Natalie

Sorry it took so long. My computer crashed and I lost everything. I had to start all over with my thesis. Here is the next installment. Enjoy. Anybody interested in editing please email me. Thanks.

"Conall Conall wake up."

"Yes, love. Is something wrong?"

"I just had another dream."

He sat up and propped up a couple of pillows then pulled me back against his chest.

"I am listening."

"I didn't ask before, but what does liath mean?"

"It means grey. Why?"

"That's what the witches called Vincent, the liath. He is a large grey wolf. I saw what happened to cause him not to be able to change. He was obsessed with Naal to the point that he killed her husband and tried to kill her child. Her mother put some type of protection spell around their house so he couldn't enter so he had the others to do it. This time I was in a cave and used magic to escape. I saw her, I was her, running through the woods. I called out to other witches, but before they could reach me/her he had killed her. It was really weird though because in the beginning I was Naal then once we got to the point of the first dream I became me again. I watched him rip her apart then I saw the witches curse him. He is to spend eternity able to feel the wolf, but never to transform. Then the lead witch spoke to me! She called me daughter of Naal and said that I was the key to his release and that I had to learn my blood to stop him."

"A person in your dream actually spoke to you?"

"Yeah. So I guess your theory about me being a dormant witch must be right."

"It is more right than either of us realize. My love you are a what we call a taibreamh draiodoir mna, or dream witch. Your line must have been very powerful."

"Not powerful enough cause they're all dead."

"You said she told you that you had to learn your blood to stop him."

"Yes."

"So I guess that it is a good thing that the elders are researching your family tree."

"I guess so."

"Natalie I don't want you going back to work until we have this all worked out. I don't trust Crandle and if this all pans out to be true then he is after you to break the curse. There's no telling what he would do to you."

"How's this for a compromise. I will talk to Mr. Benton and see if I can work from home. I have video conferencing on my computer. I could send a messenger to get my files. If he says no then I'll take a leave."

"I never thought you would agree to it."

"Well I only part way agreed."

"You didn't throw a fit though. "

"I'm still too tired from earlier and I have this whole dormant witch thing going around in my mind."

"Note to self: keep mate too tired to win arguments."

"Ha Ha. I have to admit that all this has me a little afraid. Too much to soon. Could all this be related, you know me meeting you, Crandle and the buyout, the dreams or memories? Hey do you think he orchestrated the buy out? From what I saw in that dream he's really fucked up in the head."

"If he did orchestrate the buy out then the Tierney Alpha is in on it with him and I don't think he is. It's more likely that he somehow managed to get Elliot to send him to America to head it up though."

"That's creepy. So he's been looking for me or something? That's just weird."

"I want to do something."

"Ummmmmmmmm."

"Not that. At least not right now. I want to try to go through your mind again. Maybe if your aware the shield won't be up or not as strong. Hopefully it will give some clues into your life. Maybe a hint about your powers, your mother anything that can help."

"If you think it will help I guess so. It won't hurt will it?"

"No. I will put you in a semi conscious state so you will be able to hear me and hopefully the shield won't be as strong. I'll just watch your memories like a movie as they come. I'll be in your subconscious mind and may have to guide you a little."

"Werewolf hypnosis."

"Something like that, but a human can't see your thoughts. I will be able to and if I'm lucky you'll respond enough to allow me to guide you a little."

"Okay, let's do it."

"Okay love close your eyes and doze for me."

This feels kind of weird to me. I can feel Conall in my head guiding me backwards. It's like he's rewinding a movie. I can see everything that has happened over the last three days. Is he talking to me?

"Let me see you in college love."

Wow look at that ridiculous hairdo. Not a good look I can't believe we dressed like that. Wait until I remind Ronnie about that ugly purple velor jumpsuit she thought was so sexy. Ewwww. I can see all the time I spent studying while Ronnie was partying. She had fun in college. I wasn't there for fun, I had work to do. I had to make good grades. I get to a memory of Ronnie introducing me to that loser Derrick. What a sorry ass he was. We never even made it to the first date. Jack ass!

"Show me what high school was like for you Natalie?"

High school. I hated high school. I don't want to remember high school. My mom died when I had just started. There's our old house. We used to have a great time there, just me and her. She was so cool. She used to always seem to know when I was coming or when the phone would ring. We did the craziest stuff late at night. She would want to go swimming late at night or wake up and eat oat meal cookies and coke at 2 in the morning. Then one day she was gone. I flash to that day. I am walking to the house and I see a strange woman standing on the porch and a cop car parked at the curb. She meets me at the walkway and tells me that I have to go with her. She wouldn't even let me go in the house to get my stuff. She tells me there was an accident and that I my mom was hurt really bad, that she didn't make it and that I would be going into foster care. I hated her and the police officer. I just stared straight ahead and never said another word to her. I stopped listening and I replayed memories from my favorite times with my mother.

