Something tells me I’m not about to have a warm welcome tonight from my little wife.
I turn the faucet off and grab the towel, running it over my hair and beard before wrapping it around my waist and stepping out.
“Let’s go show them who owns this town,” I tell Jonas, who gives me a feral grin.
“Buy some new boots while we’re out,” he says, turning to let me get dressed.
The witches didn’t want peace? Well, maybe this will change their minds.
The documents are long signed, no doubt the news spreading through town that it’s no longer Wedington Properties who owns the main strip downtown. It’s Walker Industries.
There are four witch-owned businesses on the small strip. Goddess Apothecary, Lavender and Lime, Cora’s Bakery, and The Cauldron.
Perhaps the witches considered owning the building that houses another dozen businesses as a stupid move, or maybe their hatred runs so deep they only cared about buying out land so the pack couldn’t get their piece.
For whatever reason, their ignorance is my gain. They’re now my tenants and it seems like the price of rent just went up.
I’m trying to stay in my cabin. Desperately trying not to go to Violet’s home, but despite all my efforts, I wind up packing a bag and hopping on the back of my bike in the dead of night.
The night air has a crispness that the daytime doesn’t offer. I almost feel like I’m shifted and running freely. I sigh as excitement over the upcoming full moon fills me. So many years I’ve dreamed about what it would be like to run in a full pack. I’ve had Jonas all these years, and I’m grateful for him, but it isn’t the same.
I’ve finally found my family and I’m not going to let anything destroy it. Especially not a band of self-righteous witches who think magic makes them superior beings.
I’m barely off my bike when the large front door of Violet’s home swings open and she comes storming down the porch. Her wand is clutched in her hand, but she doesn’t raise it.
“You bought downtown?” she says, raising her voice.
“Seems your High Priestess might not have as much foresight as she thought.”
“Where did the money come from?” Violet questions, and I shrug. “You can’t kick them out, they’ve all worked hard to own and run those stores,” Violet says.
I take a few steps toward her, towering over her. She seems pissed, but tilts her chin so she can glare at me.
“It sounds oddly familiar. Do you know how many businesses your grandmother has torn out of the hands of shifters? Tell me Violet, are you happy to be a bystander to your grandmother’s hatred, or are you just as evil?”
“You don’t understand, you just got here. This is the way things have always been.”
“Been, how? Witches on top and every other supernatural on the bottom next to humans?”
“No,” she replies quickly and shakes her head.
“No? Then tell me why Moon Walker Pack has lost nearly one-hundred acres of pack land in the last thirty years. Tell me why our numbers are down, why every member fears your grandmother?”
She doesn’t back down, and I’ll give her credit for that.
“You heard her at that meeting. Moon Walker Pack killed coven members.”
“You’re so sure of that?”
She steels her spine and nods at me. “Grand-mère may be a lot of things, but she isn’t a liar.”
I sigh and bend down so we're at eye level. “I guess some things don’t change.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“That you’re still that desperate little girl who would do anything for a family,” I say, regretting the words as soon as they slip out.
She holds her wand to my throat, the cold metal pressing against my skin.
