need to help. I need to be useful for once. All my life, everyone's laughed at me. I'm tired of it."
I nodded. "Instead of hitting the wolves, shoot below them. I think your magic can undo the net. The wolves will fall then."
She clamped her mouth shut and turned. Her shoulders were square. And she concentrated with everything she had. She drew up a spell stronger than she had ever imagined. It came out from the depths of her magic and built at a furious rate. I stood back, slightly awed at the gift Brown had. If this was what she could do now, I wondered what she could do when that box was broken in pieces.
"Tres all conte, break the binds he has made. Break the net to fall free. Tres all conte, tres all conte, tres all conte, break the binds he has made. Break the net to fall free. Tres all conte," she repeated. As the power built in her, she narrowed her eyes and the magic blasted from her. The net burst into flame the next moment. It singed the air and crackled. As it fell, the sounds faded. Then a smug look came over Brown's face.
I grinned and stood back. The wolves didn't stand a chance against her.
"Davy!" Gavin shouted at me. I whirled.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
When I flashed to Roane and Gavin, I saw the Alpha in mid air. He was lunging with his massive jaw open and ready to tear into Roane, who stood with his back to him. He was facing Gavin, who had another wolf lunging at him.
"No!" I thrust my hands up. Everything stopped in that moment. Both wolves froze in mid-air. Only Roane turned to me.
I walked towards the wolf that was ready to pull Gavin's spine out. After a jerk to the fur underneath his neck, I knew the wolf would fall on the ground. Then I went to the Alpha and stood there.
"No—" Roane started.
I snapped my fingers and time started again. Pete's jaw closed around me instead of Roane.
"No!" I heard Gavin yell in the distance, but I closed my eyes. I felt Pete's surprise, but it didn't matter. He tried not to clamp his teeth together, but everything happened so quickly. He couldn't stop in time. I wanted all my Immortal power to burst within him. I wanted it to be like a bomb. And I wanted to take back Talia's mother's essence. She belonged to me. She wanted to be with me and I wanted to take her with me. As the Immortal's energy built up, I felt her beside me.
Pete struggled. He knew what had happened and was trying to take it all back. He was trying to open his jaw and unclench what he had accidentally swallowed. It didn't matter. He wasn't the Immortal, though he thought he was. I saw that now. The Mother Wolf had told him that he was the Immortal. He had the essence therefore he was the one all the prophecies foretold.
He had been wrong. He could feel it now.
For a split second, I looked up and saw Talia's mother. Her hair was red like her daughter's and flowed back. Her black dress billowed beneath her hair and blue eyes flashed at me. She smiled and I heard her thoughts, 'It is time for my energy to join the rest. He is not to blame. What was put in him was not his fault or his inspiration. He has been led astray in many ways.'
It didn't matter. Pete meant to hurt someone I loved. Her pleads wouldn't save him. I pushed forward and let the Immortal explode within him. When it sparked, he reeled backwards and tried to spit me out of his mouth. It didn't matter. I wanted this to happen. It needed to happen. The Alpha's body twisted and convulsed round and round. He tried everything to get me out, but I held firm and then the explosion happened. When it did, his jaw snapped open and I was flung from it. Talia's mother and her essence went with me. She had joined the Immortal and was at peace. As we were thrown in the air, her eyes closed. She laid her hands on her chest and melted away. Then I felt her join the Immortal.
We landed on the ground a few feet away. Pete was flung across the hill. Roane and Gavin had fallen back too. I was beside them before they awakened.
A sudden tingling on my neck made me look over. Pippa stood above Pete's body. She watched him. Somehow she knew what had happened, though I didn't know how. I didn't care at that moment.
I stepped towards her. "Let him be."
"He loved her," she wrung out. Her eyes didn't leave his form as he lay on the ground, writhing in pain.
I watched as she knelt at his feet.
"He's not the same, Pippa," I warned her.
It didn't matter.
She shook her head and ran a finger over his forehead. "No matter what he's been told, he loved her. He's lost Emily as well as the trust he had in Mother Wolf. You don't understand the betrayal he's feeling." She looked up with tears in her eyes. "He was supposed to become my mate. She changed that. She changed everything."
Pippa closed her eyes. The wolf spirit within her went into him. I closed my eyes and followed. Where I went, I wasn't expecting what I saw. The two were pups again and they were playing in a field. Pippa tripped him with her large paws and Pete grinned crookedly, tongue hanging out as he bounded towards her. He stumbled over his own paws, but the two rolled over each other in the grass. Though in wolf form, their joy was evident. Both grinned and whimpered in excitement until the air cooled. They stopped in the next second and lifted their heads to gaze at the far corner of the woods.
