Chapter 5 Trish
Trish
“If you’re not nervous and you’re not trying to win any favors, can you at least tell us what the cupcakes are for?” Poor Meg. The not knowing was really killing her alpha wolf tendencies.
“She’s going to die if you don’t tell her,” Alec laughed.
“I am not.” Meg yanked open the door to City Hall. “I just want to know what was so important that she almost burned down our parent’s cabin this morning… again.”
“Fine,” I snapped. They’d done it.
They’d finally broken me.
It only took one morning. If my wolf had control of her eyes, she would’ve rolled them.
I ducked into the receptionist’s office to hide the basket and returned to my sisters, who were still standing in the hall, waiting for the answer.
“It’s Jaxon’s birthday,” I muttered.
“Trish Cerberus.” Meg’s jaw dropped as she planted her hands on her hips, looking so much like our mother that it made me chuckle. “You are excited to see him.”
I shook my head vehemently. It was purely coincidence I remembered today was his birthday. Things had been busy. We hadn’t seen each other in a while.
At least four months, my wolf whined.
But I wasn’t counting.
“I knew it,” Alec smirked. “I’m telling you, you should go to this festival. Convince Jaxon to go too.”
“Now wait a minute.” Meg held up her hands. “Let’s not be too hasty. That summons said—”
“I know what it said,” I growled as I pushed past them, marching down the hall to Alpha Kera’s open office.
“There’s my girls.” Kera looked up from her desk where the stupid summons lay spread out in all its ominous, aged-parchment glory.
Aunt Alpha Kera was a fiery red-head with Dad’s blue-gray eyes. She was still a beauty, despite her age, and could kick some serious ass.
Rumor had it that she’d single-handedly taken on the human city in a siege and saved her Alpha mate, Uncle Jareth, by throwing him over her shoulder and carrying him out of the battle.
I’m sure the story was exaggerated, but Mom and Aunt Coral didn’t deny the rumors. Supposedly, they’d all been there too.
Whether Alpha Kera was a war hero or not, she was still one of the toughest females I’d ever met. And she made it her mission to train the three of us.
One of us more than others.
Alpha Kera rose to hug Alec and me, but I didn’t miss the tension as she nodded at Meg.
Alpha wolves and their posturing. My beast shook her head.
“Did you find out anything more on this Vincent guy?” Alec leaned over Kera’s desk, reading the summons out loud.
I didn’t even need to look. I already had it memorized.
You are cordially invited to a momentous occasion.
A test of power and strength.
Join the best and brightest among you for a trial of magical feats to prove yourself worthy of joining the elite forces united under Vincent Matthis.
More details to come at the kickoff ceremony for this century’s magic festival of witches and warlocks.
“Do you think he’s really building an army of witches?” Meg asked, as if not speaking his name would prevent her from summoning him.
Vincent Matthis was some East Coast warlock, but we’d all heard the rumors, even way out west.
Supposedly, he had more power than any warlock of our generation. I didn’t believe that, but not everyone knew all the things I knew.
Alec snorted. “If he is, then why invite Trish? Unless he’s looking for another atomic bomb.”
“It was one explosion!” I cried, tired of being reminded of my failures. But Alec touched on something. The same question that had been niggling me since the summons arrived.
Why me?
I wasn’t the best or brightest… Not anymore.
Did this powerful warlock know something that I didn’t?
“Respect your family, sigma,” Alpha Kera growled. It was scary enough to make me jump, but my sisters just lowered their eyes. “The three of you are destined for greatness, don’t tear each other down before you even get the chance to rise.”
Always with the destiny thing…
She means well.
I stepped closer to my sisters, not liking them being scolded by our Alpha on my account. “They’re just teasing and don’t mean any harm.”
“Spoken like a true beta.” My aunt’s voice came from the hallway behind us and I turned, smiling.
Her blond hair was plaited into a long braid and her eyes crinkled with mirth. She didn’t look much like Mom because they had different mothers, but we all had the same honey-brown eyes that came from our human grandfather. My wolf swished her tail from side to side.
“Aunt Coral!” I was already flying across the room to her arms. As Beta for the pack, she understood my wolf better than anyone else and always said I was exactly where I needed to be. Plus, she was a hugger and I liked hugs.
She caught me with an oomph, laughing as her mate Skoll—the grumpy old wolf—stopped us both from crashing into the wall.
“Where have you been?” I asked. She’d missed the last two Sunday family dinners and I hadn’t seen her much before that.
