Free Awaken a Wolf by R. E. Butler Page B

blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders as she settled in the recliner.  Opening the book, she turned the pages, looking for something that would tell her whether she’d really had a crazy, frightening dream or if she’d actually witnessed an event that was going to come to pass in the future.
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    Cinder was waiting at the Wiccan store at eight a.m. on Saturday morning when Lorene showed up to unlock the front door.
    She stared at Cinder for a long, silent moment and said, “What happened?”
    Cinder had been up since three a.m., reading everything about visions and dreams.  Her books all said that natural Wiccans could have the ability to see the future in their dreams, but it seemed to be up for debate on whether, once the future was shown, a Wiccan could change that future.  She’d known in her heart that she needed to see Lorene and ask for help.  The thought of Adam dying had filled her with such dread that she’d been unable to go back to sleep, obsessed with finding out whether or not her dream was going to come true.
    “I need help,” Cinder said, tears welling in her eyes.  “I think Adam’s going to die.  I can’t let that happen.”
    Lorene unlocked the front door and pushed it open.  “I’ll call the corners, and you can tell us everything.”
    Stepping into the store, Cinder inhaled the scents of herbs and old magic, and felt a little bit of calm seep into her.  Lorene hustled behind the counter in the center of the store and picked up the phone and dialed, speaking quickly to each corner.  After she placed the last call, she said, “Let’s make calming tea and sit in a blessing room.  The corners will be here shortly, and we’ll get to the bottom of what is causing you such fear.”
    Lorene wrapped her arm around Cinder’s shoulders and led her into one of the blessing rooms.  By the time she held a cup of steaming tea, the corners had arrived.   Cinder felt better being in their presence, but she still couldn’t shake the worry.  She wondered, not for the first time, if she should have called Adam.  But what could he do?  He couldn’t divine the future; he could only comfort her.  She was sure he would tell her that nothing would harm him and it had only been a dream.
    “Tell us what is troubling you, sweet Cinder,” Bitty, one of the corners, said.
    Cinder looked down at her lap, twining her fingers together.  “Adam Beaumont believes I’m his alpha mate.”
    “That’s wonderful news, is it not?”  Idurre, the South Corner, asked.
    Cinder chuckled mirthlessly.  She told them about meeting him for the first time and how she’d almost died when Cyrus scratched her.
    “He kept trying to push me to him, to force an interaction, and I was too angry to really see what was happening between us.  I don’t pretend to understand what being an alpha wolf’s mate is going to be like, but I know in my heart that he’s mine and I’m his.”
    Lorene sat down in a chair across from Cinder, joining the other corners at the large round table in the center of the room.  “Why were you allergic to your tiger friend’s claws?  I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
    “Doc Whalen said it was because I’m turning into a wolf.  He said that because I’ve come into contact with Adam, that I’ll shift on the full moon.”
    Gwen frowned.  “How on earth can you shift?  You’re well past the age when wolves shift for the first time, and I thought your father told you that you were all Wiccan and no wolf?”
    “He did.”  She shuddered as she remembered the way he’d watched as the older male raped her.  She never wanted to see her father again.
    “We’re missing something here,” Lorene said.  “Tell us what’s troubling you so badly.”
    Pressing her palms to her closed eyes to stem the flood of tears that threatened, she inhaled deeply and willed herself to calm down.  “I dreamed that my father