11. The Frostthe Bite

Sam squints at the object I hold up. “That’s what caused all our problems? We’re being driven off our land by-by, what, a freakin’ snowflake? Really?”

We’re sitting outside at a table in front of the pack house. The sky is getting darker, and I wonder if we’ll soon be sitting completely in the dark while we wait for the wolves on the other side of the table to catch up.

“This snowflake is a token,” I explain. “A magical charm blessed to assist unbranded casters. It allowed the Brass’s son to freeze you out.”

“But it belongs on a keychain!” Sam yells. “They sell those at gas stations for $4.99.”

“No, this one is a token.” My eye twitches as I force myself to remain calm and keep a strained smile on my face. “The snowflake is real and magically preserved. It contains a blessing.”

I pray that I finally got through—

“Are you bullshitting me right now?” Sam demands.

“No.”

Sam sets two meaty fists on the wooden tabletop, still glaring at the token like it’s a great injustice. How can something that fits in the palm of his hand cause more damage than his muscles?

From their perspective, it must be incredibly anticlimactic. Ewan and I requested an audience with the alphas and declared their troubles were over. All it took was popping over for a surprise visit and swapping one snowflake with another.

So yes, I understand that they need more information… but at the same time, three mosquitoes have bitten me in the last five minutes, and I really hope this goes smoother than my last run in with the pack.

“Okay, I get that you’re serious.” Sam inspects the token from every angle, twisting his head with his mouth dropped open in bewilderment. “But are you really serious?”

“Yes,” I say.

Be patient,I remind myself. They aren’t as familiar with magic. Be patie—ow! A fourth mosquito sneaks under the cuff of my pants and bites my ankle.

If only I had the patience of the man next to Sam. The alpha places a hand on his young packmate’s shoulder and the younger man’s mouth closes instead of asking more questions. The alpha Rowan has the same calm, steady demeanor as Ewan. Though I suppose it’s Ewan who takes after his uncle.

Rowan extends a hand and I place the token in it, letting him examine the charm. “Hard to believe. The tiny spark of magic I feel in this snowflake caused such destruction.”

“You’re right,” I say. “Us novice casters think our powers are so weak before branding, but they’re still strong enough to hurt others when used irresponsibly.”

“And swapping your charm with his is all it takes to put a stop to his manipulations?”

“I inherited an equivalent blessing from my parents, so my token isn’t functional.” A token token, that’s what my friend Marty calls it. “And now that we have Percy’s token, we should be able to gain some information from it that links him to the damage on your lands.”

”That is what will happen now?” Rowan questions next.

“Yes. Even if Percy cloaked his actions, there are casters who specialize in detecting traces of magic. And the people who made this token will be able to see the magic he has cast recently.”

”And what will happen to Brass?” Sam wonders.

“The elements care less about right vs. wrong,” I explain. “But that’s why there’s also human perspective involved. If a person harms others or otherwise proves they can’t be trusted with a brand, the protections designed to keep magic from hurting novices are enhanced, so that no magic can get through.” The same happens when a person fails to brand and they’re cut off from magic for their own safety. “I can’t promise Percy will receive the maximum punishment, but a wizarding tribunal will review his conduct and decide on appropriate action. I’ve already contacted his sponsors about formally revoking his token and starting this process.”

”So that’s it?”

”Basically,” I say. “Call the numbers I gave you, give them the new information we’ve uncovered, and they’ll swing into action and sort everything out. If an earthbrand in some sort of official position hasn’t contacted you in a few days about undoing the damage, then let me know and we can start going through university channels instead.”

”My husband is inside making calls now.”

All the numbers I included were specially picked, people in the magic community who were trusted as impartial and who I knew wouldn’t be scared away by the Brass family blackballing the pack. Going through law enforcement was the best option, but if they were hesitant to act, people at the university would document everything for research and help undo the damage.

My parents’ first response was that this better not be an attempt to get out of dinner tonight. I told them it was best to cancel and that I would soon be sending them photos of the damage.

They’re on friendly terms with the Brass family of course, but there’s enough now to investigate and back up the wolf’s accusations. With evidence, this becomes more than a finger-pointing squabble between neighbors. My parents won’t ignore a credible claim of magical abuse. That would jeopardize the Blanchard reputation. No friend of the family is worth more than their good name.

”That’s it for now,” I conclude. “Percy can’t do more now that his token is gone.”

