Chapter 24 - Hunter
“Is the western border secure?” I ask Arthur, who nods firmly.
“Yes, Hunter. So is the east side. I'll go ahead and check the rest. The others are also on the lookout for anything suspicious, but they haven't reported anything yet.”
I nod thoughtfully, wanting to feel safe but suspecting that what happened to Delilah isn't just an isolated incident.
There's no coincidence, with the warlock still at large, and now we have to make sure that nothing else infiltrates the pack.
I round up my friends in the town square, and we discuss how to implement more safety measures.
“It'd be a good idea for Ari and Delilah to come up with something to keep the dark magic out,” Tyler suggests. “A spell or something.”
“I agree,” Dominic nods. “If the dark magic caught Delilah, then we'll have to take better precautions. Especially for them.”
“Yeah. Ari is pregnant, and the last thing you need is for something to happen to her,” Nicholas adds.
“Em's been working on a serum to keep away dark magic,” Sean reveals. “If they work together, perhaps they can perfect a method that'll work for witches, too.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” I muse, my brows furrowing when my instincts kick in, shooting the fine hairs on the back of my neck up.
I look down at my arms as goosebumps erupt across my flesh, my inner wolf's heightened senses snapping my head in the direction of the house I share with Delilah.
“Guys!” I call out urgently when I see thick black smoke circling the roof of the smaller cottage beside our house.
The place Gwen's been staying since we released her.
The energy my instincts pick up on is the same darkness that possessed Delilah and made her attack me last night.
Sensing the danger coming from Gwen's place, I bolt toward my house, hearing my friends following close behind.
Panic rises with drumming beats in my ears when I rush in, only to discover that it's empty.
“It's Delilah!” I yell to my friends, charging out of our place and rushing to the cottage beside ours. “She's with Gwen!” I cry out, fearing for Delilah's life after what happened last night, fearing for our lives, and the lives of the pack members.
Kicking in the door as soon as I get to Gwen's place, my friends are behind me, along with a group of other wolves who saw the smoke signal. Panic surrounds us, and fear grips my throat.
The curling smoke wafting above the cottage is coming from the woman seated at the kitchen table, black tendrils curling around her as if she's possessed.
Standing in front of her, with her hand touching Gwen's, is Delilah, her eyes blackened by the force of the energy that consumes Gwen, her head lifted toward the ceiling as if she's staring into the void of the smoke.
“Delilah!” I call out, but she's frozen, not even blinking this time. I'm about to rush into the house, grab my mate, and get her out of there, when two hands grab me and pull me back.
“What the fuck?!” I bellow when Dominic and Sean step in front of the door, blocking my way. “Get out of my way!”
“No!” Dominic scolds me.
“Are you fucking insane?” I roar, hands curling into fists as I prepare to fight my friends. “Move, Dom! Don't make me fight you!”
“You can't go rushing in there, Hunter!” Sean appeals. “You told us what happened the last time she was like this! Now there are two of them. We don't know what we're dealing with.”
Nicholas comes up and places a hand on my shoulder. “Tyler's bringing the girls over. Maybe Ari can do something to fight the dark magic.”
“I can't just leave her in there!” I yell, but my friends are determined to keep me away. Desperate, afraid, and helpless, I finally relent, my heart hammering with panic when I glimpse Delilah stuck in a trance, knowing there's nothing I can do right now without endangering our lives.
Just as thundering steps shake the ground, I turn to see Tyler coming back with Arianna and Emily. But that's when I notice the crowd of Shadow Fang Pack members gathered around the house, fear all over their faces as they witness what's going on.
“I'm gonna check my journal,” Arianna hurriedly announces as she rapidly flips through a leather-covered book with trembling fingers. Her face pales after seeing Delilah inside, and her emotions seem all over the place, prompting Emily to take the journal and flip through more calmly.
“If you need to wield magic to counter whatever's happening to D, you need to calm yourself,” Emily appeals to her, taking charge of the situation.
I run a hand through my hair, panicking, taking a deep breath that hardly calms me down.
Fear trickles through every fiber in my being as Emily and Arianna find something to combat the dark magic, and the pack members watch in horror.
Feeling their fear as my own, I pull myself out of my panic, knowing I have to take charge while the alpha's daughter is stuck in a trance.
It's the least I can do until we get the situation under control and the girls figure out a way to fight the dark magic.
“Excuse me…” I push through the crowd, leaving my friends at the front of Gwen's house. Clearing my throat when I'm behind the crowd, I pull their attention away from the cottage.
“I want everyone to clear the area!” I call out loud enough for my voice to carry over to everyone at the back. “We're dealing with dark magic, and no one is to touch the smoke! It's the source of the dark magic, and it'll affect anyone who goes near it!”
To my relief, the crowd moves away, and Arthur comes to me, wearing dread on his face.
“Gwen's in there, too, isn't she? She's also affected?”
I nod measuredly as I pull him aside. “She's in there, but she's gonna be fine.”
“Can't we pull them out, Hunter? Get them out of the dark magic?”
“It's too dangerous. We have to wait for my friends to figure something out.”
Just as Arthur nods slowly, Delilah's parents come rushing forward.
“What's going on, Hunter? What is happening to my daughter?” Alpha Gabriel asks with panic, his dark brows furrowed.
Sighing, I decide to tell them everything, including what happened last night. They deserve to know what threat we're facing, and Luna Layla gasps when I tell them about the warlock.
“He's still alive…?” A hand flies to her throat as her face pales.
“It appears so, and he must be behind this. That's why Arianna saw him in her vision.”
“My mother fought in the war,” Luna Layla reveals, turning toward the cottage. “I think I know what needs to be done.”
“No, Layla!” Alpha Gabriel grabs his wife's hand and stops her from going forward. “I can't lose you, too!”
Luna Layla steps forward and presses a reassuring kiss to her husband's lips. “You won't. I need to get our daughter out of there. But I'm going to need her fated mate.”
Nodding, I turn to Alpha Gabriel and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I promise to do whatever it takes to get Delilah back, Alpha Gabriel. I love your daughter.”
Alpha Gabriel appears stunned as he stares at me momentarily, his eyes growing wide. He pats my hand and nudges me to follow his wife.
“Go on, Hunter! Do whatever Layla tells you.”
The three of us rush toward the cottage, and Arianna and Emily turn to us, their eyes full of panic.
“We couldn't find anything!” Arianna wails.
“Azura's journal won't contain any spells to combat the dark lord's curse,” Luna Layla explains. “She sacrificed herself on the final night of the Blood Moon War, and that was the same night the witches discovered how to break the curse.”
“Tell me what to do,” Arianna says as she straightens up.
“You will have to harness all your white magic into your palms. Every last flicker of it. Can you do that?”
“I'll try.”
While Arianna turns to the cottage door, Luna Layla turns to me and nods me over.
“The only way we can break the curse is by overpowering it with white magic. I need you to speak to Delilah, call out to her, and bring her soul back to her body,” Layla instructs me, and I nod.
“Got it.”
“You guys need to be on standby,” she tells the others. “Draining all our magic will render us powerless, and we'll pass out when it's done.”
One by one, my friends step forward to be on standby as the witches begin wielding their white magic to counter the black magic that possesses Delilah. I take a deep breath, my fists curling at my sides as I prepare to get my mate, my wife, out of danger.