The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

When I walk into the Castle again, I feel a wave of renewed energy. Being able to let my wolf out felt amazing after such a long time; even better that I got to go with Noah. Before entering the new clinic again, I take a deep breath, not at all excited to face all of the work ahead of me.

When I open the doors, most of the papers I was working on have been sorted, as well as the medication, much to my relief. In the middle of it all, I find Charlotte and some of the other girls that volunteered to make this clinic happen. When she sees me, she jumps up and runs to me.

"Oh. Vera! It's so good to have you back!" She says, hugging me tightly.

I hug her back.

"It's good to see you, Charlotte!"

We were only away for a few days, but they were eventful ones, apparently not just for me.

"You have to tell me everything that happened here while I was gone, this place is a mess," I tell

her.

She rolls her eyes,

"You have no idea," she says, "come! Let's have lunch first. I'm starving."

I take a quick glance at the clock, noting it's actually past lunch time. I didn't realize Noah and I had been out this long; we left somewhat early.

She takes my arm and we leave for the dining hall.

"Hey, Charlotte? I was thinking maybe we could have lunch at the garden?"

Her eyes light up. "Sure thing!"

Ever since we took care of Alistair, Charlotte no longer has to hide her garden. In fact, we got rid of the fence that surrounded it and hid it from the outside world, and we have now even extended it to the closest courtyard.Visit Job ni b.com to read the complete chapters for free. If you are not reading this novel on Job ni b .com, some sentences are incomplete. The flowers and vegetation have taken over most of the stone statues and the fountain in the middle. Many people within the castle have now started to come here in their time off to relax. It's made me think that maybe she should turn all the cold, unwelcoming courtyards in the Castle into gardens.

Once we get our food from the dining hall, we head towards the garden, sitting at the gazebo where we first met.

We start eating in silence, but it doesn't go on for long.

"Is it true you almost killed Lucas's mate?" She asks, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Oh Goddess," I say, "where do I even begin? Have you met her?" I ask her.

"I have! She seems nice, but she is absolutely *terrified* of you. Lucas says you almost killed her *and* her mom," she says, taking in a mouthful of fruit.

"But do you know why I almost killed her?"

"No! Nobody wants to say why, that's what's upsetting me!"This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

I laugh. Of course they don't want anyone to know.

"So, the Council lied. They were sending Noah out to Cerulean House to look for a wife," I say.

"Shut up!" Charlotte says, shocked, "don't tell me... she was..."

"Yup. She was House Cerulean's pick to be Noah's wife. The only way to stop that was for me to challenge her to a duel. If she won, she'd be allowed to become his wife, if I won, she'd have to give up any notions of becoming Queen." She's gaping at me.

"So, she found out Lucas was her mate *after* the fight?"

"She already knew Lucas was her mate before we fought, but we still had to go through with it."

"Oh Goddess, no wonder she's terrified of you. She seems so sweet, I'm surprised they thought she stood a chance against you."

"They even tried to poison me with wolf's bane." I say, taking a sip of my water.

Charlotte's mouth hangs open.

"Yeah, have you met her friend? Cassia? She's a witch," I whisper this last part and Charlotte's eyes go wide, her hand flying to her mouth. "No," she whispers.

Charlotte is one of the only people here that knows for a fact that I'm a witch. It was very hard for her not to suspect after that time at the garden, when the moon peonies called me to them. I also decided to tell her because I'm helping her out in the garden as a way to practice my magic; it would've been very hard to hide it from her then.

"Oh yeah, I don't know how much power she actually has but she's a witch, so they used all kinds of potions and stuff while we were there," I lean a little closer to her, "they even tried using a pheromone perfume so Noah would be attracted to her." Charlotte bursts out laughing, and so do I. When our fit of giggles is done, she wipes a tear off her eye.

"This is too much. No wonder they don't want anyone to know. How to embarrassing."

I sigh.

"I mean, I can't blame them." I say, "they were desperate for the King's favor, and Lucas is just a warrior to them."

"Huh," she says, lost in thought, "you know, it surprised me a little when she turned up with her mark already, it usually takes a little more time. Do you think maybe she did that so her mom couldn't oppose the union? I mean if she's already marked..." "I hadn't thought about that, but knowing her mother, it probably wouldn't have stopped her, anyway. It was Noah who negotiated her coming with us."

"Well, it was nice of him to do that. And it was nice of you not to kill her," we both giggle.

"So, tell me what happened at the clinic, exactly?"

We're both done eating, but we stay a little longer; I missed having a friend to talk to.

"The healers went crazy. Vera. They came in the same day that you left and started dismantling everything. We didn't know what to do so we started putting everything back together but they ran us off, we weren't even allowed inside the clinic." "When you say 'us'..."

"I mean all the women you recruited to train as nurses and healers."

I massage the back of the neck with my hand, tension already building there.

"You've got to be kidding me," I whisper.

"I know they said they'd get in line, but they clearly still feel a certain kind of way about changing their old ways," she says, apologetically.

"It's ok, Charlotte." I comfort her, "change is always difficult."

Behind me, someone clears their throat; Charlotte's eyes fly to the person behind me.

"I better get going, I'll see you later, V," she says, taking her food tray and mine back to the dining hall.

I smile at her and mouth 'thank you' before turning to the person behind me.