I breathed in and out, slowly. I felt less dizzy now and sat up. “Why do I have so much magic? I’m a half breed. Shouldn’t I be half as powerful?” I queried between ragged breaths.

Sylvia chewed on her nail, deep in thought. “I don’t think you were born this powerful. I don’t remember this much magic in you when you were a baby. Now that my memories have been given back to me, I have spent a lot of time thinking.”

“So what is this?” I gestured to the mist surrounding us.

“We have never seen a witch who is turned into a werewolf. Yes, we are immune to werewolf and vampire bites. We just die but we don’t change. Because your mother had you turned human before the first full moon of your life and because she had your witch powers hidden, you were simply a human. Then Kai changed you. Changed wolves, as you know, have a very different power structure than wolf-born. I think when Kai changed you, it ignited and enhanced your witch powers, only we couldn’t see it because they were still hidden but never truly went away.”

I put my head in my hands. “I’m such a freak.” I pulled my long hair into a high ponytail just to busy my shaking hands.

“You’re not a freak. You’re special.” Sylvia smiled.

Same thing I thought, but she was trying to be nice so I returned her smile.

“The fact that you can see the mist, which is what magic looks like, tells me you are already a very strong witch. That day in Kai’s study when you saw the mist, I was a bit in shock, really. Only very trained witches can see magic. Most witches just smell or sense it half the time. That will give you an advantage in defending yourself against magic users.”

“Great,” I said sarcastically. I had been wanting to ask her something since my conversation with the Shaman. “Sylvia, why do witches do business with vampires if they are so bad?”

She smoothed her long auburn hair over one shoulder. “There are white witches, like me, and dark witches. White witches do spells to help people, this sometimes requires vampire blood. In return, we help the vampires with simple spells. Spells to increase their strength, to heal their human blood slaves, to find a lost object. Dark witches do very bad things in return for blood payment. But witches are neutral, we serve all. We do business with humans, vampires and werewolves. That’s our place.”

“If there came a time to choose between being on the side of the vampires or the side of the werewolves, do you think the witches would choose?” I asked her, trying not to let the fear show in my voice.

Her eyebrows pinched in concern. “Is there something I should know, Aurora?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.” I was trying to be truthful.

“Humans have persecuted witches for hundreds of years. They fear what they do not know. They have always been the weak race and yet there is something beautiful about their short and passionate lifespans. They are so helpless. I guess if something ever happened to where witches had to choose, my clan would side with the humans and whoever protected them.” She placed her hand over mine and I nodded. That’s what I needed to hear.

“Call me if you have questions about your new abilities. Think about what I said, about joining my clan. We do a weekly spell casting and meditation that I would love for you to be a part of. But I understand this is all overwhelming. Just take some time.”

I wasn’t sure time would help. I helped her gather her things and made my way back to the house.

I saw Sylvia off and then I walked inside. Kai was sitting in a reading chair with an old book. He took a deep breath. “You smell different.” He quirked his head to the side.

I smelled my arm. “Should I shower?”

Kai smirked. “No, your natural scent. You smell like a witch.” The way he said it didn’t sound like a good thing.

“Oh, yeah, about that.” I sat on his lap as he played with the texture on my jeans. I told him what happened with Sylvia and that she invited me to join her clan.

“You want to be a witch and a werewolf?” His voice was deadpan but I knew he wasn’t happy about this.

“I want to be who I am.”

His resolve broke. “I love who you are. If that means you are a witch, then so be it, just don’t do any weird magic on me.”

I kissed him, running my fingers through his thick hair.

“And don’t steal my hair,” he added.

We both laughed at that. There was a knock at the door.

“Come in, Max,” Kai bellowed. I inhaled through my nose. Yep, it was Max. I was still amazed at my new werewolf abilities.

Max peeked his head in. “Ready?”

Kai looked at me. “Yes.” He stood. “I’m running an errand with Max. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He winked at me.

“Okay, I’ll go check on Emma.” I followed them out and headed over to Emma’s. Even though she wasn’t that far along yet, the entire pack had been going over to Emma’s to help her cook or clean so that she didn’t strain herself. She didn’t argue but I could tell she didn’t want to be babied too much. We couldn’t help it. Our first pup would be born to one of our most cherished and submissive wolves. The instinct to protect her was overwhelming.

Yes

Today was the grand opening for the new Gresham location of Safe Haven. Now that we had the Portland territory, it didn’t seem necessary, but Kai assured me he still wanted to invest the money in the cause. I had hired my mother to manage the Portland location and offered her a nice salary. This should get her out of that crappy trailer. Kai was a genius when it came to running a business. He had paid for billboards to attract donations and now we had blankets, clothing and water bottles flooding our two sites. We also had large businesses donating money and volunteers. The center was practically running itself on donations.