Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
‘You don’t believe your pet will stare at me all night like that, do you? He is creeping me out.’
I look down at the foot of our bed, and Reaper is eerily staring Magnus down.
‘Reaper, seriously?’ I say. He caws and turns around with his back facing us. ‘That’s better, now everyone sleep, and my mate’s eyes better still be in their sockets in the morning, Reaper or else I’ll make you the brightest, most colourful birdhouse full of rainbows and glitter and force you to sleep in it,’ I warn.
‘You truly are wicked, Master,’ Reaper replies as he caws angrily and nuzzles his beak beneath his wing before falling asleep.
It started around 7 a.m. with a series of caws. Magnus puts a pillow over his face and his ears. Unlike Magnus, I take my pillow and fling it at Reaper. As the pillow knocks him off the foot of our bed, his Caw switches to a squawk.
‘Good morning to you too, Master,’ he hisses via the mind-link.
‘You’re a Raven, not a Rooster, Reaper!’ I state my case.
Magnus chuckles but stops as Reaper shoots him the death gaze. I grab Magnus’ pillow and toss it at Reaper, missing him by a centimetre.
‘And stop staring at Magnus in that manner,’ I say.
‘Fine, I’m hungry for grubs anyway,’ he adds before flying out the window.
I roll onto Magnus, and we kiss and snuggle for a few moments before getting ready for the day. We can hear Fern, Ela, Ria, and Lilac giggling as they go down the stairs. When I opened my door, Lilac is sliding down the railing backwards. ‘Skedaddle Dash,’ Ela exclaims ad vanishes. Ria races down the stairs while Fern leaps over the balustrade and skips half the steps. Magnus and I make our way down the stairs and into the dining room.
‘Lifto Levitatious,’ says Ela. Magnus and I watch as the sugar dish drifts over towards Ela. She takes a teaspoon of sugar from the bowl and sprinkles it on top of her cereal. Then she flicks her wand, relocating the bowl to its original location on the table.
‘Good morning,’ I address everyone at the table.
‘Good morning, Luna,’ everyone greets me.
‘Good morning, everyone. I hope you all had a good night’s sleep. ‘Magnus asks.
‘Yes, Alpha Magnus, we did thank you,’ Ria adds.
May yawns as she walks into the dining area and takes a seat. Sabre circles the dining room a few times before taking a seat on a window ledge.
‘Do you have any plans for today?’ I ask the witches.
‘We were thinking about touring the town centre to meet more people,’ Fern explains.
‘That sounds fantastic,’ I say with a smile.
We wave goodbye as they ‘Skedaddle Dash’ into town.
‘We have a lot of paperwork to complete today,’ Magnus adds as he stands on the front steps.
Reaper is hiding in a neighbouring tree, appearing out of place. I’m sorry for him, having been alone for so long and now living in a bustling, lush town.
‘There’s something I need to do before we begin the paperwork,’ I tell Magnus.
‘Oh?’
I approach the tree where Reaper is hiding. He observes as I grab for a limb and snap a twig. I extend my right arm. Reaper descends from the sky, lands on my arm, and walks up to my shoulder. ‘I have a surprise for you, Reaper,’ I say.
‘A surprise for me?’ he inquires.
‘Yes,’ I answer as I walk around the packhouse. I raise my hands and form a circle with my thumbs and fingers. Through the circle of my fingers, I stare up to the sky. ‘Right here will be perfect,’
‘Perfect for what?’ Reaper asks.
‘Perfect for what, exactly?’ Reaper inquires.
‘Your new house,’ I say, smiling.
Magnus comes over, curious about what I’m doing. Kneeling, I set the twig on the ground, close my eyes, and place my hands on either side of the twig. ‘Perfect for what, exactly?’ Reaper inquires.
‘Your new house,’ I say, smiling.
‘Revitilo Sprouto,’ I tell him. The ground rumbles and the twig grows into the same majestic tree, complete with two broad branches that bend, forming a barren circle in the centre where we can view the moon at night.
Reaper caws, flaps his wings and soars into the tree.
‘My tree,’ he exclaims.
Magnus puts his arm around my shoulder. ‘Does this mean I don’t have to be concerned about Reaper staring at me all night?’
‘Yep, I think he’ll feel more at ease now,’ I smile.
Magnus grabs my hand and leads me upstairs to our office, where we begin going over papers together. By late afternoon, the witches had returned and informed us how much fun they had mending signs, poles, fences, and anything else that needed TLC with their magic.
‘The townspeople were ecstatic, and we also got complimentary cupcakes from the baker.’ Lilac explains.
‘That’s fantastic, and I’m sure Yiselda would enjoy hearing everything about it.’ I smile.
‘We were thinking about paying her a visit tomorrow,’ Ria replies.
‘She’d love that!’ ‘Do you think I could come too?’ I ask.
‘Of course, you’re welcome to join us,’ Fern adds.
‘I’m going to see Pandora’s Box tomorrow,’ I exclaim to Magnus.
‘Should I come as well?’ he wonders, concerned.
‘We’ll see.’ I say.
We all have dinner and then retire to our rooms. I open the window and gaze out at the moon tree. ‘Goodnight, Reaper.’ I shout.
‘Goodnight, Master,’ he says, mind-linking.
‘You do realise you can just call me Nina or Luna?’
‘You could call me Reaper instead of Rooster,’ he quips. ‘Oh, Reaper,’ I chuckle. ‘Have a wonderful night, okay?’
‘Yes, Luna. You have a good sleep too, and I suppose the same too, Magnus.
I can’t help but smile when he tries to be friendlier to Magnus. I leave the window ajar just in case and snuggle into bed with Magnus. The night flew by, and before I knew it, it was morning.
‘Luna, people are arriving, but I sense they are not arriving in good faith,’ Reaper says as he flies in and pulls the sheet from us.