The Wolf and his Witch

Chapter 19: Wolf gift & Lessons

Freya

The soft fur under her fingers was like nothing Freya had ever felt before. It was velvety, thick, and lush.
The wolf had coaxed her to pet him and now he was just laying there by her side, rumbling sounds coming from his chest. She had known who he was as soon as she had woken.
"You hurt me you know" there was a low whine, then the wolf was up staring into her eye's.
Suddenly he was licking all over her face. Her wolf was apologizing.
She had felt the wolfs pain, his regret. Freya knew he needed her forgiveness, so she hugged him.
He gave a happy yip, a delighted giggle escaped her lips at his pup-like actions.
Suddenly he jumped off the bed and disappeared out the door, she half expected for Kristoff to appear.
It may be strange, but she needed an apology from him too, not just the wolf part of his nature.
Minutes later the wolf reappeared with something in his mouth. He jumped back up and dropped it on her lap. To her confusion, he had bought her what looked to be a small lump of clay?
She picked it up and... "Oh" her wolf had bought her amber. She could feel the power of the raw jewel.
It was a beautiful gift from mate to mate. The ultimate gesture.
Wrapping her arms around the wolf she hugged him and pulled him down next to her, snuggling into him.
Freya hadn't expected her wolf to make such a gesture so soon. It was completely unexpected, yet she treasured it.
His warmth was so comforting, Freya felt the lids of her eyes becoming heavier. A tongue licked out at her cheek. She huffed out a sigh that sounded more amused than annoyed.
"Yes, I forgive you, but your human side still has some work to do" she felt the vibration of his rumbling against her body and knew he was laughing. Her wolf was laughing. Incandescent joy lit deep within.
Freya snuggled back into him, his fur tickling her nose. The cold numbness that had seeped into her bones defrosting. This wolf was her mate.
Freya had known since the day he had kidnapped her, their courtship wouldn't be easy. Still, she would not give up on them so easily. That didn't mean she would allow him to insult her without reprimand. He was her mate, not her Alpha.
Rustling sheets met her ears. Turning her head Freya saw Jacob stretching, and Tillie blinking away sleep.
The wolf jumped down, going over to the children. He brushed his side against Jacobs hanging legs, to the young boys' amusement.
Tillie giggled and jumped down off her bed, her legs moving quickly, arms open wide as she made her way to Kristoff's wolf.
The wolf stopped, bracing, just before the two collided. Tillie wrapped her small arms around his neck hugging him tightly.
Freya couldn't help the laugh that burst out of her mouth when she heard what Tillie was repeating over and over again. "Good puppy. There, there."
The wolf locked his gaze with her own, an exasperated look on his face. He turned his head and huffed out loudly, his breath ruffling Tillie's hair. Her giggles were now uncontrollable she lost her grip and fell to the ground.
Kristoff's wolf yelped back in fright when she dropped. He moved in nuzzling at Tillie, attempting to get the young girl up. The wolfs worried gaze flicking from Tillie to Freya. Her heart melted at the worry.
"Tillie" Freya called out, she waited as Tillie pulled herself together. "Yeah, Aunt Frey?" Moving over to the two of them Freya sat on the ground and opened her arms. Tillie moved to her settling in.
Freya breathed in deeply, she felt sitting next to them, his arm hooking into her own.
The two were weak, she could feel it. Their magic had been concentrated on shielding them. Freya had tried to cover them as well as herself. The sheer force of the attack against two children had been ridiculous. Freya had counted ten different auras within the force responsible for the assault.
The anger she had felt in that moment fuelled her. Giving her the drive to carry on.
Freya needed to take them outside to absorb natures energy and infuse it into their own auras. It was a quick fix to their current situation and something she wouldn't normally teach young witches to rely on. This was the only exception.
After Lucy had checked them all over, and Kristoff had changed back into his human form she explained the need to sit near water within the forest.
Kristoff and Cal, led them all to a river. Looking around Freya spotted a lush grass area close enough to the river that was shaded by a huge beautiful tree.
"Jacob, Tillie sit in a circle with me." As they sat, she began their lesson.
"Today your both going to experience something new. What we're about to do is called Natural Kiss" Turning her head she looked at Jacob "Can you tell the Greek word for natural?" his nose scrunched for barely a second before he spoke "fysikós" she grinned with pride at him. Jacob hated languages, he had studied so hard.
Nodding at him she turned to Tillie "Can you tell me the Greek word for Kiss" Tillie nodded in excitement "filí!" Freya beamed at her nieces' enthusiasm. She was her brothers opposite. Tillie loved languages and seemed to have a talent for learning them.
"Excellent. Now let's all join and recite the prayer of thanks to the Goddess. Once it's done keep inhaling and exhaling, do not lose concentration or our connection as I weave the spell."

