I yawn and blink tiredly at my bedroom's ceiling, I sigh and get up. Shuffling I get changed into some jeans and a plain blue tank top and before I move downstairs I shove my phone into my back pocket. Walking into the kitchen I open the fridge and grab out my water bottle, walking into the living room I raise an eyebrow at Dean.
"Morning Alex," he replies leaning up.
Set up in the living room is now a large table with maps and documents scattered everywhere, Dean and Lisanna are the only people that I recognise out of twelve in the room. I move over to beside him sipping casually and watch out of the corner of my eye as the other wolves in the room glance at me, only to glance away.
"What's going on?" I ask looking down at a map of our forest.
"The Vecck and Core Packs are travelling here for a meeting, Alpha wants to discuss the current vampire problem and the closest pack Alpha's agreed to travel to our territory because they've also heard about you," Lisanna explains.
"Me?" I don't like the sound of that.
"Yeah, word's travelled fast about the bitten witch, I doubt they know about your vampiric side though." A man speaks from beside Dean, "I'm Kai, by the way, Lisanna's older brother."
I nod and tilt my head, "So what are you doing now?"
"The Alpha wanted us to find the maps of the area to check to see if any camps might have been set up while we were busy, especially the rogues." He gestures me over to another map that has many x's on it, "These are the places we've checked already but we didn't find anything."
I look at the map and point at a spot that's a slightly away from the other X's and is close to the town, "Here."
Lisanna perks up, "That spot, but it's just dense forest there and it's way too close to the humans."
"You've checked all the obvious places in our forest and if they are within our territory then they wouldn't be hiding in these parts," I gesture to the area they've checked, "They'd be somewhere you wouldn't check. The rogues aren't working alone, that's clear, so check this spot and if they're not there then they'll be hidden in caves by my guess. They don't want to be caught, not yet anyway, they're waiting for something and if they're in a spot that's an advantage for them when that time comes, we'll face issues. So search there, the caves and a few places close to town but stay out by say twenty metres."
They all look at me before looking at each other with surprised looks on their faces, "As you wish."
With that the ten guys and Lisanna head outside, she gives me a wink and starts to strip in the living room before her brother drags her out of the house. I roll my eyes and glance at some of the other documents but stop when I feel a gaze, I peer up at Dean.
"Yes?"
"Nothing," He says smiling at me, "You're a good Omega and you're going to make a good Luna, that's all."
I flip the document in my hand and shrug, "If you say so."
I drop the paper back onto the table and take another sip from my bottle. Dean starts to pack up the table and moving all the maps and documents off to the side, I help him and we move some chairs into position. He sits down and rests his elbow on the table while I hop up and sit on the table, it was moved from the dining room and has an extension added to it making it longer. All of the things in the lounge room have been moved somewhere else, my guess into one of the spare rooms upstairs.
"Do you always set it up like this when there are meetings here?" I ask smoothing my hand over the glossy wood.
"Yes, we can't show any weakness to the other Alpha's so we remove all the comfort items like the lounge and TV into the basement. The alpha's house never has pictures or anything on the walls so that it's easier to set up. Small packs however never do it because it doesn't matter for them but we're a pretty large and strong pack. Our pack, the Hunter Pack has been fighting for top spot against the Wind and Archer Packs for several thousand years."
"But how do you know which Pack is the top one?" I frown and swing my legs to rest beside him.
"It comes down to three things; size, the Alpha's power and the pack's overall power. The Archer pack has the largest and strongest Pack but the Wind Pack is almost the same size and power as we used to be but their Alpha was stronger than ours." Fang replies moving down the stairs.
"Morning Fang," I tilt my head, "But wait what do you mean by same size and power as we used to be?"
"Well, first of all, you joined the pack." Dean leans back in his chair, "Having an Omega in a pack can boost the power of the pack mates as well as the Alpha. Two; Envy returned to us, before he was part of the pack but since he wasn't here he didn't really count. Thirdly in the last few weeks, we've had witches remain in our territory and that is something that a lot of packs won't ever know because witches rarely will go into other's species territories."
