Chapter 12 - Poppy
The look in Damian’s eyes is frightening, raw anguish mixed with anger.
He’s just put the pieces of the puzzle together, discovering, in the blink of an eye, that I have a child, and it’s his child, too.
My heart palpitates with fear as I take note of every detail: his clenched fists, tightened jaw, and eyes dark and narrowed as he glares at me. The vein on the side of his neck pulses so violently that it looks like he’s about to burst it. Blow a fuse.
I gulp hard, the question knocking around in my skull like a marble in a bucket. Is he mine?
What’s the point of my response when Ingrid just described Daniel as if she were describing the Valley Walker alpha’s younger self? And I just revealed that my son is ten—the right age if I conceived him when Damian and I were seeing each other.
But when a growl rumbles in his chest, fear trickles down my spine like hot, molten lava, and settles in the pit of my tummy. There’s nothing left to do but hang my head, as a tiny, tentative “yes” leaves my lips.
I feel Damian’s rage long before I see it, the red-hot anger radiating off him and throbbing in the air around us. I look up and meet the fury in his dark eyes as he glares at me, his breathing uncontrolled as his chest heaves rapidly.
My body is still trembling after visiting the school this morning, following through with my scheme to run away with Daniel. I met Ingrid at her house, and she promised to show me a way out that would avoid the border patrol for long enough that we could get away without being discovered.
Ingrid and I went to the school, only for the teacher to tell us that Daniel didn’t come to class.
We were spurred into a search then, dread and panic already slipping into my bones when we discovered the wilted garden outside the school building. Amid the dead grass was Daniel’s bag, and I knew my son had been taken.
Ingrid stopped me from going after him, reminding me that there was something out there that had been haunting the woods, leaving behind corruption in its wake.
What we found around Daniel’s bag and leading into the forest was evidence of the same threat, and it would have been dangerous to go after him alone.
The moment Connor arrived and Ingrid explained the situation to him, I couldn’t take it any longer.
That’s when I rushed to the alpha’s house, knocking on his door for the first time since joining the Nightclaw Pack, desperately needing help finding my son.
I wasn’t counting on his brother being there already, to hear what had happened and to find out about Daniel like this.
Quite frankly, I can’t care about him at all when my son is out there, snatched by whatever has been haunting Nightclaw.
Alpha Dorian steps in front of his brother like a shield, his brows furrowed just as Connor arrives.
“You know what’s going on, Beta?”
Connor nods, exchanging a worried glance with me before turning back to the alpha and explaining that their scouts have swept the area and it’s true.
Daniel has been taken by whatever has been leaving trails of destruction on the north border.
“Come,” Dorian says with a nod at me, then Ingrid, a grave expression on his face. “We need to figure out how we will get the child back.”
My heart plummets, my eyes widening with horror. “Alpha? Can’t you send out a search for him? They probably haven’t gotten far yet. It’s been less than an hour.”
Dorian grunts as he turns back to me from the top of the porch, his voice lower when he says, “Please, Poppy, you need to come inside. We can’t speak about this out here.
” He turns to Connor then. “Get Flynn on the line, and tell him what happened here. He needs to bring his friends to Fort Smit immediately.”
“Got it, Alpha.” Connor nods and places his hands on Ingrid’s shoulders. “Stay with Poppy, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Ingrid nods and slips her arm through mine, leading me up the stairs into Dorian’s house as we follow him. I brush past Damian, feeling how rigid he’s become, staring off into the distance as he keeps his fists clenched at his sides.
Only a flicker of remorse passes through the distress I feel, the sheer panic of losing my son turning me numb as we enter the alpha’s house. I don’t have the energy to spare to worry about how he’s feeling about all of this.
The most important thing right now is getting my son back.
And every bone in my body wants to morph into wolf form and rush into those woods to find him. To bring him back to me. But it’s Ingrid’s grip on my arm that keeps me grounded as we enter the living room, where the very pregnant Luna Amelia is holding their daughter in her arms.
The first thing Dorian does is walk up to her, pressing a kiss to his child’s forehead before following with a kiss on Amelia’s cheek.
Dorian is a father himself, and that’s why his eyes are weary and troubled when he looks at me.
“I know how badly you want to go out there and find Daniel, but it’s dangerous, Poppy.”
