3.

After Violet had eaten, she said to Archie, "Is there a room here where I could practice, so if I accidentally make rain clouds or something, I don't ruin the whole house, in the basement or something?"

Archie looked at her for a moment and said, "Actually, there is, and it's not even as cold as you might think. But I'll take you down there, and you can see what you can do. About the witch thing, I don't know anything about that, but other than that, I'll see if I can be of any help, and I'll help you. "

Archie took Violet to one of the large rooms in the basement. It was just right. There was even a well in the floor so, if she was still playing in the weather, at least the water would be off the floor.

Violet began to feel her power, the feeling she'd had a couple of times already. She closed her eyes. She stretched her right hand out in front of her, palm side up, and concentrated. She felt the energy. Now, she just needed to get it into the right form. Violet shaped the energy and felt how easy it actually was.

She concentrated and opened her eyes. It was small, violet-like herself, and she could throw it from hand to hand. It was solid, it had a form, but Violet had no idea how strong this ball was. It would not be easy to test. And she didn't want to throw her first fancy ball of energy at the wall, not when she would have to do something with it.

Violet said to Archie with a pack bond, "Archie, come and see what I did."

Archie came a few minutes later.

"Well, what have you done? At least it's not raining here," Archie said, a slight sarcasm in his voice.

Violet came closer and pointed to the ball of energy.

Archie looked at it with interest and said, "What's that?"

Violet said, " An energy ball, but I don't know how strong, and I'm not going to throw it at the wall now. I'm actually proud of my little ball."

Archie raised one eyebrow and said, " Oh yeah, well, how about you throw it at me?"

Violet looked startled and said, " This might be too strong. I don't really know what this is capable of. I'm not going to hurt my savior." '

Archie said, "Just throw it, I can take it, then you'll see what your balls can do, and you'll have some sort of a guideline."

Archie went some distance away and said: " Well, throw it, and we'll see."

Violet hesitated for a moment and then threw the ball straight into Archie's chest. He flew backward five meters and lay there for a moment before standing up. There was no sign in him.

Archie walked over to Violet and said, " See, I'm fine. I'm not that easy. It seems your balls are capable of converting their energy. When you threw the ball, the force of the throw hit me and sent me flying backwards. I bet the bigger the ball, the more it draws different energies into itself. "

Violet was silent for a moment and concentrated again, closing her eyes and holding out her hands.

Now she wanted a fireball or something hot. Archie watched as a ball of fire began to form on the woman's palm like a small sun. Violet opened her eyes and tossed her little sun from one hand to the other. She felt the heat of the ball, but it didn't hurt her. But Archie, this one she would not throw to Archie.

Instead, she said, " Could you get me a lot of ice somewhere? I want to try what this ball can do, and I'm not trying it on you because this is a hot ball. "

Archie said, " I'll go see how much ice there is. Wait a minute."

Violet examined the ball, felt it with all her senses, and then put the ball on the ground where it stood. She made another ball, now freezing cold, and put that on the ground, too. By the time Archie came into the basement dragging a huge container full of ice, Violet had made 13 different balls of energy and was now cursing when no more were created.

Archie looked at her for a moment and said: " You'll have to eat again if you want to keep going, but I brought some ice, and we'll see what your balls do."

Archie dragged the ice into the middle of the room, and Violet took the ice energy ball first. Once Archie was next to her, she threw the ball of ice. The amount of ice increased fivefold, and the room was quite a bit colder. Violet smiled and threw a smaller fireball. The fireball sank into the ice and made a passage through almost the entire iceberg.

Violet then took a slightly bigger fireball and said to Archie, " Give me your hand. I'm going to test my theory."

Archie held out his hand, and Violet put the fireball on Archie's hand. It didn't burn even though he could feel the heat. Archie threw the fireball into the iceberg, and it went through the mountain, cracking it, and the mountain started to crack like weak ice.

Violet threw the next ice ball, and the mountain corrected again a little. Archie picked up the fireball and forced it into the mountain again. They took turns until all the balls had been thrown away.

