TO RULE RED RIVER

Part 16 - The reading of the cards

FINN

Hazel's amethyst eyes flare with anger whilst the fire in hearth dances higher but I don't move my eyes from the witch's. Fuck her, I can see why my dad said she was difficult. 

"You might be handsome, boy. But you have much to learn about manners." Seethes Hazel. "Can you not see how important my girls are to me."

I feel a kick to my leg that must be from Cass as he's still sat down just behind me trying to get me play nice with the witch, but I instinctively turn to look at him and growl.

"Wow! What the fuck, Finn!" Cass says with shock.

"Awesome." Dax grins.

I'm suddenly pulled hard on my arm by Kai who comes close to my face. "Well. Shit. The guard didn't mention your fucking eyes were now gold."

I look to the mirror that's sat over the fireplace and see that my wolf is out yet again without me knowing and sigh. Shrugging Kai's hand off my shoulder I step closer to the witch.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself. "Do you have any ideas why this is happening?" I say as I point to my Alpha eyes. "... because they never used to do this."

The witch's eyebrow arches as she takes another drag of her cigar, refusing to speak to me.

"Please." I grit out.

"Better." Mutters the witch as a small smile curves on her lips.

"We have this." Cass chimes in as he gets an old looking piece of paper from his satchel and holds it up for me to take. "Can you translate it?"

I glance at the paper; it's from a page torn out of the book my father Oliver had last night which I'd totally forgotten about. I look to Cass and give him a nod in thanks. I'm so used to keeping to myself and not depending on others it kind of takes me off guard that I have people here who want to help.

"Thanks man." I say to him quietly, before I switch my attention back to the cigar puffing witch.

Hazel rolls her eyes before she snatches the page from my hand and walks off reading it. "Blah, blah, blah..." She mutters to herself before cackling with laughter. "Can I translate it they ask me? Of course, I can. If it's of anything of importance I daresay I wrote it."

"No, you didn't." Chastises Astrid before snatching the page from her grandmother and taking it over to the window to get better light on the old paper as she starts to read it whilst Kai's eyes follow her every movement.

"Well, I could've done!" Hazel replies as she waves a hand around melodramatically before slumping back into her chair before knocking back one of the shots from the table.

"What does it say." Kai quietly asks Astrid as he comes to stand right behind her, he's so close he's almost touching her. Throwing him a disapproving look, she quickly darts away making Kai scowl.

I also throw Kai a death stare, this isn't the fucking time to be playing cat and mouse with a fucking witch who's trying to help us.

"It speaks of men who self-suppress their own wolves." Astrid murmurs as she keeps walking around the room squinting at the page.

"Self-suppression. Self-suppression." Hazel mutters to herself for a moment before her eyes flare up as if a realisation has just hit her before she scoffs at her granddaughter, then sets the page a light that she's holding with the click of her fingers.

Kai springs into action and snatches the burning page from Astrid's hands as she yelps in pain. He turns her hands over in alarm looking at the burns as Astrid throws her grandmother a dirty look.