Page 15 of Witchblood
“He can do better. He’s an alpha. alphas don’t date men.”
“Dylan has a boyfriend. He might not be alpha of the pack, but he’s pretty dominant. He is third in the pack.”
That surprised me. I’d never heard of a gay wolf. Even Felix was bi instead of gay. He was careful to keep me away from the pack after we’d started dating.Apahad never mentioned it. Most packs were made up of chest-beating dominant male wolves. Gay was considered weak to them. An abomination for some of the oldest of wolves. Which was just another sin to add to my door, keeping me separated fromApa’spack. I wasn’t sure what to make of Korissa’s statement, so I left it alone.
I stepped up to the window beside her and looked out. It was a long drop. Not that I’d ever been the sort to climb out of windows. There were trees and in the distance water of some sort, maybe a river. Standing there, with the wind blowing on me I could smell lavender. Maybe my sheets hadn’t been spritzed with it so much as they’d come from a room with open windows. I closed my eyes and sucked in the scent.
“Where are we?” I asked, opening my eyes to look at her. I still had no idea. There was an island off the coast of Washington that was known for lavender, but I couldn’t image how I’d have gotten there.
“Maple Falls. We’re not all that close to the lake, but we can hike to it sometime. It’s beautiful.”
“Washington?”
She gave me an odd look. “Yes.”
I needed to look at a map. Other than the mountains which I vaguely knew the placement of, I had no idea where the town was. Close to the Canadian border perhaps?
A gust of wind blew the strong scent of lavender through the room. The need that coursed through me was almost painful. An ache for home. That too was an omega trait. Home was an instinct to an omega the same way violence was to an alpha. Not since I’d leftApa’sranch had I felt the pull so strongly.
“Can I go outside? Or am I on house arrest?”
“I can take you outside. Dad took the wolves to the bunkhouse for a meeting. I think he’s just being picky about who he lets around you right now. ‘Cause you were hurt.”
More likely because I was omega andwitchbornrather than because I was hurt. “It didn’t sound like some of his wolves want me here.”
“Pretty sure that’s my dad’s decision, not theirs. Sometimes they argue about me too. Stupid things, like I shouldn’t know about them. Or it’s dangerous for me.”
I agreed on the last part. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“Why would I get in trouble?”
Because she was taking the omega outside when everyone seemed to want me under lock and key. Likely she was too young to know a lot about wolf politics. It wasn’t my job to get her up to speed.
She turned toward the door. “Is there something you want to do? There are benches back there. Closer to the bunkhouse there’s a pergola and some lounge chairs. It’s a walk to the lake, and I don’t think you should go that far. Dad said you shouldn’t put too much pressure on your healing leg.”
“Lavender,” I said. She probably had no idea what it looked or even smelled like. “I smell lavender.” I wouldn’t have time to dry it and create tea from it, but I longed to hold it in my hands again.
“Purple flowers, right?” She grinned. “There was a huge mess of that when we moved in. Like someone once had a garden and just let it overgrow. Dad has just left it alone. Sometimes I trim them and bring them in the house.”
I followed her out of the room and down the stairs. The house was empty and eerily quiet. “How long have you guys been here?”
“Almost a year,” Korissa answered as she held the backdoor open for me. “We moved up from Seattle.”
“That’s a big change for you,” I remarked as we stepped into the backyard.
“I was mad at first. Leaving my friends and stuff sucked. But it’s nice here. Quiet. Dad is happier. He’s thrilled to have his own pack, and now that he has a ton of wolves to care for, he’s not always obsessing over what I’m doing.”
And for a teenager that made sense. She led me around the side of the house and through a small area of trees to another one of those prairie-like fields, only this one was filled with purple stalks. I had to stop and marvel at the wild beauty of it at first. I’d never had a plot this large to grow my herbs.
Korissa toed at the edge of the plot revealing what looked like tilled land butting up against grass. “That’s how we know it wasn’t just like this.”
I bent to poke at the ground and the nearest stalk, pulling weeds and freeing the base of the plant from a mess of overgrowth. There were a few dead patches, which I pulled free, setting them aside as they’d make good fertilizer down the road. Someone had made an effort to create a useable garden. Tilled up the land and put down nutrient rich dirt. I wondered who Liam had bought the land from and if they’d been tea creators themselves.
I struggled to get to a seat without pulling on my stitches, but I managed, spreading my leg out to my side and half laying on my undamaged hip so I could work. I wished for a pair of garden shears so I could trim some of the flowers and hang them for drying. Just the smell and the familiar feel of earth beneath my fingers helped calm my nerves. I’d been running for so long I’d almost forgotten what it was like to just breathe.
“Don’t suppose you have a pair of garden scissors?” I asked Korissa. “I can clean up some of this and trim them back so they grow. With enough work this field could be breathtaking, and worth a fortune if you can find someone looking to buy lavender.” The temperature was warm enough that I craved a pitcher of lavender lemonade, or even the honey-lavender scones I used to bake forApa. A thousand things could be done with those tiny purple flowers, even some basic alchemy. It had been forever since I’d done more than a ward or two. All of my skills had gone into creating the tattoos on my arms and keeping out of sight of anyone who might be hunting me. There were plenty ofotherswho could track me when I used alchemy. But sinceApaand Felix already knew where I was, I didn’t care as much. The vampires and fairies were unlikely to involve themselves in any wolf pack, so I’d be safe until I left again.
Korissa looked indecisive for a minute. “You won’t run away? Dad would be so upset if you ran away. And you’re still hurt. Please don’t run away.”