The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

After running well into the sunrise, we are halfway to the camp when the group suddenly stops.

Ezra shifts first.

"We'll rest here for an hour, get something to eat, and then continue."

I nod, thankful that my wolf can't blush because all of these men are shifting back to their human forms, b**t naked.

Getting behind a tree for some coverage, I shift to my human form and change. When I get back to the group, the one named Arlo hands me a small wooden lunchbox.

"Jeremy prepared these for us," he says with a smile.

My mouth immediately begins to water. I didn't have dinner last night and to hear this is Jeremy's food? I basically tear open the box and start eating before I've even sat with the others. There's fresh rice, fresh meats with some sort of smokiness to it, sautéed vegetables, and even some sort of ham. It's absolutely delicious.

We all sit in silence, in a circle, as we eat our food.

"I say we should always bring Arlo with us, this food is fantastic." Rowan says.

"You wish, I'm only doing this because it's for Noah. We're not even half way and I've wanted to puke three times during this run," Arlo says, liking his fork.

"Take one for the team, man. Jeremy would never cook this for us," Rowan says.

I'm watching the exchange with a frown, curious. Ezra notices and fills me in.

"Jeremy seems to have a crush on Arlo," he explains.

**Seems to have a crush on Arlo? That poor guy nearly shits himself every time Arlo is around.

He even changed his shift in the kitchen to fit some training in his schedule, training with *Arlo.* "Ryker says.

"Jealous much?" Colt asks Ryker.

"Absolutely! With the way he cooks? I don't care about anything else." Ryker says and we all laugh.

"Leave him be, a tiny crush never hurt anyone." Arlo says, finishing his meal and closing the box.

"This one might," Ezra whispers, too low for anyone else to hear him.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

After our small chat is over, the guys lay on the ground and within minutes, they're asleep.

I watch dumbfounded how they just fall deeply asleep so easily, Rowan is even snoring. The only two left up are Ezra and myself.

"Alright," I say, getting up. "I'm gonna go stretch a bit," I tell him.

"Don't wander far, we've gotten reports of rogues around these areas," he says.

I nod.

Stretching is just an excuse. What I really want is to leave the group so nobody sees me using my magic.

Finding a tree big enough to carry deep roots, I step behind it to cover myself from any wandering eyes.

"Here we go," I say, taking off my shoes and rubbing my hands together.

I crouch down to the ground and close my eyes, taking a deep breath as I burry my hands on the soil as deeply as I can. I move my hands inside slowly, shifting the dirt between my fingers as I search for what I'm looking for. Before, I didn't understand how this worked. I was subject to what the forest wanted to show me and when, but now I understand how it works a little better.

What I'm looking for is that intrinsic, organic magic that free flows throughout the entire forest. I've found that it is strongly carried in the roots of the trees, kind of like a subterranean spider web.

I stop moving my hands, having found that electricity I was looking for.

"There you are." I whisper to myself.

Once I tap into it, I let it move within my fingertips, concentrating on what I seek.

Soon, my vision begins and this time, it's showing me exactly what I want: a layout of the entire

area.

We've never been here before, and this way, I can find out if there are any hiding spaces, caves, waterfalls, waterholes, or anything that could be useful to us in the case of an emergency. If I concentrate enough, it will even show me if there are other people around us; in this case, rogues.

Having the forest show me people is a little trickier unless it really wants to. I have no problem accessing the magic of the forest and therefore locating natural landscapes, but people operate outside this network of magic, so it's not intuitively trying to show me that.

After several minutes, I'm satisfied enough to stop.

I sigh.

So far, there doesn't seem to be any danger in this route we're taking.

I return to where the other guys are resting with my shoes in my hand.

Off to a side, I spot Ezra sitting up against a tree with a book. I decide to join him.

"What are you reading?" I ask when I'm close enough.

He perks up, lifting his eyes from the book.

"You're back," he says, closing his book, "just some history."

I note the cover of the book and recognize its symbol.

"You like reading about witches?" I ask nonchalant, but in reality. I'm very interested in his

answer.

"Not particularly, I just recently got into it."

I rummage through my mind for any excuse to continue on with this conversation, any comment or story that might help, but before I can come up with something, he speaks.

"My family has served the Crown for generations; it is said that my great-great-grandfather owed a debt of blood to the then King and Noah's great-great-grandfather, therefore, my entire family line is destined to serve the King." I frown.

"You serve him because there's a debt?"

He chuckles,

"No, no, I serve Noah because I respect him; he is going to be a great King once he gets rid of that f*****g Council. He's always had that," he pauses, "that *aura* about him. In the way he moved, in the way he fought, in the way he would lead us. There has never been a doubt in my mind that I would give my life in service for someone like that. It's almost as if I already knew he was King. In fact, I think many of us already perceived it."

I smile at this, proud of the way he refers to Noah, and proud to know this is how most of the warriors feel.

"That being said," he continues, "as my lineage goes back generations in service to the Crown, I grew up with endless tales of witches and warlocks and all that nonsense they tell you as a child to frighten you. As you may know, those who fought for Noah's family were trained as witch hunters."

I stop breathing.

"Which is why it intrigued me to find out today that *you* are a witch."