Then Archie said, "It's time for another meal. Go and take a shower, and I'll go and get the food ready so you can get your energy back to thinking about your next experiment. "

Violet smiled and said, " Well if I've done my sport for the day. But I will go and shower and definitely come and eat. I'm really hungry. "

Archie waved his hand as he headed for the kitchen and started rummaging around in there. Violet retreated to her own room and decided to ask at some point if she could order some decorating stuff for her room.

The shower was wonderfully refreshing, and Violet dressed up and let her hair loose for a while. She felt a little power left over and touched her hair and got violet tops on it. oh how wonderful, a free visit to the hairdresser—no need to sit at the hairdresser for hours when you can do it yourself.

Violet went into the kitchen, just innocently sitting down, and when Archie turned to look at her, she was innocent.

Archie said, "I think someone's still got a bit of strength left, haven't they?"

Violet nodded and said," What do you think? I can change the color of my hair myself. No need for a hairdresser. By the way, can I order some decorating stuff for my room?"

Archie nodded, picked up the tablet again, tapped, and now on the screen was a very nice and expensive interior design shop with some very colorful products. Archie looked at the woman's expression for a moment, took the tablet back, tapped for a moment, and then handed it to Violet.

She looked for a moment and said, " Now you hid the prices. I can't just order anything. Something can be really expensive."

Archie looked steadily at her and said, " As I said, I am rich, wealthy, prosperous. Just make up a word that means I have a lot of money, and I mean A LOT,"

Violet swallowed and started ordering. It was surprisingly fun, and Violet ordered many rugs, curtains, and bedspreads. If at any point she wanted a change. She handed the tablet to Archie, who looked it over, took his time tapping again, and put it on the shelf.

He said, "It's good that you're starting to learn, so you'll have stuff for the other houses."

Violet said cautiously, " Oh, you have other houses?"

Archie turned around and said, " At least one in every state, a dozen in Canada, and I seem to have houses in Europe and Asia. Like I said, I'm old and rich, so I'll acquire all the stuff over the years."

Then Archie started putting food on the table again, and Violet got a mountain of juicy meatballs, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and she ate with a very big appetite. She began to realize that the more she ate, the more she could do, but then she would have to eat again.

Violet ate another two portions and slowly began to learn how much she was demanding to eat. As she ate, she began to think about whether it was just the calories or the nutrients.

What would be the best food to eat, and whether different foods would make a difference to her abilities? Would energy balls require more meat than fat or carbohydrates? Would Archie start testing this theory if she asked?

Archie grunted, "I'm not going to test it. The food probably doesn't matter that much, but you have to eat and eat well."

Oh, how Violet hated it when her thoughts wandered off like that. Well, if only the pack doctor would help and know the answer or tell Archie to go and test. Then, it would be fun when she always knew what to do and what to remember to eat. But then again, she wouldn't be able to improvise if there was ever an emergency.

It was challenging to start thinking about everything in relation to this witch thing. But then, how about the spells? The book Bruce gave her said that she could do some of the spells instinctively, but it would probably be necessary to do them anyway, just by instinct.

Violet was methodical and always liked to do things the right way. That kind of instinct didn't seem very normal to her. But everything changes, and she would just have to learn how to do it, but she would learn how to do spells for real at some point. When the door opened, Violet had just finished eating, and Bruce came in.

He walked into the kitchen and said, " I was in the neighborhood before I had to go back to Nevada. I brought Violet a few more books."

Archie nodded and said, " As you can see, Violet is beginning to find her powers."

Bruce nodded and said to Violet, "Archie has certainly kept me up to date. You're going to do wonders, dear girl. But there are a few books about witches like you in there, if that helps at all."

Violet wanted to get to read the books Bruce brought. She loved to read, and knowledge is power, as Bruce said.

Archie said, " Go ahead and read. I'll talk to Bruce; don't worry, we won't talk about you."

Violet smiled, got up from the table, and picked up the heavy stack of books Bruce had brought. She retreated to her room and carefully looked through the books before deciding which one to read first. She got into a good position and began to study. There was so much information in these that could be useful.

After three hours, Violet was irritated. Which one of these books was right? She had found contradictory claims in three books and wanted to know which book to trust. Which book would tell her what she could do or what was safe to do? One book swore and assured that she would have a super good sense of smell, but so far, that was nothing compared to a coyote's nose.

