Sorcerer: Trouble with Werewolves: Power of Air Book 2 (11 page)

Derik frowned, “Take Sierra, Clint, Gerald, and Katie, the
rest of us will deal with the agent.  I don’t want to chance them getting
away.”

I nodded and pulled in my magic, and remote viewed the back
yard for the house where Karl and the rest of his pack were.  I could feel
Kilmer moving around the house, and took a moment to regret that I wasn’t
holding Sierra this time around, as I used my magic to move us to our new
location before Kilmer could get around the corner.

We gave Katie and Clint a few moments to run around to the
front door, so our quarry couldn’t escape that way, and I used my magic to
increase my speed again.  Just fast enough to give me an edge, but not
risk exhaustion.  I also covered myself in a shield of air.  Sierra
and Gerald were in wolf form, so I blew in the door with a strong air
compression wave that turned it into so many toothpicks, and followed Sierra
and Gerald into the house.

I felt myself slow down, and my air shield thinned.  I
tried to pull more power, but I was cut off from the air outside, and the air
inside seemed reluctant and low on magic.  I cursed in my mind, maybe I
should have asked Carrie some questions, apparently the house was heavily
warded with earth magic.

Fire seemed sluggish too, but not as affected by the earth
wards as air was.  It was almost like the spell ward was the same as being
below earth.  Almost, not quite though.  I added fire to my thinned
shield and followed the growls.  I wasn’t sure what to do, the wolves were
moving so quickly to my perception I couldn’t safely do anything with air or
fire, I might hit an ally on accident.

Crap. 

This is what I got for being overconfident in my
ability.  But Sierra and the others must have been winning, because one of
the wolves broke and ran, right in my direction.  Reflex saved me and I
held nothing back, both fire and air mixed and powerful blue flames shot from
my fingertips as Billy, Karl’s second, leapt for my throat.  I couldn’t
move fast enough to dodge, but his body was blackened and silent as it hit me
in the chest and knocked me right on my butt and continued past me to land on
the floor with a disgusting splat sound.

Because of my shields, and the fact he’d been dead and not
biting my neck, the fall merely jarred me without causing any damage. 
When I got back up I sighed in relief, it was over.  Clint and Katie were
standing over Karl, who’s throat and a good piece of his flank was torn
out.  Gerald was above another wolf who he’d just killed, Sal.  But
it was Sierra who surprised me the most, she had the other wolf by the throat,
her teeth were barely sunk into Darren’s throat, and she had him whining in submission
while she looked up at me with soft liquid brown eyes.

I got the point immediately, she’d spared this wolf’s life
as an apology to her harsh words and actions this morning.  I walked
closer and knocked out the wolf with a shot of air, I was strong enough to do
that, and it helped that he was a stationary target.  The four of them
changed and went to gather their clothes.  I could hardly believe it was
over.

I’d also learned a lesson, check for wards before walking
into a place.  I should have felt the difference in the air before I
walked in after all, I was too focused on getting the wolves.  We dragged
the three dead ones outside, and I used air magic to clean up the evidence in
the house, and fire magic to turn the three dead bodies to ash.

I could hardly believe it was over.  That also meant
that Sierra had no more reason to stay with me, and the fact that I thought of
that first showed my priorities pretty clearly.  We had some time to kill,
I’d know when it was safe to go back, no doubt Agent Kilmer was being very
thorough in his questioning.  I wondered how long the task force would run
in circles before they broke it up.  This was a crime spree they’d never
solve.

That reminded me, I pulled out my phone and sent Aiya a
text,
put the folder to bed,
and stuck my phone back in my pocket. 
It was a little cryptic, but it was safer that way and she’d figure it
out.  I doubted her phone activity was private, and I was almost sure mine
wasn’t either right now with Kilmer around, although I didn’t bother to check
on that with power.  So much had changed in the three days since Aiya had
cooked me breakfast and showed me that folder.

I stood up and walked over to Sierra and took her hand, it
was more than time for us to talk this out.

“We have about a half hour wait, and we’ll be back to take
the rest of you when Kilmer is gone.”

I pulled in my magic, and took us to my apartment.  I
wanted privacy for this, and even if we’d gone into the house back there it
wouldn’t have been private, werewolf hearing was very good…

Saturday, May 21
^st
, 2016, 10:44 AM

I pulled Sierra over to the couch, sat down, and pulled her
into my lap.  She was a bit stiff in my arms, and her face was unreadable,
but she didn’t try to pull away.  For a human woman doing that would have
probably gotten me slapped, but for a werewolf it was a different story, I knew
how important touching was, it was the one thing I was really sure of right
now.

“Humans don’t really define their relationships in the
beginning.  It’s more of a go with the flow kind of thing until it
develops into more, or dies on the vine.  I didn’t realize until Katie
clued me in earlier, that for you it would be much more important.  I
should have told you last night how I felt, before I showed you.  You on
the other hand, could have clued me in sooner, I may be a sorcerer, but I’m
still a guy that’s going to get it wrong on occasion.”

