Chapter 303 – Owned by the Alphas Novel Free by Jen Cooper

Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel

I relaxed a little more, leaning on Derik’s legs that were next to me as I started whispering the words again. I grew weary, the magic surprisingly heavy.

Cain called Brax over and sent Kai back out to fight.

He took Brax’s blood too, then put both droplets in the lake.

I gasped as it turned to a gelatine-like consistency.

I raised a brow at Cain who nodded. “It’s meant to turn like that. It means it’s ready to accept our spell. I had to make sure it accepted the blood first,” he let out a breath like he had been worried it wouldn’t.

“There was a chance it wouldn’t?”

He nodded. “Spells are tricky, especially ones like this that require specific states of blood. I had to make sure Kai was defending the lake and was doing it for the right reasons, not just for his mate. I wasn’t sure if he was or not,” he shrugged.

I had more faith than that and smiled, handing over the bowl of watery herbs.

It glistened, seeming to move on its own.

I stood up, my head spinning a little. “Woah,” I said on a breath.

Derik held me steady. “Use my strength if you need it, Beautiful,” he offered.

“I didn’t realize how much energy spells used,” I admitted. I knew it was because I was keeping the border around the city alive but I had no choice. I had to keep it there, especially while we weren’t there to defend it ourselves.

Not that it mattered, the rogues seemed more interested in getting the lake than the city.

It made it harder to concentrate on what we were doing but I shook off my dizzy and took a deep breath.

“When we do the spell, pace yourself. Don’t put more magic into it than you need to. You’ll feel it when you go over and pull back. Keep yourself on the edge of that line, understood?” Cain said, coming forward to grab my hands.

I nodded. I understood.

‘You’re used to edging that line, aren’t you Little Luna?’ Kai teased in the link.

I grinned and shook him off.

‘I have to concentrate,’ I said, then looked at Cain.

Beenie came over then and wrapped some more herb around our hands to twine them together, dropping the leftover vine into the lake.

I immediately felt the connection to it. It pinged inside me like an electrical current warming my entire body.

I blew out a breath, and Derik moved in closer behind me.

His touch stabilized me, warming my skin where he touched.

He gave me his strength whether I asked for it or not, and I smiled.

It helped.

“Repeat the words, Lorelai. Not too fast, clear and with conviction. That’s what matters in these spells, how much you mean what you are saying. The lake will read if you mean it or not, so make sure you do,” Cain explained.

I nodded but I wasn’t worried. I wanted the lake protected, I wanted everyone to have access to water–even the rogues. I didn’t believe it was ours to claim anymore than the rogues.

I respected it as its own, the same as the magic that moved inside me.

I knew that would be enough, I just wasn’t sure we could get it done before the protective barrier was broken.

It was already weakening, I felt that in the pangs of electricity.

Kai and Brax were working to pick off the rogues, make sure none made it to us but there was no guarantee that would last. Especially if more arrived.

So I started whispering the words.

“He who tries and fails must only mean harm. Those who are pure in meaning shall disarm.”

Cain joined me, our voices echoing together as they carried to the lake.

I felt only a little resistance at first.

Then the electricity in my body buzzed louder.

And louder.

I sucked in a breath, my words hitching.

“Hold it,” Derik whispered in my ear, “It’s reading your intentions,” he reassured, giving me more of his strength.

I kept chanting with Cain, my body ticking with electricity as the magic moved through it.

My eyes grew heavy, my limbs and mind too. But I kept my whispering words going.

I heard Kai back in human form, yelling at wolves to hold the line, to not let them get to us, to show them why we are a pack and why that means they will never beat us.

Then Brax was calling out, telling the rogues to leave the lake alone, to retreat before anyone else got hurt.

By the sounds of the continuing battle, they didn’t care.

“Concentrate,” Cain interrupted his chanting to warn me.

I pulled my head back to the spell and kept chanting the words with him. The electricity kept pulsing through me, to where my hands were connected to Cain, down the vine that connected us.

“Good girl, Beautiful,” Derik praised and I smiled through my words.

It made my core warm when he said those words to me and he knew.

I wasn’t sure how long we had to chant for but I kept going as long as Cain did.

It felt like hours. My body was tired, my legs ached, and my head was full. It felt raw with electricity still pulsing through it.

The lake still sat with its strange consistency, unchanging as we said the spell.

I wasn’t even sure if it was working.

Cain nodded at me, encouraging me to keep going as my lids tried to close. Derik held me against him, lending me more of his strength as mine tried to give in.

My body was not as strong as my mind when I carried, and as much as I wanted to do it on my own, I reluctantly accepted Derik’s strength.

I needed it to keep going.

It felt like I hadn’t slept in years, like there were stones dropping in my body.

My chest was tight, and I drew in deep breaths between chants.

And right when I was ready to break concentration for a quick nap, the lake started shimmering.

Cain let out a sigh of relief then kept chanting, louder, faster.

I copied, echoing his words and pace.

Derik held me tight, grunting as I took more from him. But he said nothing.

Then Kai was giving me some of his strength.

I accepted it gratefully.

Brax didn’t but I knew why. His shadows.

They had changed and even I wasn’t sure if the lake would accept them, even though his blood had been.

Something in his shadows, the solidifying trick he had pulled made me think they might not appreciate them.

We couldn’t risk the spell like that.

But with Kai’s strength too, I was okay enough to keep chanting.

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