Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“You were in the cages. You set us free,” he smiled.
I nodded, “I thought that would be enough to get you out. I’m sorry you got caught,” I said.
He shook his head then waved his hand over his body. It dressed him in plain village clothes. And the rest of his kind that were slowly rising.
As they did they came to stand behind him.
“Never mind!” I called out to the pack who were still bringing warm things that the witches clearly didn’t need.
Kai sent them to do clean up instead.
Then a face I recognized came to the front of his kind and smiled too.
The boy I had helped.
He bowed to me and I bowed back, not sure if that was customary. I had only met the other witches, and bowing to them was the last thing I had wanted to do.
“You have saved us. We are grateful,” the one in front of me said.
I nodded and looked over them. There were a few hundred of them.
All shapes and sizes, not like the other witches at all.
“We couldn’t save you all, I’m sorry,” I admitted, knowing there had been some casualties.
“They have gone to the realm,” he said, then looked over his shoulder. When he did, there was a shimmer in the air.
I gasped, stumbling back against Derik who steadied me, staring wide-eyed up at what I was.
A mountain. Witch mountain. But it wasn’t snowy like the first one or buried in dark forest like before.
It was vibrant and green with cave holes all over it. Windows and doors on each cave hole. Layers of small homes all the way up the mountain with a clear path between them. It was a damn huge mountain and stretched up high.
The summit still looked snowy though.
“This is witch mountain. We used to live here safely until those witches started taking instead of being neutral. They started using the magic to stay young, using their bias to alter the balance. And we suffered for it. Our families have been locked in their homes for a long time but thanks to you, they are also free,” the boy said as the doors on the mountain started opening. More witches started coming out but they weren’t like the gold ones.
They were normal. Small and tired-looking but they had the same petite features like the witches in front of us and wore the same clothes as the human villagers.
“They have been siphoning our magic. Keeping us weak. The ones that agreed were allowed to stay in the mountain, trapped. We decided the families with children should agree. Then the rest of us refused, getting locked in the cages.
That way we kept them from our magic, from getting too strong too quickly,” he explained.
It blew my mind that it was the same mountain I had climbed and then been captive in but I was glad the witches were free.
We all were.
The boy started walking through the forest and I followed, not sure if I was meant to. My Alphas stayed silent, we all did and waited for the witch to say what he wanted.
“You have a new concept for the realm and as witches, we are attuned to it. We understand you have a council now, between races. It keeps the balance,” he said as we moved into the broken village.
I nodded, “We have taken an oath.”
“We felt it,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back.
He looked twelve, but the way he talked and walked made me think he was much older.
“Is there a problem with it?” I asked.
He smiled, “No. The opposite,” he said, then waved his hand over the village.
I startled when the wood and boards of the huts started clanking together, refitting to where they were meant to be.
The boy’s magic put everything back together again as if nothing had ever happened. It cleared the mud from the pathways and cleaned the homes, leaving them in a state that looked better than they had been.
I raised a brow at him, and he turned to me, “We would like a seat on this council. We used to hold the balance, but now, that role has passed on to your children. Which leaves us as another race, just like you. We would like to be a part of the collective as one,” he said calmly.
“Oh.” It wasn’t very diplomatic.
Derik kissed my cheek and held my hand in his, “The wolves accept your presence in the council. But we do have to vote, the humans and vampires will need to have their say. If it is agreed, you must take the oath we have all taken.
We would like to hear any amendments you would have us make on behalf of your kind too,” Derik said.
I squeezed his hand, thanking him for saving me.
The boy bowed again, “Understood. In the meantime, we can fix your city too if you wish?” He offered.
“Yes, please,” I said quickly.
He bowed, and we were heading back to the city as dawn crested on the horizon.
We left the humans to celebrate in their own homes, even the women’s and widow villages fixed.
Mom and Galen came with us to the city, though she had to for the council, although she had already made it clear that the humans were on board with the witches being a part of things.
The witches weren’t as scary when they talked like normal people and wore normal clothes.
And fixed things instead of broke them.
Derik summoned Lucien and Evelyn, who was apparently coming onto the board, taking the oath too. While we waited for them, the witches stayed true to their word and fixed the city.
Every demolished home, every shard of glass, every cracked stone. They fixed it.
“Thank you,” I breathed as we stared out from the stone path at the gates.
“Thank you. Without your trust in the realm, we would still be enslaved or dead. We all would be. For the fated plan to work, a lot of parts had to click into place. Your part relied on your trust. The realm is grateful,” he smiled, still walking with his hands behind his back.
We led him to Galen’s old home where his gardens were well cared for, but the inside had been turned into the council quarters.
We stood in the garden and we were about to go inside when the boy stopped. He looked up to the sky of the realm that was beaming down in orange as the new day broke.
He closed his eyes then smiled.
I looked at my Alphas who all shrugged.
The witches were strange.
“He’s communicating with the realm,” Cain whispered.
Oh.
He slowly lowered his head and looked at me. Then the Alphas. Then Cain.
His other witches had gone back to the mountain, and I was glad for it because there was only so much of this strangeness I could handle.
I was tired, sore, and just wanted to curl up in bed with my Alphas and my children.
“Should we go inside?” I offered.
The boy nodded. “Yes, we should. It won’t be long now.” He smiled. It didn’t sound ominous, but my trust was a little on the thin side.
What wouldn’t be long now?
42. The Gift
Lorelai
Before I could ask what that meant, Lucien and Evelyn arrived wearing black cloaks that protected them from the waking sun.
We went inside the spacious room, the sun beaming down directly on the table that held the symbols of our races on it. A wolf. A bat. A sword.
Except for two of the seats, which remained in the shadows of the room, almost like the realm knew.
It probably did.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?