A Witch's Confession

20

Part III: The Wolves

—

I pushed the heavy oak door open to a sight that would scar my memory forever.

Kessem changed into his wolf form, lying unconscious on a full size bed. Shallow breaths rose and fell from the luscious, dark fur. But there wasn't even the slightest response to my presence in the room.

"What do you think will happen to him?" I asked Zephyr, who rested in a chair beside the bed frame. It appeared like Zephyr had a horrible night's sleep, just like I did. He uncrossed his leg before laying his hand marked with ancient tattoos across Kessem's back.

"He changes from wolf to man multiple times a day. He is fighting whatever that girl placed in his head," replied Zephyr, and defeat flashed in his brown eyes.

I shook my head at his words, feeling suffocated by such an uncontrollable situation. "I want to help." My voice cracked with a surge of emotion. Zephyr stared a moment longer at his sleeping grandson.

"You can help by sitting at his side. Your presence means so much to him. Our words and thoughts contain magic, and that is why the littlest action can have the biggest impact on the future." He motioned for me to sit on the edge of the bed beside Kessem, and I followed.

He stood and took a long look outside at the werewolf clan nestled outside of Salem—Kessem's extended family. "I will leave you two alone. But another thing to remember," he withdrew the tiger's eye necklace from his pocket, placing it on the quilt beside me. "He may be able to hear our words, but we will not know until he tells us himself." He closed the door behind him.

I held the necklace in my hands, noticing how the edges of the tiger's eye chipped, probably from my backstabbing sister-in-law's magic. The necklace still felt warm, maybe from sitting in Zephyr's pocket for the entire morning. I recalled how much Kessem cherished this necklace. It was the final thing his grandfather gave him before I dragged him into this mess. It was last time he hugged his grandmother before she died.

I am the one who did this to him.

I couldn't help but break into a stream of heavy sobs once Zephyr left the room. My body collapsed over Kessem's still body as I raked my mind over and over again for a solution, but was met with another dead-end.

I researched into the early hours of the morning. It was my dear cousin Alexandria who had to place a steady hand on my shoulder and stop me. She ordered me to put the books away, and ushered me into bed.

My parents and Jacob arrived at dawn, seething with anger at Olivia's vile actions.

"She let the idea of power consume her. We will put a stop to that." My mother promised to me as I wept. But their search had rendered to little results or leads. Olivia took it upon herself to destroy my grandmother's old home. No one knew where the remaining Blood Coven fled, or what they had planned next. It was very unsettling.

"Hello," I said as I ran my fingers through Kessem's fur. "I've never studied you as a wolf up close. Your fur is very soft." I didn't know what to say, and the thought of him being able to hear me caused tears to threaten in my eyes again.

"I don't know what Olivia did to you, but we will never stop looking for answers. And I will visit you every day until I die. I promise." Tears streamed down my cheeks as I held the tiger's eye to my chest.

The wolf morphed back into his usual self. His naked body was cold, clammy, his dark hair clung to his forehead. I ran my hand down his tan face, noting the light scars than ran over his cheek.