Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
Brax growled; Derik just grimaced and clenched his jaw.
“Tabitha,” Derik warned, and she shrugged.
“To expect anything less from blood magic is just foolish at this point. You must be tested to make sure you want what the link is offering.
“Most creatures will yield when enough pain is applied. The spell will test your limits and ability to see it through,” she explained, then put two drops in the bowl.
They turned the potion a clear blue color that swirled with darker hints to it. It almost moved on its own, and after being told it would hurt, my stomach was turning.
I hated being in pain. I shivered at the idea.
“Say we can’t handle it. How would it know?” I asked, starting to freak out just a little that I might just fuck this up for them all.
Tabitha offered me a kind smile with crinkling eyes.
“You’ll pass. But should the pain get too much, simply call out that you yield, and the spell will release you. Any of you. Keep in mind that uttering those words will not affect our bargain that was struck, and that this is a one-time thing.
“This link, this particular spell, especially in this strength, can only be attempted once,” she warned, stirring one last time before rolling her shoulders back and placing her hands on the table.
My heart raced harder. I didn’t want to fail, I didn’t want to lose the opportunity or yield, but the idea of being in pain had me second-guessing everything.
“I’m not so good with pain,” I stuttered, my skin raising as she blew through the steam and it swirled angrily.
“Maybe not, but it is a test, a challenge, and those I haven’t seen you shy away from.
You will also be rewarded for passing the pain.
“When the link connects you all, that is when you will feel everything but pain,” she said, smiling knowingly, like she had the world of secrets at her fingertips.
Maybe she did. I didn’t know much, so I had to trust her.
“How long will the pain last?” I asked, and Brax grabbed my hand on one side, Derik on the other. The warmth in their touch soothed me a little but not enough to stop my heart from racing.
“Depends.” She shrugged.
“On?” I prompted.
“A few things. How deep the connection is already compared to how deep the link wants to burrow. And how much you fight it,” she said.
I blew out a breath, hoping like hell that my connection with the alphas was already sufficiently deep to avoid being in pain for a ridiculous amount of time.
“Will all of us be in pain?” Derik frowned, and she nodded.
“You each must be tested.”
“And she will be safe?” he asked.
Tabitha nodded toward Cain. “He’ll keep an eye on you, make sure you don’t wolf out on her, but the link is not designed to do that. It is a personal test. If you pass, you are rewarded with a successful link, if you fail, you are not,” she said, then smacked her hands together.
Every single candle’s light went out, and the crystal-blue water glowed. I sucked in a breath, the anticipation curling in my stomach.
“Have you ever done this on someone with shadows before?” I murmured, and she shook her head.
“Obviously not, but those variants shouldn’t matter.”
“Shouldn’t?” I sputtered. That didn’t sound very sure at all.
“We should get started. We’ve wasted enough time, and you will need time to get used to the link before the Summit meeting. I believe they requested an urgent meeting, but twenty-four hours shouldn’t make them too testy.”
She chuckled, like she knew something we didn’t, and like usual, she probably did.
“Ready then?” she asked.
I looked to the alphas, who waited for my nod. I did, and they did the same.
Tabitha smiled, then handed me a long pin. I took it and stared at the silver needle in trepidation. Pain, my worst enemy, and I had to bring it on myself.
It sounded simple enough when I looked at the big picture, the alphas would essentially be mine, but getting there? I would have to endure something I had always shied away from.
It was terrifying, and physically making myself prick my finger was harder and harder to convince myself to do.
I had barely moved the needle an inch when Derik leaned down and captured my mouth with his. It was a distraction, in the back of my mind I knew that, but I welcomed it.
His lips covered mine in soft, tender pulls until I was desperate and breathless.
“Now, beautiful,” he whispered against me, and I tightened my grip on the needle, pricking my finger as his tongue slid against mine and his hand tightened its grip on my face.
I winced against the kiss, the tiny sting worse because I had been waiting for it.
He broke away, then nodded to the bowl. I looked down at the droplet of blood pooling at my fingertip, then held it over the potion.
It dropped in just before Kai, Derik, and Brax put their own drops in, much more used to the idea of pain than me, obviously.
Tabitha nodded, a smirk playing on her lips as she began humming and stirring.
Then she was whispering words in a language I didn’t know, her voice echoing through the house.
She stirred and stirred the glowing water that was now deep purple, then poured it into four small glass tubes. She handed us each one, then sighed.
“From here on out, I cannot interfere. Once that potion has been accepted into your bodies, it will be up to you to decide the fate.
“Wolves, remember to keep the wall up on the link with your pack. Cain told me you have made them aware of what you are doing here, but I would advise against sharing this experience; it will only make it harder to get through the pain to your winter born.”
“As for you, Lorelai, you must remember your wolves. Everything about them that makes you happy, smile, laugh, and love. Keep them close, touch as much as possible, and it will make the next few hours more tolerable. I will see you at sunrise; the future will be clearer then.”
She smiled, then grabbed her cane and stepped back, waiting for us to drink.
I looked at the wolves, then back at the drink. I had come this far in their world; I couldn’t bitch out now. So I emptied the vial in one shot.
I looked over as the wolves finished theirs, smiling at the way it made the red in their eyes glow through.
And then I felt it.
The searing, burning pain that felt like my entire insides were being boiled alive.
I screamed until my voice went hoarse, tears burning in my eyes. I couldn’t form a thought through the blinding, excruciating sting, ache, and throb that filled every part of my existence.
It was everywhere, and I couldn’t escape, but I wanted to. I couldn’t breathe, I was suffocating, and I dropped to my knees, my voice still coming out in strangled gasps and wails.
Suddenly I wasn’t so sure I should have trusted a witch so easily or taken a potion that promised such intense pain because I was pretty sure I was dying, and I didn’t even want to survive at that point.
Not even for my alphas.
38. The Nothing
Nikolai.
The wolf who took my virginity. The wolf who didn’t care that I was human. The first person who hadn’t judged me on being a winter born. Who had liked it.
He showed me what it meant to be completely enraptured by someone in every way. I was always safe with him. The rules didn’t matter when we were together, the fact that we were different didn’t.
He saw what he wanted and he went for it; that obsession with everything I was meant everything to me. And I was obsessed with him too.
Braxton.
The werewolf who was cursed like me, to live with shadows. The one who understood what that meant.
He was the wolf I needed when I couldn’t keep control; when I was overwhelmed with everything I was, he kept me grounded, safe.
He was who I needed when I felt like I was going to give in to the darkness. He was the light inside me when I couldn’t see. The connection I had with him was already so deep, and I needed it to survive.
Derik.
The werewolf with the brooding intensity, the one with the walls up, the responsibility of the world on his shoulders, but the one who let me see behind that mask when we were together.
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?