Chapter Forty-Three #3
My mother folds the newspaper. The pages crinkle with her movement until she settles.
“I agree with it, but it doesn’t matter what I think.
You are to be Bloodhound’s leader. If this is the way you want to run things, I support your decision.
Your father and I raised you well. Any decision you make, I am behind you all the way. ”
She slides her file beneath a nearby pack’s newsletter.
I recognize it as the directory of men and women who will be participating in this year’s Hunt.
Every pack sends one out. It’s to broaden participation so those who joined previous Hunts but remain unmated can enter if they spot someone they’re interested in.
Each page displays photos of eligible wolves and a short bio like, generational powers, standings and other details to spark interest at a glance.
My mom follows my line of sight to the newsletter and changes the subject. “On another note, have you given any more thought as to who you will choose as a mate?”
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Mom raises an eyebrow at me, waiting.
I sigh. Here goes nothing. “Jay is . . . my fated mate.”
Her face contorts to one meant to intimidate me as a pup, but it doesn’t work on me anymore.
“She’s not yet twenty-one, so she doesn’t know it yet, but when she does, I’ll mark her.”
She slams her hand on the desk and stands in a huff. “Over my dead body. You are not to mark her! I forbid it.”
“I am the next alpha. I am not asking for your permission.”
“You are not yet an alpha.”
“Maybe not, but I am my father’s son.”
My aura meets her dominance head on. She doesn’t bare her neck in submission like others would, but it shocks her all the same. I’m not matching her outrage, and I don’t need to yell. I’m not going to escalate things.
“I’ve made my decision, Mom. I’m not here to discuss this with you. I’m only here to inform you.” And with that, I exit, leaving my mother to stew in her hatred.
A burden the size of a boulder rolls off my shoulders. I feel great, and the first thing I want to do is tell Jay.
When I find her, Jay is assisting the king in training my people. She’s adjusting their stances, practicing and showing off kick-ass moves.
I call to her, “Hey, Jay!”
She lights up when she sees me, and I smile back because she’s brightening my entire world.
“When you get a second, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay, sure thing! I’m almost finished, then I’ll be right over.” She resumes her teachings.
For a moment, I watch her impressive abilities—how she doesn’t miss a single detail. She ensures my pack knows every trick in the book for their own safety.
I ask myself how I got to be so lucky.
It’s then the scent of burning wood, sulfur and smoked tobacco hits my nose. Suddenly, a dense fog engulfs my surroundings. It consumes the people around me until the only ones left in the smoke are the king, Tyler, Sam, Taya and me.
“What is going on? Where are we? What happened to the pack?” Taya asks.
We all glance around, but there’s no one and nothing. We’re all confused. Except for Sam, who is convinced that, whatever is happening, I have something to do with it. “This has mutt written all over it. What the fuck did you do?”
“No, no, no . . . This . . . This isn’t the mutt. It’s witches.” The strategist in the king takes over, and his wheels turn. “Nobody speak unless it’s through mindlink. Nobody make any sudden movements, and we might make it out of here.”
Like a verbal group chat, the king opens a mindlink to all of us.
“It’s likely they’re watching us. Keep to the mindlink. I alerted my men here, and they’ve informed Alaina. She’s on standby in case anything goes wrong.”
“If you were able to reach them, then we must be in Bloodhound or at least close to it,” Sam says.
“Exactly.”
“How is that possible?” Taya asks.
“I think it’s like a parallel in time. We’re all here in the same location but at a different time,” Tyler answers.
“He’s right. Which means we are dealing with some seriously powerful witches,” His Majesty says.
Sam’s eyes shift from Taya’s to the king’s with worry. “What kind of witches?”
“Dark. I’m familiar with the smell,” I say.
Sam and Taya drop each other’s hands but remain close by. A mate is leverage and a grave liability—a known weakness.
“What’s the plan?” Sam asks the king.
“We hear them out.”
Just as the king says this, two women in their mid-to-late thirties appear through the fog, black smoke trailing in their wake.
One woman has braided mahogany-glossed hair and hazel eyes.
She wears a flowing onyx asymmetric maxi patterned with gold constellations and moons, cinched by a statement belt above a black crop top.
Both sporting combat boots, her boho attire contrasts against her gothic counterpart with her haltered lace corset dress with layered necklaces and a choker.
Their black only bring attention to her long, tousled copper strands.
“Selene. Dehlia,” Dax nods to them. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I imagine you already know, Your Majesty,” Selene answers.
Both witches bow their heads as she says the honorific.
“Humor me,” the king says, laying the charm on thick.
It works.
“As you are aware, we had a young witch in our coven go missing. He was our protégé. We found him dead on our grounds. Bludgeoned to death,” Dehlia says.
“I’m very sorry to hear that. My condolences,” Dax says.
“Yes, well, we have reason to believe that Bloodhound wolves were responsible for his death. And I’m sorry, Your Majesty, to drag you into this, but since all the wolves answer to you . . .”
“It involves me. I understand. How can I help?”
Selene and Dehlia exchange a glance before Selene clears her throat. “We are seeking the wolves who were involved. We ask they be delivered to us immediately.”
Uh oh.
The king doesn’t miss a beat when he says, “Of course. Do you know who these individuals might be?”
“Yes.” The witch conjures a hologram of the five from my pack I executed days ago—and Jay. “We were able to capture DNA from the scene, and we have identified these six individuals. If I’m not mistaken, I believe they all belong to Bloodhound. Do I have that right, Mr. Waller?”
All eyes turn to me. Including King Dax and Sam, who snarl in my direction.
The only saving grace I have is that the king gave his blessing over their execution—it’s probably why he’s not executing me.