Another book claimed she could shoot energy out of her hands. She did make energy balls, but she wasn't exactly the evil wizard of Star Wars. The third book warned all along that emotions need to be controlled. Emotions could lead to her becoming a black witch.

Each book had its own take on her abilities, and none quite hit the mark. But then Violet figured that if she still hadn't read the right book, she'd keep going through the stack of books. When she came into the kitchen five hours later, Bruce had already left, and Archie was making dinner.

He looked at sullen Violet and asked," Well, what's wrong? Didn't the books help?"

Violet lifted her eyes from the table she had been staring at and said, " When no book tells you the same thing as another. They all told me something that no other book could confirm. "

Archie looked at her and said, "When the Violet Witch is always her own, her power is so primal that no two of you are alike. You just have to experiment and study your own limits and what you are capable of. It's not easy, and I wish you had a guide somewhere on what to do and when.

But no. There is no guide. But me and Bruce will help you whenever we can. However, Bruce went to Nevada to be with his pack. But I'll help, and we'll try it together, it's all right. I'm gonna get you a bodyguard if you wanna go out and do a little shopping. But it's not quite time for a shopping spree yet unless you get tired of being inside four walls. We can go running on all fours whenever you want."

Violet thought for a moment and said, " We'll see one day. I'm going to finish those books, and then I'll see what I can do if I go for that bath I promised myself."

Archie looked at her for a moment and then started to give her food in proper portions. It was roast time again, and with it came the best French fries in the world. Violet had never really eaten them, but they were delicious. She stuffed herself and then went back to her reading for a couple of hours. Then she finally allowed herself that bath, and it was fun, learning how she could use the energy of the water to keep it just the right temperature all the time. Well, again, there were new little things to do, he thought as she came out of the bath.

After the bath, Violet went out for a bite to eat, as all that heating of the water made her hungry again.

She went into the kitchen and sighed to herself in irritation, "I guess my life is going to be nothing but bloody eating from now on. When you can't get anything done when you're already hungry."

Archie said from the doorway, "It is, but it'll even out when you get your strength up. Everything will fall into place, and it won't be so demanding. I know this because it's our werewolves' problem, too. When a werewolf first changes his whole body, his metabolism changes simultaneously, but it takes time before the werewolf body is fully adapted to this new metabolism and the substances in our blood. It's a time that requires nerves and a lot of them. I can tell you."

Violet sighed and said, " While I was just keeping the bath water warm. And now I'm terribly hungry again."

Archie smiled, came over to the fridge, and started taking supplies from there. He motioned Violet to sit at the table again. Archie hummed low as he cooked, and Violet admired the way his muscles moved beautifully. Archie was shirtless, wearing only his trousers, and Violet suspected he had been at the gym.

Archie was frying something that made Violet's tongue water, and her hunger grew. Violet asked, " How long did it take you to get things going?"

Archie stopped humming and said,

" Too long, but I had other factors at play, but generally, a couple of months to a half a year is the time. As I said, it asks for patience."

Violet mused in her mind. " No, help, six months. I won't last if this eating is going to be my life for the next six months."

Archie brought a plate in front of Violet, and there were big lovely steaks on it. Violet's mother had rarely offered her meat, at least not steaks like this. They had just usually been for her father when she and her mother had eaten fish or chicken.

Once again, the food was tasty, and Violet felt better about her strength again. Oh, that's why she hadn't had much meat when it seemed to be what was required. She said, "I must start eating meat because I feel so much better again."

Archie looked up and smiled.

He said, " One thing that helps your strength is your power animal, and she's a carnivore. Remember that. When Shadow is well, so are you. You are connected, and that's another new thing to remember on top of all the other things. But it's good that meat works. There's plenty of it because we werewolves, we need meat and plenty of it. But that's also why it's good, so I can make us both good meaty meals."

Violet had eaten three big steaks, and now she was quite full and tired.

She said, "I think I'm going to turn in. I'm pretty full and getting tired, so I'll see you in the morning."

Archie said as Violet got up from the table and started to walk to her room. "Good night, we'll eat again in the morning."

Violet smiled. That's what her life would be like now.

She went to bed, changed into her night clothes, opened her bed, and climbed under the covers. She fell asleep pretty quickly. She started having dreams.