An older woman in black garb floated out of the trees. She held a long arm with a finger pointed to them. As a spell started to spew from her mouth, I lunged at her. Black eyes widened and whirled to me before I fell on her. All her battles were won or lost through words and magic. I grinned in enjoyment as I wrapped both hands around her neck and lifted her head free. The fight was over. Her body slumped to the ground, both pups breathed in relief, and her head melted in my hands. It became a puddle of black gunk and I dropped it in disgust.
I felt Pippa's approval, but was back in my real form the next moment. She was still bent over his body. The air sizzled with relief instead of despair and I breathed more lightly.
Roane grasped my elbow and frowned. "What just happened?"
"I have no idea." I smiled at him. "But I think it was good."
He cast a concerned look at the two wolves. "Are you sure?"
"It's for the best. I promise."
Pippa looked up now. She brushed tears away. "Everything's better now. She can't touch him again."
"Mother Wolf?"
She jerked her head up in a nod. "That was her inside him. She was trying to come back in and fix him. She underestimated you." A laugh sputtered from her. "Who knew you could do that? You stopped her, Davy. Thank you."
Pete still lay on the ground unconscious. He had curled into a fetal position.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Pippa shook her head. "I have no idea, but I'll take him back with me."
"To school?" Alarms went off in my head. If Emily went back there too, how would that go?
"No." A grave look entered her eyes. "I'll take him back to my family. I won't be returning to Benshire again."
"Huh?"
"I come from the old wolves. We want to remain hidden. We don't want to war against the vampires. We'll never win. That was her agenda for the last hundred years, but now that the Alpha doesn't exist anymore, we'll make our stand. You shouldn't have to worry about us anymore."
When she turned to leave with a determined glint in her eyes, I was taken aback. There was fierceness in the female wolf that I'd never witnessed before. She was like a new person, but one that I already respected.
"How are you going to move him?" But as I asked, the words died in my throat. Wolves emerged from the shadows surrounding us. Their green eyes glowed in the night. I jerked forward, but Roane caught my arm. He pulled me back.
He murmured in my ear, "They're allies."
"How do you know?"
"She called them."
"Pippa?"
I whirled back to where she was greeting one of the larger wolves. He had shaggy grey fur. His old age was evident, but his eyes looked through me. In wolf form, he towered over Pippa. He would've stood a foot higher than even the Alpha's wolf form. As more wolves moved to the unconscious w
olf, a sense of ancestry filled in the air. I felt it surrounding us and knew it came from them. They were old, wise, and strong.
I was grateful that they had chosen the side they had. If we had gone against them, I wasn't sure who would've won.
Pippa turned back and approached with the older wolf beside her. Pete had been transported away. Fresh tears filled her eyes when she stopped before me and then she threw her arms around me. As she hugged me tight, she whispered, "Thank you so much, Davy. For everything. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't helped us."
All this because of the essence in Pete? That was all they needed from me?
She smiled. "We didn't know it was possible to separate it from him. If we had and if I'd been more certain that you were the Immortal, I would've asked you right away."
"What?"
A carefree laugh broke from her and she wiped more tears away. "I came to Benshire for my family. We knew the Immortal was here. I was supposed to find you, but I didn't know it was you until now. I still can't quite believe it. I didn't even really like you."
"I know. You loved Emily. You guys were bosom buddies."
"I sensed her mate in her, but it wasn't Pete, at least not this Pete. This Pete is supposed to be mine." Her face sobered at that thought.
I asked, "What about the mateline? Are you able to recover it so he'll be your mate again?"
She shook her head. "I have no idea. That's old magic. No one would dare interfere with something like that, but Mother Wolf has become impervious and foolish. This will anger the Elders greatly. Matelines are never to be manipulated and now that it's been done, we'll have to see what other damage she did."
"About her, is she dead now?"
"No. You just stopped her magic from getting to Pete again. You put up a block within him. I'm sure the Elder wolves will move on her soon. She's weak now." She smiled again. "Thank you, Davy. You have helped so much. I can't express our gratitude in words."
The elder wolf dropped his mouth to her neck. His eyes locked with hers and Pippa nodded a second later. "This is Christane. He's my Elder and he wants you to know that the Christane family is indebted to you. If you ever need us, we will come."
Elders. Christane family. All this ancestry among the wolves. It was getting overwhelming.
"Davy?" Pippa frowned.
"Sorry. Yes. That sounds nice." I lifted a shoulder up in an awkward shrug. "All this is new to me. I've never had a werewolf feel like they owed me something. I'm just used to him," I jerked a thumb beside me. "He's always telling me to lay low and be quiet."
Roane barked out a laugh, but moved forward. "Thank you, Christane. I am indebted to you as well."
