His Runner

Who Are You

As I leave the room, I take a good look around. The house is very charming inside. It's a typical farmhouse as you would imagine. Creaky floors, mismatched pillows, crochet blankets everywhere, and so many family pictures, there was hardly any space left on the walls. There were little nick-nacks on every surface. Surprisingly enough there was not a speck of dust. You can tell there was so much love in the house.

It reminds me of my parents. This was us. Love was everywhere in our home, with pictures hanging on all the walls. Family nights on the couch and everyone fought over the good blankets. I miss them so much that it hurts to breathe when I think about them.

"Come on in dear. I have some hot cocoa ready for you." Rose said bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Did the kids go down alright?" said Rose.

"Yes, they are usually fairly good sleepers. I want to thank you both again for your kindness. I'm not sure how I will ever thank you. I'm sure you both have questions, and I will try to answer them." I say looking down. I'm not sure how much to tell them but I feel like I can trust them for some reason.

"Well, I think we will start with the obvious question. What and who are you running from?" Rose says as she looks at me. I can see sympathy in her eyes. I knew that she never believe my lie about going to visit family.

"We want you to feel safe talking to us and know that we will help you in any way that we can," Jed says looking at me while reaching for Rose's hand. I look at them while chewing on my lip and think about how much I should tell them. Everything inside of me is screaming to trust them. I wanted to so badly. I wanted to just cry and spill everything. I wanted to hope that this was all over. I hated that he took that from me. Hope. Such a simple thing, yet it's been years since I have felt the feeling of hope. It scared me.

I thought for a moment before speaking. Maybe if I know them a little better I will feel more comfortable talking to them. I was sure that if I didn't tell them they would kick us out. Plus, what if I did tell them and they didn't want this danger in their house? I didn't feel that they would be that rude of people but I have learned to never trust first impressions of someone.

"Can I ask you both some questions first before I answer?" I ask timidly.

"Of course," Jed says.

"Who are you guys? I mean, like, what are you?" I say and look down and hope that was not a rude question. They both chuckle a little.

"Well, I am a white witch," says Rose with a smile.

"And I am a wolf, but I think you knew that already. I used to be Alpha of our pack until I passed it down to our son." Jed says.

As soon as Rose said she was a witch I know that my face paled a little. I knew little about witches and only about the dark things they have done in our pack. I knew the pain they could inflict. They were dangerous and calculating. Evil was not dark enough of a word to explain what they were. I didn't know what a white witch was, but I would hope that white was a good thing. I would never associate the color white with something evil.

"What does a white witch mean? I wasn't aware there were different types of witches." I say and I know there is a little panic in my voice. Rose reaches across the table and out of instinct I flinch. I see surprise and sadness cross both their faces. She slowly moves her hand out to my hand and holds it.

"My dear, it means I am a good witch. A white witch takes an oath to never harm unless needed for defense. But we can talk about that later. I think there are some things we need to know before we talk about that," she says looking me in the eyes.

As she is holding my hand, I can feel myself calm down. I nod my head because I can't get words to come out of my mouth at that moment. She lets go of my hand and I take a sip of my hot cocoa. When I put it down, I look at Jed.

"Is that why you are so big? Because you are an Alpha?" I say with a little blush. Jed and Rose laugh a little.

"Yes, it's a wonderful side effect of the Alpha genes," Rose says with a laugh and a wink.

"So can you answer our question now?" Jed says.

"I'm not sure how much to tell you, but I feel like I can trust you both. Maybe I should just start from the beginning?" I say.

"I think that may be best. That way we will know how to help you." Jed says and gives me a reassuring smile.

"Ok, well it started when I was 17...."