“Speak mutt,” His Majesty orders.
“Yes, the five were Bloodhound members, but Jay is rehabilitating with us. She’s innocent,” I blurt.
“Unfortunately, that means nothing to us. She was there, and my people seek closure,” Dehlia says.
What they want is to bring appeasement to their people, not justice. It’s exactly the kind of thing a governing entity would do—much like the council.
The king negotiates on my mate’s behalf.
I’m not stupid enough to think it’s for me.
He likes Jay, and I respect the hell out of him for recognizing her worth.
It would be easier to hand her over if he wasn’t a man to keep his word.
“If it’s closure you’re after, then surely another sacrifice would do? ”
I watch the conversation eagerly, hoping they take his words seriously. I’d give anything else if it meant Jay will be safe. Whatever the cost, I could live with it because she is the only one I couldn’t be without.
“If the circumstances were different, perhaps. But our people saw Jay next to our fallen boy’s body.
I fear she is the only person my coven will be satisfied receiving, unless you are willing to give us the other five,” Dehlia says.
“We anticipated you would want to trade a life for a life, but if she is of importance to you, then we will accept the others.”
The king sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “My apologies. We took their crimes very seriously. I have already carried out their execution for you.”
Selene snaps, “That wasn’t your vengeance to give.”
The king remains calm as he’s reprimanded. “I understand.”
Selene paces, wiping a hand over her face in grave frustration. “Bloodhound has now taken two things from us,” Selene says.
“I am deeply sorry for the interruption in your affairs. How might I rectify this?”
Selene pinches the bridge of her nose. “He was our protégé, with a lineage that cannot be recovered.” She then paces.
Dehlia maintains her composure. She asks, “Are all of them dead?”
Sweat beads along my back as I observe their exchange.
“No,” the king says. “Jay, the woman you saw, is a rogue. She is still very much alive.”
Selene and Dehlia sigh with relief. “Well, then there you go, problem solved. We’ll take Jay. Our people and ancestors will be pleased.”
Nausea overwhelms me, and my wolf growls as bile rises inside me. I poke the king fiercely and persistently through the mindlink.
“Excuse us, ladies,” he says to them, then turns to me, snapping. “What do you want?”
I have to be diplomatic about this. The king responds better to logic than emotion.
“Your Majesty, she’s perhaps one of the best fighters we’ve got.
You and I both know the war with the rogues has been taxing, I’ve seen how she interacts with them, she has influence that could be useful. We could have peace.”
“It’s true, I’ve seen it,” Tyler says.
“He makes a good point,” Taya says.
“Being a good fighter isn’t enough reason to send the entire realm into war with the witches,” Sam says.
“Sam’s right.”
A lump hardens in my throat. “Then give them me.”
“What?” they all ask.
“I was there that night.”
“Oooh yeah, give them the mutt,” Sam says, enthused by the idea.
His Majesty shakes his head. “As much as I want to, his death is worth nothing to them.”
“Something’s not adding up. Why wouldn’t they want me? The same girl who alerted their coven saw me with Jay. Surely, in their eyes, a future alpha would be a more enticing offer than a rogue?”
“Because of your plans to pair off with their relative,” the king says.
“But . . . I told her it’s not gonna happen.”
“You what?” The king’s eyes widen.
“You’re an idiot,” Sam says.
Taya nods to Selene and Dehlia. “Do they know?”
“Uh . . . I’m not sure. I’d imagine if Medein knows, she would tell her family.”
His Majesty bites the inside of his cheek, thinking to himself. “Then that’s their hidden agenda. They don’t care about Jay. They care that you do. They want the alliance.”
My entire insides flip, and I can’t help the panicked word vomit that explodes out of me. “I can’t walk down the aisle with Medein.”
The king growls, snapping his jaws at me. “You’ll crawl to her on your hands and knees if I tell you to. A war with the covens will not happen.”
Whimpering, my wolf bares its neck. The king’s alpha command silences me as this outcome slowly crushes me.
“There is another offer we would be willing to consider . . .” Dehlia shouts in a singsong manner. Both she and Selene turn to Taya.
Taya’s looks side to side, then points to herself. “Me?”
Selene smiles. “You have an incredible light.”
Sam shoves Taya behind him and growls low.
“Very well.” Dehlia bows her head to Sam—a respectful gesture—but his glowing eyes and elongated canines show he might not be in a place to receive it. “Do you need more time?”
“Right now, I need the truth.” The king nods to me. “Is it Caleb you want?”
Caught, Dehlia’s lips upturn into a creepy grin, sending shivers down my spine. “We would find an alliance to be rather acceptable.”
“Why?”
Like a demonic doll, Dehlia responds sweetly, “Well that’s none of your business, but if you must know, we want a true, marital alliance with Bloodhound for when—well, if—anything were to happen.”
Her ominous response is a red flag.
The king squints his eyes. “What’s going to happen?”
But Dehlia just stares, smiling. “Tell you what, I’ll give you seventy-two hours to make your decision. At which point, we will choose for you.”
“Your Majesty, this stays between us and those on a need-to-know basis. Regardless, Jay is not one of those people. That is non-negotiable,” Selene says.
“Agreed,” the king says.
With a wave of the witch’s hand, they disappear and everything and everyone else returns just as we left them. Except no one seems to have noticed we were gone. Everything resumes as if time stopped. I slowly spiral into a mess of despair as the pressure closes in on me.
I crack.
I have seventy-two hours to prevent a war and protect Jay without telling anyone—especially Jay.
Jay jogs over to me, out of breath. “Hey, what’d you want to talk to me about?”