The Witch and the Wolf ✔️

Gretel

"I had cousins?"

Despite what the Aunts said, it was still a shock. After all, there were all those years when I had no one but said Aunts. The revelation that there was anyone else still was so big I couldn't wrap my head around it until I was staring the proof in the face.

"Yeah, the Harrisons are a big family in the Hunters' Society," she said. "Come on in."

I did so, and was surprised by the large house having oriental rugs and old-world London decor.

My cousin moved into the living room, as several others approached. "My name's Gretel, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." In the living room, a tall man in his late thirties with short hair and a leather jacket that had seen better days stood leaning against the fireplace, arms crossed over his chest.

Sitting in a big armchair was a teenage boy who was well-muscled and tanned, and apparently was in the habit of walking around shirtless. On the arm of the same armchair perched another girl who resembled me and Gretel, who gave a little finger-wave at me. Facing away from me was an elderly man writing something into an old-fashioned leather journal, and he continued working as if nothing had happened.

"Sit down, Bennett will be here in a minute," Gretel said, directing me towards an old red couch that smelled excessively of rose perfume and lemon. I did so, Gretel hovering over me, bouncing on her feet in excitement. She looked around the room. "Guess I should introduce them, shouldn't I?"

I nodded— I was still shy around new people, even after two weeks at the den site. Maybe because I was still being thrust at a bunch of new people.

"So, you know I'm Gretel," she said, pointing at herself. She then pointed at the young lovers. "That's my sister, Bella, and her boyfriend, Kane— they're one of the best hunting pairs."

Bella blushed a little, and reached her hand to Kane, and he instinctively knew to hold it.

Gretel then pointed to the older man leaning against the fireplace. "My dad. You'd know him as Uncle Luke."

"Oh." I nodded, now seeing the resemblance. "I remember you! You didn't come around a lot, but—"

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably. "I had a job in Wyoming. You lived in Arizona."

"Right." I ducked my head down. I had questions I couldn't ask. Like why, if my father had a brother who knew where he was, couldn't take me before the Aunts.

He seemed to anticipate my unspoken questions.

"And I'll admit. . . I tried to talk him out of his relationship with Mina, which I don't think made him eager to bring me around you." He looked away from me, as if I were the painfully-bright sun.

The room fell into awkward silence for a moment. Then a Native American woman in her early forties appeared. Her hair was back in two braids, and she wore practical clothes, a flannel and canvas pants with pockets. Her dark eyes carried wisdom and authority beyond that of any of the wolves. I immediately stood up to greet her.

"Bennett Campbell, leader of the Star Falls Sanctuary," she said, extending her hand for a hearty shake.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," I said.

She smiled maternally. "It's good to see James's daughter. Even before Luke moved here, we'd heard about James. He was a legend in our community."

"I know." I remembered the hunts, and how he took me along occasionally on what he presumed would be quieter ones, teaching me how to shoot smaller, weaker (yet still dangerous) creatures of the night.