Jethro led me down the hall, until at last we came to a door that had been carved from marble into the shape of intertwining vines and leaves. He opened the door, and we stepped through into another world. Behind us, the door closed, fusing seamnlessly into a tree, while ahead, soft golden light filtered through the canopy overhead. Birds of every colour, size and description flittered or soared around us, and squirrels chittered as they went about their business. "These are our lands," Jethro explained, taking my hand again and leading me along a well worn path. "Well, they're not our lands, but we're the guardians for them. Your parents would give their left tits to have access, but they're not worthy."
I nodded, lost in wonder as I saw my first unicorn, grazing placidly. She lifted her head, her horn gleaming like pearl. her large, dark eyes regarding me with calm, before returning to her grazing. "Is that why my pack kidnapped two of yours?" I whispered, not wanting to speak aloud lest I frighten the unicorn.
"Yes," Jethro said, anger darkening his face. "But your grandmothers never yielded the secret, no matter how much their respective spouses threatened and mistreated them."
My parents' treatment of me suddenly made more sense. "Is that why my parents hate me?" I said. "Because the Misfit blood runs almost true in me?"
Jethro nodded. "Which is why they'll raise heaven and hell to get that ransom so they can reclaim you," he said. "They'll know you're the first child of the blended heritage to come here, and they'll beggar themselves to get you back and get the secret from you."
I shivered. "I don't want to go back," I said.
"I didn't think you'd want to," Jethro said, stopping and looking up at me. "Why?"
I gestured to the forest. Jethro nodded and led me on again. "Your parents won't be pleased," he said.
"I don't care," I said shortly. "They hate me, and being back under their thumb will give them more reason to mistreat me, especially since they're about ready to make a deal with the devil to remove the block that prevents wolves from hurting witches."
Jethro nodded. "They're researching those keys as we speak," he said. "I won't lie to you; they were very nearly on the cusp of breaking that block when we took you. I think we acted in time, but it was a near thing."
"Then the kidnapping wasn't a kidnapping?" I guessed.
"Yes and no," Jethro said, stopping by a pool that shone blue-green in the sunlight. The water was so clear I could see the fish as they swam about, sporting in and amongst the smooth, multicoloured pebbles which lined the bottom. "We owed your pack for their kidnapping of your grandmother, but we also did it because we were warned you were very close to getting harmed. So we used the kidnapping as a way to get you out of there before you were seriously hurt, or worse."
I shivered as I sat down, drawing my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on top. "They'll fight tooth and claw to get me back," I said. "They won't take no for an answer."
Jethro sat beside me. "Your choice to stay isn't set in stone," he said. "You'll have to choose the day your parents come to deliver the ransom. I can't say when they'll come, but they'll come like fire and fury. You need to be steadfast, and make your choice wholeheartedly, without interference from either side. They can't make you go, but we can't make you stay."
I already knew what I was going to do, but I witheld comment. "At least I've got a bit of time to decide," I said.
"Indeed you do," Jethro said, standing and pulling me to my feet with surprising strength. "Let's go for a bit more of a walk. Then we can return to the house and you'll meet the rest of the pack. Just... don't be surprised when you see some of them. We've a tradition going back thousands of years, and some of the results have been interesting. I need you to withold your judgement until you get to know them better. Can you do that?"
"Of course," I said, surprised he even had to ask. I'd been judged all my life for being a witch in a werewolf pack; Jethro needn't have worried I'd carry on the same damaging practice now that I was out from under my parents' thumb. Here, at least, I didn't feel as if I didn't belong; my heritage made me fit right in.
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After we returned to the house, I met the rest of the pack. Jethro looked a bit nervous as he made introductions, but I found each pack member fascinating, from Long John, a half-pixie who stood about the same height as Jethro, with glittering, translucent wings, to Aisling, a half-orc, with mottled green skin and a mannish figure that actually suited her. Then there was Christian and his twin sister Christina, a half-angel and half-demon respectively, and Susan, a siren/mermaid hybrid. They were all outcasts from their own races because of their status as Misfits, and Jethro had welcomed them all. He himself was reviled by his dwarven kin because he was half-dryad, and he'd assumed leadership of the pack after Gloria, the last alpha, had passed away. Being a Misfit, it seemed, wasn't just a matter of blood-ties; you could be adopted into the pack and become a Misfit that way, and your ties to the pack would be just as strong as if you'd been born a Misfit.
The Misfits were definitely welcoming to me, once they were assured I wasn't going to judge them, and we had a very few pleasant hours together. They weren't a traditional werewolf pack, but that didn't diminish them in my eyes; they were still a pack, and a better one than my own, much to my relief. And they didn't treat me like a prisoner; after dinner, Long John invited me to explore the farm itself, which was as intriuging as the forest hehind the marble door. It was cold outside, but the rain had cleared, and we sat on a hill overlooking the farm to watch the moonrise. Tonight, the moon was very near full, and I felt a stirring in my blood, the first time I'd ever done so. My parents had never allowed me to get to know the moon's cycles, feeling I didn't deserve such knowledge, but Long John didn't seem to think that way.
"Arrow is better for teaching you how to read the moon," he told me, his wings glowing in the darkness as he helped me to my feet. "But I can show you a few basics, if you'd like."
"I'd like that a lot," I said, and I meant it. Already I felt like I was at home, and as we made our way back to the house, I prayed my parents would dither and dally about getting the ransom together. I wanted at least a few days of paradise before hell came back to rest under my roof.
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