Minerva

Chapter One: Meeting Part 1

The house was surrounded by hanging lights. Strung along a low rope leading from the fence up to the small cottage were lanterns, painted all different colors of the rainbow- and some he had never seen before. Despite their obvious differences in both color and size each one had a rune painted on the bottom in a language Darin could not understand. It gave the decoration a sort of cohesiveness that settled his soul, or perhaps that was the intended use of the runes. Any human would think they were just painted pretty, but he could feel the old magic at work around him, could feel it heavy and deep within his body, settling over him like a familiar blanket.

The front gate was unlocked, like the legends said it always would be. He reached out with his large hand and pushed it open, taking the well-trodden path to the door with long strides. Though he was happy there were no spells or tricks to get through, it all seemed far too easy.

Darin feared what he would have to do, should the witch refuse to leave with him.

Centuries of weak breeding had left many of the paranormal races- including his own- increasingly less powerful. This trend was especially true for the witches. After their more gifted leaders had been killed off in the last major war, the bloodlines had slowly dwindled off, until the once bone-shakingly powerful group of magic wielders only had a handful of children even born with discernible power, each generation a mere shadow of the one that came before.

The girl inside the house was alleged to be one of the witches born with power. Her family had widely avoided the annihilation paranormal fighting had brought upon many others. The Harlow line dated back to the beginning of time, as far as the books were concerned. Darin knew that history texts were often fabricated or exaggerated by those who wrote them, but even old wolf and vampire texts seemed to agree. The Harlows were the real deal.

Although this witch's specific powers were unknown, the wolf did not feel an ounce of fear for his own safety. The majority of her line was known for what was called 'life' magic. Greenthumbs and healing. Not that they were incapable of invoking darker magic, but their bloodline had an uncanny ability for those types of things. Unless she planned on turning him into a sunflower, Darin's greatest worry about making contact with the girl was that, if he did have to use any amount of force, he may not be able to hold back from injuring her and completing his assignment in one go. Still he was determined to try his best.

The walk up to the residence had been long; the narrow dirt road he drove in ended nearly five miles from the house, so he had done the last leg on foot. Darin was not tired from the journey- if anything his muscles felt loosened and grateful for the exercise after too many days cooped up in the castle guarding his king.

Darin's beast, on the other hand, was another story. Ever since the plane had landed at the airport, the wolf trapped inside his mind had started to pace in circles, on edge for a reason that Darin could not comprehend. That was the only reason Darin did not allow his wolf to take over and make the run to the house for him. The journey would have passed in moments instead of minutes, but Darin chose to move in his human skin because, for the first time ever, he was unsure what his wolf was thinking.

The door seemed almost too tall for the small structure behind it. The dark brown wood appeared to have been another color entirely- either time or the elements had faded it- and ended a foot above even Darin's head. Outside of wolf communities, he was not used to finding doorways suited for a man of his stature. Though normally he would be grateful for such accommodations, the huge door seemed almost comical when taken in with its surroundings.

There was no doorbell in sight so Darin raised his thick fist and knocked twice on the wood. He heard the noise echo inside the house, followed by the lightest of footsteps approaching the door. The witch pulled open the barrier between them confidently, curiosity and nothing else shining in her eyes.