Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“It’s a good thing she’s more powerful than she looks then, because that beast can throw,” Derik said, letting out a panting breath. His body was damp as well, his brow sweating, sticking his hair to his forehead.
Kai brushed harder against my leg, and I gave him a reassuring smile.
“How far away are you, Galen?” I asked through the link. He sent me a flash of what he was seeing: the lake. He was close then.
I adjusted my hands and magic, leaning a little more into Derik as a wave of exhaustion hit. He held me up as I stumbled.
“Lorelai?” he asked. I shook off the heavy feeling in my body and eyelids.
“I’m okay.”
Kai whined against me. He didn’t believe me.
I wasn’t telling the truth, so it wasn’t surprising.
My heart was speeding up. My temperature was climbing. My body was shaking.
All things I ignored to keep the beast locked down.
“I have to hold this. So I’m okay until the others get here.”
“Cain, help her. Add your magic,” Derik ordered.
“I can’t, D. I don’t have border magic. I can’t just create a border like she can. I have to work my magic through healing and spells,” Cain replied.
I was going to interrupt, tell them I was fine again, but my eyes tried to close.
Kai growled and woke me up.
I clamped down on the magic that was trying to crawl back inside me.
I ordered it to stay. The command made it angrier.
I winced as the ache in my head got worse.
“I’ve got the twins, Spitfire. Take your shadows back, feed the magic. Channel us too,” Brax offered through the link.
I swallowed, hating the idea, but Brax flashed me a picture. He was physically with the twins. They were safe.
So I could use my shadows. And I needed to, or the magic cage wasn’t going to hold.
I pulled my shadows back to us, then poured them out through my body to entwine with the magic caging in the beast.
They loved it. My magic and shadows had become close, like working together was easier. Separated, it was more of a struggle.
My shadows supported my magic, and my body felt lighter immediately.
My magic gave me a burst of relief in my body, as if it was just as happy as I was that the shadows were there. The beast even stopped fighting, his roars turning to whines.
Then he did the weirdest thing of all. He nuzzled against the cage, as if the shadows had broken through the craze.
I raised a brow and looked at the others. The pack was hovering, sniffing the air for any threat. Derik had his hands on his hips, standing next to me, with Cain on the other side. Kai was still between me and the beast in wolf form.
“When we went to the shadow realm, they liked him there too,” I murmured.
Cain nodded. “He spent years there; it’s not surprising he made a few friends. My guess is, the shadows in you knew him before they came through to our realm in you.”
My eyes widened again. I knew the shadows were a winter-born thing, and after going to their realm, I had figured out where they came from, but it was still hard to accept that they were actual living things inside me. Before, they were just shadows. Now, they were allies–and enemies. It was so confusing and had my mind going to my brother.
Was that why he had chosen differently? Had his shadows already been bad, and that’s why he chose to let them in? If I had been given his shadows, and he had mine, would it have been different?
“The shadows seek out the nature they want in the human they want. Your shadows never would have come through if his body was the only one to inhabit. Your shadows chose you, and when you chose them back, using them the way they intended, it made you both strong. If you had chosen to do the same things as your brother, then you and your shadows would have turned,” Brax explained, probably eavesdropping on my thoughts as usual.
“So Lucas really was corrupted by my father?”
Brax didn’t answer, but I felt the nod.
That was a hard pill to swallow, but I did and let the bitterness go with it. Lucas had done what he did, my father had done what he did. They both sucked, and now they were gone.
I had to move on from that and concentrate on making sure my shadows and I set a good example for the twins.
“Galen’s here,” Derik said, looking up and toward the front gates of the city.
I looked where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was Galen, in full wolf form that was still ridiculously huge, with my mom on his back.
He stopped in front of us, narrowing his eyes on the beast.
“I’ve got him subdued–for now. I don’t know if he’ll stay that way for long. Do you have any herbs for a sleeping agent?” I asked, looking up at Mom.
She looked healthier than I had seen her in–well, my life. She was glowing, her skin warm, and her hair out. She always wore braids, but today, she only wore jewelry clips holding it up at the sides.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining as she smiled and climbed down from Galen, his body lowering so it was easier for her.
Derik went over and helped her down. She nodded to him in thanks, then handed over a leather satchel.
“This should do it. We’ve been making some sleeping powder for the vampires. I took out the garlic cloves and added the smallest hint of wolfsbane. Not enough to hurt, but it will weaken him enough for the sleeping herbs to take effect,” Mom explained.
I grabbed it as the beast whined, eyeing it.
“I’m sorry, it’s only for a few hours so we can get the witches’ approval. When you wake up, we’ll make you human, okay?” I said.
Now that the beast was calmer, talking to it was easier, and he nodded. He went to lie down, but I laughed and shook my head.
“There’s no way we’re getting you back to the barn if you fall asleep. You’ve got to go back yourself,” I said, pointing to the half-collapsed barn.
It huffed, then nodded and started walking. I followed, sending the pack off to continue preparations. Galen, Mom, Derik, and Cain came with us.
“I need to go make sure the borders to the city are ready for tonight,” Kai said in the link, then snarled at the beast in warning.
“He’ll be okay, Kai. The shadows, he likes them; they’ll keep him behaving.”
Kai whined at me, nudging my body before nuzzling against me.
I petted him, kissed his nose, then sent him off. I knew he wanted to protect me, but he also needed to trust that I could do that for myself.
He understood that, then ran off with his formation of wolves.
We got the beast back to the barn, half his body lying out of it since he had destroyed the thing. He lay down, and I blew the powder over him. It settled on his coat, and after a minute, his blinks slowed. Then his eyes closed, and he was out.
I turned to Mom and wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you. I missed you,” I whispered. She held me tighter. “Missed you too, Sweetheart. Ready to convince some witches?” She asked.
I nodded, pulling back. “Yeah. I have to. I gave the beast and Adrenna my word,” I said, starting to get nervous about what I was doing. What if they said no?
“Good timing as always, Luna,” Cain said, backing away, frowning up at the sky as it grew stormy. The sky was already dark, but the moisture in the air threatened rain.
It never rained.
Lightning cracked against the dark sky, and I jumped as Derik growled.
Cain blew out a breath. “Great. Something has already irritated them,” he said, rolling his eyes, obviously having the same issues with the witches that I did. “Well, glad you’re ready to do this because they’re here, Luna.”
I tensed just as the city bell started tolling.
24. The Witches
LORELAI
I sat in the stand above the training arena at the end of the city, next to the school.
I’d never had much inclination to go there, training with my alphas instead, but apparently, it was the wolves’ favorite place to go–aside from the tavern.
The arena was for fighting. The wolves all signed up to take on the alphas, and I knew my alphas could take every single one of them. But it still put me on the edge of my seat. When Derik had said there would be a duel for the witches, I hadn’t expected my alphas to be facing the entire pack.
One on one, sure. Pairs? I could handle that. Even teams–anything was better than watching every pack member take a swing at the alphas. They were free to take them down in the arena without consequence. So far, none had managed to get the drop on them, but I was pretty sure that was because Galen wasn’t in there.
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?