47. Anna

47

Anna

"You're not focusing," the Crone snarled and rapped her staff against the ground again.

"You give me that staff, and I'll show you just how well I can focus," I muttered under my breath as I envisioned cracking the staff over her head.

Her eyes narrowed, an indication that she'd heard exactly what I said. Irene, Lunessa, and Janelle looked on nervously. Today's training session was not going well. The Crone couldn't figure out how I could almost drain an entire pack, but I couldn't even pluck at one wolf's pack bond. The wolf in question, a young juvenile named Elise, played happily in the grass.

Juveniles had essentially built up zero protections around their pack bonds. Pack children were claimed immediately, although the protection only went one way. They couldn't provide for the pack until they were adults, but they were wide open to pack magic, which meant they were wide open to me.

All I had to do was tug on her bond enough to show us her wolf. A little colored gleam of her eyes. Maybe a cub howl. Instead, she sat there, playing with her two stuffed animals while I stared at her doing absolutely nothing.

And the Crone yelled at me.

"I need a break, and we need to get this one back to her mother. It's already half an hour after we promised to get her back."

"Not until you're successful," the Crone snarled.

"No, now," I snapped. "She is a child, and someone is concerned about her. I know you don't understand that, but she is under my protection. She goes back. Now. Irene?"

With a small smile, the witch walked forward and gathered the child in her arms. Elise looked at me and yawned. "You make pretty colors," she said with a grin. "I like it."

Excellent. I couldn't call to her wolf but apparently she could see my magic. That would do wonders against Maeve. Maybe I could put on a lovely fireworks display while she tore the mountain apart.

The Crone snarled silently, but I ignored her while I kissed Elise's head. "You feel all right otherwise? Nothing strange?"

"No. I like it. It was fun. I can stay a little bit longer. I don't wanna go back to Becky's. She makes me eat broccoli."

Becky was one of the pack nannies. I chuckled. "You're not going to Becky's. You're going straight to your mother, and maybe she'll make you something yummy to eat."

Elise's eyes lit up as Irene carried her away. When she was gone, I planted my hands on my hips. "No more children. I could have hurt her."

"Why do you think you're surrounded by witches? We would not have let that happen."

"Sure. Witches who are absolutely powerless against my null magic," I pointed out. "No more children. We start with something else. I don't want to just go around draining wolves."

"It's the best defense you've shown," the Crone argued.

"Yeah. Of bonds I can reach. I can't reach Maeve's bonds or anyone who isn't part of this pack, so it's useless. We do something else." A headache was forming at my temples.

We glared at each other for a moment before light flashed from her staff and aimed straight at me. I yelped and jumped even though I knew whatever she'd flung at me wouldn't affect me. "Let's talk protective barriers," she said. "Not against magic. You already have that naturally. Against wolves."

"Like a force field?" Despite my exhaustion, she had my attention. A forcefield would be very helpful.

"Yes. Enhanced boundaries." The Crone circled the dirt around her with her staff. "Boundary magic is already part of your werewolf magic. You accept the magic of the land bound to your pack. You know when you've crossed into another territory. Your desire to mark your boundary, animalistic as it is, is an inherent part of you. This should be just like that. You mark your territory and mark it with magic."

That was an interesting concept. "How will I know if it works?"

"Instead of absorbing and nullifying the magic, it won't even touch you. I'll shoot energy your way, and we should see it bounce off. Now sit. I suspect this will be easier the more you have contact with the ground."

Warily, I lowered myself to the ground. The grass tickled under my hands as I placed my palms to the earth. I couldn't remember the last time I'd sat in the grass as a human. My atmosphere and movements were often divided by the animal in me. My wolf frolicked in the grass and hunted in the forest. As a human, I stayed indoors and walked from building to building.

It hadn't always been that way. For years, I'd refused to shift, but that almost felt like a lifetime ago.

It hadn't even been a year.

"Most of this magic is mental," the Crone instructed. "You need to envision the barrier around you. Keep it small for today. If it helps, you can circle your hands around you, drawing the barrier into the earth."

Feeling a little silly, I touched my fingers in front of my knees and drew them in opposite directions around my body until they met again behind my back. I pulled them back in front of me again.

"Good, now that you have the circumference, close your eyes. Imagine a wall of that circumference rooted deep in the earth. As deep as the roots of the oldest trees. That foundation can withstand the mightiest natural forces. Not a single element can fell it. Tap into the earth's magic and let it rise out of the ground, up to the sky. An infinitely tall barrier. In your mind, paint it a color. Whatever color you wish. Whatever color you associate with protection."

Gold. The very shade of Jax's wolf's eyes.

"Stop smiling," the Crone sighed. "Focus. Now that you're holding that in your mind, from the depths of the earth to the great sky, I want you to raise your arms out again. Feel that circumference. See those threads binding it all together and then push your power into it."

Gritting my teeth, I tried to summon my magic. Tried to will it into the barrier. The ground beneath me started to shake.

Shit. That couldn't be good. I cracked my eyes open just in time to see the old witch send a blast of purple magic my way. Instinctively, I shrieked and rolled away.

On my back, I stared at the sky and blew out my breath while I waited for her lecture.

"Not bad," the Crone grunted.

What? Sitting up, I looked at where she was staring. Right in the middle of where I'd been sitting was a perfect ring of scorched earth.

"You created a force field?" Jax asked while we walked. There was still a buzzing inside me, like I'd electrocuted myself, and I hadn't been able to sit still. After I'd bounced all through dinner, Jax had suggested a walk through the woods. I'd jumped at the idea, as long as we could do it in human form. I wanted to try and appreciate the land a little more.

"Well, no," I admitted. "That was the intention, but her magic had actually penetrated it, as she pointed out. But I did manage to claim the small bit of land with my magic. Branded it really, which is not great. I had to spend the rest of the day healing it."

"Anna, I have every confidence that you'll gain control of your magic, so please do not take offense when I ask you not to start any wildfires in our territory," he said mildly.

Wrinkling my nose, I punched him in the arm. "I did not start a fire!"

"Yet."

"Hey!" Laughing, I took another swing at him. He caught me this time, and easily subdued both my hands behind my back.

The buzzing inside my body turned into something different altogether when he didn't release me. Heat surged through me, and I stared up at him. "If you wanted my hands behind my back, all you had to do was ask," I said in a low, throaty voice.

His gaze darkened. "Anna."

"I've never been scared of you, you know. At least, not of how you make my body feel. You've been so careful with me, but you don't have to. I'm stronger than ever, and I'm not going to break."

"I know that," he said softly. "But we haven't had time to rest. To explore what we both like. What we both want."

He hadn't released my hands. For all we knew, Maeve was going to attack in the next hour. I didn't want to keep waiting. Jax hadn't touched me since we left London's territory.

I ached for him, and I didn't want to hold back. I didn't want him to hold back.

"Tell me what you want, Jax."

He backed me up until my knuckles scraped up against the bark of a tree. "Keep your hands behind your back, Anna, and get on your knees."