"Did you have to park your truck so far from the house?" I called out to Aspen.

"Look, had I known the place was going to be empty besides you I would have just driven up to the house." Aspen replied.

We've been walking for the last twenty minutes to reach Aspen's truck, normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but the stab wound was slowing me down. I wasn't able to find my phone before we left but at least the moon was out tonight, making visibility the least of my concerns. As we walked; I carefully studied Aspen, she was wearing a brown jacket over a green blouse, snug blue jeans and proper hiking boots. Her long brown hair hung loose around her shoulders and after getting a good look at her face earlier, I could see why Pete was attracted to her, she was pretty. But the thing that caught my eyes the most was the assortment of belts and pouches wrapped around her waist and hips.

As we walked, I noticed Aspen curiously glancing over at me every so often.

"What?" I ask.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, it's just that I know some witches that would kill to be this close to you." Aspen explains.

"To me? Why?" I ask incredulously.

"To study you, don't you know, you're quite the subject of conversation in certain circles; the first human male to ever be raised and accepted by a pack of werewolves. Not only that but also actually turning out to be a werewolf's mate!" Aspen exclaims, becoming more and more animated as she talks. "It's mind boggling, I mean think about it, until now the only human mates ever found have always been female. But now with you, people are wondering what's changed, is it genetic, a mutation, environmental, evolution! Your very existence question our knowledge of humans and werewolves since-since the beginning of time!"

"Ok, ok I get it." I say as I try to calm her down. "But why would witches care, I mean get werewolves and humans, but why would witches?"

"Why does anyone care about anything, it's interesting it gives them something to talk about. And it's not just witches, there are a lot of groups who are interested in you." Aspen states.

I'm surprised and a little taken aback by Aspen's words, I mean I always knew my situation was abnormal and a topic of conversation between certain packs, like when Daniella brought it up when we first met. But I never thought it was anything more than that or to this extreme, have I've been living in a bubble this whole time and not even realized it?

As we continued to walk; I kept falling further and further behind, even with the pain killers I took earlier, my stab wound kept acting up. Aspen looks back at me and after seeing how far behind I am lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Ok, what going on, what's wrong?" She asks.

"Nothing, my stab wound is just acting up." I answer her.

"Stab wound!?" Aspen exclaims, shocked.

"You didn't know? It happened yesterday at school."

"No, I didn't know. I can't exactly go around all willy-nilly after getting my cover blown and you guys finding out I'm a witch." Aspen replied.

"Oh yeah, I guess that's true." I concede.

"Lift up your shirt and let me see it." She says as she walks over to me.

I hesitate for a moment but then do as she asks, lifting my shirt and begin unwrapping the the gauze. While I'm doing that Aspen takes something out of one of the pouches around her waist; it appears to be a small vial containing some type of ointment. Using her finger, she takes out small portion and smears it on her hand, Aspen then closes her eyes and begins to concentrate. After a moment, the ointment in her hand begins to emit a faint glow that I couldn't help but marvel at.

"Okay this is going to feel a little cold and weird, so don't freak out." Aspen explains, as she removes the bandage and exposing the wound.

I nod and brace myself, but as her hand touches the wound, I can't help but take in a sharp breath, cold was right! As she continues to smear the ointment on the wound, I begin to feel a weird tingling sensation around the wound. After about ten seconds she stops and nods in approval of her work. I look down and see that the stab wound has completely disappeared, stunned, I touch and prod the area with my hand, but it really was gone, not even a scar.

"Holy shit." I state, amazed by what just happened.

"Alright come on, my truck isn't that much farther." Aspen says and continues to walk, ignoring my reaction.

"Oh no, you are not going to just breeze by what just happened." I argue.

Aspen sighs, "Fine, but let's keep walking."

"After you." I say, following right behind her.

"Well to start witches are just people who are born with magic, and we can use and manipulate that magic to heighten or bring out certain properties in different things. For example, that ointment I just used is actually just mixture of different herbs and flowers known to promote healing you can find anywhere."

"And by infusing it with your magic you just strengthened the effect." I chimed in.

"Exactly." Aspen verified.

"So, no eyes of newt, weird chants, or flying broom sticks?" I ask.

Aspen snorts, "No, and just to be clear, that ointment only works for small stuff like your stab wound, it can't regrow limbs or heal any extensive injuries." She cautions me.

"Good to know." I reply.

"But that's pretty much it, magic is mostly about finding the right combination of things to infuse with magic to get the desired effect. There are a few exceptions, but I'm not allowed to talk about that." Aspen finished.

"Does that include how you were able to go toe to toe with a werewolf at Pete's house." I ask.

"No, every witch can do that, we just infuse our muscles with magic to make us faster and stronger. The more magic you use the faster and stronger you are, but the strain on your body afterward is a BITCH." She explained.

Interesting, I wonder if Aspen noticed her slip, certain magic is limited to certain witches.

"So, are you guys immortal like werewolves and vampires?" I continue.

"Not exactly, we still age, but because of the magic in our bodies it's a lot slower than normal humans." Aspen answered.

"How slow?" I inquire.

Aspen thinks for a moment before answering, "I've never thought about it in terms of years but if you need an example, my grandmother looks about fifty but she's closing in on seven hundred."

"Wow, so how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen, thank you very much!" Aspen fires back, insulted by my question.

