Sapphire Spells

Chapter 14 - Three of Wands (reversed)

The three of us sit at my small kitchen table, piping hot cups of coffee with various amounts of cream and sugar in one of our hands.

"So, Alaric," Ally grins at him, her eyes sparkling with joy. "When you shift, what happens to your clothing?"

"Ally, stop." I squirm in my seat, gaze pinning her. Suddenly, I regret ever telling her years ago that I am a witch and that certain supernatural things exist in the world. She is the only person in my life who I have ever let in on that secret. Somehow, she didn't run away thinking I was crazy, though I didn't know how much she believed me. It appears as though she believes enough to eagerly accept that Alaric is a shifter without asking for proof. We have yet to get to the part of the story where I tell her that fairies are evil. Instead, we are hung up on the wolves.

"My clothes?" Alaric repeats as if attempting to better understand.

I dare to glance at him as he leans back in his seat, coffee mug casually resting on the table, his large hand set around it. Thankfully he has a shirt again. Shortly after Ally arrived, I quickly changed and returned his shirt, oddly feeling sad about parting with it.

"Yeah." Ally leans towards him. "Like, does it magically get absorbed into your wolf and pop back on when you shift back? Or does it get ripped to shreds when you shift?"

"What kind of stuff do you watch on TV?" He looks at her like she has lost it. "Magically absorbed into a wolf?"

"So, shredded then?" She presses, not at all offended by his tone. She stares at him with wide excited eyes, waiting for his reply.

"Removed before fully shifting." He finally answers.

"Does it hurt?" She asks next, and I find myself curious to hear the answer.

Alaric brings the coffee up to his lips, taking a sip before gently lowering it back to the table. "It can."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Honey eyes meet with mine. "Shifting is like using a muscle, stretching it. Do splits often, and it doesn't hurt. Take long breaks, then forcing that stretch can be painful."

"Can you do a split?" Ally's eyes grow wide.

Alaric snorts. "No."

"Are you the alpha? The leader of your pack?" Ally asks. She is firing off questions at an incredible speed. It is as if she has a list inside her head just waiting for the opportunity.

"Yes."

"I knew it!" She squeals like a little girl, bouncing in her seat.

Alaric hides his lurking smile behind another sip of his coffee. He is enjoying Ally's fangirling over him.

"Ally, enough of the questions for now. There's some stuff I need to fill you in on." I manage to interrupt her line of inquiry, my tone serious.

Her gaze moves over my face, and whatever she sees steals her joy. "What's wrong?" She asks with a frown.

I tell her everything else then, about my aunt, the witches, the wolves, the fairies. By the time I am finished, I feel drained.

"So let me get this straight. Preston is a freaking royal fairy?"

"Unfortunately," Alaric answers, his gaze cutting to me, making me squirm.

"That's why you two could never be anything serious?" Ally asks with a frown, and I know where this is going. Her mind tends to zero in on things like this. Not the fact that Preston's family is murderous but the fact that I chose to spend time with someone unattainable.