"Goddess above,
We thank you eternally,
Goddess above,
We treasure thy gifts,
Goddess above,
We honor thee,
Goddess above,
We cherish thy burden,
Goddess above,
We thank you!"

Freya felt power rising around them faster than expected.

"Goddess I pray,
Goddess I beg,
Goddess I entreat,
Help me to guide fysikósfilí,
These two children need thy kiss,
Hear my plea,
Honor me,
Guide me."

Tendrils of gossamer-likewisps fluttered around in the middle of their circle. Growing steadily, gainingmomentum.
Freya coaxed the power to merge with Tillie and Jacob. The tornado reacheda crescendo then stopped. It swayed closer to Tillie and Jacob with the breezeas if it were dancing. It got so close to them that if each leaned forward eitherwould be able to touch it, but they sat still, waiting.
With a burst of light, the tornadocrackled into glitter like filaments, raining down on Jacob and Tillie.
They absorbed the energy with Freya's help.
"Don't be afraid of the power. It's a gift from the nature around us and theGoddess. Relax and keep breathing."
She sat with them until all the glitter had been absorbed.
Freya felt pride, this spell didn't always work. Only the worthy and pure ofheart would be allowed to absorb such a gift.
Once Freya knew the two had centeredthemselves she spoke.
"Can you tell me why you can't rely on that spell?"
She wanted to see if they could instinctively understand. Jacob spoke first "Ithink because it's a gift. We can'texpect to be given something all the time." Then Tillie added her thoughts. "Ithink it's like the Goddess is everyone'sMom and she can't always give to one ofher children all the time"
Freya's was so proud. They understood in their own ways. "That's right. TheGoddess can't always bless only oneperson all the time, because she looks after all of us. This spell won't always work.
Only the worthy and pure of heart will be given the fysikósfilí."
Tillie's head tilted, "What's worthy andpure of heart mean?"
"It means only someone who is very good and needs the Goddess's help and onlythe Goddess can decide to help that person."
Tillie nodded her brow still furrowed. Freya knew she would be explaining thisagain to the young girl. By the look of pride on Jacobs' face, he understoodcompletely.
Standing she took Jacob and Tillie's hands' leading them to the river. "We needto cleanse" Nodding all three of them began to strip. They kept theirundergarments on.
Freya spun at the dangerous growl she heard, she had completely forgotten aboutKristoff and Cal, they had been so silent throughout her lesson.
Cal was standing, facing the opposite direction bent double laughing, whileKristoff was watching her intensely, fists clenching and unclenching. Freyaknew her guard was up. She had forgiven his wolf and until Kristoff himselfapologised Freya would not allow herself to let her walls down. She couldn'thelp it. The pain his accusations had caused was still a raw wound on herheart. He saw it, he knew it, and he flinched.
"Aunt Freya come on!" Tillie's voice rang out in a silence that had lingered alittle too long. Turning she ran over to the two children waiting - notpatiently – for her.
She dived into the river needing its cold strength. Coming up she heard gigglesthen splashing. Both children knew to always wait until an adult was in theriver before they got in. Now they joined her. They all splashed and laughed.Playing in the water for the first time in months.
Freya could feel the negativity washing away. Closing her eyes briefly shethanked the Goddess for that blessing too.

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