"Seriously! You almost hit me with a fireball, Alison!" Riley scolded once he regained his footing.
"Yeah, you're supposed to dodge it, genius."
"You are insane! I miss the old Alison that actually took things seriously, she was much easier to reason with."
"That sounds like a personal problem. A demon won't go easy on you. They'll kill you the second they see you. Maybe you should stay here."
"I am not staying here."
"You won't make it five minutes," I replied coldly, throwing an energy ball. He dodged it, but as a result, fell out of the tree.
"I am going. That is my responsibility to this pack!"
"No, your responsibility is to do what's best for them. You have no use dead. You're staying and that's final," I explained with the last word booming through the forest. He let out a frustrated growl but that did nothing for him.
I met eyes with a concerned Dominic across the field who gave me an agreeing nod. Riley is Dominic's right hand, making him invaluable to the pack, especially with the Luna situation. Being a Zeta should make him one of the strongest men here, but he seems to weaken by the day. Even at his best, I wouldn't suggest he come, but for some reason, his strength seems to be the same as an average wolf. We've been at this for two weeks, not only is he losing strength, but his energy's also declining.
"Ali! When is it my turn?" Nakya complained. "These kids you keep pairing me with are embarrassing." I walked over to observe the three Omegas laying on the ground.
An amused smirk played on my lips as they caught their breath. "She really didn't like you."
"S-she? You mean. . . you mean it!" One of them complained through breaths. Nakya's been standing in Dimitry's place at night or attempting to. Obviously, I can't go full force on her, but she's getting amazing practice.
"That thing is a cold killer."
"Then I guess her spot on the hunt is secured."
"I am not an it or a thing! I am a woman. Maybe if you would be a little more respectful at the breakfast table I would play nicer!" she hissed with annoyance before turning to me. "When is it my turn to train with you?"
"You can train with me now or you can get your special one-on-one tonight. You don't get both."
"But how about we train now and then do something different tonight. . .?" A big smile came to her lips before she locked arms with me and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Whatever you're trying to convince me of the answer is no."
"It's been two weeks, I'm bored. We have looked at the same boring faces every day with no breaks. Let's go out. Maybe we can get new clothes. Imagine how much better you'll feel with a new wardrobe and haircut. You're a different person now, you should reflect that."
A haircut? I've never gotten a haircut. Female wolves just do trims, but I could break the pattern. Besides, I'm tired of washing blood out of my ends. "I would look hot in a lob," I reasoned.
"Exactly what I was thinking."
"Are you two like a couple or something?" One of the Omegas teased once they regained life.
"If you kick their asses again we'll leave at four."
"Say less." Nakya let go and went straight to work. I didn't hide my smile as I watched their smirks drop and their features fill with fear. The fight wouldn't take long since they were already tired so I took the time to watch. You're never safe. Anywhere. I know this better than anyone, but for some reason, I let myself ignore Dimitry's golden rule. Always pay attention to your surroundings.
A large figure ran into me at full speed, sending me into a tree a few yards away. My back hit before I dropped to the ground. I stood as my body popped back into place, expecting something exciting to fight. I rolled my eyes with disappointment when I saw Riley's wolf glaring at me. He's such a tease. Here I was looking forward to a fight but it's just him.
"I assume you want payback for what you did to yourself?" Leave it to Riley to hold a grudge.
He held his head low to the ground in defiance as a growl rumbled through his chest. "I. AM. GOING!" I heard through our new link. Oh, we're still arguing over that?
"No."
He charged for me again with anger and determination blazing in his eyes. I don't know what this dude has going on, but I wish the warriors were this eager to fight. However, his death wish isn't earning him any points. I let out a sigh before my clothes ripped off my skin and my front paws fell to the ground. My eyes moved from my black fur-covered legs to a pair of desperate glowing emeralds. They widened as he momentarily slowed down but then determination seeped back in.