We sit in the silence as it sinks in that their troubles are ending. Somewhere in the trees there’s a shriek of laughter as the youngest in the pack play hide and seek, oblivious to the troubles the adults are dealing with.

”Okay, let me get this straight,” Sam says eventually. “You swapped Percy Brass’s special snowflake with your own snowflake that doesn’t have magic. And because his special snowflake is gone, now he won’t mess with us anymore?”

”Uh, yeah close enough.”

”Bullshit,” Sam declares immediately.

”Come on, man,” Ewan says.

Huh. We did agree I’d take the lead here because I’m the one who can answer most of their questions. But once he speaks, I realize that’s the first thing he’s said in a while. Someone already tended to his leg when we came back here, so he isn’t holding back because of his injury.

”No, for real,” Sam insists. “This douche isn’t supposed to sneak around and use magic to harm our land, but he did. The Brass’s aren’t supposed to lie and pretend they have nothing to do with the issues on our land, but they are. If they’re doing whatever the hell they want, why are they going to start following the rules now?”

”He does have a point.” The alpha notes lightly. Sam grins smugly at being vindicated. “It seems unlikely he’ll come after us again once he discovers the swap and Percy knows that he’s been caught. But there’s nothing stopping him from attacking again, is there?”

”No, he won’t keep going.” I shrug helplessly as I try to explain. “Casting without the proper protections is dangerous. There’s just no upside. The more you cast, you risk your mind and body breaking down so much that you become an unsuitable host for the essence of an element. You could have a heart attack, a stroke, or just go insane. And those are some of the better options.”

“Better?” Ewan mutters.

“Yes. Because if you really make the elements or magic angry, they might get creative with your punishment.” I shudder at the thought. “If you’re lucky enough to scrape by with minimal harm, you just proved that you’re too short-sighted and immature to handle all the powers and responsibilities of a lifetime commitment to an element.” Responsibilities like not using powers to hurt others and fixing magical messes, the prices that come with the privilege of having magic.

“Anything could happen when Percy gets punished for what he did here,” I continue. “He may be allowed to keep practicing. That means he could still become an icebrand. My token is symbolic and has no actual blessing inside it. If he does magic without his token, he’s risking his safety and done for sure. Why would he cast anyway and blow his shot at gaining ice’s essence?”

For Percy, magic is everything. Any shot at ice magic is better than none. He probably thought he wouldn’t get caught here. But there’s no hiding the toll unsafe magical usage takes, it will always catch up to a caster eventually. And the elements always know anyway.

The wolves consider all this information. Crickets chirp in the distance. The younger kids who were playing games start heading inside the house.

”So,” Sam speaks first, trying to act casual. “We have Percy on ice.”

”Oh god.” Ewan’s already burying his face in his hands.

“You can go inside now,” the alpha dismisses Sam smoothly.

“Come on, I have more!”

“Start getting the others together. We need to make an announcement.”

“Fine. You ruin all my fun.”

“Well, if you’d rather stay and apologize profusely for how you treated Jack…” Rowan offers slyly.

“Okay, okay I’m going.” Sam gets away from the table and then turns back, clearly pained. “Uh, about how I treated you… you know, it’s uh… it’s my bad.” He hurries away.

The alpha and Ewan seem pleased he was able to muster up a ‘my bad’, so I take the win.

“The hard jobs always fall to me,” the alpha jokes.

“You don’t have to apologize for them,” I say. “That’s the same as me apologizing for the actions of another wizard.”

“Except the wolves who treated you poorly are my pack, my responsibility. Their successes and failures are my own. They didn’t impress me today. Present company excluded,” he says with a glance to Ewan. Rowan’s eyes are warm when they land on me. “You, on the other hand, are an entirely different story. I’m grateful Ewan found you when he did.”

”T-thank you.”

“Thank you,” he says, speaking with gravity and authority. “You had no reason to stay and help us after how we treated you, yet you saved our land. Now we can stay together on the lands that our pack has always called our own. One apology isn’t enough for their behavior, but it’s a start. I’m sorry for the actions of my pack. The greeting they gave you was not what you deserved.” His somber attitude begins to lift. “Let’s correct that now. As far as me and my pack are concerned, you are always welcome as a friend and honored guest from this day forward.”

Wow. The praise, the feeling of accomplishment, and the sincerity of the alpha all leave a warm glowing feeling in my chest.

