Witch Wolf (Chaelisa)

Chapter 25-26

I killed the engine in front of my apartment. Stepping out with my bag and clothes, I pressed the button on the keypad. The car beeped, letting me know it was locked. I unlocked the apartment door and walked into the cool house, turning the light on over the dining room table.

"Where the hell have you been?" I jumped. "Good Goddess." I felt my eyes widen. "Bam, what the hell are you doing here?" The wolf growled quietly, disturbed by someone invading her den. I took a deep breath and soothed her, projecting a sense of pack to her. She settled down, her ears perked but otherwise calm.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past three hours," he said. I looked at the door, then back to where he was sitting on the couch. "How the fuck did you get in?"

"I don't need a key," he said. "You picked my lock?" He nodded. "If you had a chain on the door it would've been more difficult. I'd have had to bust the chain."

"I'll remember that," I said and put my stuff on the table. "Looks like you stayed the night somewhere," he said. "I did," I admitted. "Where?" he asked, "Sana's?" I shook my head and went to the fridge, opening a can of Diet Coke. "Nope. Guess again."

"The countess?" he asked and even as he asked it he managed to sound like he quite didn't believe it. My voice was soft as I sat down in the armchair. "Yeah."

"I don't trust her." His brown eyes had gone cold and hard. "I'm afraid," I said. "Why are you afraid? I haven't known you to be afraid of anything. Except for spiders," he said. "I'm afraid," I said, "that I do trust her."

"Lisa, you can't trust anyone. Especially not a vampire."

"Bam, I think you forget what I am."

"You're a different story," he said. "You didn't choose to be what you are."

"Who's to say Roseanne chose to be a vampire?"

"They're tricksters, Lisa." His voice was calm, as if he was trying to get the words gradually through to me, like if he didn't remain calm and speak slowly I wouldn't hear him. I suddenly felt like a crazy woman he was trying to talk down off the ledge. I didn't like that. "You don't know her," I said, narrowing my eyes. "So don't start passing judgment and don't start talking down to me."

"I'm not passing judgment," he said. "I'm not talking down to you. I'm just saying that you haven't known her long enough to really know her either." He stood from the couch. "Wait," I said and he stopped. "Are you mad at me?"

"That's not my place," he said. "I'm just worried. I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into." His shoulders lifted in a shrug beneath the denim jacket. He turned to look at me "You're like a sister to me and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Bam," I said, "I don't want to get hurt, either. Trust me on that one."

"Do what you have to do." He nodded and opened the door. "Call me if you need anything." He shut the door behind him. I got up and locked it, placing the laptop that had been moved to the island on the dining room table. I forgot to ask him why he had been calling me in the first place. If it had been important, he would've told me, but I had a feeling that Bam was just worried about me.

I only hoped that he wouldn't resort to picking my lock again. With a new shifting ability, Goddess only knew what could happen if someone seriously spooked me. I rubbed my temples. I'd gotten used to going furry once a month.

The wolf had become just another aspect of myself, but the raven... I hoped that the raven didn't come with the same price as the wolf. If it came with the price of going feathery once a month, I wasn't sure how I felt about that.