“I had a meeting with an old friend.” Coral smiled at Kera. “Ophelia sends her regards and Jareth said to meet him at the castle this weekend.”
Alpha Kera nodded as if this was old news, but I didn’t miss the slight tinge of pink to her freckled cheeks at the mention of her mate.
Too bad the cute moment was ruined by the knowledge of what a trip to Anubis lands meant.
Swallowing hard, I leaned past my aunt to look down the hall.
“The twins are getting something to eat and then they’ll be here,” Aunt Coral explained.
Awesome. Ahmad and Amir were Ophelia’s twin sons from her abrupt mating with a traveling warlock. It wasn’t uncommon for wolf-shifter births to have two or three pups per litter, but two wolf-witches born at the same time was unheard of.
And they didn’t let anyone forget it.
The two were younger than me by about four years, and when we’d all trained under Gram, they were the runts of the litter. The last I’d seen, they’d finally grown into their shifter bodies.
Now there was no stopping their egos.
The only thing bigger was their fat heads.
Aunt Coral smiled sympathetically before guiding me back to Alpha Kera’s desk.
“If you ask me,” she said, “this whole summons thing is very Harry Potter.”
“Harry, who?” I asked.
“Bless science.” Coral pinched the bridge of her nose. “Didn’t I have you girls read all the classics?”
Alec shrugged. I tried to think of what story she was talking about. We’d read so much that all the books seemed to blend together. Meg would know better than us because she was still the avid reader, but even she gave a blank stare.
“To be fair, my love,” Skoll laughed, which was a terrifying sound coming from the Viking-looking alpha shifter and ex-hunter of Fenrir. “Harry Potter isn’t exactly a classic.”
Aunt Coral blinked. “Okay, maybe not classic classic, but it’s huge for cultural reference from the 21st century. And come on. The summons in the mail. The warlock who should not be named.”
“Isn’t that like every human fantasy book about magic ever written?” Meg asked.
“Plus, his name is right there,” Alec pointed out. “Vincent Matthis.”
“Never mind.” Coral blew out a frustrated breath. If I had any clue what was going on, I’d have come to her aid. But my family was… funny sometimes.
Mom and Aunt Coral had escaped the human city when they were young, once they’d found out Aunt Coral had Lycan DNA. They brought with them little quirks and mannerisms from their time with the humans that never quite faded.
“Anyway, what are we doing with the warlock thing?” Coral motioned to the parchment. “The twins each got one. So did Sarina’s daughter Calla. Aiden said Gentry is on his way. And… Jaxon.” Aunt Coral’s eyes slid to me.
Seriously. This was getting old.
“It’s not really our place to tell the wolf-witches what to do.” Alpha Kera leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “If they choose to go, then we can’t stop them. But I’d prefer them to have a plan that’ll keep everyone safe. It’s what my grandmother would’ve wanted.”
My heart skipped a beat.
I didn’t know if it was because it was the first time Alpha Kera had talked about me like I was capable of making my own decisions, or if it was that she never brought up Gram—our great grandmother—or anything sentimental about the past.
But this was a turning point and I—
“Except for Trish,” Alpha Kera continued. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to travel there alone.”
Ouch. My wolf winced.
I kept smiling, even as I sank into myself. Alpha Kera was right, of course. It was dangerous. I couldn’t even control my own magic. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.
They kept talking about the witches and warlocks like I wasn’t a part of them. I guess that made sense. I scooted closer to the window, which was a horrible idea because it gave me the perfect view of him.
Alpha Jaxon Cadejo in all his masculine glory. My childhood best friend. The phrase “tall, dark, and handsome” had nothing on him.
He was beyond handsome.
Every part of him screamed Alpha-male, from his broad shoulders to thickened thighs and massive…
appendage I’d had the guilty pleasure of stealing glances of once or twice before.
Jaxon’s skin was bronzed and hands were roughed from years of working in the dirt.
His hair was black as night and he wore it long.
I knew it was soft, because we’d wrestled many times and I’d always loved being able to sneak touches of it, and I knew his hard face could soften too.
When he laughed, it lit up his dark eyes.
And his smile was brighter than the moon.
Jaxon was perfect.
So was Calla, the beautiful wolf-witch who walked alongside him. It wasn’t the first time I’d thought the two of them would be gorgeous together.
She’s a bitch. My wolf growled.
No, she’s not. I sighed.
Calla and I had been once friends too, but that was a lifetime ago. Like the rest of them, when Gram died and my magic broke, she stopped coming around. Not that I blamed her.