But in my life, it doesn’t matter how warm things seem. Ice is never far away. The alpha is full of apology and kind words, but Ewan next to me feels tense. Off.

When I glance over, he’s frowning. Something isn’t right.

* * *

“To Jack!” Sam cheers, raising his glass in a toast.

“To Jack!” a chorus of shifters echo back.

Everything progressed at lightning speed when Sam went inside to rally the troops. The pack leaped into action to celebrate the end of their troubles. Now I’m in the middle of a wild party in full swing.

Wolf shifters in their human forms drink and toast, clapping me on the back and cheering whenever they recognize me. I’m no longer a suspicious ice wizard. I’m a hero.

In the ensuing commotion, I lose track of Ewan and can’t find him anywhere.

“Come on,” Sam says. “You haven’t lived until you’ve played beer pong with wolves.”

“That may be true, but I think doing so could be what kills me.”

“Lightweight.” Sam rolls his eyes, though he’s still much friendlier than before. “You can be on my team. I got your back.”

My goal is to avoid playing beer pong with shifters with high alcohol tolerances, but it doesn’t look like I’m getting out of this. Actually, Sam’s insistence to include me now is rather sweet. I’m looking forward to being an unofficial member of the pack for the night.

“Why don’t you find a different partner?” Ewan suggests as he appears by my side. “Give us a minute, okay?”

Sam reads the situation and reaches an obvious conclusion. “He’s all yours.” He backs away from me slowly and sends me a wink.

Ewan isn’t looking to spend a private romantic moment alone with me though. He barely speaks or looks at me as he starts leading me away from the house and the party spilling out onto the lawn.

The farther away we go, the more I listen for Ewan’s footsteps to guide me through the dark. When I look back, the light from the celebration is hard to see. The house is lit up, and there’s a fire pit with healthy flames lighting up the dark night, but we’re far enough away that only a dim hazy orange reaches us.

It takes a moment to spot my car and realize this is why he brought us out here. He’s rushing me off.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll tell them not to get their hopes up about seeing you again.”

So much for celebration. Those words have me going cold all over.

“What, you don’t want to stay in touch?”

Ewan looks away down the road. “Think it’s better if you go.” He sighs. “Look, Brass is a bastard, but he’s right about one thing. You aren’t a great liar. I heard the end of your conversation with him. You were trying to remove the effects of my mark on you. It was a mistake. That’s why you came here.”

All at once, it feels like I’ve been caught in a lie. Guilt washes over me swiftly, even though this is just a misunderstanding.

”I-I wasn’t keeping it from you, not intentionally. Other things came up.”

”Well, I have something for you. This salve recipe uses simple ingredients you probably have on hand and should help heal the bite and other marks faster.” He pulls a paper from his back pocket with the recipe. “Otherwise, just wait a few more days. Time will take care of it too.”

Oh no. This looks bad. Ewan is playing it rather cool and not giving away too much but I clearly hurt his feelings. He thinks I was so desperate to remove the marks he gave me that I couldn”t even wait for them to fade naturally.

”I’m sorry.” I take a fumbling step towards him in the dark. “You thought I came to see you.”

”No—”

”It’s not that I didn’t want to see you,” I insist.

This is all going so wrong so fast. Ewan’s bite below my shoulder was strong enough to tether me to the earth magic we both love, blocking my ability to cast other elemental magic. While it was a bit alarming when I didn’t know what was going on, and the bite mark’s effect on me was accidental, that doesn’t mean it’s a mistake. All the mark did was point towards something I wasn’t able or wasn’t ready to see yet.

“What I said to Percy, I didn’t mean—”

”You don’t need to explain.” Ewan keeps us at arm’s length, carefully switching our positions so the moon isn’t at my back and I won’t injure myself wandering to him without being able to see clearly. Though the look on his face makes me wish I was blind again. It looks so final. “I’m really glad we didn’t stick to our arrangement and never see each other again.”

”You are?” That wasn’t what I expected.

”Yeah, you saved my pack. I’ll always be grateful for that.” He gently urges me towards my car. “But I think it’s best if we go our separate ways after all.”

”Oh…” Yep, that’s what I was worried he’d say. Hearing it feels like the floor dropped out from under me. “That’s what you want?”

Ewan nods.