She was at some party and smelled an incredible number of different smells, but she couldn't control herself. She wanted to go to every good smell, but something was stopping her. Then he saw again the dark stranger who had called her Kitten.

She smelled that it smelled like lovely ruby chocolate, and she wanted to go to it, but someone held her and said, " You can't go there now. Come on, let's get on with it".

The dark stranger had a tall, red-haired woman on his arm, kissing passionately. Violet could feel that sight hurt her soul harder than anything had ever hurt. She could smell the white chocolate on the one holding her, and she turned to face him and wrapped herself around him. This was the blond charmer, and this was the one who held her and stroked her comfortingly. Violet noticed that she was crying.

Violet woke up with wet eyes and soothed herself for a moment. She had never had such vivid dreams and knew they weren't just dreams. No, they were future possibilities, and Violet didn't know how likely or when they would happen.

But they were as real to her as any other experience had been so far. She wondered if this was just another nightly thing, that she was seeing her future and not just dreams. Eventually, she fell asleep again.

She saw a woman, alone, walking along a path on the shore of some lake. She was determined and lonely. It was a feeling Violet had caught. Loneliness. She decided to follow the woman, and she didn't notice her at all. She followed the path, which was all she seemed to find until she reached a cliff's top.

There were large boulders, and she climbed the cliff habitually. Violet was still following. She went between two large boulders and found a large slab of rock. Then the woman went and sat down on the rock, took a pen of some sort from her bag, and slowly began to carve something into the rock. The woman carved many different lines, and Violet had no idea who this woman was or what the slab was. The woman and the whole world seemed to be behind a curtain. Violet watched as the woman finally stood up, put the plaque back where she had taken it, stood on the rock for a moment, sighed, and then started back.

Violet could no longer see the woman. She seemed to disappear into thin air like the whole lake and landscape. Violet did not understand at all what she was seeing, and the rest of the night passed in the same way.

She saw people, creatures, events, and epic declarations of love, but she was always behind the curtain and always the same thing. The people just disappeared from view, and so did the whole place he had seen.

When Violet woke up in the morning, she was terribly hungry and realized that her powers had been unlocked all night and had become more apparent. But she didn't yet know why. Who? And all the other question words kept bouncing around in her head.

She showered and then went to breakfast. When Archie looked at her once, Violet said, "I saw some strange visions all night. The first one was from the future, and then these others. I don't know. It was like I was watching through a curtain. I saw incredible creatures and people. I couldn't say anything to anyone or even touch them. I don't understand my powers yet. It's just annoying that they won't let me rest and have normal dreams."

Archie was silent for a moment and then said, "It seems to me a bit like your power is loose, I mean untethered and not where it should be. Now, I can't help you with that. It's probably up to you to find a place in your mind where that power should be and then keep it there. I don't know if meditation or something like that would help."

Violet thought for a moment. Yes, she could meditate. That might be helpful. Also, so that she wouldn't use up her powers in vain but save them, and then maybe she could be doing something other than eating. But she also took realism into account and knew that it probably wouldn't work right away, but she could already practice.

Violet ate another huge breakfast, and Archie said, " Today is an outdoor day, so let's change form and go out into the woods for the day to run around and catch everything. Go and get changed, and then come out. You remember where the hatch is, don't you?"

Violet had just finished eating and said, "Yes, I remember. I'll go and change into four legs then."

She went to her room and woke up the Shadow and, with her help, again changed her shape. When it seemed to be just one limb at a time again, Violet thought she would soon be a better witch than a shapeshifter. Then she went out of the hatch, and Archie looked at her and was already running as if to challenge her to a chase. Violet darted after him and ran, enjoying the freedom she never knew existed.

They finally stopped again in some clearing, and Archie said: "It's catch time. Go find your prey for yourself."

Violet went off to chase the rabbits. They were her favorite prey. Archie could catch anything bigger. She caught a rabbit and ate it before Archie now dragged a deer and started eating it. Soon, Violet noticed that she was hungry too and went back to eating the deer's leg and let Archie feast on the offal.

When she was full again, Violet flopped down on her side on the grass to lie and enjoy herself. Now everything was as good as it could be again for the moment.

