“Aw fuck,” Iris hisses.
“What?”
“Moon Walker Pack, twelve o’clock,” she says, using her head to point in the direction of said shifters.
I take a quick glance and sure enough, Maddox, Kit, and Selma are walking into the outdoor space like they own it.
Tonight can go two ways. One; we don’t interact with any of them and we go about our night enjoying the festivities. Two; everything is about to go to shit.
Just my birthday luck, it appears that it’s going to be the latter as Kit approaches us. She’s tall, about six feet, with dirty blonde hair and an irritated look on her face. She’s pretty, but she isn’t a witch, she’s a shifter. Shifters and Witches don’t mix, especially not in this town.
I didn’t understand the animosity when I first got here, but boy, do I understand it now. The origins of the feud are conflicting, but the main story I hear is that the witch created the first shifter as a curse, and ever since then there’s been nothing but hatred between the Moon Walker Pack and the Celestial Coven.
Above all, both of us have a strong sense of family, and for generations we’ve hated each other, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
“Enjoy your last night here,” she says, leaning against the wall casually.
“Last time I checked, there weren’t any divisions on the mortal lands,” I say, eyeing her up and down like she’s beneath me.
“Haven’t you heard?” Kit asks, looking at Iris and I like we’re beneath her station. “There’s a new Alpha in town.”
Iris rolls her eyes. “How many pack leaders have you had now? Ten in the last twenty years?”
“Yet you both still have the same old hag in charge,” Kit sneers.
My hand is on my wand before I can even think as I point it at her chest. She has a whole half of a foot in height over me as she glances down at me like I’m gum on the bottom of her shoe.
“You do not talk about the High Priestess,” I warn her.
She smiles, as Iris shoves my hand down to put my wand away.
“She’s not worth it,” Iris whispers, shoving the wolf shifter’s arm away. Iris’ eyes flash pale white for only a short moment before her breath hitches and she’s ushering me away. “We need to find Ember and get the fuck out of here, now.”
“Enjoy your time before the witch hunt,” Kit says, waving us off with her fingers.
“What the fuck was that?” I complain as Iris drags me along. “Iris, slow down.”
She doesn’t slow down, her bright pink nails digging into my arm as she finds Ember grinding on some man, before grabbing her by the back of her dress.
“What the hell?” Ember complains as Iris basically drags us both out of the bar.
“What is it?” I ask as Iris puts the back of her hand against her forehead.
“I had a vision,” Iris says, she doesn’t get them often.
Her grandmother is a prolific seer, probably the most profound the coven has ever had, while Iris’ gift lies more with potions. But on rare occasions, it seems she holds the same ability as her grandmother.
We walk away from the bar, the crowd and band noise slowly dissipating.
“We had to leave a night of fun because you had a vision?” Ember complains, feeling totally cock blocked. Sometimes I wish I were more like Ember, that I could enjoy life more easily and not live in my head constantly.
“No, we had to leave because this one took out her wand and pointed at that shifter bitch who was trying to start shit,” Iris says, pointing at me.
“Like you wouldn’t have done the same if she was talking about your grandmother.”
Iris waves me off as she fans herself.
“What was the vision?” Ember asks.
