Brittany Snow as Esme, High Priestess.

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"Now he faints? Sun God, why, by all that's radiant, am I rooted to a wolf?" I asked for the thousandth time, really not expecting an answer.

"Witch, I will tear you to pieces if you dare touch him," Alpha Darric growled.

Beta Ronan shifted, and his wolf roared and jumped at me. I flung my hand, and he went flying and hit a tree. I spread the same hand at him, and glued him to the tree. His wolf clawed at the tree and my invisible cords tying him to the tree. He kept howling and trying to get out of what I had holding him to the tree, but to no avail.

"You will release my Beta now, witch, or I will take delight in tearing you to pieces." The Alpha's wolf emerged and lunged at me in midair.

"Silly Alpha, you will not hurt my root."

The Alpha's wolf sank his teeth into my arm. His teeth felt like tiny needles; irritating, but not painful. I chanted, and his jaws were lifted off my arm, and he's flung against a tree. He got up and grew bigger and more ferocious, his fangs stained with my blood.

I made the tree branches behind him grab him and hold his arms and legs apart with the vines twisting all over his limbs. His fangs tore at the vines and branches on his arms, releasing them. He used his claws to tear the ones off his legs and landed on his feet.

"Not bad for such a big mutt," I taunted him. Nothing pisses werewolves off more than calling them mutts. And the big, bad Alpha was no different. He ran toward me, aiming for my neck but I suspended him in midair and twirled him around just for the heck of it. I wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain he caused my root, so I twisted his leg until I heard a crack. He wailed in pain. Too bad these mutts heal fast. Remembering that killing this piece of shit will kill my root, I flung him higher and left him hanging in the air. He changed back.

I floated up to him, looked him in his blood red eyes, "Got to go, Alpha. I'm done playing with you for now." I floated back down, walked over to Cal, saw that he was still breathing but in a hell of a lot of pain.

"Let me down, witch, or you will regret it," Alpha Darric growled.

"Anytime, anywhere, Alpha, I will be happy to oblige you. And you will stay there until your mate wakes up and heals."

I touched Cal, murmured a disappearing spell, and we landed in my room. I floated him gently onto my bed and covered him with a bedsheet. I went downstairs to gather some healing herbs and creams Cal and his partners sell in my store. How ironic that I help sell their wares, but I don't know what to use on him. I applied whichever cream or lotion that has pain reliever on the label, and he groaned wherever I touched. My delicate and feisty little root, what did that stupid Alpha do to you? He needed to shift to his wolf to heal faster.

"Cal, you must shift to heal. Cal shift now!"

No response from Cal, I linked his wolf. "Sköll, come out; your human needs to heal."

Sköll slowly emerged.

"He's hurt that badly Esme?"

"He's hurt badly. Just stay for a while and let him heal, okay?"

Sköll closed his eyes and I sat on the bed and gently rubbed his soft furry head. I ran my hand softly down his silver fur. Yes, he is indeed my favorite fur coat. I will never admit this even on my dying bed, but Cal somehow completes me. No, not in a sexual way, but he grounds me, and I must admit that he makes my powers stronger. Call me selfish, but I am not about to let some dumbass mutt of an Alpha kill him. Nope, not on my watch.

A witch communicating with a wolf has never been seen or done before, believe me I checked. The minute I realized Cal was my root at age five, I was able to communicate with his wolf. Why did my root have to be a wolf? I have never heard of a witch having a wolf as her root. I used to think I would do better with another witch. Every witch I know has another witch as their root.

A Root is supposed to ground a witch. To be his or her moral compass. A companion for life. The one that allows my magic to constantly grow. A familial type of relationship. One that is more passionate than love and greater than familial love. A witch without a Root is bound to be directionless, groundless, and susceptible to the dark side, evil.

An hour later, Sköll opened his eyes.

"He's healed."

"Time to find him a new home he's always talking about," I reply.

"I think he's ready to leave our mate, Esme. He was about to reject him."

"I know. I heard. I don't want that pain for him, but what other choice does he have? If Darric doesn't kill him physically, he sure as hell will destroy him emotionally, and I'm not ready to lose my Root. Call me selfish, but I want to live long and my way; just saying."