I changed schools then and went to my first foster home. It was a middle aged couple with two other foster kids, a little girl and a boy about my age. It wasn't so bad in the beginning. I still only spoke when necessary. Then there is darkness like somebody turned out the lights. I can feel Conall pushing a little harder and speaking to me.

"Love I need you to relax and let me go further. I am here and will help you no matter what we find."

I feel my heart rate pick and I get that cold clammy feeling you get when you're really afraid, but I relax so he can push forward. I see my old crappy room. I'm laying on my bed and Frank, the other foster kid, came in. He is asking me a question. What is he saying? I try to focus on his voice.

"Did they tell you what happened to your mom? They said it was bloody in the house and that's why you couldn't go in. They said she was ripped up like something from a horror film. She was in pieces."

I'm watching this exchange and I can remember it. I can remember him saying this stuff to me. He said they believed it was the work of a serial killer because she was the ninth woman they found hacked up like that, but they couldn't figure out a murder weapon. He said that the guy was traveling the US hacking women to pieces and nobody knew who he was and that he was going to come and get me too. That's when I looked at him and I threw him across the room into a wall. He slumped to the floor unconscious. I was so scared that I grabbed my jacket and ran. I slept on a park bench for a couple of days and then the police found me and they took me back to my foster parents. I wouldn't stay there though I just kept running. I remember being in four different homes now. I thought it was only two, but it was four. I saw myself using my powers a few times. I moved things and I could throw people around. I saw myself start a fire in a trash can, I'm a fire starte. I got really mad once with a girl in school and hit her with some kind of force from my hands. She feel to the floor and cracked her head wide open. Blood was everywhere. They came and took her to the hospital and when they asked me what happened I lied. She couldn't remember what happened, but she never was mean to me again. I guess that was why I didn't know I was a witch. I just buried it deep like everything else and never thought about it again.

11th grade was the beginning of a turn around for me. I was in the last foster home. A woman name Miranda Blake. She was tough. She told me she wouldn't tolerate my crap and that she knew I had had a tough break, but that was no excuse for messing up my future. She told me she expected me to apply myself and get good grades and she wouldn't except anything less. She was strong and capable. She was a successful woman with her own house and car. Nobody controlled her and I liked that. Her life was her own. I remember now how I decided that she was everything I wanted to be. That's when the Natalie of today was born. I gained an overwhelming need to be in control. I didn't ever want to be dependant on anybody.

"Natalie wake up."

"Wow that was kinda intense," I said.

"It helped to explain some things. We can talk about it tomorrow though. Right now I want to hold my mate and sleep."

"We can talk about it now."

"No I want to think some more about everything I saw and also give you sometime to process it. You remembered some really harsh stuff. Let's just relax and go over it tomorrow."

"Conall I appreciate that you want to help me, but we don't have to wait until tomorrow. Honestly, I am okay. We can talk now."

"I am not trying to protect you if that is what you are thinking. I really need to think about what I saw. Your memories raised some questions for me."

"Like....?"

"You won't let this go will you?"

"Nope."

"Okay. You remembered that somebody told you that your mom was ripped apart. I wanted to do some checking to see if Crandle was anywhere in the US when it happened to her and the others. Or even if there were others."

"And...........?"

"I was also going to check with the elders to find out what is the safest way to bring your powers out. I don't want to cause you any trauma in doing it."

"Were you planning on asking me to be apart of any of this?"

"Yes I was. At least the magic part. I wanted to do the research on your mother and the others alone. I wanted to shield you from as much of the unpleasantness as possible."

"I appreciate that, but I think I have shielded myself from the unpleasantness too much. If I had dealt with this stuff when I was younger I would have a handle on who I am and not be completely loss now. At least in respect to me being a witch."

"Alainn I am afraid that you are going to crack. This was a lot of information to take in or remember. At some point the weight of it all is going to be too much. I just want to give you time to digest it all and then deal with it."

"I know and I'm scared, but I need a distraction."

"We can deal with it together."

"I never had anyone to help me deal with problems since my mother died. Ronnie is my best friend and there are things that I never even shared with her. I don't really know how to do that, how to be open and vulnerable with another person. It scares me."

"It is quite alright, I will teach you. You are not alone anymore Natalie. You have me to help you through all of the really hard stuff and you have the pack that will always be there too."

