Chapter 2. The Haze

Colton’s head spins back to where he gazed before, immediately silencing him. His gaze narrows to a scowl, and a low snarl emits from his deep throat like a vibration.

What is it? What can you see?

I look too, my senses on high alert and body prickling as I can still feel the vampires in the distance, now feeding on his burst of hostility. The downside to my blood being part of theirs is since I opened my gifts, I can always feel them whenever they’re close. Mixed with my mate’s emotions, it’s making me feel nauseous and faint.

It’s a witch… let’s go. Move, catch up with the pack. We shouldn’t linger alone; I need to protect you.

Colton’s words are heavy and laced with anger, yet also worry. He takes zero chances when protecting me and is most definitely overprotective.

I don’t argue, but instead, I trust his instinct and turn, pick up my paws, and run like the wind back in the direction we came from. I can feel him close behind me, always steps behind even though I know he’s faster than me at a sprint. He’s staying back in case we are followed by whatever he thinks is out there because he never stops shielding me.

Not that I need it. Colton sometimes requires me to look after him as far as powers go. As my gifts grew and I began to hone them over the months, I found how powerful I could be. It was almost like sliding into a warm bath after a long hard day: it freed and rejuvenated me. From the first moments of the gifts being free, I learned how to use them almost like a forgotten memory, and even he admits that I can be way more helpful than him at times.

Colton is having a more challenging time with his witch gifts, though. So long repressed and so at odds with how he was raised. He is a warrior and a fighter, but his witch side is to heal, nurture, and care, much like his mom, and avoid conflict. So at odds with who he is. He sometimes has visions and dreams that he cannot separate from fantasy or reality as he tries to navigate what they mean and what he’s to do with them. It frustrates him on so many levels, being a guy who likes to have all the answers to all life’s problems. He hates puzzles and trying to read meanings through vague images. Sierra is trying to expand that ability, but sometimes Colton is too rough and ready to sit down and center himself to his peaceable side long enough to do much about it.

We run back the several miles we covered in the hunt until the homestead looms ahead, high on a hill over the next mound of treetops like a welcome calling haven. We don’t let up and can sense the closeness of the others rounding in as we get home to our safety net.

Why would they have a witch out here?

I ask innocently as we slow our paces to a trot and move to the opening clearing before hitting the new village we built around and behind the homestead to accommodate our pack. It’s been a busy few months of creating a proper habitat for our growing pack, and as the houses come into view behind the tall cage fences, I relax and walk. We’re within the perimeter of our haven. We’re close enough now that the other patrols in the pack will still be circling, and we no longer have to watch our backs.

You heard my mother. She told us that some of the witches joined forces with the vampires in this fight and were only too happy to see the downfall of the wolves. Some of them feel wronged by us. I guess this is the first of them showing up to prove her right. It’s been months of sporadic attacks that never succeeded. Maybe they think a witch on side might give them an advantage since their weapon is all but useless now.

I don’t respond as a cold chill runs through my stomach, and I glance back into the dense darkness and try to feel anything beyond the tree line. There is nothing, they never followed us back here, but the uneasiness I picked up first is still there. Almost like we’re being watched. I shudder in subtle fear at the thought of what might be out there. Trying not to let my mind run riot and imagine the worst.

Don’t!

Colton nudges my face with his nose, reading my mind, pushing me away from where I’m staring, breaking my train of thought.

Let’s go inside and change, clean up, and eat. Forget it for now, and we’ll talk to my mom in the morning. We’re safe within these boundaries, even from witches.

His tone tells me he’s worried about what we felt out there, too, but he’s being his usual self. Solid, commanding, and like nothing gets to him. He is brushing aside the current problem and shelving it until after eating and sleeping when I know Colton does his best thinking. He’s a dawn riser who uses quiet time to figure things out. We’re all tired, and it’s almost morning as it is.

Aye, aye, Chica, do what the man says! I’m beyond starving. We have spent half the night out here. I need food and sleep!

Meadow saunters into the clearing, hearing the link conversation inadvertently because we were not shielding to a private mate link, and nudges against me with her brown sleek furry body. As a wolf, Meadow is weirdly similar to her human form. She is sleek yet curvy, smooth-furred with slanted amber eyes that somehow sit well in her face to make her attractive as a Lycan. She isn’t as big as the males, but she is fast and fierce, and despite her slender build, I’ve seen her devastate everything in her wake and not even ruffle her fur in the process. Knowing she’s a half-shifter took away any questions I had about her slight differences from regular wolves. They are subtle, but I see them.

Two more wolves appear in the shadows and walk past, one huge dark one stopping to run his body along the length of Meadow, rubbing his head up against hers as he falls in step beside her. Her mate is as built as mine, only grey and equally rough. He nudges her suggestively, and the two of them take off wordlessly ahead without a second thought, and Colton snorts in humor at their behavior

For some, the Haze is still lingering, it seems.

He pushes up against me to walk side by side with physical contact, and I lean my head into his neck to share his warmth as we cover the last ground. Relaxing into that firm body, he takes some of my weight and guides me onward.

You can talk… I don’t get a single night of peace from you, even before the haze hit.

I laugh and lick him quickly, hitting the lower profile of his jaw with my darted action.

What can I say? My mate is a vixen and completely irresistible! I’m alpha. I can’t be outdone in terms of testosterone and horniness, baby.

Colton’s smug and yet also correct. I know he means it, but it still makes me blush and smile whenever he talks like this and nuzzle him adoringly. Still a little too enamored with my mate, even after months of being his.

The haze was crazy when it hit. We had only been mates for around three weeks when it swept over, and I was almost insane with the need to be joined to him about fifty times a day. I never knew how bad the heat and desire could get when you mated up. Never experienced a haze before turning, so it was a massive wake-up call.

How we got out of our room for more than three minutes daily is beyond me because nothing could satisfy the hunger or the uncontrollable urge to mate constantly. No matter how many times or how good it was, it was just seconds of relief, and I was whining again to have him back on top of me. Colton was only too happy to oblige, given he was in a worse state than me. Males apparently feel it with more vigor, given that it’s meant to make them want to procreate and spread their seed to enable their bloodlines.

Luckily, the haze only lasts two weeks and slowly tails off when mating season dies away. When the constant crazy hunger to be in his bed wrapped around him slowly began to fade to a manageable level of need. Not entirely, though. I don’t think I’ll ever stop lusting after him and needing to feel his touch every second of every day. Since our union so many months back, we’ve rarely been apart, and I’ve grown and flourished with his love to become the Luna I never thought I could be. I genuinely believe it was the one thing I needed in my life to find myself once more and blossom under his tender care.