Chapter 155: The Mother Witch
Edrick
While Moana slept, I secretly snipped off a small lock of her hair and stashed it away in my sock drawer. It was only a small piece, and I made sure to take it from a spot where it wouldn’t be noticed easily. Once I stashed it away, I was so exhausted from two days of no sleep that I couldn’t do anything else except climb into bed and pass out immediately.
The next morning, I woke up earlier than Moana. I made sure to quickly get dressed and slip out of the room without waking her up, her lock of hair in a little plastic baggie in my pocket. On second thought, I turned back around and cautiously took the Alpha tooth out of its box, hoping that I would be home in time to put it back before she ever noticed it was missing.
I didn’t need Moana, or anyone else for that matter, asking where I was going; if they found out that I was going to see the Mother Witch, then they would soon discover that I was investigating Moana’s lineage when they discovered that I had taken both the Alpha tooth and a lock of Moana’s hair. Eventually, the truth would come out; but I needed to keep everything secret for now. If Moana really was the Golden Wolf, then no one could know until she had the baby; not even Moana. I felt bad keeping it from her, but it was the only way to keep her completely safe. If she found out that she was the Golden Wolf, then she might try to shift too soon and would cause all sorts of people, like my father, to sense her presence and try to hunt her down. That was why I slipped out that morning before anyone else woke up. I couldn’t be seen.
The Mother Witch lived directly at the center of the city. Her services were highly sought after, and her incredible age had allowed her to become a pillar in our society. People from all over flocked to see her, seeking her services from placing blessings on their babies and their marriages to finding lost loved ones or even communicating with the dead.
I had always been somewhat of a skeptic when it came to magic. My mother hired all sorts of witches and fortune tellers when I was growing up in the hopes of having a happy marriage with my father, but it never worked. My father was still a bastard, and he treated my mother terribly. That alone was enough to make me not believe in magic.
However, there was no denying the Mother Witch’s wisdom. She was over a hundred years old; if anyone knew about the Golden Wolf, it was her. And right now, I was willing to put aside my skepticism if it meant potentially protecting Moana.
I pulled up in front of the Mother Witch’s home. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as luxurious as people would imagine; it was a simple little house smack dab in the center of the city, with a pagoda roof and a tall fence all around. There was a sign on the gate telling visitors to just walk in, which was also surprising; but, I supposed that if she really was as wise and powerful as she claimed, then maybe she didn’t need to be afraid of being attacked. Either that, or she assumed that no one would attack her out of the fear that she could easily fight back with her own abilities.
When I walked through the gate, I walked up a stone path lined on either side by perfectly manicured hedges and red maple trees, then ascended the steps to the porch. There was a bamboo wind chime on the porch that made a pleasant sound in the breeze, and I could hear the sound of trickling water from the fountains in the yard. It was an incredibly relaxing atmosphere.
I raised my fist to knock on the door, but before I could, the door slid open.
My eyes widened. And incredibly old woman, her back hunched so much that she was practically bent at a ninety-degree angle, stood in front of me. She had white hair that was pulled back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck, and she wore traditional clothes. Despite her frail appearance as she leaned on a cane, she looked up at me with bright, youthful eyes.
“Hello, Edrick,” she said with a smile. “I was expecting you.”
“You were?” I asked. The Mother Witch simply nodded and pointed at my shoes. I hastily removed them, leaving them on the porch, and then stepped inside when she moved out of the way. The inside of her house was sparse and surprisingly small, but it smelled like patchouli and felt comfortable. At my tall height, however, I had to bend over a bit as I walked in.
“I made tea,” she said, hobbling over to a small kitchen. “Take a seat.” She gestured over to a little table that sat beneath a window. I hesitantly walked over and sat down, and within a few moments she was setting a tray of tea in the middle of the table. I realized that she barely even used her cane to walk as it swung loosely in her knotted old hand.
“Well?” she said, sitting down across from me. “You have the tooth, correct?”
I nodded. I was still too stunned to speak; how did she know that I was coming? How did she know that I would bring a tooth?
Either way, I pulled the tooth out of my pocket along with the lock of Moana’s hair and set them both down on the table. The Mother Witch sucked her teeth as she peered down at the two things over the top of her wire-rimmed glasses and nodded thoughtfully.
“Hmm…” She picked up the tooth first, holding it up to the light, and mumbled something incoherent under her breath. I sipped my tea politely as she then set down the tooth and picked up the lock of hair. She pulled the hair out of the bag and rubbed it between her fingers, then smelled it.
“Yep.” The Mother Witch nodded matter-of-factly and looked up at me with her bright, vibrant eyes. “The Golden Wolf is alive.”
My eyes widened. “You’re sure?” I asked.
The Mother Witch nodded again. “I’m positive. Has she shifted yet?”
I shook my head. “No, she hasn’t. Her wolf is emerging, but slowly.”
For a few long moments, the Mother Witch sipped her tea with a thoughtful expression on her face before setting the cup down a little too hard, causing tea to slosh out onto the table, but she didn’t seem to care.
“Bring her to me as soon as you can,” she said. “I want to teach her how to shift. This world sorely needs the Golden Wolf.” The Mother Witch looked excited, and as she spoke, she seemed to sit up straighter despite the hunch in her back.
But I shook my head.
“I want to wait,” I replied. “She’s pregnant. I don’t think it’s safe.”
The Mother Witch frowned and stared at me for a long time, but I wouldn’t budge. For both Moana’s and the baby’s safety, I didn’t want her to shift until the baby was born. In fact, now that I knew the truth, I wondered if I should send Moana and Ella away to stay in the mountain estate until she had the baby. I would send them with as much security as possible, of course. I wouldn’t let anyone come even close to the estate.
Finally, the Mother Witch nodded.
“Alright,” she said, sounding a little disappointed. “But I hope you know that if she does shift on her own by accident, it’ll be even harder on her and the baby.”
I nodded in response. “I know.”
The Mother Witch then stood. Without a word, she hobbled over to another room and disappeared for a few moments, leaving me wondering if I should stay where I was or follow her. I heard the sound of glasses clinking around before she finally returned with a vial of something in her hand. She walked over to me and placed it in front of me; it was a small glass vial of a clear liquid.
“Put a drop of this in her morning tea or coffee,” she said. “It will prevent her from shifting too early.”
“Will it harm her or her wolf?” I asked. “What about the baby?”
“They’ll all be fine,” she replied. “It’ll just make her wolf a little sleepy so she’ll be less likely to emerge fully. Once the baby is born, you can stop giving her the medicine and bring her to me.”
I nodded and took the vial and the tooth, then thanked the Mother Witch. After that, I left.
The entire way home, I was both excited and terrified. Moana was the Golden Wolf after all; that meant that she would be the one to bring this world into the next era, but it also meant that she truly was in grave danger.
I didn’t know exactly what I would do, but I did know one thing for sure: I had to keep Moana’s true nature a secret for now, even from her, for her safety.