She asked in a shaky voice, “How do you feel, because I need
to know.”

I kissed her hand and said, “That goes both ways, but I
suppose I could go first.”

“I’m falling for you, and I’m not sure where it will end up,
but I know that I crave your presence.  I want you to be happy.  Your
touch and your smile make me feel alive, and I love the sound of your voice,
and the way you look at me.  I’ve never taken anyone to Mike and Jenna’s
before, and I loved that you two seemed to hit it off.  Last night was one
of the best in my life.  I’ve never felt so connected to someone before
while being intimate, and I also know I absolutely hated today.  The way
you looked at me and spoke to me crushed my heart.

“All I know is I want you in my life, I want you to spend
the night here again tonight after I become an ally to your pack, and I want to
wake up tomorrow morning with you in my arms, instead of finding an empty
outline in the sheets.  I want you to meet the rest of my family, and,”
she interrupted me with a deep passionate kiss as she moved and straddled my
body.

When she broke the kiss she smiled down at me, “I’m sorry, I
was confused.  I was worried you didn’t want me, that this was just… about
sex and having a good time for you.  I couldn’t imagine why a sorcerer
would want a werewolf like me.  What made it worse was not only do I
already care deeply for you, my inner wolf wants you and is only happy when
your near and we’re touching.  I was afraid to let us grow any closer
without knowing the truth…”

I looked up confused, “Why didn’t you just ask.”

She smiled ruefully, “Misunderstanding, any male wolf that
was attached to a female wouldn’t have put up with the distance I put between
us this morning, they would have cut right through it.  I realize now you
were just giving me space, but at the time it felt like you were agreeing I
wasn’t that important to you, so I got angrier about it as the day went on…”

This time I shut her up by pulling her down into a
kiss.  She moaned into my mouth when she felt my reaction to her kiss and
touch push up against her, and broke the kiss, “How long do we have?”

I grinned, “Twenty minutes…”

She said in a soft breathless voice, “Not nearly long
enough, but it will have to do,” and she pulled her dress off and went for my
pants…

Apparently makeup sex was even more wild than the human
version.  We wound up being about twenty minutes late before picking up
Katie, Gerald, Clint, and a very subdued Darren.  The four of them were
all giving us amused looks.  I looked at Sierra and tapped my nose, she
giggled in answer, so I knew they could all smell what we’d been doing. 
Sierra didn’t look bothered at all, and I suppose that made sense, when someone
grew up with the inability to hide things like that, it just became normal.

I’d transported enough with magic now to get an idea of the
power needed, so I pulled in enough magic to move the six of us with a little
to spare just in case, and moved us to Derik’s backyard, this time with
Sierra’s body tightly held against mine with her arms wrapped around my neck.

She winked and teased me about using it as an excuse to hold
her close that first time, “I figured we’d taken enough chances today, might as
well be safe.”

I nodded and said in a faux wise voice, “It’s the safest
way, you’ll have to do that every time from now on.”

Darren’s connection was already broken with Karl’s death,
but he was brought in front of Derik anyway, and that same stare down was done
that he’d done earlier with Carrie and Todd.  I realized he’d done more
than break the connections last time, he was somehow also judging the kind of
man and wolf that Darren was at the same time.  Darren didn’t pass out,
apparently that was only for a broken pack bond, but he did lower his eyes
after thirty seconds or so.

Derik said kindly, “You may join your former pack mates,
feel free to stay or go, get to know my pack.”

Darren nodded soberly and headed that way.  He looked a
little shell shocked. 

Derik turned to the five of us, “That FBI agent really does
hate you Ben.  He questioned us pretty hard about you, and barely even
touched on our daughter.  Selene finally chased him off by threatening to
report his behavior.  The guy thinks you’re a part of this, and he’s
determined not a good part.  But don’t worry, we didn’t tell him anything
except we’d hired you to look into the death of our daughter.  That really
cheesed him off too.”

I laughed, “Yeah, and now he’s stuck with this dead weight
of a case, I almost feel sorry for him.  He’ll probably never get that
promotion he wants so badly.”

Derik shrugged, he didn’t care at all, “Feel free to stay
the day if you don’t need to go.  We’re starting the barbeque in a few
minutes for lunch, and of course tonight is the full moon ritual to make you an
official pack ally.”

I nodded in thanks, “I think my day is pretty open, I’d love
to stay.  What’s the ritual entail anyway?”

Selene looked over from across the yard and shook her head, she
said loud enough for me to hear, “You’ll find out tonight.”

I nodded, I supposed I could wait.  Sierra and I walked
over to the table and took a couple of chairs, she never let go of my hand, and
I was determined not to let her do so in anger ever again.  Though I was
sure we had more bumps ahead, it would certainly make life interesting. 
The sun was out, only a few white fluffy clouds in the sky. 

I pulled out my phone and typed out an e-mail to Sally while
we waited for lunch.

Sally,

Your biological father’s name is Bob Smith, yes I know
that sounds made up, but you’ll have to trust me.  His wife’s name is
Karen, and they have a ten-year-old daughter named Lynn. 