The wolf lowered his massive head to the ground and then turned as one with Pippa. She melted into her white wolf form and soon they had vanished from our eyes. It wasn't long before I felt all the wolves disappear and then I turned to Roane. "Why are you indebted to him?"
"They came to show their allegiance to me."
"They came because of Pippa."
"She called them, but they were here to fight on my behalf. If you hadn't stepped in and taken care of Pete, it would've been worse. If the Christane bloodline had fought with me, they would've showed their loyalty to a vampire. That would've meant declaring their own war on the Mother Wolf."
I shuddered at the thought of her. "She sounds like a bitch."
Roane put his arm around my shoulder and drew me close. "Well, she's their problem now."
Gavin approached and flashed a grin. "Is this the official victory walk?"
I felt Roane tense. "For now."
"One victory down, two more to go?" As we treaded down the hill and neared the estate, Kates darted to meet us. Her eyes were gleaming and her chest was heaving. A glow appeared over her skin.
She lifted a hand. "They've gone. All of them. What happened?"
"Davy took care of the Alpha," Gavin responded in a curt voice.
Annoyance flared in her eyes, but she didn't bite back.
"Wren and Tracey are waiting for us in the hall. Bastion and Gregory will follow and make sure the other wolves don't double back." Roane's hand slipped to my waist. His thumb started to rub the side of my hip.
When we entered the house, the two female vampires stood from their table. Brown panted from her seat. She gave me a loopy smile. "I can't stand. My legs have turned into goo. They're all melty. I did magic. Can you believe it?"
I couldn't contain a smile. "I knew you had it in you."
"Oh man." She slumped back. "I feel drunk. Is this normal?"
"Where's the traitor?" Kates looked around in contempt.
Brown tried to lift her arm, but dropped it on the table. "She's still out there, snoring away. They didn't take her with them and they could've. A few of the wolves got around me, but then they all ran away. I must be awesome."
"The wolf?" Wren spoke for the first time. She shifted in her stance and I saw pain flare in her body. She couldn't contain a grimace.
"She was a Christane wolf. She left with them." Roane narrowed his eyes. "You should rest, Wren. Heal. Tracey, take her to your room. Everyone should go to their rooms to clean up and rest."
"What?" Gavin lifted his head. "No party? We should be celebrating."
"We will." Roane's eyes glimmered in amusement. "But no one is fit for that right now." His hand spread out over the small of my back. "Let's enjoy our rest first."
Gavin and Kates shot a look at each other, but quickly looked away. I pursed my lips at that. It wasn't the first time there had been a spark between the two, but then Roane urged me in front of him and I didn't care. I wanted my bed. I wanted him. And I wanted a night away from the war.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Her eyes snapped open when she felt the defeat. The magic had been destroyed, banned from the Alpha. When she tried to go back in, a block was set in place. There was no way she could get past it, but then an explosion occurred and her magic was thrown back at her. It slammed into her and recoiled onto itself. She felt it quaking and knew the tremors were from fear. As she gritted her teeth, her anger rose swiftly. Something had not gone to plan and she was determined to figure out what it was, who it was. No one banished her.
The door burst open and a servant rushed inside. "Mother, what has happened?"
It was then she realized the room was shaking. She wasn't surprised. The rage in her was tightly controlled, but when she stood and turned, the appearance of Gailith made her pause. A bruise was forming on the top of his head; blood spilled from it and soaked his shirt. One of the lenses in the small glasses he always wore had a crack and his hair was matted from his blood.
"What happened to you?" She tried to keep the disgust from her voice. Servants wanted to be cared for. Everyone wanted to be cared for. They found it comforting. They were pathetic.
He hesitated and ran a hand through his hair. It caught on the blood and he withdrew it quickly to tuck behind his back. "Was there an earthquake?"
"What do you mean?"
"The whole house, Mother. It's been shaking for the last few minutes. Many of the servants died."
"Why?" Had her rage been so suppressed?
"They're human, Mother."
She couldn't hold back her disgust any longer and snapped, "What are you talking about? Why would my servants die from a small earthquake?"
"It wasn't small. This is the only room that's still standing."
Her eyes widened and she couldn't speak for a moment. Nothing and no one ever surprised her, but it had happened twice in the space of two minutes. She hated that. Someone was more powerful than her. The wolf inside her raged to get out. It needed to kill, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. More deaths would not satisfy her. She needed to know what had become of the thread holder. That would satisfy her. She had gone to great lengths to get close, but if it had all been for nothing… she clamped her eyes closed at the thought of the possible repercussions.
"Are the
wolves okay?"
He jerked his head in a nod. "Yes, ma'am."
"Ma'am?"
"Mother Wolf. Yes, the wolves were able to escape. I got away because one of them carried me out."
She narrowed her eyes and turned back to the window. Her home had been built during the Civil War. It had been made to survive