"So, how did it go with Sheriff Torquata?"

Violet and I stood a couple of yards away from where Victor sat in one of the cozy library armchairs. Jessie floated in front of him, drawing a bit too close at times, but he seemed okay.

Violet had initially been over there too. She offered to answer any questions he had and he had plenty.

"Is it true ghosts possess people around here?"

"How can I tell if I'm possessed?"

"How do I become unpossessed?"

"Why does a ghost want to possess anyone in the first place?"

Violet assured him with each question that no ghost was running around looking to possess anyone without their permission. Victor brought up my recent experiences with the Osiris Order, but she said that those ghosts received a special kind of hell they would never escape from. Her fierceness in that affirmation was enough to end Victor's line of questioning.

Violet took on some motherly rage after she learned what Trevor's intentions had been and what he had done to me in the process. In fact, just the mere mention of him was enough to turn her into the kind of ghost that was depicted in horror movies.

Jessie took over after that and Victor eased up fairly quickly when Jessie kept asking him things about himself. She'd also died not that long ago so she was able to talk with him about pop culture, including a show that happened to be one of his favorites. She'd never seen the ending, having passed after the second season. Victor's animated breakdown of everything that followed in the six remaining seasons was probably the most at ease I had seen him since arriving in Whisper Valley.

"I think it went fairly well," I answered, crossing my arms and diverting my eyes from my brother and Jessie. "Obviously, Kyra is an intimidating presence."

"That's for sure," said Violet with a little chuckle.

"But, I think her being so straightforward and serious helped Victor. He pictured vampires like Antonov—seductive manipulators. When she was the opposite of that, I think he realized maybe everyone here really isn't how Hollywood portrayed them."

"Does he seem to be reconciling that with what you've told him about monsters that do reflect the human understanding of the paranormal?"

I sighed, and shook my head.

"I think he's compartmentalizing. He did well with Kyra this morning and he seems to be getting along with Jessie, but once he gets back to the quiet of his room, I'm not sure who he'll associate the clans with. Will he picture Kyra, the upstanding and honorable vampire queen. or DeRosiers, the exiled vampire that manipulated multiple people to cover up a murder that she instigated? I know I still sometimes have those moments at night where I'm not sure."

"That's saying something seeing as you are now one of the most powerful creatures in our territory."

I looked at the ghost in tense silence, trying to figure out how to respond to her.

I was still myself. I felt like myself. I looked in the mirror and saw myself. Yet, I was also wolf. That's not something I associated with before and it was something I still didn't recognize. Perhaps if I transformed more regularly I could've seen my wolf side as an extension of myself and not as a way to disassociate from the world. But, in that moment, I was as scared and uncertain as Victor.

"Speaking of shifters," said Violet, who always knew when to move on from a painful point of discussion, "I found something I think you might find intriguing."

"Oh?" And just like that my existential crisis was once again tucked away to be dealt with at a later date. For now, I needed to deal with my brother's. "Did you find a way to prove Victor is a natural shifter?"

"Maybe?" She answered with a shrug that caused wispy blue tendrils to flutter around her transparent shoulders. "Still, I think it will be of interest to you. You see, I've been doing a deep dive in the archives and I found a journal kept by our Founder herself."

"Archmage Elizabeth Winchester?"

"The one and only," she said in a low voice and with an almost imperceptible nod. "I thought perhaps she'd have at least some references to shifters even if the treaty opening the town to all supernatural beings didn't get signed until well after her death."

"Yeah," I said, matching her cautious tone and volume, "I've been looking into the pack's history since that's probably something a good Alpha would know. Anyway, the pack is centuries older than this town is and this valley has always been part of their territory."

"Exactly. So as you can probably guess, Elizabeth ran into the Alpha of her time period, and from what I can tell they didn't start off on the best of footing. Despite how some modern mages might act, before the witch trials, mages were very much pro-human. They saw themselves as human after all and they wanted to protect their loved ones just as much as those who don't wield magic did. Which means they were some of the best defenses against supernatural predators like vampires and werewolves."

"Ah," I said with a pinch of my lips, "so as far as shifters were concerned, mages were out to get them, which meant Elizabeth was a threat."