The twinkle in his eyes tells me that he has many unanswered questions about everything he just found out, but he doesn’t push for answers. He knows that now is not the time.
I take a deep breath, lifting my chin for the first time this morning.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Alpha Dorian, but it seems that the real danger is right here, in Nightclaw territory. And we are wasting time—”
“We are not wasting time,” he cuts in, nostrils flaring. “We are dealing with something far worse than the rogues I was rescued from.”
My heart sinks. “Wh-what?”
Dorian purses his lips as he glances at Amelia. “Witches.”
I gasp, turning to Ingrid with wide eyes as more panic floods me. “Witches?!” I exclaim, and that’s when Damian comes back into the room, followed by Connor.
This time, he’s the one who can’t look at me.
“Flynn’s on his way here with the coven.”
I frown hard at Damian. “Coven? Wait, what’s going on?”
Alpha Dorian sighs before he goes on to explain what’s been tormenting the vegetation and small animals on the north border, and how Alpha Simon had taken samples to be tested.
Alpha Flynn is calling on a coven he knows for help. And until the coven arrives, it isn’t safe for anyone to go out there. Not without a plan. Not without knowing what we’re facing.
“What about Daniel?” I ask furiously. “If witches got to him, then what guarantee do we have that they won’t hurt him?”
“Flynn is on his way here, Poppy,” Connor says. “We just have to have patience.”
“Patience?!” I gasp in exasperation. “You can’t possibly expect me to have patience when my son is gone!”
Without a warning, Damian walks over to me, grabs my wrist, and pulls me out of the living room. He stops in the hallway, chest still heaving frantically like before, hands wound into tight fists as he releases my wrist.
“Get ahold of yourself, Poppy. We’re going to find him.”
“Get ahold of myself?” I scoff, throwing my arms up. “My son is out there, and—”
“Your son?!” he exclaims with an equally dry scoff. “He’s my son, too, and every bone in my body wants me to shift and go out there and find him. But if we get killed out there, what chance does he have?”
“You don’t need to act as if you care, Damian,” I spit venomously.
“I’m not acting, Poppy. When the fuck were you going to tell me that I have a son?”
The rage shimmering in his eyes sends a frisson of fear skittering through my spine, but I stand my ground.
“I wasn’t going to tell you at all.”
“Oh!” Damian scoffs and rolls his eyes. “As if that makes this any better, Poppy Barnes!” he snarls, baring his teeth with a flash of pearly-white fury. “What the fuck were you thinking, huh? Did it never cross your mind that maybe I would have liked to know that I am a father?!”
My body shakes with equal rage as I glare at him now. “A father?!” I bite back coldly. “You really think you deserved to know I was carrying your child when you’re the very reason I left Valley Walker in the first place?!”
At this point, I’m certain that everyone in the next room can hear us, but I don’t care. Damian deserves to be hit hard with the truth, just like his hesitation in the past hurt me.
“I found you again, and I claimed you as my mate in a heartbeat!” he argues. “You had every opportunity to tell me about him, but you didn’t!”
“Of course, I didn’t!” I chuckle sarcastically. “Did you really think I’d trust you after you broke my heart? Did you really think I’d let you anywhere near my son?!”
“He’s my son, too, Poppy!” Damian bites back bitterly. “And I never rejected you in the past. I was going to—”
“Your hesitation that night was as good as rejection, Damian Walker. Did you ever stop to think how I felt? You’d been distant for weeks before that, except when it came to fucking me.
That’s the only time I came close to feeling your love.
But it was never love, was it? And now you’re on some ego trip, and that’s why you claimed me at all.
You thought I was here, in Nightclaw, because of your brother.
And the only way you could get back at him was by forcing me to mate you! ”
Damian flinches, his eyes widening with sadness like a wounded puppy. “So, that’s what you think of me…?”
“I don’t know what to think of you anymore, Damian. And I don’t care anymore,” I huff frustratedly. “All I know is that my son is out there somewhere, and I need to find him before they hurt him.”
Damian gulps hard, his voice lower now when he asks, “When did you know you were pregnant, Poppy?”
I frown at him. “Why does that matter?”
“Because it changes everything,” he argues quietly, and I sigh heavily.