When he was within a few feet I blinked, or shimmered, out of the way. Why am I shimmering? That's a demon power. . . I am not a demon. He slid to a stop and looked around as I shimmered beside him and ran into his side, throwing him to the other side of the training grounds. His wolf let out a whimper when he landed on his back before shifting. I shimmered over him and let out a growl as my eyes glared down into his. I leaned down and opened my mouth around his neck while he laid there and accepted his fate. "Do you see how easy that was?" I questioned through the mind link. "You aren't going."
I shifted above him and was now sitting on his stomach. At least his brain still functioned enough to keep his eyes on mine as I leaned back. "I am the perfect person to go," he breathed out with the last bit of strength he had left.
"Oh really? Why is that? Because you're angry?"
"I have no mate, no heirs. If I die my brother will take my place. Not many others have that freedom."
"That mindset is exactly your problem."
"Alison!" Nakya screamed through the forest before storming over to us. "We do not let boys see our girls like that! They don't know how to handle our masterpieces. Ugh, now everyone's looking." She wrapped her jacket over me and pulled me off of him. She's more protective of me than anyone I've ever met. It's weird, but also entertaining to watch.
Dominic walked over and shielded his eyes until I was fully covered. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with the horny alpha since he laid eyes on his mate. "What are all of you looking at? Show some respect and return to training!" he ordered, making all of their heads snap in the opposite direction. Thank the gods I was sitting a few inches upwards. . . then they'd really have a show.
"Nakya, I'm not hurt, let me go." She was fixing my hair and looking over my face until I shook her off.
"Don't let them get used to playing rough with you. You remember how Jaylon used to drag you around by your wrist." Funny, I haven't heard or even thought of that name since I got here. Actually, since I left. The only time it came to mind was when I was comparing the rooms, not anything specific toward him.
"Trust me, they aren't getting used to anything. Wait, how did you know that? Jaylon hasn't done that since before I met you."
"He used to what?" Dominic snapped.
"It's not that serious, it's not like he hurt me."
"Noah and Chaos always watched over you, it irritated Noah heavily."
"And you didn't reject him sooner? It doesn't matter if it hurts you or not. A man doesn't drag a woman, especially his mate, like a doll."
"He was kinda- strung out. If you remember, I did reject him. I even attempted to before, but I was stopped."
"Strung out? Are you kidding me? And your parents were confused about why you left? Suddenly I feel much better with you staying here."
"Anyways, Dominic, you need to deal with your little Eeyore here. I need to get dressed and see Inita."
Nakya looked over my face with concern as Dimitry gave me an approving nod. "Take her with you before my female Omegas go into a possessive rage."
"I mean she could kick their asses too."
"Ali. . ."
"You're no fun," I complained, spinning on my heels to the packhouse. I sped off ahead of Nakya while she complained behind me. I didn't know that it was against the rules for friends to outrun each other.
Inita doesn't like Nakya because she creeps her out. Because of this, I have to listen to Nakya's begging and complaining the entire walk to Inita's house until I lock her outside. It's an everyday struggle.
"You're early today," Inita commented from the kitchen before coming into view.
"There seems to be an issue with my blinking."
"Such as?"
"I'm not blinking. . . I'm shimmering. Am I turning into a demon? Ever since I let the dark in I've been changing and my powers have been growing at an insane rate." I literally lit on fire the other day. Like myself. I lit myself on fire. It didn't hurt but one minute I'm watching a movie with Nakya and the next I'm surrounded by flames.
"No, of course not. Your powers are just developing."
"But my grandmother didn't have these problems?"
"Your grandmother was just a witch. She was a temporary white witch. You are the white witch, the tribrid. Your powers will be far more diverse than hers. She was the light of this realm, but you're meant to be more than that. You are the balance. You will be both the light and the dark."
"So like good and evil?"
"Darkness doesn't have to be evil, but what you do with it can be." She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and gave me an encouraging smile.
"Father Blackwell said he fears the day I give into the darkness. He's a seer. . ."
