Chapter 18 - The wolf and the witch

***Hopes pov***

I’m amazed at what happens before me. Callum smile at me before telling Beacon to behave. He then closes his eyes. His kiss is still warm on my lips. I can’t believe he just did that. I can’t believe that I want him to do so much more. It’s only been twenty-four hours since I met him…well, actually five days apparently, but for me it was yesterday. Still, it feels like I’ve known him much longer.

I can see his body stretch, his muscles grow, and hear the popping sound. I don’t know where to keep my eyes. His Body? His head? But before I know it, a big black wolf is standing in Callums place. He looks at me, with his blue eyes but they are darker than normal.
“Beacon I presume?” I say, looking at him but I don’t see Callum. He nods his head one time and I let out a surprised giggle.
I walk up a little closer to him. He is so big, bigger than the red one, Chace.
I stretch my arms out, touching his fur with my hands.
“So soft..” I whisper
I feel his nose come closer. He sniffs my hair and my face and closes in to the crock of my neck. And I let him remembering that Callum told me it was a wolf thing when I did the same to him. I feel Beacon inhale deeply and I close my eyes, clutching my hands in his fur. When I feel his tongue licking my neck, I snap out of it and back away.
“So..hrmm, that was nice..and its really nice to meet you Beacon, you are really..handsome!” I wrinkle my eyebrows, feeling just a little uncomfortable. I see Beacon shake his head and his eyes brightens.
“Callum!” I say a bit relived. He nudges me with his nose and whines a little.
I think he is apologizing for Beacon being so…forward.
“Its ok, I like him!” I tell him.
He lies down on the carpet in front of the couch, it almost disappears behind him.
“Can I touch you? Or is that weird?” I ask. I really want to bury atleast my hands in his fur, but still, it’s Callum! I don’t cuddle up to him when he is in his human form, well, I did, but maybe its weird to do that when he is in his wolf form?
He puts his head under my arm, making my hand land between his ears and again, whines a little.
“Oh, you want me to scratch you?” I say and giggle.
I scratch and stroke and let his fur pass between my fingers over and over. And it’s not weird at all, it feels good, natural. I start talking about my life. I tell him about my mother and her crazy ways, about my father who left us when I was a child, about Maya and how she pranks the daddy’s at the daycare center and how she despite of that is a good and kindhearted person and my best friend. I tell him about my training, all the classes I attend, self defence, parkour, kickboxing and yoga. I tell him about the wolves at the zoo, Mommy, Daddy, Handsome, Yummy, Cutie, Sweetie, Cupcake, Shy and Gobble.
As I speak, I slide down against him. He lies on his side so the space is perfect for me and I cuddle up against him. I talk about the kids at work, about our days in the forest and I feel my eyelids getting heavy. Every now and then I feel him nudging me, or draw his nose over my hair, as if he is stroking me back. I feel myself drift of to sleep.

I wake up in bed. Callum is at the dinnertable, putting plates out. The smell of food hits me and it smells so good.

“Good morning sunshine!” He chirps when he sees me sitting up.
Memories of me cuddling up to him hit me and my face reddens. Now that he is in his human form, I feel embarrassed about my behavior. I practically forced myself on him. I lay down and hide my head under a pillow and groan. As if he can read my mind he comes over and sit on the bed. I hear him chuckle a little and pull on the pillow. I reluctantly let it go. He looks me in the eye with those blue eyes of his.
“Hey, please dont..” He says when I try to look away. “I enjoyed it..every single second of it.” his voice is barely above a whisper. He kisses my cheek and stands up.
“We missed lunch, but dinner is served!” A big smile on his face.
“I really need to shower,” I say and realize I have nothing to wear if I do.
“Sure, you jump in the shower and then we eat”
“But, I have nothing to wear Callum” I complain
He thinks for a few seconds, his eyes in a distance, and then he smiles.
I’m confused. Was he picturing me eating dinner naked?
A knock on the door and he goes to open. It’s a young girl from the staff, handing him something before leaving.
“Here you go.” He says and gives me a bundle of clothes and push me against the bathroom.
In the bathroom, I look at the clothes. They are new, the tags are still there.
Tights, a tank top and a long cardigan, all in different shades of grey. White cotton underwear, the bra, in a sport model.

As we sit and eat, he is asking me a bunch of question about everything I told him before and it was a relaxed conversation. We laugh a lot at Maya, the wolves at the zoo and the kids pranking me at work. He asks me about the classes I take and in the middle of it I manage to challenge him to a fight some day. He wants to know more about my parents and I tell him that I dont know my father, where he is or if he is even still alive. I tell him about my mothers obsession with interpreting my dreams. I even tell him about the dreams I’ve been having lately. And when i do his smile disappeared, his eyes widen.
“It was so sad, this girl in the cave, that was me, but still she wasn’t, she was so sad, so angry. I dont remember her name..” I tried to remember when Callum takes my hand, his eyes filled with compassion.
“Aayla..her name was Aayla.” He says and squeeze my hand.
I stand up in panic. How did he know that? I think about the dreams, now very clear even though they had faded before. The wolf in the forest, the little girl, the Gods changing the man…Callum being a were wolf..it was too similar to be a coincidence.
I feel my eyes tear up and look at Callum. He is fast on his feet and take me in his arms.
“I’m so sorry Hope, so so sorry!”
“It wasn’t dreams, was it? I look up at him.
“No, it wasn’t.” He answer.
“What was it?” Even thou I knew the answer, I still want to hear it.
“It was memories Hope”. His eyes look so sad. I just want to take the sadness away from those blue deep eyes that make me smile. This was not his fault. I wipe the few tears that escaped my eyes and give him a smile, patting him on his chest, showing him it is ok to let go of me, but he doesn’t, he keeps his arms around me, keeps me close.
“What about that, huh? The surprises just keep coming.” I say, trying to sound strong but failed enormously.
“What happens now?” I ask
He kiss me on my forehead, it wasn’t a quick peck, but a soft kiss, a promise that he wouldn’t leave my side.
“Do you remember I told you about Zandra?” He asked, and I nod.
“She is on her way, she is the one who can help you understand all of this.”
I put my head against his chest. I listen to his heart and inhale his scent, and it calms me down. How can a man I just met have this effect on me? I doesn’t matter, I don’t care how..
A knock is heard on the door. Callum loosens his arms around me but he doesn’t let go before looking at me, to se if it was ok. I smiled and give him a small nod.
He opens the door.
“Zandra..” he says with a brief nod at the woman.
She puts a hand on his chest, pat him two times and pushes past him.
This is not how I imagine a witch! This woman is beautiful.
“Sweet child!” she burst out. She hurries over to me and drags me in to her arms.
“I have waited for you for so long Hope!” She is stroking my hair, holding my cheeks and smiling so enthusiastic.
“Eh..ok..” I say, not knowing what to do, I try to lock eyes with Callum but he just shrugs and scratch his head.
“Oh, forget about him dear, atleast for now,” she says and winks and I feel myself blushing.
“Lets talk, I will tell you everything you want and need to know.” she motioned for us to sit on the couch.
“Callum, why dont you get us girls something to drink, preferably something red and strong” She says, her eyes still on me and I can’t help to giggle. Callum look at me and I just nod and smile at him, showing him, I am ok. He walks out the door.

Zandra sits quiet for a while, watching me. Her eyes are warm grey with a pattern of a cross in gold and green. They are so unique and beautiful and I find my self looking deeper and deeper in to them. Suddenly I feel something stir inside me..or someone?
“Ah..there you are Luna!” Zandra says pleased.
“Luna?” I ask
“Yes, Luna, your wolf!”

“Let me tell you a story my sweet child…”