Little Red's Riding

The Witches' Lair

Silas and Oliver led the way through the woods with two dozen of their best warriors behind them. They hadn't shifted yet, but Silas knew they would likely need to soon. His own wolf was on edge, which was highly unusual. As an Alpha Werewolf, he was at the top of the food chain in the forest. Very few things left him unsettled. And perhaps what left Silas the most unsettled was the fact that his wolf could offer him no explanation about why he felt that something was wrong.

"It should just be a few miles further this way." The Widow Lemp didn't bother to soften her voice and Silas couldn't help but cringe at the way it carried through the trees. It felt as if she were announcing their presence to anyone who might be listening for their approach.

"How do you know where this place is?" Oliver asked, keeping his own voice low. He regarded his Luna's newly revealed mother with thinly veiled suspicion. She was a wolf who had lived on her own for decades. This was not normal behavior and while she had agreed to come back now it was clear that not everyone would be enthusiastic about her return to town. Particularly not when it coincided with so many troubles raining down upon the little village.

News of the untimely deaths of the two pack warriors was out now and rumors had begun to spread. Their families had wanted to see their bodies, and the wolves who had found them had seen them as well, and after that the news spread like wildfire through the pack that something was odd and supernatural about the deaths, and that whatever had killed them had gone beyond what was possible of human hands.

"I know this forest as well as I know the inside of my own cottage." She said with a shrug. "After my mate died I roamed. And there are only so many places in our entire kingdom with the stench of black magic and blood that fit the bill for the type of place that the sort of witch that my daughter must have gotten caught up with, could be residing." Oliver made a snorting sound, and when Silas turned his head he saw that his jaw was clenched and that his hand was back to resting on his sword.

"But this is just a reconnaissance mission. We need to know what we're up against. Once we see how many there are and have a clearer idea of their numbers we can figure out the plan. If it's just Lilia-"

"I think that is wishful thinking." Lilia cut off Silas' train of thought. "She had to learn her art from somewhere and I think we have to assume that whoever that is, is still alive. Now quiet. We're getting close. I'd suggest most of your men stay back and only come if we call them. I think stealth would be preferable to brute strength if you really want this to be a reconnaissance mission, Alpha."

Silas winced slightly at the way she said his title, with just a hint of mockery in her voice. It reminded him of his mate. He turned his head, but not fast enough to miss the way Oliver's eyes widened at her casual disrespect. It didn't help that Lilia looked young, for all her many years on Earth.

She must have had a large share of Alpha blood, who aged quite a bit differently from both humans and the average werewolf, a gift from the Moon Goddess, it was said, to provide stability to the packs. Somehow being talked to in the same tone by a grey haired woman like Auntie Grey felt natural. Mrs. Lemp was probably the same age as his "Auntie." She just looked as if she were the same age as her youngest daughter. He shook his head, physically, as if the movement would clear the distracting thoughts, so that he could focus on the task at hand.

"You're the one who has been here before and lived to tell the tale, so Oliver and I will follow your lead," Silas said gruffly, looking out in the direction that they had been headed all morning. He wished that he was still home in bed, tangled in the sheets with Dahlia. They hadn't even made love that morning and he hadn't gotten any word from her guards that she'd had another spell of heat.