Wolf Dream (3 page)

Chapter Three

Crossbreed Prisoner

Esmerelda

The wind picked up, rustling the trees around us. The temperature was not anywhere close to warm yet and I still had to leave the comfort of the cabin to train. It did little to help my irritated mood. So, now I was cold
and
grumpy. My mind didn’t want to concentrate on training while every little thing frustrated me.

“You need to feel it
, Esmerelda,” my dad said.

I crossed my arms and grumbled, “I am.”
I truly was, but everyone telling me I wasn’t was really getting on my nerves.

My dad cocked his head then
shook it. “If you were, then we’d be done by now.”

“Well maybe I’m just not as special as you thought!” I could feel my annoyance building
even more.

“You are special. Your mother and I lost you once
. I won’t let it happen again, so you need to train. Now, feel for it. You can do it.” He walked with wide steps over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “I have faith in you.”

I spotted my mom sitting with
Ian on the porch of the cabin. They were talking about something too low for me to hear. I would give anything to be with them right now and not continuously disappointing my dad with my lack of abilities when it came to my bond with Luna. He didn’t know anything about how I felt. I was the first to be both witch and guardian. For some reason my supposable sixth sense to Luna was a little muffled and not near as clear or strong as my dad said it should be.

“Focus
, Esmerelda,” his words interrupted my thoughts.

I let out a
long breath that I held in. “I can’t. I am really trying, I swear, but I just can’t.”

“You can.” H
e turned and looked at the wolves standing beside the porch steps. “Hela, come here with Luna.”

Both wolves came over to
where we stood. Luna looked so proud standing next to her father, Hela.

“Okay, now I know that you can use spirit magic
, but this comes from deeper within us. It’s a power that only the wolves and the guardians have. Once you can use this, you can make even the darkest soul bend to your will, mixed with your own magic of course, and it also will take lots of practice, so it won’t be the first thing you will accomplish.”

I wanted to scream out loud. I reached down and ran my fingers over Luna’s head. “What if I can’t do it? I mean, we’ve been practicing but I haven’t even felt a spark. We don’t even know that I will have that part of the guardian in me. Maybe my witch powers
take over all others?”

My dad shook his head
. “No. You have it, I just know you do.”

“Fine. I’ll try again.
Luna, stay here.” I walked back toward the back of the house where Luna was out of sight. She wasn’t supposed to be near me during this part of my training so that I could feel for her power without her around.

I wrapped my jacket
tighter around me and zipped it the rest of the way up. It was cold today and snow looked as if it was headed our way yet again. I kicked at a rock and sent it flying into the woods. I groaned. “What am I doing wrong?”

I walked to the creek and sat down. The sound of the water gently babbling over the rocks soothed me. I
stretched my hand out over the water and watched as it lifted up, touching my hand. Magic was so easy to me now that I didn’t even think about it; it just came naturally. I sighed and let the water flow through my fingers back to the stream.

I needed to focus. It was deep inside me, somewhere. I could feel Luna’s anxiousness about the training and how she wanted to show Hela that she could give me her power. I wanted that too.

I kept my eyes closed and listened as the wind rustled through the trees. Mother Nature’s energy flowed through me, every nerve inside me lit up with excitement at the familiar elemental surge. Feeling Mother Nature intertwine with my soul always gave me such an exhilarating feeling. But, that wasn’t what I needed to focus on so I let it dissipate.

An explosion in my chest nearly knocked me over
. The strange and sudden sensation didn’t hurt, but it certainly took my breath away. “Wow.”

“Are you okay?”
Luna asked. I could hear concern laced in her tone.

I nodded, not thinking that she couldn’t see me.

“Esmerelda…”

“I’m fine. I just had
a strange explosion in my chest, but I’ll be okay,”
I answered, still having a hard time breathing. I held my arms crossed tightly over my chest and tried to sit up straight.

“That was it! It was the spark of spirit.”

Great. So I finally felt it, but it tried to kill me. I inhaled a deep ragged breath and stood up. Without understanding what was happening, I watched the trees sway and bend as if they were rubber. I shrieked. Luna and Hela appeared beside me instantly and my dad came running around the house.

He started laughing and bent over
, holding his hands on his knees.

I glared at him through squinted eyes. The movement from the trees made me dizzy.
“I hardly think this is the time to laugh! What’s going on?”

He stood up and walked over to me. “You did it. That is both of your powers together. You are mu
ch stronger with anything that’s alive and has a spirit. And as you know, Mother Nature carries her spirit in everything, including trees.”

My shoulders relaxed as I understood. I was unknowingly using Luna’s power with my own and the trees were bowing to
our magic.

I grimaced.
“Okay, so um…how do I shut it off?”

“You and Luna will have to work together to ba
lance it out.”

I looked down at Luna. “So take it back already.”

My dad chortled a little. “It doesn’t work that way. You need to learn to push it away and only pull from it only when you need it. She can’t just take it away from you.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Great! One more thing to
learn
.” I stressed the last part, hoping he would pick up on my sarcasm.

