Alpha's Mate

Chapter 48: Raleigh

"You need to calm down," Gemma whispered, and the Alpha shot her a dark look.

"You calm down," he snapped.

She lifted a brow, "Your impatience and anxiety is amplifying everyone's emotions. Keep it up and you're going to force a shift."

He growled but didn't say anything. She was right, as much as he hated to admit it.

"How much longer is this going to take?" His eyes snapped over to Imogen.

The witch gave him an icy stare, "I told you we may not get an immediate response. We know he's within the shield, and he has the weapon I gave him. Valentina is too high and mighty to believe anyone would try to cross her. Besides, Jagger has always been her weak spot. As much as despises him, she won't cause too much bodily harm."

"Why should we believe anything she says? She's the very witch who blocked us off from Leanna in the first place," Wilhelm snarled, glaring at the witch.

Imogen sighed, rubbing her temples, "You wolves are exhausting with your unnecessary amount of anger. I told you, I was driven by money. A witch needs to make a living and they paid a hefty price for a potion. At the time, it didn't occur to me who she was. It wasn't until I had a vision of her that I realized my mistake. It's why I sought her out to help her. I am going to destroy another witch for her. If that doesn't show even an inch of my loyalty, I don't know what does."

It took several hours of convincing before Phoenix even considered her plan and even then, he was wary. But he had no other plan so, despite how reckless and dangerous it seemed, it was his only option.

Jagger was insistent that it was foolproof and so far, it had panned out that way. But after Imogen had sent him through the portal, the connection had gone hazy. The last piece of information that had come through was that Leanna had taken potion. Jagger hadn't lied; it did silence them but not for as long he'd said.

It only worked for a few minutes, just long enough to get them out of the house. They were always meant to be caught.

"If my daughter doesn't come back in one piece, I will take this knife, and shove it down your throat," Wilhelm bared an iron blade, seven inches long, and two inches wide.

Imogen closed her eyes, channeling every inch of patience in her body.

"I still don't see why we can't just storm the pack. We have more than enough people now and we have a witch of our own," Kai muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"The more time I spend with you wolves, the more brain cells I lose," Imogen rubbed her temples. "As I said earlier, Valentina has a shield around the pack. Which means, if you try to cross it, it will burn you alive. If you would like to do that instead, be my guest. If you prefer not to be cooked well-done, I suggest you wait until the shield comes down."

Phoenix stood up, drawing all eyes. He mustered as much strength as he could, putting up a wall to hide his emotions. "I hate this as much as you all do. But at the end of the way, we can't do anything until we have the clear. I will not risk anymore lives and we all know our Luna would be devastated if anyone died when it could've been prevented. So for now, all of you go home and rest up. Make sure your supplies are stocked. We need to be ready to go at a moment's notice."

The wolves climbed to their feet with great reluctance, bidding their Alpha goodnight before trudging home.

Collapsing back into his seat, Phoenix rubbed his face tiredly.

"You should get some sleep," he waved his hand at Gemma's suggestion and she sighed. "You can't tell them to be ready at a moment's notice and then do the opposite. It something happens in the next few hours, you'll be dead on your feet."