Winter tied the last stitch and gently patted the therian wolf’s shoulder. “All done.”
The wolf growled, and Winter slowly removed her hand, her eyes hardening as she stared the young therian down. The wolves of Seahaven used dominance fighting as their favorite sport, but Winter was in no mood to resort to fisticuffs against an amped up injured therian with something to prove. Not that she would have any chance against him in a physical match. Wizards were neither as fast nor as strong as therian, and they didn’t heal as quickly. Then there was the problem that wolf therianthropy was one of the easiest forms to contract. One good bite and Winter could begin the process of becoming a wolf herself. That would be bad on two accounts.
First, Seahaven’s new wolf queen, Vivaine Hayden, was famously jealous and had killed or driven off all of Seahaven’s female wolves when she joined the pack. And second, a person could not be a therian and a wizard at the same time. If she were bitten and began to transform, she would lose her magic — the one thing she and her dwindling family counted on to maintain the precarious balance among the various preternatural groups in Seahaven.
So, she definitely didn’t want to physically confront this young wolf. But she couldn’t afford to back down either. The wolf would see any attempt to deescalate as submission and that would be even worse for her family and Seahaven than Winter losing her magic.
The Seahaven wolf pack was horribly unstable. Its leaders were amoral and vicious, and its large number of unattached young males were under tremendous pressure to fight their way to the top or be prey themselves to the older and stronger wolves.
Maintaining what little peace existed between the preternatural groups in Seahaven was only possible because the wizards were seen as a neutral party and could thus negotiate with any group without the other groups fearing the wizards were biased. None of the other groups would ever allow the violent and unstable wolves to hold power over the wizards — not even a pup like this one winning dominance over one young wizard. The city would fall to factional war.
So, with no way to deescalate with the now snarling wolf, and no desire to allow the confrontation to get physical, Winter was left with only one option — using her magic on him. That was usually frowned on, as it could be seen as an act of war, but the therian had left her no good options.
Winter raised her hands and started to sketch a glyph in the air. The wolf, realizing that the wizard was about to cast, jumped off the table and tried to rush her before she could complete the casting, but Winter had played this particular game before and finished the glyph of shielding before the wolf cleared the table.
The shield pulsed red between them, and Winter blinked a little in surprise. She looked down at the gloves she wore, and comprehension dawned. The gloves were smeared with the wolf’s blood. She had inadvertently cast a blood magic shield, giving her magic over this therian a little more oomf.
The wolf paced on the outside of the visible shield, growling. “You can’t keep that shield up forever, wizard.”
Winter was tired. Tired of politics. Tired of betrayal. And tired of living under the constant threat of violence and death, even from the very people she spent every waking hour trying to either help or heal.
She raised the bloody gloves and glared into the eyes of the wolf as she began to sketch again. She finished the glyph and, putting resonant Command into her voice, she poured power into the design and said, “Burn.” The power in the glyph, drawn with the wolf’s own blood, flared and the wolf began to scream as the blood in his body reacted to her command. He fell to the floor, writhing as his blood boiled inside him.
Winter stared down at him and felt little pity. She had spent the past hour healing this wolf from the last fight he’d lost only to have him turn on her when she was done sewing him up. The wolf was a hot head, and in Seahaven that would undoubtedly get him killed.
But Winter didn’t want to be the one to do it if she didn’t have to. Yes, he was trying to dominate and attack her, but he didn’t seem to understand that he stood no chance against a wizard. His speed and strength were no match for her magic. But perhaps, while writhing and screaming on her floor, understanding could be reached.
She raised her hands again and the wolf whimpered pitifully. Winter felt a little ashamed for hurting him, but she needed for him to understand that she was no wolf’s prey. She sketched a glyph and said, “Cool.”
The wolf stopped writhing and lay panting on his side.
Winter checked that the shield was still up and crouched beside him. “Look at me.”
The wolf obeyed, all thoughts of dominance erased from his eyes.
“I understand that your life is chaotic and dangerous. I understand that attacking and either changing or killing someone like me would make your standing go way up with the other wolves. But I need you to understand something. Do I have your attention?”
The wolf ducked his head and nodded meekly.
“Good. Listen carefully. I am a wizard. Wizards are capable of some very dangerous and painful things. The next time you even think about attacking me or my family, I want you to remember that I took pity on you today, but I never will again. Do you understand?”
The wolf nodded over and over, frantic to obey. “I understand. I’m sorry. I—”
Winter cut off his apologies. “Get out.”
The wolf pulled himself up off the floor and limped through the beaded curtain and out through the shop.
Winter watched him go until the door of Curiosity’s shut behind him. She quickly crossed the shop and locked the door.
Blood magic. She had used blood magic to torture someone. She tried to feel horrified or at least a little scared about what she had done, but all she felt was relief that it was over, and death had not come for her today.
Winter went back to the workroom, carefully peeled the blood-smeared gloves off, and tossed them into the trash. Maybe it was wrong that she didn’t feel remorse for what had just happened… or maybe it was just another way to survive in the mess that was Seahaven.
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