Prophecy

**Emma’s POV**
Jess screams ‘Witch.’

The sales assistant turns to her, her eyes flashing gold. ‘Too late the contract is completed.’

I watch stunned as vines shoot out of the walls grabbing the sisters, and restraining Jess and Felicia against the shelves. A branch covers each of their mouths, effectively silencing them, as they thrash and growl.

I look back to the woman, scared about what is happening. She grabs my hands, and her eyes roll back in her head.

A shutter blind rolls down over the window on the door, a curtain covers the big bay one; my feet are rooted, my eyes big and round.

The sing-song voice coming from the witch sounds nothing like she did before.

‘Luna lost in human lands,
Luna found against the plans
Endure
Blood marked earth, pups are took
Parents grieve, pack-mates shook
Endure, endure
Twenty-four the tally gone
Reaching out for moon-blessed one
Endure, endure, endure
Pain or release, choice to make
Torture and rescue, chose to take
Endure, endure, endure, endure
Or tallow candles burn, so bright
A curse renewed, unending night
Endure, endure, endure, endure, endure’

The verse finishes, and the blonde staggers, and looks at me bemused.

‘Did you get your answers?’ she asks me.

‘I am not sure… Do you remember what you said?’ I ask her.

‘Nope, my gift doesn’t give me sight, I am just the vessel, a conduit.’

‘O-kay… errr… could you release them please…’ I nod towards two very pissed off she-wolves, trying to memorise as much of the poem as I can.

She walks to the door to the back, flicking her hand behind her as she reaches it. **THUD**

I turn as the ladies hit the floor and bounce back onto their feet; half shifted and ready to attack.

Click.

I hear the door shut behind me, as Jess and Felicia leap past me at it. I turn and the door is gone. The wolf and African hunting dog tear at the wall a moment longer, before they shift back.

‘What the fuck do you think you were playing at?’ Felicia yells at me.

‘I thought I saw Rosie… so I followed her,’ it sounds lame to me, we left my granddaughter at home. ‘… then I saw a necklace in this shop…’

‘Necklace… what necklace, where is it?’ Jess butts in.

I get out the box to show her, but it is empty. Huh!?! I think. Then I realise I am wearing a necklace, I don’t remember putting this on, it is very strange.
I show my decolletage to the ladies revealing the silver necklace made up of disks and a centre piece of black quartz… all of the phases of the moon, and a lunar eclipse. The necklace feels right, like it belongs around my neck

‘Take it off,’ they urge me, unwilling to touch the silver themselves.

I shake my head… ‘No, she said that it was mine, I don’t understand it, but it is important.’
…
The journey home is tense. The she-wolves are all angry with me, they feel I have been careless with my safety, even Sarah is a bit cross, although she had been left with the horses when the others had tracked me down.

We barely pass the border into Whitewater before Peter is there.

*Snitches* I link to my sisters-in-law.

‘Hey,’ I smile at Peter. ‘Where’s Rosie?’

‘I left her with Lucy, what’s this about you and a witch and a necklace?’

‘Who’s Lucy?’ my heart rate is rising, not every wolf likes humans, what if my grandbaby is in danger.

‘Em?’

‘Can we just get home please? I will tell you everything, I am worried for my baby.’

My heart rate is accelerating, anyone who can hear it knows that my fear and worry are real, and nearly overriding.

Peter sighs at me, then mounts up behind me. ‘This had better be good kitten, you wandered off with no protection, I can’t lose you…’ he mutters into my hair.

**Peter’s POV**
I meet them at the border, and start to reprimand Emma, but she seems more focused on little Rosie, so I mount up behind her for the ride back home.

I sniff her hair, inhaling as deeply as I can, feeling the tension and anger I have been holding dissipate a bit. I am still angry, mostly with my sisters. Emma is an innocent in this world, but it isn’t always safe, they shouldn’t have let her out of their sight. But I will wait until she is calm before I try and explain this to her.

Emma jumps off the mare and runs into the house, calling for Rosie.

*She is in the rec room,* I link Emma. *First floor west wing.*

The house is huge, and Emma has spent more time with her daughter and granddaughter rather than exploring, so she has no idea where most of the rooms are. I walk through the house and find Emma with Rosie. I pause in the door, watching her, she is an amazing mum and grandma, I just imagine what she will be like with our pups, and it warms my heart.

She catches me looking at her. *Sorry about earlier, can we talk when Rosie is asleep, please,* she links me, much calmer now.

*Of course,* I reply, not that I could say no to her about anything, but she feels so ashamed and apologetic, that it melts my heart. *I am not mad at you; I was just really scared.*

After playing with Rosie for a bit, they go upstairs to sort out the packages that had arrived, and to choose some things for Sam, then a trip to the hospital before dinner and putting Rosie to bed.

While my love is busy, I catch up on pack business, check on the hunt for the missing children, and interview my sisters.

I feel a bit conflicted after talking to my sisters. The witch didn’t do anything to my Em, it sounds like she is a foreteller, and gave her a prophecy… but I want to know more about the necklace, Em does not need a cursed piece, and the witch did use magic on my sisters.
…
Emma joins me in the living area, Rosie has settled to sleep, I hand her a mug of hot chocolate… she takes a sip, and I can feel some of the tension leave her body. She puts the mug on the table and I pull her onto my lap for a cuddle. She feels perfect in my arms. Her hand on my chest, as she inhales my scent and moves into me. My dick twitches, but we need to talk first.

‘Em, what can you tell me about the witch?’ I ask, stroking her hair soothingly.

‘Not much really. I was looking for a child, I had thought it was Rosie, and when I realised it wasn’t I still wanted to be sure she was safe. Then I saw the necklace in the shop… it’s perfect to go with my dress for the full moon,’ she tells me. ‘So the lady… sorry witch, but I didn’t know she was a witch tells me she can’t sell me the…. Eclipse necklace, and I go to leave… then she tells me it is mine already, and that she will gift wrap it. Anyway, then she asked if I would like my fortune told… so I said how much and found the biggest single bar in my purse and gave it to her.

Then all hell broke loose, Jess and Fel piled in screaming witch and got tied to the walls with branches… which come to think of it is weird… did she make the shelves sprout… oh my god that is so cool…’

‘Kitten,’ I prompt her.

‘So, then her eyes go all gold… like she has a wolf or something… and she repeats this long poem, I think it means that I can find the missing kids, but I will have to endure, and if I don’t succeed then the pack curse will be renewed… How many are missing in total? The verse talked about twenty-four.’

‘I know of twenty-two, although it could be more,’ I say. ‘Not all the missing pups are from our pack.’

‘The children are safe until they have all of them,’ she mutters. ‘Oh god I can’t think.’

‘Nothing we can do tonight anyway. Now what about this necklace,’ I ask.

She lifts her hair to reveal a silver necklace showing the phases of the moon, and a dark stone for the eclipse, I move to touch it, steeling myself for the burn of silver. Thinking that maybe I will remove it, until I can check it won’t hurt my mate.

It doesn’t burn, instead it shifts and fades into her skin, a tattoo appears across her chest, but somehow it still looks like a piece of jewellery. Our eyes widen as they meet.

‘Shit,’ she says.

‘By the Goddess,’ I reply. ‘We will talk to someone with more knowledge, a priestess maybe, perhaps a fae.’

I pull her closer, trying to soothe her to sleep, because I know I will not sleep until I have answers.