The Garden Witch

Chapter Four

I stood up.

"Hang on," I said. "I don't want to be involved with this."

He watched me mildly. "You're already involved."

"Yeah, but there's a big difference between trying not to be killed and joining up with your little quest to becoming Alpha." I gestured vaguely. "I'll just leave town for a while."

"And when you come back? I need your help, Tabitha. I can't do this without you. If you leave, I'll wind up dead and so will you. Stephen will come after you."

"But why?" I demanded, already knowing the answer. "Ugh. I should have just left you on my doorstep."

"Then I'd be dead."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

I sank back onto the couch.

"Okay, so what do we do?"

"We need to find a way to get into the mansion. There's about thirty wolves living there so it won't be easy. But I just need to get to Stephen to challenge him. Once he's challenged, he can't turn it down or he'll lose their respect."

"That doesn't seem so bad." I let out a yawn.

"We'll need help. I'll reach out to my contacts in the Pack and ask them to find us a way in." He eyed me. "That can wait until tomorrow though. You should get some sleep."

"I'm fine," I insisted, as I let out another yawn.

"You can take the couch," he said. "I'll keep watch."

Not sure what else I could really do, I stretched out on the lumpy couch and closed my eyes. I could hear Alex shuffling across the room.

Yesterday I had been making a routine drop off for Thomas and then planning on heading home for dinner. Now I was down a cat and best friend and was hiding out in an abandoned office building with a rogue werewolf. I struggled to wrap my head around it. This was not what my life was like. I didn't enjoy danger or adrenaline. I had gone sky-diving once, yeah, but had sworn to never do it again. I liked my feet fixed firmly on the ground, with my plants. But now I felt like I was in freefall again, not sure where I would land.

I eventually fell asleep and had dark dreams about wolfs and men with brown eyes. I woke up confused and disoriented, tugging the blanket tighter over me in the cold. Finally, I remembered where I was. The room was empty but the heater was still on, keeping the cold at bay. I slipped off the couch and stretching aching muscles. I was not used to sleeping on furniture that wasn't my own bed.

I tugged my coat around my shoulders and poked my head out of the office into the hallway. It was empty, too. Sighing, I went back inside. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Alex said he wanted my help but I couldn't be sure why. Maybe he would need me to patch him up again if he was hurt.

I was sitting staring at the wall, lost in my own thoughts, when Alex reappeared. He was carrying a McDonald's bag.

"Here, I got us some breakfast." He handed me the bag. "I wasn't sure what you liked."

"This is fine," I told him, unwrapping a biscuit. I took a bite into the crumbly meal and thought I had never tased anything so good. I had neglected to eat dinner the night before and was feeling it now. The hot foot warmed me up a little inside and made me a little cheerier.

"So," I started. "What do we do now?"

"My friend Thomas is going to come as soon as he can. It isn't safe to talk over the phone, but he's allowed to leave the mansion so he's going to stop by later."