The Professor's Mate Clause novel Chapter 69

CHAPTER

After dinner I fake exhaustion. Tell Adrian I’m going to bed early. He offers to join me but I insist he finish his meeting with Marcus.

“I’ll be up soon.” He promises. “Don’t wait up.

“Okay.”

I go to our room. Wait. Watch the clock. Eleven thirty. Eleven forty-five. Midnight.

Time.

I slip out of bed. Dress quickly. Dark clothes. Nothing that will restrict movement. Tie my hair back.

The hallway is empty. Most of the pack asleep or on patrol outside. I move quietly. Years of sneaking around as a kid coming in handy now.

The basement stairs creak. I freeze. Wait. No one comes. Keep moving.

The old storage room is at the end of the hall. Door slightly ajar. Light flickering from inside.

I push it open. Step inside.

Chief Winters is there. And a woman I don’t recognize. Older. Wild gray hair. Sharp green eyes. Covered in tattoos that seem to move in the candlelight.

The witch.

“Freya Reed.” Her voice is raspy. Like she smoked for a hundred years. “So you’re the one foolish enough to attempt this.” “I’m the one desperate enough.” I close the door behind me. “Can you do it? Can you awaken my wolf?”

She circles me. Studying. Evaluating. “Your binding is strong. Old/magic. Done when you were very young. Breaking it will not be pleasant.”

“I don’t care about pleasant. I care about results.”

“Brave words. Let’s see if you still feel that way in an hour.” She gestures to a circle drawn on the floor Symbols I don’t recognize. Candles at each point. “Lie down. In the center. Remove your shoes.”

Then

tocked the binding breaking Shared A will stouts are the trust

“That’s it.” The witch’s voice sounds far away. “Let her emerge. Don’t fight it.”

But something feels wrong. The wolf isn’t emerging smoothly. She’s fighting. Thrashing. Too much power too fast. My body can’t contain it. Can’t channel it properly.

I try to speak. Try to tell them to stop. But nothing comes out. Just pain. Just burning. Just the sensation of being torn apart from the inside.

The witch’s expression changes. From confident to concerned to alarmed. “This isn’t right. She’s not supposed to”

Everything goes white. Then black. Then red.

My wolf surges forward. Partially. Incompletely. Wrong.