I spun around at the bowing tr
ees. “Oh, stop it already!”

My eyes widened as every tree stood straight as if nothing happen
ed. I nodded with a cocky smile. “That’s right. You better listen.” I didn’t wait for Mother Nature to argue with me. I turned on my heel, leaving my dad and the wolves as I went back inside. I was so done!

We
gathered in the living room. Well, all but my parents, who went home, back in town. They thought it would be easier to see any new people poking around town that way. Julie was curled up in Jarak’s lap and looked over her shoulder to glare at me before turning her attention back to him.

Ailaina was deeply involved in some Seer book that her father passed down to her. Her eyes were narrowed as she studied every passage. I sighed. Nothing was the same anymore. It felt like
years since we spent a girls’ day just watching movies and hanging out—normally.

Ian sat with me, but I could feel his body tense up as Jarak and Julie whispered to each other. I didn’t want to listen and tried everything to keep myself from overhearing what they talked about.

I couldn’t take the tension anymore. Ian and Jarak barely spoke to each other and it was all because of me. My heart broke knowing that I chose Ian but lost my friend, and in return he lost his brother. I needed to get out and be alone without their constant tension. Ian glanced up at me with his hand still wrapped around mine as I stood. He tipped his head a little. “You okay?”

I tried my best at a smile for him, even if it was fake. “
Yeah, I just need some air.”

“Okay, I’ll get my coat.”

I held up my free hand to stop him. “No, I need some air alone.”

He nodded, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. I knew he worried about me and wanted to be with me, but I needed to do it.

The trail that led up the mountain behind the house became my only solace in the depths of all the trials that were thrown at me. Leaning up against a tree, I inhaled deeply, releasing the breath slowly before letting myself fall to the ground. The quiet stillness of the forest helped me sort things out. It was the only place I could just rest and be me. No magic required.

Crunching pine needles
in front of me broke my thoughts.  My head shot up and I went back on high alert. That seemed to be the only thing I really knew how to do anymore. I sent out magical feelers – well, that’s what I called them anyway – and let my magic flow through the forest, feeling for anything that wasn’t familiar. What came back made my hair stand on end.

Standing up quickly, I got in a stance with my hands up, palms out, ready to protect myself against whoever was coming.

“Luna, be ready, just like we practiced.”

“Just tell me when
,” I heard her growl back.

I saw the cross
breed first through the trees, ascending the mountain. He was taller than I was, but I had more magic than him. I could feel that he was low on energy anyway.

His head snapped up and I knew that he caught sight of me. I held my ground
; running away wasn’t an option. This man, with his dark shaggy hair, was half vampire, and even if he was dying, he was still faster than me. His face contorted into an evil sneer.

“Now!”
I yelled for Luna inside my head.

I jumped back at the same time he lunged
, and Luna materialized out of the air where I had been standing. She clamped down on his neck, sending him to the ground, where she kept him. He wasn’t strong enough to fight her off.

I leaned over them. “Who are you?”

A low grumble came from his throat, but he never spoke. I smiled as I had an idea. It might not be something Ian would be happy with, but I was sure he would have just as much fun as I planned on having.

I stood up and dusted off my jeans. “Fine. Luna, drag him home.”
The crossbreed’s eyes widened.

“I like how you think,” Luna said while pulling his body over the rough trail.

I turned and started toward the cabin, keeping a so-called third eye on him. Through magic I kept my sensory waves out, not wanting to be caught off
-guard for any others that might be lurking in the shadows of the trees.

“Can you let either Maztic or
Dregan know that we’re bringing him?”

“Already done. You knew Maztic wouldn’t like this, right?
He and Jarak are miffed.”

I shrugged.
“I can’t care less what Maztic or Jarak likes.”
And I didn’t care. If this was all on my shoulders, then I should be able to make my own decisions too.

I didn’t make it up the stairs to the front porch before the door opened. Jarak stepped out with an angry expression on his face. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing
, Es? You could have been killed, or worse.”

“
Oh, cut me some slack. It’s not like you’d care.”

Ian
walked out behind him, his arms folded across his chest and a grin spread out on his face.  “Nice job, Princess.” He let out a whistle and I couldn’t help but smile. At least he was proud of me.

“Don’t encourage her. She’s gonna get herself killed doing this crap
,” Jarak yelled at his brother.

“She didn’t die. I’m proud of her. What would you have her do? Call out to one of us every time she sees a breed? She’s not just a witch, but a guardian too. It’s our job, it’s in our blood
, and it’s in
her
blood.”

I smiled inwardly. Oh yeah, that was my boyfriend.

I stepped up on the last stair and planted my hands on my hips, still glaring at Jarak. “I could die at any time during this whole damn war. Encouragement might be what I need to get me through. Did you ever think of that?”

His gaze darted behind me. I knew Luna emerged from the forest with our hostage. Ian brushed past me and helped Luna carry him up to the house. I followed them inside and instantly pushed enough force to hold the
man and keep him from leaving. They set him on the floor by the stairs.