"Yes, and she saw them as a threat. However, I knew the relationship couldn't be that bad since clearly she founded the town and the pack is still here. It appears they were able to set difference aside once they realized they both wanted to stay away from humans."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Right. So they met occasionally to discuss how to keep both the pack and coven protected—perhaps the early origins of the magical border we now have. Most of what she reported about these conversations was technical and topical to their time period. However, she would sometimes share more amusing or enlightening tidbits she unearthed in her meetings."

"Oh?"

"She had meant to pose a playful conundrum to the Alpha. Like the chicken vs the egg, she wanted to know which came first, the bite or the wolf. To her surprise, he answered with more seriousness than she expected."

Color heated my skin and the hairs rose along my arms. It seemed like such a small matter but I felt like something important was on the tip of Violet's nonexistent tongue.

"What did this Alpha say?"

"That he didn't know."

The air flew from my lungs and my shoulders dropped at the painfully anticlimactic response.

"But," Violet continued, "the Alpha went on to explain that he never bit someone who didn't already have a wolf reflecting in their eyes."

I straightened, though my brow dipped. Was the ancient Alpha insinuating that the wolf was in there already? That his bite simply brought out that nature?

It wasn't much but maybe there was more to tease out of Elizabeth's early conversations with the werewolf.

"So it's in the archives, this journal?"

"Yes, and even as an Elder you can't remove it from where it is."

I groaned, already certain I knew which Elder made up that rule.

"Surprised it hasn't been claimed by a certain clan as their personal relic," I grumbled in what was just above a whisper. "It's amazing it hasn't been sealed in cement and dropped into the ocean."

"Word is," said Violet in a ghostly whisper just at my ear, the lips she constructed from her aura unmoving, "that someone did try to have it removed but the other Elder's put their foot down claiming that as Archmage Elizabeth was the town founder, her journal is town property. It's also said, that same certain someone still believes the journal in theirs. To them the town was made for mages and everyone else is just a guest. So even if it's town property, it is theirs to control."

My fingers tightened against my arms which I still had crossed over my chest.

"The Elders had to concede something and that was that the journal can't leave without the express permission of the Archmage. Even viewing it can be difficult. You'll be able to go down there, but he will know that you've been there. There's nothing I can do to prevent that."

I pinch my lips and breathe in deep. Then I gave a subtle nod of my head so that only Violet saw the movement.

"Well, thank you for your time, Violet," I said with a wide showy smile. "I think it's time we get going. Victor and I are helping prepare the pack dinner."

"Oh, must you go?" asked Jessie with a visible pout that made Victor chuckle.

I looked at how content my brother looked in his chair and then to Violet, who simply shrugged.

"I mean, if Victor is comfortable staying here, I suppose I can come get him before dinner."

"Well," he said with an easiness to his voice, "I still have one more season of 'Contest of Crowns' to review with Jessie."

"Which you hated if I recall," I replied with a smirk.

"Absolutely," he said with genuine laughter in his voice, "there were no redeeming qualities, which means I have a lot to say."

Jessie beamed and then turned back to me with a begging expression. I thought she might actually shift her shape into her eight-year-old self to better sell her puppy-dog eyes.

"As long as you are comfortable, then I'm fine with you staying here. Just don't leave the library."

"No need to tell me that," he said with a shiver.

"Okay so who died?" asked Jessie, already forgetting I was there.

"Who didn't?"

The two laughed and Violet's eyes twinkled. I was glad they could bond together. In fact, as I watched them geek out, I thought maybe Victor really could call this place home someday.

***

So far Victor has had successful conversations with Kyra and Jessie. Will his talks with Mercedes and Graham go as smoothly?

I know, I failed yet again. I volunteered to spend all morning last Friday running a station at my son's Field Day. Weather was lovely and I figured my station--that pretty much just involved tossing several balls back and forth--wouldn't be strenuous. Well, of course, I was wrong. I pretty much yelled myself hoarse trying to talk over the noise. The weather was absolutely gorgeous but I had no shade and the sun started to cook ya after awhile. Also, due to wind and the slope of the court, I had to chase balls constantly to get them back into play. I was beat by lunchtime. Then the weekend was busy... I know I'm always here with excuses. But here it is now. I hope you enjoy!