“I knew the day you became alpha. I took a test, and it was positive.”
Every word I say seems like a blow as he reels back, and I continue throwing punches because I’m not interested in sparing his feelings.
Those days are long gone, especially in the midst of my son’s disappearance.
“That night on the cliff, I was going to tell you I was pregnant,” I grate viciously, stabbing a finger at his chest. “But you made all those excuses when I asked if you would claim me in front of the pack. And I knew I was wasting my time.”
Damian looks down at my finger poking his chest, then lifts sullen eyes at me. “I was going to ask you to give me time.”
I shake my head, too enraged to care about his justifications now. “You were making excuses, and I knew exactly why. Your father was still alive, and you didn’t want to be a disappointment by mating with an omega.”
Damian opens his mouth to say something, but I take a step forward and glare at him harder.
“Now, my son is gone, and all you care about is acting like the victim in all of this. But you know what? I’ll let you wallow in your victimhood all you want, and I will find Daniel. With or without your help.”
The last nail is hammered into the coffin, and with that, I turn and march back into the living room just as Connor goes to answer the door when the bell chimes.
The awkward silence stretches out until Dorian looks at me and says, “We’re putting together a search party. We’re going to need something to track Daniel’s scent.”
He must have changed his mind after hearing all of that, so I nod as I turn to Ingrid.
Something about letting all of that out of my system has shifted the tone of my voice, making it more level, more authoritative as I tell her, “In one of my bags…the leather one. There’s a baby blanket inside. It’s Daniel’s. Will that work?”
“The bags you were packing…” Damian begins dryly beside me, and I realize he’s returned to the living room. “You weren’t packing them to come back to Cedar Valley with me.”
“No,” I concede flatly. “I was going to take Daniel with me, and leave.”
Damian gulps just as Alpha Flynn comes back with Connor, followed by a group of five women.
Flynn looks at me with sympathy in his eyes, and it’s probably because he’s been made aware of everything that’s happened.
“This is Sister Aoife,” he announces as the oldest woman from the group steps forward gracefully, her raven-black hair billowing out behind her, the long sleeves of her cream-white robe following her like a gentle wave as she nods curtly.
She looks up at Alpha Dorian, saying, “I am Sister Aoife Callaghan, leader of the Golden Raven Coven. We are the nomadic witches Alpha Flynn told you about.”
She turns to me then, and I notice the thin patch of golden highlights running down along one side of her face, and I meet her golden eyes that swim with ancient knowledge and a hint of sympathy for my plight.
“Poppy Barnes…” she says my name with the kind of grace that belongs on the tongue of royalty. “I have heard about what happened here today, and I am truly sorry. We have checked the ground where he was last seen before we came here. Whatever took him…left the signature of forbidden magic.”
“Forbidden magic…?” I repeat, my heart sinking.
Beside me, Damian steps forward, determination hot in his eyes, his fists curled. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, it is quite straightforward, Alpha Damian,” she begins, her voice heavy. “We seem to be dealing with evil witchcraft. Twisted, corrupted magic.”
“I thought all magic was the same…” Dorian speculates from the side, and Sister Aoife shakes her head slowly.
“Allow me to explain what you are dealing with, Alpha. This is not ordinary magic. Not the kind my sisters and I practice. Just like you are werewolves, and rogue wolves are the adversaries of what you are, black magic wielders are the antithesis of what we are, and what we believe in.”
“How is this possible… I thought all witches were wicked,” Damian murmurs, and Aoife chuckles.
“No, Alpha Damian, there are distinct differences between white magic practitioners and those who use black magic. We create, and dark witches destroy. Unfortunately, the residue found on this pack’s territory belongs to black magic.
” Aoife meets my eyes again. “Your son has been taken by dark witches, and you cannot simply go chasing after him. It is more complicated than we can understand at this time.”
My ears pound with the information, but my inner wolf is furious, and I raise my chin in defiance.
“Watch me.” I blow out a huff and spin on my heel before leaving the room, heading for the front door.
If no one wants to help me find my son, I will find him myself, black magic or not. I’m not letting more time pass while he’s out there alone, frightened, amongst dark witches who probably don’t have a flicker of conscience that will keep him safe.
I will find him. I will do it myself, even if it is the last thing I do.