Witch Wolf (Chaelisa)

Chapter 11-12

Sana sat at the far end of the couch, away from Roseanne, away from me. "What do you want to know?" she asked. "You know there's stuff I can't tell you."

"I know," I said. "Roseanne told me that she suggested you hire me." I rubbed my temples. Sana hadn't committed the murder, but someone in her pack could have. There was a chance, a slight chance, that it was a wolf outside of the pack. Yet Sana and her little werewolf buddies had been in the woods near the scene of the crime. "How close are you to your pack?"

"We're close," she said. "Why do you seem so worried?" She leaned forward and reached out toward me. I looked at her hand and she stopped. "This isn't just about my missing brother, is it?"

"No," I said, "not entirely. Does your pack hunt in those woods?"

"Yes," she admitted freely. "Why?"

"How many of them like to munch on humans?" I gave her a hard look. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "None," she said defensively. "My pack mates didn't eat my brother, if that's what you're implying." The edge of a growl rolled out of her mouth. That growl did it. I felt the wolf pushing against the wall of my shields.

My lips parted and a trickling growl fell from them, echoing Sana's. It was a call, a challenge from one wolf to another. Sana's growl deepened. Mine held the edge of a warning. "I'm second in command to the Blackthorne Pack," she said confidently. I felt the energy of her beast rise, as if I could reach out and touch it.

Her energy called to my beast and it rose to the challenge in a rush of energy. Sana moved forward, and that was all it took. I'm not a bully, but in that moment I understood what the wolf understood, what I'd carefully avoided for the past three years. One wolf is always more dominant than the other. I was not about to let myself get dominated.

I looked the second in command in the eyes and felt my hair stirring in its ponytail, in the heat of energy that emitted from my body. Sana stood from the couch with a growl. The beast rose, standing at the surface, at the brink, ready to push forth. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, counting to ten. I was not going to allow myself to shift just because I couldn't control my temper.

I felt my nails lengthen, felt my canines sharpen against my lips. I curled my lips back and growled. For a second, I felt her wolf hesitate and then she didn't. Her shoulder connected to my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs. My back hit the wall, knocking another lungful of air out of me.

I had a heartbeat to take the upper hand. I put my foot behind her heel, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pushed. It would've worked, but Sana grabbed a handful of my ponytail and pulled me down with her. She snapped at my neck in a half sitting position and I thrust my elbow out, hitting her in the eye with its point.

Her human nails clawed at my chest. I pushed out with my arms, trying to keep her away from my midsection. She grabbed my shoulders and pushed and I knew she wasn't using all of her strength. She could've knocked me across the room, but what she did was shoved me on my back.

I brought my left knee up until it met her stomach. I'd succeeded in returning the favor of knocking the air out of her. She gasped and I thrust her off me, rolling on top of her. We were opposites in size, she and I. Sana was more than a few inches taller. I dug my claws into the back of her wrists and pinned them to the floor, giving one last warning growl to the wolf below.

Finally, Sana whimpered her submission. When she didn't move, I stood. "Do that again," I said carefully, so that my words were clear, "and I can't promise you I won't rip your throat out, Sana."

She gave me a considering look. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, well," I said, closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing, replacing the bars with bricks, "I don't like being provoked, let alone fucking attacked."