Wolf & Witch II: Witch Mountain

Chapter 7

Since it was well past sunset, the temperature had dropped. Sean had dressed warmly, but now that they were getting up into the trees near the Gibsons' house, he was really starting to feel the chilled bite of the cold fall air against his cheeks and ears. His fingertips were also getting uncomfortably cold, so he stuffed them into his pockets.

Trevor's coat looked more poofy than normal and since he hadn't complained, Sean figured he was warm enough. He glanced up at the sky.

"At least it isn't cloudy tonight," Sean said. "Would've been a lot harder to see."

"For you, maybe," said Trevor smugly. Being a cat really did suit him at times. Right now, he looked a little more like a dog though, nose to the ground and fluffy tail raised high, occasionally circling an area when he lost the trail.

Sean snorted. "Good point." He was grateful for the crunching of the leaves and the occasional comment between them—the woods were sometimes eerily quiet otherwise. "Are we getting closer?"

"Don't know," Trevor tossed back as he bounded effortlessly over a log. "He definitely went this way..."

After what felt like a long ten minutes Sean spoke again. "I've been thinking about what Tobias said about my energy," he said as he scaled a rock roughly the width of a car hood and about as far off the ground. "If it really is flowing in a different direction, one that suits dark magic, why couldn't I tell that it'd changed?"

"I don't know. Seems like he knew too much about you, if you ask me," Trevor said looking back at Sean.

"Like stalker-ish too much?"

Behind Sean, stood a large, four-legged figure, maybe only a few feet away. The high point of its shoulders seemed to be near level with the witch's waist. It was completely silent, staring both of them down.

"Yeah, kinda lik—holy shit!" Trevor hissed and jumped back the moment he'd noticed the wolf.

Sean jumped as well, nearly losing his balance as he spun around frantically and back peddled. "What?" he blurted before his eyes locked onto the pair of gold ones staring at them. "D-Dakota?" Sean managed after a second, though his voice slightly cracked.

The wolf blinked at them before shifting.

Sean needed a minute to calm down. "You scared the piss outta me," he said as he crouched into a sitting position.

"Serves both of you right for wandering around out here in the middle of the damn night."

Dakota casually closed the few feet between them and came to a stop at Sean's side.

"Have you been following us?" Sean wondered.

"You weren't hard to find."

Sean supposed he should have thought of that. If Trevor could smell Dakota then there was no doubt the alpha would be able to smell or hear them as well.

A chill ran through Dakota. His clothing didn't do nearly as good of a job keeping him warm as his coat did, and he'd run off his anger hours ago, so the sudden change was noticeable.

"So, what was so important that it couldn't wait till morning?" the werewolf asked as he offered Sean a hand.

Sean could feel the heat venting off Dakota when he'd helped him up, and it reminded him of just how cold his own hands had gotten.

"I had kinda told Tobias I could get you to meet with him... I was worried you left."

Dakota's head tilted as he quirked a brow. "I told you I wouldn't. Is the word of your alpha not good enough for you?"