"Just help find us a good pack; one that will protect and appreciate us."

"Of course. I want him to meet an Alpha who is the exact opposite of Darric. I will set up a meeting with Alpha Salim Taylor. He's the only other Alpha I know that is strong enough to go head to head with Darric in a showdown."

"I know him," Sköll squealed "Cal gives good vibes whenever we run into him. Cal's itching to come out. We'll talk soon. Bye Esme."

"Bye, Sköll."

Sköll shifted, and Cal emerged.

"Where am I?" Cal asked, slowly sitting up in bed and looking around my room. "Oh, your room. You've changed the color again?"

My whole room is painted black: the wall, the ceiling, the door, the window—everything in the room is painted black. And there are rainbow colored objects scattered about on my black walls. The objects sparkled and with colored lights like disco balls.

"One gloomy day, I was in the mood for rainbow colors, and voila! I know I can conjure them up, but a little manual labor never hurt a witch."

"So, you decided to paint the pineapple, the corn, the waterfall, and the ice cream on your walls in rainbow colors? And what is that one on your window?"

"A knee-high boot with rainbow colored butterflies on it."

"O-kay. I think there's a little cray-cray in your genes." Then Cal looked into my eyes and added, "I need to go back."

"To your pack? Are you crazy? Your mate just did a number on you without any regret. I saved your scrawny ass, and now you want to go back? And you say I'm crazy?"

"I know Alpha Darric. Whatever you did to him, and I really don't want to know; if I'm not back, he will hurt the other omegas to find out where I am. I lived with that asshole all my life; I know how his warped mind works."

"Fine. Picture where you want to go—the exact location." I see a cramped looking room in his mind. "Good, let's go." I held his hand, and seconds later, we're in the room, and Cal wobbled a little. Wimpy mutt.

"With all the cleaning and cooking and laundry and whatever else you do in this pack; couldn't you find the time to clean your own room? Look at this place. It's like a minefield," I said, shaking my head, as I walked around clothes littered all over the floor and furniture turned upside down.

"Someone ransacked this room. They have the omegas. I have to go find them." Cal dashed towards the door.

"Wait. I may have found a new pack for you."

"What? Which pack? Who's the Alpha?"

"Crimson River Pack, Alpha Salim?"

"That's a werecat pack, Esme. Wolves and cats don't do well together. And I doubt he'll take us."

"A pack is a pack. Times are changing, Cal. Have you ever tried living with werecats? You need a pack or else you will die here. Your mate will not hesitate to hurt you."

"Fine. I need to meet him first, and I bring the omegas with me".

"Wait a doggone minute; no one said anything about adding three more mangy mutts to the mix."

"They can't stay here after I leave because if anything happens to them—and believe me it will—I won't be able to live with myself."

"Fine, dang it, you're one stubborn fur coat. I'll let you know what he says." Then I flew home. I don't want to stay too long and catch fleas.

A few seconds later in my store, I picked up my phone and called a pussy cat I know.

"I hear someone is still looking for his mate?"

"You know I am. How's that your business, witch?"

"I have a proposition that will get you closer to finding your mate. Are you by any chance interested?"

"If you are conning me or playing some kind of head game with me, witch, I will make you pay."

"Would I do that to my wittle, wittle pussy cat?" I said in my best baby voice.

"Be there in an hour." Then I heard a click.

Oh god, these weres are so easy to tease. Laughing, I turned my phone off.

I waved my hand in the air and called out to him. I've felt him since I came back home. "You can come out now. I know you're here."

He suddenly appeared into view right in front of me, I jumped back. My Sun God, I hate when he does that.

"So how was your walk in the forest, Esme? Someone told me you had a little run-in with an Alpha in No Man's Land."

With a big fake-ass smile, trying to block him from reading my mind, I took a step back, and with all pretentious reverence, bowed to him.

Crap, it's going to be a long, long day.

Esme sure loves having fun with these Weres, doesn't she? Well, a girl's gotta have fun, right? 😊.

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