"Don't listen to a word from the wolves regarding your powers, especially anyone from your pack, seer or not. You'd expect them to be grateful, but they're quite the opposite. You have never been evil, Lovey, not even now. If you were, you wouldn't have rushed over to me." Lovey. I have a lot of names but that's probably my favorite. Inita doesn't have kids, so she's always treated us as her own. We each got our own names, though I was the only one that kept the one she gave me. The other brats insisted that their names weren't manly enough, especially Dominic and Riley. They went from Wolfie and Teddy to Muscles and Spike. That was what their eight-year-old minds considered manly. Actually, Riley wanted to be called Sharky after that Taylor Lautner movie but we bullied him out of it. You know, maybe it's Dominic and I's fault for Riley's issues.
A small feeling of warmth flowed through me momentarily as I flipped through memories of my childhood. All of my memories here were positive and the ones with Inita were probably my favorite. She was like the cool older sister you looked up to that also shared a mothering role. Truthfully, I wanted to be her and I still do, though now it's for a different reason. She built herself into one of the most powerful witches on this continent with the help of no one. I admire that independence.
"Does your line of witches have eternal life? I swear you haven't aged a day," I randomly commented in realization. She doesn't look older than twenty. Nakya says that some families that are heavily intertwined with demons hold eternal powers.
"No, I'm afraid we do not."
"Then how-"
"That is a story for another day. Come with me upstairs, we'll start your training early today." Her face was blank but a tear dropped from her eye as she took a sip of her tea and stared straight ahead. Well then. I guess her aging is off-limits.
It's understandable, but Dominic's mate isn't in any better shape than when she got here, at least not internally. I've managed to get her to shower and get out of bed, but she doesn't do anything else. She spends her days staring out of the windows and hiding every time someone walks past her door. When I bring her food, she only eats the bread for some reason and nothing else.
Before I sent her clothes to the trash (I strongly doubt she'd want to keep them), I performed a little experiment that only Dominic and Nakya knew about, mostly because it was disgusting. I figured she wouldn't be much of a talker at first, so I tested the DNA on her clothes. . . yes that DNA. Dominic wanted to know if it was more than one person and I wanted to know if Draven was more than a vampire. The results were surprising. It only belonged to one person and this person was a full-blooded demon, knocking Draven fully out of the picture. Using their DNA, I could test multiple different ways to kill them, but I wouldn't know exactly who I was killing until she started talking.
This morning, I purposely left her door open so she knew she had the option to leave her room. I didn't want to make her feel like a prisoner in her home, I knew that feeling far too well. But when Nakya and I came upstairs earlier for me to dress, I saw she closed it. Being alone is the closest she feels to safe and for some reason, Dominic thinks I can reverse that.
I walked in and laid her lunch on the table before waiting patiently for her to pop out of her hiding spot. At first, she hid from me, but now she'll come out, only if it's me. She doesn't have her wolf so she can't sense who it is before I come in. I didn't bother offering her a smile when her head popped out of the closet. We've both encountered demons. We've seen their smiles. Something tells me that wearing a warm smile on my lips with empty eyes will send her running. It would've sent me a few weeks ago.
I stepped away to make her bed so she had space and watched as she went straight for the food. "Is there something wrong with the soup? I can make you something else if you don't like it." She shook her head slowly and I let out a sigh. "Then a different type of food? I can cook almost anything, with the help of google at least."
"No thank you." Ahh, I see we've progressed to her telling me no with words. Even without her wolf, my girl's doing an amazing job of shielding her thoughts. I watched as she eyed the soup but mentally talked herself out of it. She doesn't trust it, that's the problem.
"How about you watch me make something? Or you can help me, whichever is best for you." Before she could disagree, I continued. "There is no place safer in the world than where you are now, but I will ensure no one bothers you."
"I don't trust you."
"Of course not, you have no reason to. However, you might one day. You'll never know if you don't come with me." I waited a moment for an answer until she gave me a small nod. "Just don't stay too far from me."
She wasn't planning on doing that anyways. She stayed right behind me, snapping her head in the direction of any noise she heard on the way. I thought we were good considering everyone was either at school or outside training, but we bumped into a puppy on the way. Yes, a puppy. He has turned into a puppy.
She let out a gasp and hid behind me as my eyes landed on Dominic. His eyes lit up as they looked over my shoulder but I ruined the moment. "Shouldn't you be outside?"
"I- I um, I-" he froze and his face reddened in embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah I'm going outside." Like I said, a puppy.