"Oh sorry, I swear I didn't mean anything by it." I apologize with my hands up.

At this point a blue pickup truck I'm assuming is Aspen's comes into view.

"Just get in the truck." Aspen retorts.

Neither of us spoke as Aspen drove, I decided not to push my luck with any more questions. But with the silence also came questions and doubts, where is Keira, why did they leave, and why was I left behind? From the corner of my eye I catch Aspen still glancing over at me.

"What now?" I ask.

"Nothing, I was just wondering...has Pete asked about me at all?" She asks.

"Depends, did you do something to him, back at his house?" I question.

"No, never, I just...really liked him." She answers bashfully.

Oh boy, this is getting complicated.

I let out a sigh before answering, "He didn't outright say it, but he's worried about you."

"Really?" She says with a smile.

Hmmm, maybe I can use this to my advantage, "You know, if you're willing to answer a few more questions, I can put in a good word for you with Pete."

Aspen keeps her eyes on the road, but I could see the internal conflict reflected in her eyes.

"And you don't have to answer any question you're not allowed to." I offer.

That's seems to be just the push she needed.

"Okay." She answers cautiously.

I decide to start off easy.

"So, are there a lot of you, witches I mean?"

"There's a good number of us and before you ask, yes there are male witches, but our birth rates are about the same as that of werewolves, and then there's the possibility that the child could be born a normal human without magic." She explains, her voice becoming somber at the last part.

We stop at a red light and Aspen looks down at an old bracelet she has around her wrist, by the way she stared at it, it must be very important.

"I'm guessing you knew someone that was born without magic." I infer softly.

Without looking up she answers, "My twin brother."

"What happ-"

Aspen cuts me off. "I don't want to talk about it."

Judging by her tone and reaction it wasn't something she couldn't talk about, but rather, something she wouldn't talk about. The light turns green and Aspen continues to drive.

"My father said that nobody has heard from the witch community in a long time, why show up now?" I ask.

"We didn't just show up, we've been around. We've just been really careful about who we interact with." She answers.

"So, you guys have been purposely avoiding Crestwood?"

Aspen ponders for a second before answering, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"So, you've dealt with werewolves before, just not in Crestwood." I state.

"Yes." Was all she replied.

"Why not Crestwood?""

"I can't say."

"What kind of deals have you made?"

"I can't say."

"Have you dealt with the White Moon pack?"

"I can't say."

Ok, now I was getting frustrated.

"You said you were told to come get me, was it by another pack?"

"No."

"Okay, then who?"

"I can't say."

Argh, this was getting annoying.

"Do I know the person who told you to come get me?"

"No."

"But they know me?"

"I doubt it."

"Then why did they tell you to come get me?"

"Don't know."

I let out a frustrated sigh, "Your answers are really starting to annoy me."

"Not my problem." Aspen responds in a snooty tone.

I narrow my eyes and just stare at her.

After a minute she finally breaks, "Look, the higher ups pick a witch, call them up, and tell them what they need them to do, so I don't know any details."

Not exactly the answer I was expecting but it did give me some useful information, I was about to ask Aspen who these 'higher ups' she mentioned were, when she stops the car.

"Okay, we're here."

I look to see where we are and I recognize the area, we were near the outskirts on the opposite side of town, but I don't recognize the house we're parked in front of.

"So, what now, what am I supposed to see?" I ask.

"Beats me." Aspen answers.

We both get out of the car a head toward the house.

"Wait a second." Aspen call out.

Digging into one of her pouches again, she takes out what seems to be some sort of powder, she pours a small handful and sprinkles it over me.

"What's this?" I ask.

"This will keep any wolves from picking up your scent, can't be too careful." She explains.

"What about you?"

"I put some on before I went to get you."

"How long does the effect last?"

"About a day or until you take a shower."

We continue up the walkway toward the house, there were no lights or sounds indicating anyone was home, reaching the house we try the front door and sure enough it wasn't locked. Opening the door and stepping inside we look around and see indicators that at one-point people lived here, but for what ever reason they seemed to have abandoned it. We search the first and second floor but find nothing. We head back downstairs and are about to leave when we hear what seems to be rumbling. Peeking through one of the windows we see dozens of werewolves running away from Crestwood. There were way too many for them to be all from one pack.

"Where are they all going?" Aspen asks.

"I don't know, they're not howling or in formation so don't think it's an attack."

Then I remembered what the Keira had told me yesterday about packs abandoning Crestwood, with one of them being a council member. The news must have spread, and now even more packs were leaving.

"This is bad I have to let my father know, Aspen I need-!"

The words die on my lips as I see the last wolf heading out with the others.

I run out of the house and call out to her, "Keira!"

She stops and turns; I could sense her shock and confusion at my being here.

"Keira what's going on where are you going?"

I take a step towards her, but she lets out a growl, and not a playful worrisome growl, but a low threatening growl that screamed stay back. I'm stunned by her reaction, I don't know what to do or say, I'm at a complete loss. Before I could think of something, Keira turns and runs off, following after all the other wolfs that just left.

Aspen, who had stayed hidden inside the house, comes out and asks, "What just happened?"

"I...I...I don't know." I respond.

But even as I said those words a part of me knew that wasn't entirely true, and I couldn't help but wonder.

Did Keira just abandon Crestwood, did she just abandon me?

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