brightly, “Yes, happily too,” she said.
Allowing herself a moment to process their discussion, Suki’s back straightened. “Which packs still possess powers?”
“Oh,” she patted her chin with her finger as she pulled her thoughts together, “Many packs, dear… Silver Moon’s Alpha bloodline could connect with the spirit world; from what I’ve heard, their new Alpha experienced it before coming into their wolf power. Nighttide’s high ranks have the powers of shadows on their side, and Frost Fang–”
“Wait, what?”
“Hm?”
“Did you say shadows?”
“Yes, dear. It’s rare, even for the high ranks, but it’s a great power to yield. Some have even been able to harness their power over the shadows before they’ve reached full maturity and gained their wolf. As young as–”
“14 years old?”
Cassandra’s brows furrowed. “So I’m told, at least, yes. How did you know that?”
The world around Suki became still as realisation hit her. She brushed it off so simply when she encountered the power in the maze, a power that appeared to be second nature to Brendan, like he’d had many years of practice and time to hone in on the power.
“Suki?”
She had become mute. Her mind was swirling into a million scenarios that could have led to his banishment. Did he take advantage of someone with that power? Did he hurt someone?
The buzzing of her phone startled her back to reality. “Um,” she began, flustered and scrambling for her phone, eventually pulling words together to answer Cassandra, “I must have read about it somewhere. You know how I tend to remember bits and pieces of random facts,” she huffed a half-laugh.
Cassandra smiled, “Yes, you’re a good little bookworm.”
Mirroring the smile, Suki glanced down at her phone and read the text, which was from the person she had been waiting on all day, yet now her stomach churned with mixed emotions.
BRENDAN: Alright, love, I’m free now. Do you still want to meet up?
Suki looked over the words but could barely breathe, let alone respond. But it didn’t matter; another text followed a few seconds later.
BRENDAN: I’m sorry I was so harsh before. I’ll set everything up for our date, it’s the least I can do :)
Chewing her lip anxiously, she gathered her things and threw her bag over her shoulder. “I’ve got to go, but let me know if I can help with anything else. I love spending time here.”
She smiled and nodded. “Of course! You’re welcome any time.”
✧ ✧ ✧
A battle was commencing in Suki’s mind as she made her way through the depths of the forest. This was a part of the pack that no one ever came to. Why on earth did Brendan send this as the location? It wasn’t helping her already nervous stomach.
Yet the nerves disappeared as she approached a candlelit, beautifully decorated picnic.
“Oh my…” Suki gasped, looking at all the food laid out so neatly, accompanied by a bottle of red wine and soft music playing from his laptop. “You did all this?”
Brendan walked over to her and scanned her face, “I was a dick earlier. This is my way of apologising.” Moving the hair from her face, he cupped her face in his hands. “I’m jealous, okay? Mr Perfect has known you your whole life, and, even though I’ve known of you, I’ve only really known you for a few short months. I want an equal chance to have you.”
“That was the whole point in all of this,” Suki said sadly, “and then you yelled at me.”
“I’m sorry,” he sighed, “I’m not good at this, you know, people wanting to be around me. I’m the lone wolf, I’m used to pushing people away.”
“Not me,” she stepped towards him, “don’t push me away.”
Brendan kissed her forehead. “It’s hard for me not to, but I’m trying.”
She wanted to question him; she wanted answers and to see if what was spiralling in her mind was true, but she knew if she confronted him now, she would get nothing but him retreating into his protective bubble. She had to play her cards right.