Shimmer |✓|

//Glamour// Part 3

Indeed. I was so impressed I was guarded. All I could think about was what Chandler had said about Leda...  How she, their former leader, had disappeared from the Red Hand...

"My coven would be just the place for you, Naomi." Catherine straightened her shoulders. They were soft and round with age. "I have taught many girls before you, and they were not nearly so apt."

"How do you know I'm... apt?" Most of the time I felt stupid, swallowed by own ignorance. But ever since that night with Ethan on the mountain... I had felt the taste of something quite different--insight.

Power.

"I see you like trees see the wind, like ships feel the water." Her words had taken a sharp quality, her gaze had narrowed. She did not like to be questioned. "There's somethin' in your soul, baby, I can feel it; ain't nothin' can hide from me..." She took a single step, then her image blurred and wavered... A second later she was standing right in front of me. "You are a Noble, the purest blood of your kind runs through them veins and you have yet to tap it. You have never known the extent of your power--but I can show you."

Too close. She was too close to this... To me. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but what you see is what you get, Miss Catherine. " I swept past her, towards the couch. As I strolled behind it, I delicately ran two clawed fingers along the top, splitting the fabric in even lines. "See? I'm just a Wolf. There's really nothing special about me." I waved my fingers, the claws retracted.

"What a shame..." She clucked her tongue in disappointment. "Because your aura says otherwise. The magic that cloaks it is very strong. I would have missed it if I hadn't known to look."

I folded my arms over my chest; instinct told me to cross my heart. Of course a Witch like her would be able to see auras.  She's even more powerful than Claudia...

<<And just as dangerous.>>

"Miss Catherine... while I appreciate what it is you're trying to do for me--really--I think maybe the focus here could be shifted to other, more important things. Like the Rabid, for example?" I cleared my throat. The waters around me had deepened but I was no longer treading for just me. I swam for my life and the lives of others. "I'm sure you and the Elder have a very capable plan when it comes to dealing with the Vampires, but it was the Rabid  who nearly tore apart The Village. I know it seems like we've taken care of that problem, but I'm not sure we have. The Vampires are angry--and I feel they have a right to be. They were kicked from the Alliance, then, right after we protected our Rabid, putting them in the woods to keep them safe, we turned around and murdered others--"

"Murder..." Catherine ran her tongue across her teeth, tasting the word and finding it bitter. "You cannot murder what is already dead. The Vampires should not be angry, they should be afraid. The alliance is only the beginning of their end--but that is not your concern--"

"But it is." I didn't enjoy being underestimated any more than Catherine liked being questioned. "One day, someone else will be leading this Pack--and it won't be my grandfather you have an alliance with, Miss Catherine. It could very well be me. And if I had my way, we would be working with the Vampires, not against them."

"And I suppose it matters not that it was their kind who brought this illness upon your people, striking down your loved ones with their wicked, insatiable thirst?"

"Those Vampires were infected--"

"Yes. By a spell gone awry. A young, foolish Witch was recently excommunicated from our clan when she decided she could cure a group of  Vampires of their aversion to sunlight. But her spell went wrong. She did not cure them... Instead, she cursed them worse than they already are. Then they went wild and set upon your Fairway--devouring your pack like food as they spread their foul disease. And now, your people are trapped in the forest. Tell me, child--do you still pity the Revenant?"