That's when I started crying. I cried for my mother and my lost childhood and everything else that was out of whack. The only thing that I was certain about was Conall. I held on to him for dear life as I finally purged myself of all of my anger, hate, and insecurities. He just sat there and held me and stroked my hair.

Conall

My heart hurt. My wolf was howling in agony as we watch our beloved break. I didn't want her to have to experience the pain that she was dealing with now. She was trying to be so strong and brave, but I could feel the despair, uncertainty, and fear through our bond. There were so many question still left unanswered. Did Crandle kill her mother? What about the other women that had been murdered?

In order for Natalie to be a dream witch her blood line had to have been very powerful. How do we deal with that? From what I saw in her memories she is powerful, but has no control. She would have to learn control and right now she felt anything but.

I needed to protect Natalie from this Crandle. He very well could have killed those women and could want to kill Natalie too. There are way too many unanswered questions and loose ends. I watched Natalie work through her emotions. I could feel her determination through our bond. She was determined to find the answers to the many questions that hung in the air. Pulling herself together she asked,"Conall, do you think he killed my mother? It that possible?"

"Yes, I think that it is possible. I think he is responsible for the deaths of all of those women. I also think they were somehow related to you or to the original coven that cursed him. There is much that we need to know and much that we need to do."

"I need to learn about my witchcraft don't I?"

"I am afraid so Alainn. I am not sure how to do that though. You are the only witch that I know. I saw that you could harness the elements of fire and wind and wind maybe you are an elemental witch as well. If that is the case then it maybe as simple as concentrating on that element, but I don't know."

"Elemental witch......you mean like wind, water, fire, and earth?"

"Yes. If I am correct you should be able to manipulate those elements and maybe even manifest them. I will take you out into the woods in a clearing that is there to work on this later. That is the best I can do for now. First, we need to figure out if Crandle murdered these women.

"How?"

"Well we will have to find the names of the women. We start with your mother. If it becomes too painful for you than I will assign someone to get us the information."

"No, I need to know if he did this."

"Very well. We will need to travel to the police station in Paterson for some information. I will make the arrangements."

"When do you think we will be leaving?"

"Tomorrow. I want to get started as soon as possible. The more information we have the better. I going down to my office to begin making the arrangements and to talk to Caiden. You try and rest some more. It shouldn't take very long. When I come back we can go for a walk, take a swim, anything you want to help you relax."

"A swim would be nice."

"Okay then you rest and I will wake you when I am done."

As I walk out of the room I mentally call Caiden.

"Yeah Conall."

"Can you meet me in my study?'

"Sure what's up?"

"We'll go over it when you get to the office."

"Okay. On my way."

Once Caiden was there I filled him in on all that had transpired.

"I am requesting that you and Melissa go with us to Paterson along with 4 or 5 strong warriors. I will take no chance with her safety."

"Of course. You should do no less. What are you two going to do about her magic?"

"I don't know. I had suggested us going out into the clearing pass the lake so she could work on developing them. That way she won't be in danger of hurting somebody. From what I saw in her memories she is very powerful. She just needs to learn control. In the past anger was her trigger."

"Leave it to you to have a witch for a mate."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Has the council made any headway?"

"Don't know. That could take a while."

"I suppose you're right. I will let you know when we will be leaving as soon as I have made the arrangements. We will need two cars."

"Got it. We'll be ready."

With that he walked out and I went to work making travel arrangements. I could still feel some sadness from Natalie, but it was considerably less. Her emotions went from sadness, to anger, to utter disbelief.

My wolf was just plain mad with rage. He wanted to find Crandle and rip out his throat. I felt confident that we would have the answers by tomorrow night. Once my suspicions were confirmed then we would have our revenge. He would pay for causing so much pain. I was going to make certain that he suffered for the pain he caused not only my mate, but the other women that were murdered.

Natalie

Laying on the bed my mind was all over the place. I was a witch. My mother was a witch and because of what we were my mother was, possibly, murdered. Seeing how Crandle had ripped Naal apart I could only imagine what he had done to my mother and what he wanted to do to me. It scared me, but it motivated me as well. I would have to make sure he wouldn't be able to do that to someone else.

My magic was the key to stopping him. I would throw myself into learning like I did when I was in school. I would not be a victim.

Vincent Crandle

Natalie is taking a leave of absence from her job, probably at the request of Faol. This makes my plans harder to pull off. My business here is almost done and I am sure that my alpha will want me back in Scotland.

"Dexter," I called.

"Yes sir."

"I going to have to move quickly with Natalie. In her file there is the address of her friend, Veronica. Bring her to me. She is going to be the bait that gets Natalie to me."

"Yes sir. I will take care of it."