9

Finally reaching the witch's hut, the wolf stops on the makeshift porch of the thatch house, uncertain about how to proceed.

Wait for the human side to wake up? Scratch at the door as a knock? Howl?

"Or you could use the window and just jump in 'cause I'm not walking to the door. You've got about 6 feet to stop before you reach the fireplace and roast yourself."

"You can read my mind?"

"No."

"Ha!"

"You gonna stay there all day? I've got water with a tonic in a bowl so your human can wake up."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch."

"You lie. There is always a price for your contracts and deals."

"As it should be. But this ain't one of those cases. I offered something without asking anything. It's not a contract. Are you going to stay out there much longer? Winter is coming!"

"There is no winter in Southern Cal... Holy Moons!" The wolf says as his breath suddenly starts showing the 30 or more degrees drop in temperature.

"Welcome! Bowl is by the bed."

"You are crazy, lady! I still think I'm helping you by doing this."

"Smart wolf. Your human side is the one I'm interested in. There's a deal to be made there. Drink and shift."

"Fine!"

Moments later, the human wakes up with Sandra clapping her hand loudly.

"Finally, you are awake."

"You! It's all your fault! I'm going to kill you!"

"Braver souls have tried and failed. You wouldn't even be proper entertainment."

"What... what did you do to me?"

"If we are talking present, you are temporarily paralyzed from the neck down; if you mean the past, exactly what I said, in exchange for your 5 years' worth of feelings he got some great advantages he could have used while in that world and you got to live without the pain. I say it was a win-win."

"He died after less than a week, you stupid bitch!"

"Such language! But I'll forgive you this time. And he got exactly what the deal said. You wanted a safe place, I mentioned one and you jumped for it. At the time there was nobody there to harm him in any way. It was exactly that – safe."

"That bitch Jena went after him! She killed him! She killed my mate!"

"Indirectly but I see your point. That was a different deal I made with her. But if you knew she was going after him, you should have put a clause in the deal so that couldn't happen."

"I did."

"Nope."

"But you knew!"

"Maybe."

"If I could move one hand right now, you'd be dead!"

"Lucky me, no?"

"If you knew, why didn't you do something? Tell me or..."

"Because I don't care? Yep, sounds about right. I didn't care. I still don't."

"Arghhh!"

"A growling werewolf. How unique! So, what can I do for you today?"

"Like I'd have anything to do with you now!"

"Aham. Why are you here, then?"

"Because I want..."

"Jena dead? Can't do that! Not allowed. Would be fun, though."

"Then I want the Pack to..."

"Eee! Wrong answer. You don't get it. You can only want things that affect you directly."

"That's so stupid. I want her to suffer!"

"Are you listening? You need to make it about yourself."

"Why do I have a feeling you are making up this rules as you go?"

"You may be smarter than you look? I could give you an example..."

"For a small price, I know. Just say it already!"

"Don't worry, I'll include it in the large deal."

"You have a creepy smile."

"Thank you! So kind! So maybe Jena met someone very important when she went after your mate. Someone as important as he was to you. And maybe you want to go see where your mate died hit by a bus."

"Hit by what?"

"Shush! Don't interrupt, you'll see. And once there maybe you will get to meet that important person."

"So I can kill him."

"Nope. Here comes the deal. You can't talk to him. You can't touch him or harm him in any way, directly or indirectly while he is on Earth."

"Earth?"

"Where you're going. But once you manage to pull him to Calla, all bets are off."

"How can I do that without touching or talking to him?"

"You will be able to appear to him as Jena; as long as you stay more than 10 feet away the illusion will hold. You will get there through a reflective gateway. If you touch the surface again once on that side, you will be transported back somewhere on Calla. Get him to touch it and ha! Stuff happens! What you do once her soulmate is on Calla has the potential to hurt her."

"This is so complicated! Are you sure I can't just kill her?"

"Feel free to go and try that. You think you have any kind of chance?"

"FINE. Let's just do this!"

"Not so fast! The price!"

"What is it?"

"Your life. Sometime in the next 5 years."

"But you guarantee I get at least one chance at Jena's soulmate! He mustn't be as hard to kill as she is."

"Fine. Once on Calla, Jena's soulmate will be weakened for an extended period."

"How long?"

"Long enough for you to get your chance."

"Deal!"

"Aa-ahahahahahhahahhaha!"

With the evil laugh and a large puff of smoke, the werewolf disappears.