Archie finally came over to her and said, " Let's rest for a while, and then we'll go in the water. There's a good pond here where you can swim. "

Violet could swim and had sometimes even taken part in school swimming competitions, so the idea of going into the water was not foreign to her, but Shadow didn't appreciate it, and Violet decided not to listen to her and to teach her how nice it is to swim. They rested in the clearing for an hour, and then Archie got up and started to lead Violet towards the pond.

Soon, she could smell the water, and Archie led her to a sandy beach where it was good to walk into the water to enjoy herself. The water was lovely, and soon Violet was swimming in it too, although Shadow made up one objection after another. But soon, when Violet was persistent enough, Shadow's resistance began to break down, and eventually, Violet or her coyote admitted that this was a nice way to swim and be in the water.

Violet didn't have any sense of time, and they were in the water playing and frolicking for a long time. Eventually, she got hungry again, and now Archie had made her swim to the other side of the lake, and there was a whole new terrain again to start looking for food.

Violet returned to the rabbit hunt, caught three big rabbits, and carried them to the clearing to wait for Archie. Eventually, he came with only a fawn in his mouth and looked at Violet, who was just a little bit proud of her prey. Archie ate the baby deer while Violet enjoyed her first rabbit.

Then Archie came and took the second rabbit and said, "The pack leader has his rights for you to know."

Violet didn't mind that at all. She then ate her second rabbit and was already in the mindset that she would get to eat more at the house sometime. They started off trotting side by side and went all the way around the pond and then only started to gallop and race towards the end. Archie was quite a bit bigger and could leap much longer distances, but Violet was faster, kept up with Archie, and sometimes even managed to overtake him. They finally arrived at the house. They both sat outside with their tongues hanging out for ten minutes before going inside.

Archie said, " In an hour, it's dinner time, so go shower and recover. I'm going to take a shower, too, before I start cooking."

Violet said, "OK, it's been a lovely day. I must try to remember that these days are so nice."

Archie looked at her and said, " That's why they are so nice because they don't happen often. That's why you should have them occasionally, so they keep their charm."

Violet said, " True, but I'll be going now."

Then she walked into her own room, changed her shape, and took a long, hot, enjoyable shower. She then put on her dress at her leisure and checked that she still had half an hour to go. She could try meditating. She set a timer on her phone for 20 minutes and went to meditate.

She felt her power and imagined it was purple smoke. She built a box in her mind where she drew all that smoke. She put a kind of suction in the box so that whenever the power was released or increased, it would be sucked into the box. Violet wasn't at all sure about the durability of her box or whether it would work at all. Would the whole thing unravel when she went to sleep?

The phone beeped, and she snapped out of her trance. She could still feel the box in her head and hoped it would hold.

She brushed her hair, put it in a high ponytail, and then went into the kitchen, expecting dinner.

She said to Archie, "I just meditated for a while, and I made this box to put my powers in. I don't know if it will work or last, but it's a start. At least I know I can do all sorts of experiments."

Archie looked at her and said, " Well, that's good, so you can start to learn to control your powers a bit better, I suppose, and if you can get some sleep and rest at night and not have your powers rushing around in your mind. "

Violet nodded, already watching with her watery tongue as Archie put another full plate of food in front of her. This was some casserole. It had potatoes and pasta and lots of meat.

Archie said, " This is my power food after a day outdoors. As many calories as I can get easy to eat, and, most importantly, doesn't require much cooking. Just assemble and put in the oven."

Violet ate her food with gusto. This was really good. She wished that one day she could make some, too, but then again, she had never felt any passion for cooking. If Archie cooked, she might not even want to learn.

On top of the food, Archie took a huge stuffed cake from the fridge and made coffee. When she saw the cake, Violet thought that she couldn't eat any of it, but she eventually realized that she had eaten almost half of the cake while Archie had eaten the other half.

Archie looked at her and said, " Remember, you always have to feed Shadow after a day like that. That's why these days you eat so much. And take into account that we were out for 12 hours. "

Violet had been amazed when she had looked at the clock while she had changed her clothes. They really had been out for 12 hours, and it hadn't seemed like such a long time, but that's what they say: time flies when you're having fun. Violet was sitting in her chair, now quite full, and she was getting tired again. She hoped her box would keep her strength in check and she would get a good night's sleep.

