Free Out of the Dark by Quinn Loftis

wolves she had felt it. A current of power. Not dark power, not witch power. It had been centuries since she felt the smooth, cool tendrils of Fae magic, but she had felt it early this morning while the moon still shown and the fire roared through the silent sky. She had felt Fae power, and beneath that was something even more subtle. Gypsy. And this wasn't a young, new gypsy like the one in the Romanian pack. This was old blood, powerful magic.
    Mona continued to send her will out into the trees and over the snow-covered mountains, over rocks, plants, dirt, and the lives of the wildlife seeking shelter there. As she sought her query, she thought back to the last time a gypsy healer was known. Three centuries had passed since then, nations had risen and fallen, civilization had grown and evolved, all manner of technology now ruled the world. But even with all those changes, some things remained the same. Gypsy healers would always be where Canis lupis roamed. She knew that Melinda's daughter hadn't died. She had felt when Melinda had been slain, felt the life force drain from her body. But not Rachel.
    Mona had searched for decades without so much as a wisp of power. She had come to the conclusion then that the Fae must have helped the gypsy and her mate out. No mere gypsy healer could stand against Mona's power. She was the most powerful witch her coven had ever seen. When the Fae came in and wiped out the covens that were scattered over the Eastern world Mona had done what any smart predator does – she took to ground to bide her time.
    The Fae had decided that the witches were becoming too powerful and needed to have their population downsized. It worked better than they anticipated. Mona knew of no others that had survived beside herself.
    After her people had been wiped from the earth, Mona had found refug e with the Serbian pack. The Alpha wanted the healer from the Western Romanian pack, wanted her bad enough to hire a witch, and by doing so isolated himself and his pack from the other Canis lupis.
    Mona had agreed to his terms. She would get him the healer and he would protect her from any foe until she could regain her power. She was still powerful, even after the Fae, but she had been cloaking herself for so long and it was draining her.
    What the Serbian pack Alpha didn't know was that Mona had her own reasons for wanting the gypsy healer. Reasons that had nothing to do with the Alpha and everything to do with making her the most powerful witch ever to walk the earth. Mona was old. She'd been old three centuries ago. She remembered things long forgotten about the supernatural beings, remembered why gypsy healers were prized not only by werewolves but witches and Fae alike.
    "Where are you, little gypsy?" she whispered. "You can't hide forever." Mona opened her eyes, scanning the forest.
    Whatever she had felt earlier was now gone. She wasn't discouraged, Mona knew that hunting supernatural prey took time. Luckily for her, time was something she had plenty of.
    As she turned to leave, she began to hear the chorus of Electric Light Orchestra's song “Evil Woman”. Mona smiled to herself. So maybe the ringtone was a little much.
    I'm a witch, she thought. Surely no one would expect her ringtone to be “Lean On Me”.
    "What?" Her words were clipped as she answered.
    "I need to know what your plans are," Thad answered.
    Mona rolled her eyes. She was so sick of answering to the wolves. But, when she finally had the healer they would no longer hold any power over her.
    "I made my move. Now it's time to let the Alpha make his. Sometimes, Thad, the best course of action is to wait and watch."
    "Fine. I expect you to keep me updated."
    "Careful, wolf. Do not think to give me orders like I am one of yours. You do not want me as your enemy." Mona ended the call just as Thad began to respond. She didn't have time to argue with the overbearing wolf. She needed to do some searching through the archives that she'd managed to