Caged In

Chapter 11: Arrangement . . . (edited)

Greg was only seventeen when the Great War happened, and even though he was never conscripted into battle, he still remembered the destruction and death the final battle left in its' wake. The supernatural world was only just recovering from the aftereffects of the war, and he knew that the covens would never fully recover from their losses.

The loss they suffered in numbers was only the beginning. After the supernatural summit concluded, they were also no longer allowed the freedom to leave their territory unless they entered into a contract. But the most damaging blow to the witches was forcing their supremes to seal the source of their powers in artifacts and give them to the three leaders of the other supernatural races. The Lovelace coven was exempt from this, since they were not involved in the war until the final battle when they sided with the tri-race cooperative.

Lucy's necklace was what had brought Greg's thoughts back to the witches. Her necklace had the same scent as Alec's sword, which was a special grade magical weapon. It was a scent that regular werewolves wouldn't be able to recognize since there were so few magical weapons left, since there were no longer any witches alive that could create them. Although the Balor coven survived the Great War, their supreme did not and their war magic was outlawed as per the rules outlined in their terms of surrender.

" Who are you ?" Greg's voice echoed throughout the room.

" This seems like it's more than a few questions." I replied with a raised voice," And none of them seem to be about the incident."

" Who gave you that necklace ?"

My hand reached up to my necklace to palm it and obscure it from his sight," A friend."

" A friend ?" He said, his voice laced with disbelief," Witches aren't friends with anyone, they're emotionless contract-based entities."

" Well, there are lots of witches in the neutral zone where I live." I replied," Maybe they're nicer because they don't have someone like you putting a leash around their neck."

" That's a special grade magical item." He bit out," I could be Mother Theresa and it wouldn't make the witches capable of making that necklace any less dead."

I swallowed," So what ?"

Greg grit his teeth and massaged his temples," You know," he began," I wasn't going to press this matter anymore, because it's none of my business if someone wants to go play pretend in the human world. I truly don't care about your petty little secrets." He sighed," But then Alpha Wild was kind enough to tell me that you received it six years ago."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and clenched my hand around the gem of the necklace," Are you trying to imply something ?"

He remained silent for a moment after I spoke, as if looking for a further reaction before speaking," How long have you been living with the humans ?" Greg suddenly asked as he removed his fingers from his temples and leaned back in his large leather chair.

" I stopped living on the Wild pack territory when I turned 18." I narrowed my eyes at him," Why ?"

He pursed his lips and glanced to the side," I was simply wondering just how little you knew about the current state of affairs between the four races."

" Since I never shifted, I stopped paying attention to things like that around six years ago." I crossed my arms, releasing the gem from my hand.

" That explains it."

" Explains what ?"

" Two things. First, it explains why your manners are so . . . lacking." He waved his right hand," And second, it explains why you've been unusually calm throughout this ordeal." He said as he pushed up from his chair and began walking towards me.