Then Violet said to Archie. "I have to go to bed again. There's nothing else to do."

Archie looked at Violet and said, "We have a party tomorrow. I have a few dresses over there if any of them would do. You'll get to represent with me. It's boring. I can already tell you that, but necessary. You always have to keep up relationships and see who's at the party and if there's anyone of note. I haven't found you a bodyguard yet; it's still a work in progress, but I'll keep you safe. Don't worry about that."

Violet was thrilled. Parties, dresses she liked to dress up and go to a party once in a while. When she never had any family parties as a child, when there were no relatives, and then there were a couple of parties maybe every few years that Violet had been able to go to when she'd turned 16. Those had been some kind of lawyer's party that her father had been invited to.

Violet hadn't really talked to anybody at them, and neither had her mother. They had been alone, sitting at a table or standing somewhere, while her father had socialized and laughed with the men. Her mother never wanted to go to these parties, and after a couple of times, Violet understood why not.

They were just boring parties. But somehow, she felt that the parties where a man like Archie and a werewolf would go were certainly not boring parties where no attention would be paid to her. She pondered these thoughts for a moment, and

Archie looked at her and said, "I suppose you should go to bed. Otherwise, you'll fall asleep in your seat."

Violet yawned and got up.

She said, " You know what, I'm really looking forward to this party. It must be a party, not one of those meetings my dad always dragged us to and then paid no attention to us. "

Archie said, "I can guarantee you that tomorrow at the party, you will get attention and lots of it. It may even seem intrusive, but bear with it. We'll see what you think after the party tomorrow."

Violet smiled and stood up. She stretched, and Archie looked like this young woman was not at all aware of how damn good that stretching looked. But he controlled himself, smiled at Violet as she turned, and wished him goodnight as she walked to her room. Archie cleared away the dishes and straightened up the kitchen. Then, he went to his own study to do the rest of the night's work. Archie never really slept more than a couple of hours. It was the werewolf's way to be alert and on his guard. Sleep was a weakness, and werewolves had no weaknesses.

Violet changed back into her night clothes and opened her bed. She turned off the lights and went to lie down and make sure her box was holding. Then she fell asleep.

She was back at the beach when a blond man approached her and said, " My beloved, you are already so incredibly strong. I can't wait to meet you. Know that you are my soul mate. Always and forever. And it's not because of your powers I will enter your dream. This is all my doing. Your little box will do for now, but remember, my dearest, your power is being released all the time, and soon, you will need a much bigger box."

Violet sighed and felt so incredibly complete in this man's embrace. She felt as if she had to defend this man from the prejudices and assumptions of others.

He laughed and said, " Your power is the most unruly. It wants to show you the future all the time. You should put on a bigger box."

He kissed her so hard and passionately that Violet couldn't breathe for a moment, and then she woke up again. She realized she had violet smoke in her mind and started meditating again, making the box twice as big, and she was surprised at how full the box already was. Well, she enlarged the box some more and then put the suction back in and watched with satisfaction as all the violet smoke was sucked into the box.

She wondered how big the box would have to be in the end. How damn strong was he going to be? Then she fell asleep again, and for the rest of the night, she had just ordinary dreams and got her first good night's rest in a few days. When she woke up, she was alert and full of energy, and although she was hungry when she showered, it wasn't quite the desperate bottomless hunger that had been bothering her before, and she realized that her strength, when it's under control, doesn't burn off all her energy quite so much and I'm ridiculously hungry.

This realization gave her renewed enthusiasm to keep her energy in check and maybe try a few energy balls again today. As long as she goes and eats a proper breakfast first and sees what Archie has in mind, and then there's the party tonight.

Oh, she was looking forward to that, too. She would get to see the other supernatural beings put on a dress and get dressed. She only had her basic make-up with her, but she'd get herself in some sort of shape with that. Somewhere in between, she would have to buy some better make-up.

So far she had borrowed from her mother or just made do with what she had. As said before, the parties were nothing fancy, and soon their charm had worn off, and she didn't even want to wear make-up to them anymore. Violet got dressed and was ready to conquer another new day in her new life.