The Witch and the Wolf: Part One Read Online Free PDF Page B

coming. I suggest you ready yourselves.”

Five
    “How did you know someone was coming?” Cross asked, coming to stand next to Rory.
    “We have a lot of protection spells cast and someone came through the first few lines of defense,” she explained. Cross nodded. She was glad the wolf had shown up. She couldn’t quite name the feeling , but she felt…safer? Calmer? She couldn’t say exactly, but she was glad he was there to help. His friend didn’t seem too thrilled, but it couldn’t hurt to have two extra hands in the fight. Plus, they were going to ask the Moon Brothers anyway. This saved them the drive.
    “We should draw them farther out of the city!” Deanne argued again. They had been in the middle of an argument when Cross and Oswald had shown up. Deanne and Ursula thought they should draw the Sun Riders out of town or at least to a less populated area of town. They would be able to cast bigger and more powerful spells without getting noticed. If they stayed put, they would either have to use smaller spells or risk the humans taking notice.
    You could only cast so much magic before it saturated the area enough for humans to pick up on. That wouldn’t be the best case scenario. It didn’t usually work out well for witches once humans began getting suspicious. It wouldn’t be long after that before the humans got nervous and then they would get anxious. Usually, this culminated in burned houses at best and burned witches at worst.  Deanne and Ursula wanted to put up a big fight, but also keep their secret safe.
    Magda and Jamie thought it was better to stay put. The wolves wouldn’t risk getting the human police involved. The close proximity to humans, they argued, would help keep the wolves from going all out. The first time they had attacked, it had been beneath the cover of the woods. They didn’t want to be discovered anymore than the coven did.
    Sara and Rory didn’t have an opinion either way. The Sun Riders would take maybe another four or five minutes to reach them. Rory wished that the witches were a little more like werewolves at that point. If Jamie were the coven “alpha”, they would already be casting spells since her word would be law. Instead, since covens were more of a community, they were arguing about where to fight.
    “Ladies,” Cross said. “Sorry to tell you, but I think you should start casting. The matter has already been decided.”
    Rory didn’t see anyone approaching on either side of the street. She was about to ask Cross what he was talking about, but then she heard it. The distant hum of motorcycles approaching.
    The two wolves dropped into an aggressive stance and stalked off toward the backyard. Rory watched them go concerned , but didn’t have time to speak. She was methodically casting three protection spells. She and Sara were both casting spells of protection. Rory’s were farther out than Sara’s. Sara was the best protection caster in the coven and would be casting spells only in close range. If one of the Sun Riders got close enough to touch a witch, they would be in for a nasty shock. Ursula, Jamie, and Deanne were casting various spells that would knock riders off their motorcycles or momentarily stop a wolf in its tracks.
    Magda didn’t have any official capacity. She was the best offensive spell caster the coven had and would wait to see where she was needed. She also knew more lethal spells than any of the other witches. If someone got close, they would need her available to kill when needed. This was the witches’ last resort. Lethal spells were usually off limits , but were on the table for this fight.
    Rory was finishing her last spell and trying to strengthen the other two when a wolf appeared at her side. She hadn’t realized how large they were the first time she had seen them shift. If any one of Jamie’s neighbors looked out their windows, the jig would be up. Cross came up to Rory’s shoulder at least and Ozzy was only slightly smaller.