Wolf & Witch II: Witch Mountain

Chapter 1

Before he met Kaiden and Nate, Sean figured nothing would ever make him comfortable with the idea of leaving his family or the coven. But it'd been almost three months since he'd seen his wolves, and he found himself thinking more and more seriously about going back to Wyoming.

His birthday was in thirteen days, and he'd be nineteen—old enough to move out. He hadn't figured out how to talk to Trevor about it yet. Sean wouldn't be capable of forcing his best friend to move back to the pack's ranch with him. It wouldn't be fair.

It was bad enough that they were nearing the end of another year and he still hadn't been able to find a way to re-house Trevor's spirit. It was still sewn to the body of the tabby Sean had put it in nearly five years ago.

Sean glanced at Annalise as she turned on the 'all-wheel-drive' to better scale the path leading deeper back into the trees. Even though she didn't seem to have any plans of leaving Aspenview anytime soon, Sean would still want his cousin's opinion on the idea as well.

A chime drew Sean's attention back to his phone. After a few messages back and forth, Annalise had parked the car and got out, without Sean even noticing.

"Are you coming?" She bent over to look through her open car door at Sean. "Or are you just gonna sit on your phone for the whole ceremony?"

Sean's brow furrowed for a second from where he sat planted in her passenger seat. "I'm coming," he said, fingers working furiously to finish his text.

As soon as he hit 'send', he opened her glove box and tossed the phone inside.

Anna closed up the back of her hatchback once they'd both grabbed their pails out. Well, Anna was using a pail. Sean had an old Folgers Coffee can.

The leaves of the aspens were well into their fall colors—vibrant yellows, with orange crowns. But it wasn't as chilly as it had been this time last year. It wasn't even cold enough for Sean to see his breath.

Not far from them, leaves were being kicked into the air as Trevor divebombed a sizable collection of fallen, golden foliage. He blended into them like a tiny tiger as they softly settled before darting through the next unsuspecting pile.

When Sean called, the tabby abandoned his game, galloping over until he fell into a trot behind them. Trevor was sporting his own new attire—a tiny reflective harness with the words "Emotional Support Animal" across it. It had been his idea to avoid people trying to rudely eject him from local businesses when he and Sean were out. It also allowed him to take the bus with Sean.

"I can't believe he's really wearing that vest like a little dog," Anna commented as they hiked.

Sean grinned, glancing back at the proud tabby. As embarrassing as it was for him sometimes, Trevor seemed to be really pleased with himself for that one.

"Yeah, he doesn't seem to mind it, does he?" Sean said.

"You know you can talk to me too though, right, snowflake?" she teased.

Sean snorted. "I'm fine, seriously."

"If you say so."

The two of them fell silent, enjoying their surroundings as they followed the path up to the winding stream's waterfall. They both had a rock in their containers that shifted with each step.

There were several groups of other coven members at the base of the falls when they arrived. All with their own sacks, buckets, and pails. Some had already unloaded their contents and were now heading up the trail to the top of the peak. The rest were waiting for friends and family or in the process of returning their stones to the river.