"We will be making her lunch in the southeast wing kitchen and eating in the Angel Claw garden, no one is to bother us. Luna's orders."
"Anything for my Luna," he replied in a daze before I cleared my throat and sent him off.
"Please excuse your pet puppy, he's quite bewitched by you."
"Who is that?"
"Your mate, the alpha of this pack. His name is Dominic."
"I'm a Luna?"
"Yes. I'm taking over for you until you're ready. I'm not allowed to leave until you do, so please, take as long as you need. In the meantime, which one do you like?" I opened my hand to reveal three glowing bracelets that each caught her eye. She picked the one in the middle before giving me a suspicious look. "These aren't spelled, hold it, you'll feel the weight if it is. If you don't believe me, we can pour Witch's Orchid powder over them." Witch's Orchid makes anything holding magic glow a bright red.
"What is this for?"
"Right here is an herb chamber. I'm going to fill it with Night Ambrosia so that I, or anyone else, won't be able to compel you. It repels vampires." Okay. . . I don't know how true this is for me because I've never attempted to compel someone on it, but I don't plan on doing it and it will give her peace of mind. Nakya on the other hand is jealous and impatient. With her past associations, I wouldn't put it past her. A smile crept on her lips as she put it on and a small feeling of relief fell over me. After two very quiet weeks, she's beginning to trust me.
She didn't know much about food obviously due to her lack of it, so I found a cookbook to let her scroll through until something looked intriguing. She had no idea what she picked out but was excited about it and that's all that matters. I didn't get too many words from her because she was intrigued by the process and I was intrigued by watching her shell slowly fade.
I've noticed her fascination with butterflies and thought the Angel Claw garden would be the perfect place for lunch. Angel claws are healing flowers that glow. Anything that consumes them will momentarily share their light, making the surrounding butterflies quite enchanting to look at.
She was completely taken aback when she saw the garden and stood in disbelief for a moment. I looked up at Dominic who now stood on his balcony stalking us. I guess he's not hurting anyone, as long as she doesn't look up.
"What is your name?"
"Charlotte."
"Can I call you Charli?"
"Charli? I've never had a nickname before."
"You can say no-"
"I like it." She sat across from me and smiled at the butterfly that rested on her hand. "My mother used to have a butterfly garden," she breathed while her eyes scanned over it in detail.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to her?"
She readjusted uncomfortably and kept her gaze on the weightless insect. "My family was slaughtered with my pack. My sister and I were taken as hostages since we were heiresses for experimenting." I knew she was a born Luna, I could feel her power, even with it being hidden away. I glanced up at Dominic, warning him through the link not to think about it. If he jumps down here to comfort her, the past two hours would be a waste.
"I am not asking her that," I argued.
"Oh yes you are."
"I just got her to talk. That's pushing it."
"Please." Fine, just to make him get out of my head.
"What kind of experimenting. . . ?"
"They wanted to find a way to mate with wolves to make their own tribrids. However, no matter how many times they tried, it didn't work. My sister didn't last long through the experiments."
"How old were you?"
"They took me the day after my eighth birthday but didn't start the experiments until I was old enough to shift. My sister was nineteen and mated during our capture. I think her mate's death was part of the reason she didn't make it."
"Did anyone ever say why they invaded your pack?"
"It was simply because they could. Demons don't need a reason to torture others. Someone inside gave them a way in with the bargain of their child's life. I don't know if they kept their promise because no one but my sister and I was taken. If they were spared, they were left for dead."
"Was it Draven that took you?"
"No, it was his first mate's brother, Dakumin. He's a "scientist". I used to count the days because when his family would visit, he would leave me alone."
"How often did they visit?"
"Every three weeks." My mind flipped back to the feeling of being watched before I quickly sat up.
"Were they there when I got you?"
"Yes."
I guess Draven got to see his prize close up. An idea sparked in my mind as my eyes looked up into Dominic's. He wants her abductor destroyed and I want to end the royal pain in my ass. What if I broke his army down piece by piece? "We need the supplies by morning, we can leave much sooner than I expected."