"So, what does that mean for the pack now?" I ask.
"It means that once Envy takes over as Alpha, then we'll be the strongest pack in the world," Fang replies coming to stand beside me.
"That's not a given though," Liam says coming in through the front door with Eve beside him.
Fang tilts his head and frowning walks into the kitchen. Liam sighs and sits at the head of the table and Eve sits quietly beside him. Tabitha, Envy and a man I don't know walk in after a second as well, they all have sour looks on their faces as they seat themselves at the table.
"Is something wrong?" I ask hoping off the table and crossing my arms.
Envy sighs and leans back, "The Archer pack has travelled from Romania to come discuss some issues with us and they'll be here within the hour as well as the Vecck and Core Packs. Plus they specifically requested that you were present."
"Great..." I mutter.
"What do you expect, you're like one of the first bitten witches to ever be able to keep their powers." Luc walks into the room with Mika sleepily leaning on him.
Mika yawns and leans up, his blonde hair sticking up everywhere he smiles, "Morning."
"Good morning, so does that mean witches have been bitten before?" I question leaning forward on the table.
"Well, of course, a few years ago some scientists were researching the wolf bite since wolf shifters are the only known shifters whose bite can transfer the shift onto a regular human. But what they found out was that humans who survived the bite had a magical decedent. Which was pretty rare thus the low survival rate, a full human had a zero percent chance of survival but then they went further..." Luc explains moving over to the table.
"They started to test it on magical creatures, they kidnapped witches, other shifters, vampires, essentially any creature they could get their hands on. It wasn't found out until after the experiments had happened. As it turned out most of the magical beings ended up alive, they lost their magic and had no control over their shift but they were alive. The real problem was that the bite killed any other shifter unless they were a sister species like the coyote."
"Then how come I kept my powers?" I frown and cross my arms.
Mika looks at Luc before speaking, "We're not actually sure, it could be a number of things. First of all, you were born a hybrid, even though the vampire part of you was say a fourth or sixth it was still very dominant and strong. Second, you come from two very different magical lineages which doesn't happen too often, our magic as you know stems from darkness and the ability to jump time and dimensions. Your mother, however, was descended from something different, her power was raw and dangerous, you were able to quickly grasp magic because your Mother's magic is actually unknown."
"That doesn't make any sense to me, if the source of her magic is unknown then how do you know anything about it?" I snap.
"Well that's a long story," Luc shrugs, "But in short, we understand points of your families' magic. What we know is that you can quickly grasp spells and powers, you can borrow others powers if they use them against you but you also have a wild and raw magic that lays untapped in the centre of your being. We don't know who or what you're descended from, your Mother was able to sense the magic your Grandmother was capable of and strived to be more powerful than her. But she was never able to tap into her centre, neither did your Grandmother so unlike your Grandmother who worked hard to gain her level of strength and power she...,"
"She turned to blood magic." I state clenching my fists, "A magic that either requires your blood sacrifice or the sacrifice of a living soul. But using this magic you give away parts of your humanity until you are left with nothing but a thirst for more power. It's a magic that is forbidden and is a disgusting act, those who chose to take that path can never walk again and walk a different path."
Mika blinks at me, "Yes, but how did you know that?"
"I read it in my Grandmother's journals that the Council and my Mother practised blood magic and how I knew about it,? I don't remember too many things about my childhood but I remember that. I heard people talking about it when they thought I was asleep." I shrug.
Luc and Mika share a look, "We may be related but the more we learn about you the more you start to scare us."
"Been there done that about five times already," Dean says in a bored tone.
I roll my eyes and head into the kitchen and place my bottle back into the fridge and sigh. I lean against the wall and look back to them.
"This centre what is it exactly?" I ask them.
