Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
I watched in awe as a misty film of glitter raised up from the shifting wolves and made its way to the witches. They dropped their cloaks, revealing almost naked bodies in flawless skin. The magic dust fell on them, soaking into their skin. It was beautiful, and I couldn’t stop watching.
My magic turned in me, urging me to reach out and touch the pretty glitter. I watched it, mesmerized. Little flakes, like snow but gold. I wanted to see if it felt like snow. I went to reach out. Cain pinned my arm down.
“What are you doing?” he snapped. I looked up at him.
“I want to touch it. It’s beautiful, Cain,” I said back. I’d never understood the term
“the world stopped” until that moment. Everyone froze.
Cain looked at me in horror. “You can see it?”
“You can’t?” I asked back. How could he not? It was beautiful, like just touching the magic would bring me peace. My own magic moved inside me again, trying to get my hand free. Cain’s hold bit into my skin.
“You can’t touch it, Luna. You shouldn’t even be able to see it. If you steal any magic from them, we will never get their help.”
“I’m not going to steal it, I just want to touch it. Let me go.” I struggled against his grasp. I just needed to see how it felt. Was it peaceful? Beautiful? My magic demanded it. I broke my arm free and reached out.
“You will not touch that, hybrid. It is our offering,” the echo boomed. It couldn’t scare me, not when the snow was still falling. Or rather, floating. It was going to the witches. But I had to touch it before it was gone.
“But–“
“Little Luna–“
“Just a little touch.” I went to reach out, but shadows wrapped around my wrist.
Cain let me go as Brax’s shadows yanked me down from the pergola. I squealed as he did, then landed safely in his arms in the arena. He kissed my mouth harshly before shaking his hand.
“Fucking trouble, Spitfire,” he said, then kept me against him and looked up at the witches.
“Apologies for the luna’s transgressions. She is still getting used to our customs, but we meant no offense. Please accept our offerings and power and hear our request?”
Brax asked. I was not sorry. But I didn’t say that. Instead, I closed my eyes. If I couldn’t see the magic snow, then I wouldn’t need to touch it. In theory.
Kai and Derik stood next to us, their presence calming my heart as I sunk into the comfort they provided. I had not done well; I had probably jeopardized our position, but something was off with the witches. They hadn’t come in with goodwill, and the way they talked about the pack pissed me off. They were not subjects; they helped keep the balance. They were just as important at keeping it maintained. The witches were acting like that wasn’t the case, and it didn’t sit right.
But I kept my mouth shut.
“For once.” Kai grinned. I smirked and hid in Brax’s shoulder.
“We will hear your request,” the echo said. I let out a breath as Brax put me down.
When I opened my eyes, the pack had turned back, pulling their clothes on. The witches had their cloaks back on and floated down to the arena, their eyes still glowing. I couldn’t tell if it was me being paranoid or not, but I was sure they were all staring at me.
Cain waltzed into the arena and stood by us, dragging Beenie over with us. The witches stood inhumanly still and waited. But their lips were pursed. I already had a bad feeling, and that had my mind racing. What were we going to do if they said no? Would Adrenna turn on us again? The beast would become a liability. It would turn messy and fast. We couldn’t afford messy right now.
Derik, Kai, and Brax moved forward. I held Brax’s hand and stepped back slightly.
“Your request?” the echo prompted.
Derik took a deep breath, then spoke. “Years ago, you cursed the witch Adrenna’s lover. He has been a beast since then, with the only goal to kill her. On the other side of that, Adrenna has absorbed the other half of the border magic. Both of these things are making it harder for us to win this war. We are asking for permission and help to reverse the curse you placed. We will turn the beast back to human.”
The witches didn’t move. Their expressions said nothing. Kai stepped forward. “We would then make Adrenna human too. They would be together as humans, breaking no laws.”
“And the border magic she possesses? It would be absorbed by its other half? In the hybrid?” The echo asked. Always back to the power. They really were scared. They should be. If they said no, I wasn’t going to let the pack suffer the consequences of that.
Brax answered this time. “Yes. But that is the balance at work. We are offering salvation for the two of them, in return we get the magic needed to defeat the vampires that are after us. The beast out there during this war is dangerous for all of us. Adrenna out there, scared and running with that magic inside her, is another complication we cannot afford. The pack needs this advantage.”
The witches remained silent.
25. The Decision
LORELAI
I sat in the nursery on the floor as Enzi fed. I cradled her close as she suckled, with Zale between my legs on a blankie. He was cooing and babbling, his hands trying to reach the rattle I was holding above his head.
My shadows were out, playing with his, while Enzi kept hers close.
It was the usual thing I did to fill my days outside of the pack, but it was different this time.
This time, it didn’t make me feel better.
Because everything was on the line, and the witches were acting like it wasn’t.
We had asked them for help, and they had asked for dinner.
The alphas had reassured me that it was normal, that they deliberated during the dinner, but it was bullshit. I didn’t care that they normally did it that way; we needed an answer.
If we could turn the beast back, turn Adrenna, then we got her magic.
We needed that to even the odds against the numbers that the vamps had.
The witches had to know that.
So there was only one choice: give us a chance or take it from us. If they really worked for the balance, it shouldn’t need deliberating.
I sighed, trying not to let the anger get to me, and finished feeding Enzi.
I put her on my shoulder and looked down at Zale.
They were perfection, and the love that bloomed in my chest when I was with them was more than I had ever thought my body and heart were capable of.
But that love came with emotions I didn’t know what to do with: protectiveness, anger, resentment. It all swirled inside me, making me need to get things done and make sure they were protected at all costs.
They were our heirs, our legacies; they had to survive this war. If we let them die, let anything hurt them, then we failed.
I couldn’t handle that.
Just like I couldn’t handle the idea that the witches might say no.
The alphas didn’t seem to think they would, but I didn’t trust the witches.
Something inside me didn’t like the way they were talking to me, the way they saw me as a hybrid.
The winter-born thing back to bite me in the ass yet again.
But they were scared, of the power I had, of the power I was going to get if they said yes. But it shouldn’t be about power. It should be about doing what’s right. And giving Adrenna and the beast back their lives was right.
Adrenna couldn’t hurt anyone if she had no magic and had the future she was getting revenge for, given back to her.
They had to see that. But I wasn’t allowed to badger them, apparently.
I had wanted to explain more. I wanted to explain the entire situation, the reasoning, the aftermath, every part of the plan, but the witches wanted none of that.
And the fact that the only question they asked was about power did not make me feel any better about the way their decision was going to go.
I laid Enzi down on the blanket, then looked at the twins.
So innocent, yet so wise. Enzi, so protected, so quiet. She looked more like me, with a small tuft of dark hair growing, her eyes slowly changing, settling into the blue.
Zale was more like Brax. His strength of features already, his expressions, the way he protected his sister.
They were perfect.
I finished feeding them, then put them in their crib as my mother came back in, with Galen not far behind, as usual.
“How’s dinner going?” I asked.
Mom’s brow furrowed, but she tried to hide it, going to the twins and smiling down at them.
“It’s okay. Tense, though. Not like the dinners I am used to having with the pack.”
“Have the witches said anything?”
“No. Just picked at their spinach and barley. They did enjoy the wine, though. Are you ready to go back out there?” she asked. I hadn’t been ready after the duel. I had needed a minute, and luckily the twins had needed feeding too.
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?