Chapter 1 - Rissa #2
Is this why I’ve been feeling particularly restless these past few days, like impending doom awaits me as I turn the corner? A trembling hand reaches out to give a timid, hesitant knock on the wooden door that wouldn’t be audible to ordinary human ears.
But the elder werewolves inside the pack den hear the knock, and a crackly, deep voice responds.
“Come on in, Omega Rissa Rudolph.”
The commanding tone has me quickly gathering my wits with a deep breath and straightening out to open the door and enter the pack den. As soon as I step inside, the breath I just took is knocked right out of my gut by the wary pairs of eyes that bore into my soul as they stare at my face.
Every elder from every sect that makes up the Snehvolk Pack is in the den, seated at the log benches that form a rectangle around the unlit fire pit in the center of the room.
I’ve only ever heard from Aurora and Yvonne about the sacred, private rituals that take place in the pack den between the alphas and elders of the Snehvolk Council, but I’ve never experienced it myself.
As an omega, it’s hardly my place to even be here amongst the higher-ups.
Unless I’m in trouble. Unless my head is on the chopping block, and I’m about to be led to my demise.
But Aurora would have told me. She would have warned me. She would have given me a heads-up and even helped me escape such a terrible fate.
She’s the closest thing I have to a sister, and she’s the first true friend I’ve made since my fall from grace, thanks to Alpha Brooks.
As the council elders continue to stare at me, brows raised in expectation, one of them signals me to the bench across from him.
My eyes fall to the empty seat beside a figure whose hair isn’t graying like the cloaked figures in the room.
A mop of thick, pin-straight hair sits atop a head that’s perched on broad shoulders, the hair at the nape growing out and brushing the collar of a black shirt that covers the arms.
Who is that? I think with every step I take, alternating between the thought that I probably should have pestered Aurora with more questions as to why I’d been called here, and wondering who’s seated before the elders.
Has someone accused me of something? Is this a trial of some sort?
Surely Aurora would have warned me about this.
I do as I’m instructed by the elder, who points to the empty side of the bench, keeping my head lowered respectfully until I’m close enough to the polished wood edge to round it.
I only lift my head up, be careful stepping around the corner, but a small flicker of curiosity makes me lift my eyes to the man seated on the far end of the bench.
Brooks Howell…?
My breath catches in my throat as I gasp, seeing his immaculate side profile, the restriction of airflow in my lungs bringing me so close to the verge of passing out that it weakens my knees enough to force me to sit beside him.
Quickly turning my horror-stricken eyes away, I tear my attention to the elders, gathered in front of us as if this were an interrogation.
Is this the final blow in Brooks’s endless quest to belittle me?
I’d been steering clear of the sub-Alpha of Snehvolk.
Since Blackmaw ceased to exist decades before we were born, the main rule of the pack falls to Alpha Elias.
That hadn’t stopped Alpha Brooks from turning on me back when we were growing up, and when he became Alpha Elias’s subordinate alpha almost ten years ago, the damage he’d done by bullying me in school continued into my adulthood.
There was no escaping being the resident outcast, especially among descendants of the old Blackmaw Pack. I was never able to fit in, even as one of the Snehvolk Pack’s healers, working with herbs and having an office at the pack clinic.
Why now, after all these years?
Does his cruelty know no bounds? Is Alpha Brooks bored now, wanting to stir up trouble all over again, as if he didn’t cause enough for me?
“Alpha Brooks.” Elder Silas, Alpha Elias’s grandfather, nods at the man whom I’m deliberately ignoring, not even flicking my eyes to the side when his name is called.
“Omega Rissa.” Elder Silas nods at me this time, prompting me to sit ramrod-straight when I lift my head.
“We’ve called you both in today to make a very important announcement,” Silas continues as he glances between the two of us.
The motion makes it impossible to ignore Brooks’s immense, bold presence beside me, his natural body heat upping the temperature to my right as I feel it prickling the fine hairs along my forearm.
The Elder on Silas’s left clears his throat and continues the speech as if they’re taking turns. This must be important, even if it’s strange, if the Elders of the council are taking this so seriously.
“With the threat of the demons hanging over Snehvolk and most of the packs in surrounding areas, we are utilizing every ounce of information we can to not only strengthen the safety of this pack but also ensure that every measure is followed to defeat them for good.”
I frown when Elder Caius is done speaking. He’s said a lot, but it’s like he’s said nothing at all.
What does this have to do with me? Or with Alpha Brooks?
I involuntarily glance to my right in the dense silence that follows before Elder Silas picks up where Caius left off. I notice how tense Alpha Brooks is, his dark brows set in a frown that shields his eyes as if he, too, has no idea why he’s here.
Turning my head slowly toward the elder, I weigh his words with careful consideration, because this no longer feels like an interrogation of me with his narrowed eyes on Alpha Brooks.
“Two months ago, after the demons were lured onto our territory for a planned attack, Luna Yvonne had a psychic vision that prophesied that there would be more demons that would come to test our pack in the future. But it also revealed the coming of four witches that will defeat the demonic creatures for good. As you already know, we have two witches in our pack, both of whom have been mated to alphas.”
Elder Silas pauses to take a breath, keeping his eyes on Brooks.
“We believe that the emergence of the witches’ powers was brought on by mating with their alphas. Which is why we’ve called you both here.”
Elder Caius adds, “Luna Yvonne revealed that the two of you are connected to the prophecy.” He turns to me, and a shiver runs down my spine with the intensity of his sapphire gaze fixed on me.
“She saw both of you in her vision. We have reason to believe that you are a witch, Miss Rudolph, but you may not be aware of it yet. Which is why the two of you will have to mate to bring upon your magic powers.”
The heat and color on my face drain, screaming mentally on its way out, and leaving me numb and cold as I sit there staring at Elder Caius.
I was wrong. Aurora’s surprise visit wasn’t a lifebuoy; it was a noose.
Me? Mate with Alpha Brooks?
How is this even possible?
Over my dead body!