Magic and Wolves: Book 1 of West Mountain

I Will Begin to Lose My Calm

"I'm the reason you lost your pack."

Those words hit Cecilia like a physical blow, like Hammer had walked up and punched her in the face. She could feel her rage and need for revenge boil inside her. She gripped her legs, taking deep breathes, trying to calm herself.

"I'm going to need you to explain Steinson, or I will begin to lose my calm."

Her wolf was very close to the surface, she could hear his heart rate increase and she saw him swallow in fear. It was keeping her from lashing out before she knew the whole story. Her wolf was also reluctant to attack her Mate.

"Mages are not typically violent or aggressive, we are just very private. Our abilities with magic can either make people very uncomfortable, jealous or they begin to want things from us, so Covens typically keep to themselves, hidden away. I didn't know that there was a sect growing within the covens, a cult really. A growing group of Mages who believed in species purity. That mages were the only true Fae species and that gave them the right to do whatever they wanted. I swear I didn't know."

He ran his hands through his hair, gripping it and pulling it tight. She could see tears starting to slide down his checks.

"A little over two years ago, a friend in the coven came to me about something he had witnessed, that members of the coven had been attacking other Fae, that they had asked him to join a group that was growing in various covens. This group believed in race cleansing." Hammer sighed deeply, leaning an arm against the window, staring out into the night, "Ali came to me on the night the Cult decided to take over the Coven, they killed the Council members who weren't loyal and the Merlin and most of the Merlin's family."

"The Merlin?" Cecilia asked.

"It's like our Alpha, he or she leads the Coven and has final say in all decisions." Hammer stated quietly, Cecilia noticed a few tears trail down his cheeks, "The Merlin was my father."

He didn't speak for a moment, clearly trying to regain control. Finally, he spoke again.

"Ali told me about their plans for me, why I hadn't been killed along with my family. Apparently, my brain was too useful. That's when I learned that the masking potion, I had created had been used to take out a shifter pack." Hammer turned toward her then, fear and regret etched across his face. I swear I didn't know Cecilia; I swear I don't believe in that. As soon as I found out, I ran, took everything I could and disappeared. I've been hiding myself since then, ensuring that they can't track me and thanks to you that protection is permanent."

He gestured at the tattoo she had done for him, and she understood. It was a spell, and that was why he had been so particular.

"When you said it was mages that had attacked your pack, I knew they had used my potion. How else could they have hidden themselves from a shifters sense, especially and entire wolf pack."

Cecilia shook her head, understanding more what he meant by it being his fault and why he had pulled away from her. She could see how much he was torturing himself, how much pain he was in. She stood up from the couch and went over to Hammer. She grabbed his hand. He looked at her startled. She led him to the couch and forced him to sit down. She grabbed his chin and forced him to look into her eyes.

"You are not to blame for what happened to my pack or any other Fae." He tried to look away, but she kept a firm grip on his chin. "If you hadn't figured out that potion, they would have found some other mage to. You doing what you love and exploring magic is not a sin. Just because a group of twisted and evil-minded people take something you created and use it for evil does not make you evil. YOU ARE NOT AT FAULT."