The Wolf and The Witch

Ch 6: Flesh for Power

Nova POV:

I stared up at the bones currently in the tree.

They have finished cleansing in the moonlight.

Grug had fallen to the wolf man, I felt our bond snap.

Grug was my ladder.

I drummed my fingers on the tree, long black nails clacking against the bark. "Hmmm."

I looked down at my dress, the silk dripping off my body and into a puddle at my feet.

Certainly am not going to climb and ruin it.

Not enough time to make a new golem.

Alas. It seems these bones will be unusable for my spell.

Ill bury them in graveyard dirt after I get them down eventually.

Bones purified and then soaked in death are always good to have on hand.

So many uses.

Without another glance at my bone tree I drifted back into my house, over to my cauldron.

Dipping in a wooden spoon I brought the hot liquid to my lips and sighed in contentment.

I do love a good rabbit stew.

Pouring myself a bowl I settled in front of my crystal ball, waving a hand over it and slowly eating.

The wolf king was talking to a very pregnant woman.

I wished not for the first time that one could hear through a crystal ball.

If she were holding the child of a dying alpha king, she too would be useful in spells.

The baby too. So long as she dies before its born. Very rare.

I doubted it though from their interaction.

...pregnant women still have so many uses though.

I wondered for several moments if I could lure her from the city.

She was dressed as a maid.

Servants never made much money perhaps then.

Although if she was close to a king and yet not having sex with him, perhaps she has more than your average servant.

Money is always the easiest lure for humans.

And beautiful women for men.

Unfortunately attractive men still make most women cautious.

Deciding that I would not be getting my hands on a pregnant woman my gaze left her and shifted to the alpha.

More accurately his ferocious features.

The other time I had seen him in my crystal ball he had been coated in vampire ash, having ruined my plan to collect fangs from part of that clan.

But still, through the ash and blood coating him I saw those eyes of his and knew who he was. Seconds later I realized he was dying.

A practiced witch knows a dying mans soul just by looking at his eyes.

Seeing him now, clean and in an environment he knew, it was even more obvious.

I spent much of my life studying death.

His shirt was too large, his muscles having obviously gotten just a bit smaller if the wear patterns on it meant anything.

His fave was drawn, dark circles under his eyes.

His hair lacked the luster of life.

The king of wolves, alpha of the alphas, was dying.

Those gold and red eyes shifted around the room he was in. revealing once more his torn soul to me.

Its separating.

He was dying because he had not found hid mate and his time was soon up.

Still... I studied his face.

Long lashes, cheekbones more like cliffsides, straight nose and full lips. Such a strong jaw and a sharp brow. Hair like spilled ink on parchment.

He was a beautiful man.

Wild. Almost as if the fact he was more animal than human was trying to burst through his skin.

No one would ever mistake him as anything less than a predator.

And although obviously smaller than he had once been he was a beast of man, looming over everything in the room as he stood, escorting the maid out.

The sheer bulk of him practically swallowed the room.

I could only imagine what he would have been like in full health.

Grug had never stood a chance against him, dying or not.

After the woman left, The wolf man sagged back in his chair. Running his hands through his shock of wavy hair.

And then, he seemed to snarl, those bright eyes I wanted so flashing vividly.

Every muscle in his body seemed to coil with pent up energy.

He got to his feet again, paced.

Stopped. Leaning against the desk,knuckles turning white at his grip.

The desk splinted beneath his fingers.

Such power.

Even when he was obviously practicing restraint.

Never in my life had I considered the practice of flesh for power.

Never had I thought to be like some witches and consume the flesh of powerful prey to gain more myself.

Until now.

I wouldn't use his heart for a spell as intended.

I shifted my gaze to the cauldron over the fire.

Eyes for my skull.

And rabbit and wolf stew.