His wishes hit me hard, and I lean against my vehicle to hold me up. This isn’t where I saw the night heading at all. Ewan has his hands in his back pockets, not looking at me and waiting for me to get in my car and go. He’s not unkind exactly, he could have been much ruder, but he’s firm. Like we’re over and done with and that’s all there is to it.

I understand how it looks to him, but figuring out why my powers were stuck wasn’t the real reason I came to see him. It was only an excuse, something that gave me a reason to do what I already longed to do. I wanted to see him again. But now I wonder if he feels the same. I was so sure he felt the same way in his truck but now…

I consider what he tells me. Getting into my car, driving away and never seeing him again. I seriously consider it. Then I realize something.

This is it. This is why Earth gave me the test it did. It told me to decide. Because I never go after what I want. I let others dictate what happens. Doubt and fear has stopped me for too long.

I’ll never get closer to my dreams if I don’t take steps to get there. In this moment, I could be on the verge of having everything. It all depends on whether I’m willing to go after what I want or not.

This whole adventure has made it abundantly clear that some things are worth fighting for. There are some things I can’t lose.

“Stay right there,” I order. “Hold on a second.”

I climb into my car, leaving the door open. I turn on the car and the headlights. For good measure, I put on the high beams.

“Ah!”

“Sorry, guess I should have warned you. Will you get used to the light?”

“What’s going on, Jack?”

“We should have this conversation while we can see each other clearly. Leaving isn’t what I want,” I say. “This isn’t what I want at all.”

He squints and I hope he gets used to the light. I need him to see me and know I mean everything I’m about to say.

“Jack—”

“No, you had your say. This is mine.”

I step into the light with him and blink hard, not used to the sudden change either. I want him to see me but I’m also literally in the spotlight, so my throat works futilely for a few seconds before I find my voice.

”I tell myself I’m torn between earth and ice. The truth is, I’m not. In my heart, I think I’ve known for a long time which element is right for me. I’ve just been too afraid to admit it. I put off deciding, like maybe if I give it enough time, I’ll wake up one day and suddenly love ice magic more than anything else. Then I met you and everything changed. You showed me all the things I always longed for and forced me to admit how right they are. You gave me a taste of what I could have, if only I were willing to go get it.”

“So you’re going to be an earthbrand?” Ewan puts it together slowly. “That’s what you want to tell me?

“No.” Wait. “Well, yes, that is what I’ve decided.” Though right now, that isn’t the important part. “I want you in my life, if you’re willing to have me. If I don’t tell you this, I’m gonna regret it for the rest of my life. I’ll always wonder what could have been. I knew that the moment you left me behind in the hotel room. Even if you don’t feel the same, I can’t make that mistake again.”

Now I’m glad I can see him, his blue eyes and steady hands and everything I adore so much.

“I think you might be the real deal, Ewan. I’d like to find out. I think you’re who and what I’ve been looking for all along.”

Ewan stares at me for a long moment, totally unreadable. The silence is agonizing and there’s no indication of when it will end. Then his arms wrap around me and his mouth crashes into mine. I surrender to the passionate kiss for a few wonderful moments before gathering enough of my wits to pull back.

“Uh, so you agree with me?” I guess.

“Yep,” he says. Apparently, that’s it, and he joins our mouths once more.

Ewan’s hand cradles the back of my head, and his tongue in my mouth is making it incredibly difficult to focus, but I need to understand.

“Are you sure? I thought you were sending me away a second ago.”

He pulls back, realizing this is something we need to discuss.

“I like you,” he promises, thumb stroking over my lower lip as he looks deep into my eyes. “I want you to be here. But if you didn’t feel the same, I thought a clean break would be better, before… before I get in any deeper.”

“Yeah?”

“I realized it the second my pack chased you away.” He laughs dryly, ducking his head. “They started getting to me and I wondered how well I really knew you. I hesitated and you had to rescue yourself and get away on your own. My instincts were telling me I could trust you, but I let the others run you outta here and I felt like the smallest, sorriest excuse for a wolf in the entire world. I should have protected you, and that’s how I knew I had feelings for you. Some part of me already decided you were telling the truth, and I needed to listen and believe that you were who I thought you were.”

”Who am I?”

”Someone I’d like to know a lot better,” he says. “Someone I’m falling for.”

This time, it”s my turn to join our mouths together. It”s the best news I”ve heard in a long time. Ewan and I are finally on the same wonderful page.