Chapter Two: Derrick

Run. Run before you get burned alive.

But I can't run. Not yet.

Not before I've gotten all the children out. All the pups who are relying on me as their Alpha to take care of them.

I know that we've already lost two wolves. A mother and a father who died, trying to protect their pups.

My heart is broken.

My pack is broken.

But I must save the rest of the pups.

The fire spell was cast in the night.

None of us, the wolves of the Astera pack, even noticed the smell of fire. Not until the witches of New Haven woke us up.

There are wards all around the town, you see. Wards that keep out demons and monsters that are twisted beyond what New Haven can handle.

There are places for them.

Like Tartarus. Like Hell. Like the Pit Beneath It All.

The fire spell was demonic. And it set off the wards, and the town's guard witches came running out of their towers, and they tried to save us.

But the power of a witch - who we still haven't identified - along with the force of demonic magic, cannot be controlled.

The fire was raging before anyone could do anything.

The Astera pack compound is on the edge of New Haven. And in a town filled with fifty thousand residents, no one except the guard witches came to our help.

Everyone kept sleeping or making love or working or studying. No one heard our screams.

The fire was also laced with a curse.

Whoever got touched by the fire would be forced to change, and then got stuck between their human and shifter form.

"Come, Laney, you can do it!" I shout at the pup, who is cowering beneath a burning beam. It is about to crack at any moment.

She has already been burned, and her four-year-old face has become a white and black muzzle.

Pups don't transform until they are about seven or eight-years-old.

She has just been forced into the most painful situation of her life, without her consent.

I have also been burned and my hands and feets have become claws. My spine is curved, and my muscles have become swollen underneath my human skin.

I don't even know if I can lift her with my claws.

"Come Laney, please. Your Mommy is waiting for you." I whisper the words desperately. The prompt works and she jumps into my arms.

The burning beam comes crashing down just as she leaps into my arms, and the fire singes her little tail.

I cradle her and run, making my way outside the building.

When I look up, it is dawn, and the sky has lightened immeasurably.

The pinks and reds of the sky contrasts sharply with the black and white demonic flames of the fire.

But I have just gotten the last of the pups out.

Everyone is out. Everyone except the bodies of the two dead wolves, who we had to leave behind.

I know that, by now, their bodies are gone. Demon fire burns brighter and more harshly than any other kind of magical flame.

They will have succumbed to the twisted magic and heat that has brought our entire compound crashing down.

"Dear Moon Goddess." Lisa, my second-in-command, a black jaguar shifter, falls to her knees.

She has been burned too, like almost everyone. Almost everyone has been touched by the curse.

I hand Laney to her crying, but grateful mother, before I take off.

I need to make it into the town center as soon as I can. I need help - we need help - and we can only get it from the elders of New Haven.

And I know we will get the help we need.

Because the Astera pack helped build this town that lives between dimensions, that exists between worlds.

We will need help to rebuild. And we will need help figuring out who has harmed us like this.

The curse is painful, and I am not running at my usual speeds. Instead, I am slower than I have ever been.

I head for the nearest commercial building that I can see - one of several coffee shops, but one that I have never been too.

It will be full, so there will be people there who can help us.

****

I must have passed out in the coffee shop.

When I come too, I am surrounded by warmth and magic. Though, I think the two are one and the same.

I know that the curse has been broken right away, because instead of claws, I actually have hands and feet.

I sigh with relief, but then the horrors of the previous evening comes back to me.

"Sshh, you're going to mess up the poultice if you cry." The voice is one I've never heard before. I know most of everyone in town, but a few new folks have moved in recently.

It is a woman's voice, quiet and low and soft, and the twisted panic in my chest eases.

I move to sit up, but she -whoever she is - places a firm hand on my chest and pushes me down.

I relax and let her manipulate my body as she checks me for wounds. She dabs at a gash on my forehead and it stings, but I have felt worse pain before.

"Is everyone," I cough slightly as I speak. "Is everyone okay? Do you know? From the pack?"

She soothes me some more, before lifting a cup to my lips.

I take it from her, and catch a small sight of her as she moves away from me.

All I see is a regal brown profile, and long, curly honey brown hair.

She is clearly a witch, and I think she must be the one who just bought Annie's apartment in the town center.

Someone with money then.

I don't know why I'm analyzing her as closely as I am. But now that the pain has -mostly - disappeared, and I am safe, I am more curious.

"Everyone has stepped in," she speaks in her calm, clear voice. She has an American accent. "To help. Every family and business in New Haven is housing at least two families."

"That's going to be a tight fit." I groan as I sit up. She turns to me and I see her completely then. She glares at me from gray, gray, icy gray eyes.

I acquiesce and lay back down.

She is beautiful.

She has warm, ochre brown skin, and the clearest gray eyes I have ever seen. She has a full, pouty mouth, and a nose that is upturned at the end.

Her honey brown hair is long and hangs to her waist in ringlets.

"Who are you?" My voice, when I speak, is hoarse. My throat is painful from inhaling the fumes of the smoke.

I know that it will take a while for my healing powers to kick in, but until then I will rely on the sweet tea that the witch is feeding me.

"My name is Adriana," she says. "I am new in town, and it has been a helluva of a welcome, I must say."

"No shit." I almost laugh. But then, everything comes to a head inside me. I have just lost two of my wolves - who I loved like siblings - as well as my entire compound.

We are basically homeless, and at the mercy of a town of people who might not be able to help us for a very long time.

My thoughts go crashing to Danny. The mate I lost so many years ago.

She would know what to do right now. If she were here, still alive, she would have us housed within days.

I have never stopped grieving her, but in this moment, I have never wanted anyone as much as I want Danny.

She would have known exactly what to do.

"Remember what I said," there is a stern warning in Adriana's voice, and I hurriedly wipe the tears away. "You can cry later darling. But for now, please, try and stay dry."

She whispers some words over me, and I realize that whatever tea she gave me was a sleeping aid. Because I suddenly feel myself fading to unconsciousness.

And all I can hear as I fall asleep, is Adriana calling me darling.