Her Wolf Is Gone

Chapter 3

***Conlan's POV***

My team members, James and Theo, and I closed in on the witches' meeting place. A mansion in the middle of woods is where we ended up tracking the creatures to. We used our special hagstones to see the trails of magic that flowed unnaturally in the air. Streaks of red, purple, black, and a barely visible white wispy streak glowed as the other disgusting colors slithered through the trees and over fallen logs. 'White?' These magical stones were made smooth by a river and a hole ran through the middle. It's an age old way for the Sacred Moon Pack to track witches. Proper hagstones are extremely hard to find, but our pack has enough to give to each member during a mission. After the mission though, every stone must be returned and accounted for.

In the quiet wood a twig snap was like dynamite going off when Karr and I are on full alert. Karr growled in warning in the mindlink to James and Theo. Theo's wolf whined back in apology for carelessly snapping the twig. "Extra training when we get back Theo." My tone; deadly.

We were now close enough to see the mansion through the trees. A few lights were on, and black shapes moved through the light. It was nearly sunset and the wood smelled of damp earth and sharp pine.

"Halt." I commanded. "We set up here." James nodded and swiftly swung his backpack down to set up his high tech spy equipment. Karr and I scanned the woods around the mansion. Once we were happy that there was no imminent danger we decided it was time to kick off phase two of our plan. "Theo. Set up the traps on the South side. And be careful where you walk. No more mistakes." Theo winced slightly at my harsh warning.

I gave Karr near total command as he helped me navigate through the woods to set up the large trap. On our last step to the trap sequence, I mind linked James. "Ready?"

"Momentarily. The signal amp is warming up." James responded.

"How long do you need?" Obviously I was annoyed by this time. It was always the equipment that took the longest chunk out of the plan. Karr and I were itching to complete this mission.

"Thirty seconds Beta Conlan."

"Okay. I'll bring the sound mic closer. Tell me when to stop." Karr was excited that it was finally time for some action. Then I spoke to Theo, "Head to the west side and stay alert."

Once again, I gave Karr the front seat. The black figures silhouetted by the light inside started to become clearer. James told me to hold my position about twenty yards away from what appeared to be a large dining room window.

James switched on my earpiece so I could hear what they were saying.

"AAAAHHH-!" *Smack* A woman screamed in fright.

"Enough!" It was a woman's authoritative voice. "You can have her to do with whatever you want after we use her to get that fucking bitch."

"What should we do now then? This white witch is too weak right now to do much." A male voice asked.

"Give her until noon tomorrow. If we can't get his 'mate' by then we'll have to find ourselves a new white witch." The woman answered frustrated. "She's near. Bitch must have detected us before her location was locked. Clever of her to seek a crowd and diverge from her pre-determined path."

"Beta. I see an orange streak closing in on your six. About fifty yards out." James informed me.

"Theo, look around with the hagstone. James informed me I have a tail." I said to him as Karr and I waited for the creature to come closer. Orange meant it was probably a familiar of one of the witches inside. A familiar could be anything. My throwing blade rested nicely in my hand as I weighed it in my palm finding the perfect balancing point. "Once I kill this thing they'll know we're here. Get ready." I communicated to both members of my team.

"Beta! Four incoming rogues approaching from the Northwest side by way of road." Theo exclaimed. "They've spotted me. I'll lead them away from our posts."

"Go West until you hit the river. Travel down South, and then double back and meet at the safe house." Karr and I were worried for Theo. Four rogues was too much for him to take on.

"James. I'm going to try to collect the white witch for questioning. Abort your position and help Theo." I ordered. "I'll set off the bombs after I extract the target."

"Yes, Beta." James answered.

A shift in the wind brought my attention back to the familiar stalking me. With the wind shift I'm able to tell that it's a cat of some sort. I held my position so that it still thought I didn't notice it, and at the last second Karr urged me to turn around and fling the dagger. Male screams stretched into the quiet evening bringing music to my ears. In the chaos birds flew up out of the trees, and the rogues howled. 'You ready Karr?' Happy barks echoed in answer.

I raced around to the grand entrance and pulled out my nine millimetre. The door was unlocked. Inside, I made out a faint scent of blood. Across the marble foyer a man ran out of a doorway. He tried to throw a lightning bolt my way, but I dodged it and somersaulted on the floor and shot him in the head before he could throw another. Like a sack of bricks he went crashing to the floor.

"Twenty three," I spat.

By now I could hear shouts and heavy footsteps rush towards me from different directions in the building. 'Let's go pay a visit to the white witch they have. Whatever that means.' During my time as an active witch hunter I have never seen or heard of a white witch. 'Any witch is a bad witch.' Karr barked in agreement.

*Pop* *Pop* Two more dead witches. One got in a good blast from a fireball and knocked the wind out of me. My forearms dug into an antique wooden table as I pulled myself back up off the cool marble. Pain shot through my core. The breaths coming in slowly got less and less painful.

"Twenty five." Grunting the number through my clenched teeth.

The next turn should be the kitchen and the dining room. Using the wall for support, I slightly staggered through the corridor decorated in oil paintings of the surrounding mountains. Back up against the wall I sneaked around to see around the corner. From my position I could see a male witch drag a woman, presumably the white witch, across the floor by her long silver braid. While lifting up the hagstone, on my neck strap, it was confirmed that the beaten witch was glowing white. Light around the witch started to dim and I knew she was dying. 'Maybe, if I'm quick enough we can extract some intel before she dies.' Two quick pops, one in the chest and one between the eyes and it was over.

"Twenty six." I spat again as I dropped the last explosive mechanism on the floor from my cargo pocket. A few more seconds past before I moved to get the witch. Karr was satisfied that no one else was in the house, but we couldn't shake the feeling like something was amiss.

Warm wrinkles around her eyes showed that she often smiled. Her long silver braid and loose colorful clothing gave the impression of a hippie. Blood and bruises adorned the rest of her body and she groaned in pain when I scooped her up and dashed for the exit. When we were out of sight I pushed the detonator for all the explosive traps we set earlier.

*KABOOOOOOOM*

The surrounding woods and mansion blew up into a towering inferno. It was standard protocol to use fire to erase our scent so we can't be tracked. Smoke and charred remains are too pungent for a wolf to pick up any other scents. Blasts from the explosion rattled my weapons strapped to my back and my hagstone necklace to fly up slightly. In the that brief moment I saw that her light had dimmed a considerable amount.

"Status report." I called James and Theo over the noise of the fire blazing behind me.

"Beta." Panic and sorrow choked his mind link. "Theo is hurt. He needs a doctor."

"Take him to the nearest hospital."

"I can't. He's in wolf form."