Mika frowns, "Well it's hard to explain, it's not your soul but more like the deepest part of yourself where your potential hides. All witches have it, where their power hides within themselves. Most witches in their life are never able to even get close to finding it. But what makes your Mother's family so special is that your centre is powerful, more powerful than any other witch line."
"When you first meet a witch you can grasp their power range or if their power is weak you can sense the emotion that drives their being. However, when we met you we sensed not the current power you hold but the potential of your power and that's probably how your mother got on the Council. But you tapped into your centre, which was what happened yesterday, I don't know how or why or even what might have triggered it and you only tapped into a minuscule part of it." Luc explains to me.
"Okay, but what does that mean?" I cross my arms over my chest.
"It means that you're going to continue to gain strength with your power and it's going to be easy for you to grasp your powers and magic. Simply because in essence your being knows how to use and control your magic but you yourself don't have that knowledge so you have to learn it piece by piece and grow from that. However, since you tapped into that part that understands and already knows, you're going to only gain strength and power at a rate that may be dangerous for you."
I sigh, "Right for the last few weeks, that's all I seem to be learning. I've been screwed over in the game that is life, I might have the best and strongest pieces in the game and good allies but what for. The enemies are relentless and I might have the power to win but the cost just might be too much."
"Alex, you're stronger than you think and you've been through so much, don't say that," Fang whimpers.
"Alex, I know it's hard and that you've been through more than what most people have but doesn't that just prove how strong you are?" Mika whispers and his eyes beg me to understand.
I sigh, "I'm gonna go for a walk, I'll take my phone, call me when the Alpha's arrive. I need to clear my head."
I push off the wall and merely walk out the door after Dean gives me a nod. I sigh once again and rub the back of my neck. I walk along the street that I now live on, despite having moved in ages ago this is the first time I've really looked at it. It looks like a normal street, most of the houses are two stories and painted a light blue, grey or green. Some of the houses have pretty gardens others just have a trimmed lawn, I wave to a few Mothers that sit on their lawns watching their kids play in the grass with their siblings or friends.
I tuck my hair behind my ear as a soft gust of wind hits me, I smile and take a deep breath. It's cloudy today and the sun hides from my view, I shove my hands into the front pockets of my jeans and let my mind go blank. Lately, everything just keeps getting out of hand and I feel like this is only the beginning, none of the problems have really been solved but at least from the explanations that Mika and Luc gave me I kind of understand some things better.
I take a turn and walk into the forest, the earth is still a bit damp with morning dew but it feels nice underfoot. I watch animals and insects cross my path and I watch them from the corner of my eye, I hum content being alone and simply walking along with no clear path or destination in mind. I feel Envy in the back of my mind and I smile when I hear his soft voice drift into my mind.
'Enjoying your walk Red?'
'I was until you come along.'
'You're so mean Red.'
'Sure, now go away, you're busy and I'm taking a break.'
I feel him pull away, I continue to walk until I reach a familiar cliff. I move to the edge and gaze down, below the river moves swiftly and I can just make out the water sprites dancing and playing in the clear blue water. The winds strong here and it slams into me from the right but I don't move but my hair sways wildly in the wind. I feel my phone buzz and I let out a breath before turning and heading back.
I make my way back as fast I moved out here, I take in the trees, the leaves of the evergreens fall off and land on the ground. Small creatures jump and chase in the branches and other creatures lurk around looking for some food. I wave at a hunting party as they move out, their brown coats blend into the trees and some of them nod at me, their movement silent.
I eventually make it back to the house and I walk up the steps and they creak beneath my weight and the back door squeals in protest at being opened. I walk through the kitchen and into the living room where everyone is already seated, Eve and Liam sit on the right side with Envy beside them and Dean standing against the wall, across from them are five people sitting at the table and three against the wall. I don't know any of them but I can guess who they are.
"Sorry for being late," I say and smirk at them.