He actually has no idea he has another daughter, as he
broke up with your mother before she knew she was pregnant, and she never told
him and then gave you up for adoption.

So when you contact him, keep that in mind okay?

Your mother’s name is Tanya Ellwood, she was just sixteen
when she had you and was pressured to give you up.  Currently she’s
divorced and a single mother of two children.  Sam is nine, and Ella is
six.

I wish you all the luck when you contact them Sally,
you’ll also get a younger brother and two younger sisters out of the deal.

I added both Bob and Tanya’s addresses to the bottom of the
email, and sent it off.

That was it for work for the day, I didn’t have any open
cases from the human or supernatural side, and Derik brought out a number of
lawn games and I just hung around with the pack, and quite honestly basked in
Sierra’s presence, I felt even closer to her now and couldn’t wait to see where
it led us.

I did have one other thing to take care of though, I’d put
it off long enough.  I pulled out my phone, pulled up the address book,
and called my aunt.

“It’s about time you called back, can you come for dinner
tonight, we need to catch up.”

I felt a little guilty at that.  My aunt was the best,
so was Amy even if she was a snotty teenager right now, “I can’t tonight, how
about tomorrow?”

She made a considering noise, “That should work, so what’s
this I hear about a woman in your life, from Amy no less.”

The implication being I should have told her…  Aunt or
not, she had the mom guilt going on.

We spent another ten minutes on the phone, and I promised
her I’d take Sierra with me to meet her.  I was looking forward to it
actually, and hoped they got along.

A short time later the pack took a break for an afternoon
run, Carrie, Todd, and Darren were surprised to be invited along.  Derik
was a good alpha, and I could already feel that those three would eventually
become part of the pack, making it twelve strong.  While they were gone I
was on barbeque duty watching the burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and steaks. 
Werewolves eat a lot…

I was also practicing with my fire ability, determined to
strengthen it, I knew it would never be as powerful as my air ability, but also
knew my air ability still had a long way to grow, so who knew how far I could
take it?  My mother had been reputedly a very powerful sorceress of fire
after all.

I asked Aitheria with my mind, “
Ria, I’ve still got a
long way to go don’t I, even after my breakthrough the other day, I get the
feeling I’m just getting started.
”

She sent a mental shrug, “
Yes, but at least you’ve gotten
started now, you’re not sitting idle.  All you can do is the best you can.
”

I nodded thoughtfully and asked a question, it felt like it
had been on my mind a couple of days now, but with everything that happened I
hadn’t consciously felt it until now, “
I feel like I’m missing something
important from the other night, when you showed me who you were.  That
was… significant in some way, and I feel closer to you, although I’ve always
loved you like family.
”

Her mind voice aimed for neutral, but was slightly pained, “
You
are, but that’s okay Ben.  You’ll understand eventually, when you’re
ready.  I can’t tell you, so please don’t ask.
”

That really didn’t help, and for some reason I felt guilty that
I didn’t understand, when she was the one that couldn’t explain it.  I
didn’t like the pain in her voice either, but didn’t know how to fix it. 

It was then I made an intuitive leap, I couldn’t find my
enemies because they were more powerful than I was.  If I learned enough,
grew enough, I’d be able to access more information as I exceeded the ones
hiding it.  In the scheme of things, I was still just a baby starting to
teethe.

Aitheria, with the exception of the alley that first time
I’d used my powers, never helped when I was in a battle.  She wasn’t here
to protect me from physical attacks, she was here to hide me from my
enemies.  If she wasn’t here, they could easily find out where I was and
attack again.  She was powerful, strong enough to keep me from my enemy’s
sight.  But as for who sent her and for what reason, I had no idea. 
That meant the first time they found me must have been through my mother, since
I’d have been protected back then too.

It was frustrating, but at the same time comforting. 
Now I just had to make sure that while I gathered power to become strong enough
to face my enemies, that it wouldn’t change me in the process.

The pack came back then, and Sierra raced toward me. 
She was a beautiful, if a slightly large and scary wolf, which I’d mostly only
seen when she was in a fight.  Apparently she was playful right now, and I
had no idea it was coming when she leapt up and tackled me.  I laughed
when she sat on my chest and licked my face, despite the indignity of it. 
Nope, life with her would never be boring, and she’d broken me out of my deep
thoughts, and I stopped thinking altogether when she changed back into a woman.

She laughed lightly at my expression, the run must have
agreed with her.  I guess she’d decided I was properly tortured and
teased, because she got up and pulled her dress on.  This time, I didn’t
avert my eyes from her at all, though I was careful not to look at the other
naked women in the yard going for their own clothes.

The day was extremely relaxing, and low key now that the
danger had passed, outside of that one conversation with Aitheria, I didn’t
give any thought to enemies or what might be coming.  I’d worked hard, and
it was time to take a break and have a good time with my new allies, friends, and
girlfriend?  Lover?  I wasn’t sure what to define her as, she was
Sierra, and she had a place in my heart and I had a place in hers, we were
happy and that’s all that mattered.