Casmas Clan: Josiah and Clara
Chapter Eight

~ Josiah A year and a half they had been together and Josiah couldn't be happier. His wolf had decided Clara was his, so now he just had to explain exactly what he was to her. Which wasn't going to be easy, Clara was absolutely terrified of

wolves. She had never explained why she was, just that she was.

At least Josiah no longer had to worry about Zach's killer anymore. The idiot had come back into town three months ago to attempt another killing. Luckily Josiah and Harvey had been out tracking and training Josiah's hunting skills when they had come across the killer's scent. Harvey had been confused at first when Josiah suddenly veered off course, but quickly caught up when he scented the man as well.

Josiah had easily backed off at Harvey's command and allowed the large cougar to take the lead and eventually the kill. He may be a wolf and a predator, but Josiah quickly found out he wasn't too keen on killing anyone or thing. Evidently, he was a lover, not a fighter.

None of that mattered though; there hadn't been any other killings or reasons for Josiah to kill. Alpha Dermet's Clan wasn't like his old pack; they didn't have to fight amongst themselves to rise higher in the Clan dynamic. Josiah still wasn't quite sure how the Clan's dynamic worked but wasn't worried about it. He was happy with his position among the Clan, which oddly enough wasn't the bottom rung.

Josiah slowed to a stop at the playground and looked around. Clara wasn't there like she normally was. Every day they would meet here, go out to eat, then take Pipsqueak their leftovers. It was a ritual they had started and never broke over the last year...until now.

Josiah lifted his nose to the wind, trying to scent whether she had been here or not. There wasn't even a trace of Clara's scent in the wind, meaning she never came here today. Worry filled him, had something happened to her? Not knowing what else to do, Josiah strolled down the sidewalks, searching everywhere for Clara's scent.

~ Clara Clara paced back and forth before the swamp, glad for once that Pipsqueak was nowhere around. She just couldn't deal with him as well as everything else going on with her today. It was going to be bad enough when Josiah realized she wasn't at the playground, waiting on his arrival.

Sighing deeply, Clara sat down on the stump and placed her head in her hands. What to do? What to do? A snapping twig caused her head to shoot up, and look around to see who was approaching her.

"Clara? Are you ok? What's wrong?"

Clara didn't even realize she was moving until she found herself weeping in Josiah's arms.

"Hush Clara, it's ok. Everything will work out."

Josiah stated as his arms tightened their hold on her. Clara instantly began to relax. This was exactly what she had been needing all day long. To be held and comforted in her time of need. Her weeping slowed and eventually came to a stop as his hands gently ran up and down her back in a soothing motion.

~ Josiah "Are you feeling better now, Clara?"

Josiah asked several minutes later after she finished her cry and appeared much calmer. His wolf was going nuts within him, trying to take over control, so he could maim whatever had caused Clara to cry. "Yes. Much."

She rubbed her cheek against his chest and tightened her grip on him, instantly calming his wolf. It still wanted to maim whoever had harmed her, but it wasn't as imperative now as it had been moments before. "Do you want to talk about what's wrong? Why you are upset?"

Clara tightened her arms around him in a quick hug, before taking several steps away from him, to return sitting upon her favored stump. She wouldn't look at him, while she wrung her hands together over and over again. Something had to be terribly wrong for her to be acting this way, but what?

Stepping up to her, Josiah knelt and took Clara's hands in his own. Stopping their frantic movements. "Clara, you know how much I care for you. How much I love you, right?"

She nodded, though she still refused to look up at him.

"So you should know, you can tell me anything, anything at all, and it won't change how I feel for you. But I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong, right?"

Clara nodded again and then sighed deeply before raising her gaze to his finally. Her red, puffy eyes really got to him. But how could he help her if she refused to tell him what happened?

"I love you too, Josiah. There's just...something you don't know about me."

"Tell me. I'll not hold it against you. I'll never hold anything against you."

~ Clara Clara sighed deeply again and closed her eyes. One step at a time. That's all she had to do, was take one step at a time. She would start by telling of her being a witch, see how he reacted to that first. If it went well, she would then reveal the rest of it. 'Please, go well', she thought as she opened her eyes once more.

'Well, nothing left to do, but take the plunge.' She hesitated for a couple more minutes, then shakily stated: "I'm a witch, Josiah."

'Well that wasn't so hard.'

Clara thought while emotions passed across Josiah's features. She just desperately hoped he believed her and didn't hate her because of it. She didn't want to believe he would desert her now, just because she hadn't told him of her secret before now.