Page 17

I punch the bag, taking swings in rapid succession and completely ignoring the grunts from Aiden, who’s trying to hold it steady. With another final volley, Aiden pushes it back at me, so it swings wildly.

“What the fuck, man,” he snaps. “Just chill, would you.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s not like I’m punching you; you just had to hold the damn bag,” I growl, walking off to find some water.

“Right,” I hear Aiden mutter and turn to say something to Ryan, who’s been standing to the side, watching. He’s probably just grateful Aiden brought some of his betas over for a group training exercise and has been sparring with me instead of him. I know I’m in a foul mood.

Who wouldn’t be in my position?

I had a suspicion that any conversation with Marian wouldn’t be plain sailing, but I did not expect the barrage of information that awaited me when I arrived at the coven. I could tell Emily was genuinely only finding it out at the same time, because she looked as shell-shocked as I felt.

I had wondered if our child would be more shifter than a witch, given that Emily has no practical magic. Now I find out that Emily has no power because her magic was bound before she was born, and she actually may be incredibly powerful. And no one knows what any of this means for our child.

And to top it all off, Marian has been lying to us this whole time.

Pretending that Malik’s powers are a complete enigma when, in reality, she’s not only met someone with similar powers, but he’s also Emily’s father.

I asked the inevitable question—is Malik himself her father?

But Marian shot me down with such venom that I thought she was going to make me spontaneously combust. It appears she was closer to Emily’s mother than I realized.

Maybe more than Emily realized, judging by her reaction to all this. The fact remains, though, that Malik’s type of magic has been seen before, and Emily probably carries it within her.

Which means our baby is now wrapped up in this chaos.

My wolf was so enraged I could have easily blown up at Marian there and then, but the alpha and man in me knew I had to contain the situation. I’ve got too much at stake now.

I know I need to discuss it with my brothers.

They have a right to know about Marian’s revelations.

But with Callum not wanting to leave Ava so close to giving birth, and Aiden arriving mid-training, I haven’t had a chance to find the right words.

I don’t even know what the right words might be.

Emily and I have barely spoken about it.

I drove her home after talking with Marian, and things felt tense; I held her all night, but it still felt as though there was a wall between us.

Like we didn’t want to talk about it in case things blew up between us again.

Everything feels too fragile, with so much at risk.

I take a swig of water, and Aiden comes up to me, dabbing his brow with one of the towels. “Tristen, man, you alright?” he asks, and I give him a curt nod. “I mean, we all get it’s been shitty lately, but that’s no reason to take it out on the bag.”

He smirks as he takes the water bottle from my hand and takes a drink, and I resist the urge to smack it out of his hand.

We’ve always wound each other up, but I have a feeling my wolf is so on edge I wouldn’t be able to hold back today.

So I curl my hand tightly around the bottle I’m holding and focus on not retaliating.

I know I need to get some of this out in the open; my brothers deserve to know what’s going on, too.

I sigh, tossing the empty bottle into the trash. “Emily’s pregnant,” I say, and wait a beat for his response.

I don’t have to wait long. His face is a picture. “Well, damn,” he laughs. “And there’s me thinking you wouldn’t touch a witch. Turns out that isn’t a problem when they look as sexy as tha—”

I growl, reaching out my fist to grab his shirt. “You dare finish that sentence.”

My brother merely chuckles as my wolf rages before realizing I’ve simply risen to his bait.

“Fuck you,” I snap.

Aiden raises his hands, “Okay, sorry. I wasn’t just testing your wolf. Seems like you’ve got it bad,” he says, his voice slightly more sincere. “Well, this is great news, I guess. Have you told Callum and Ava?”

I shake my head, knowing I need to fill him in on the rest. He obviously picks up on my hesitation. “What’s going on, Tris?” he asks, all humor leaving his voice. “You're not happy about it?”

“I don’t know how I feel about it,” I reply. “I mean, happy about a pup. I never really thought about it, but I am. And Em…I can’t get enough, but she’s a witch and…”

“And you have beef with witches because Ralph told you to feel that way,” Aiden butts in, and I glare at him, but he simply laughs and leans against the cabin wall. “Tell me I’m wrong?”

I refuse to give him an inch more. “There are many valid reasons not to trust witches,” I growl, not wanting to go down that route. “But that’s not the issue. Not the main issue, anyway.”

“Okay, what’s the issue, then?” Aiden sighs.

I let out a breath, the weight of the last twenty-four hours suddenly feeling immense. “We spoke to Marian, and Emily found out some stuff…”

I fill him in on our conversation with Marian, from the details about Emily’s mom to the little we know about her father, his powers, and how it all relates to Malik’s own magic. Aiden’s face goes from passive to intrigued to finally horrified.

“Are you saying your baby might possess the same kind of magic Malik does? That shapeshifting shit?” Aiden finally asks, stunned.

“For fuck’s sake, Aiden,” I mutter, and he cringes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it was a bad thing,” he soothes. “I’m just in shock here. We’ve all been assuming Malik was some kind of one-off. You’d think Marian might have mentioned this before.”

I nod. “Her loyalties are with the witches. I think she was trying to protect Emily or maybe her mom’s secret. Seems like they were friends.”

“And what about Emily?” Aiden asks. “Does she have this power? Is it still bound?”

I shrug, genuinely not knowing the answer. Does Emily have no magic, or is she one of the most powerful witches on the island? “We don’t know. Marian says they could try unbinding her, but she’s reluctant. It seems that’s what killed her mom.”

Aiden’s eyes go wide. “Fuck, man,” he says, running a hand over his face.

We both fall silent for a moment until his phone rings.

He glances down at it and wanders away to talk to whoever it is while I grab another bottle of water.

The training is almost wrapping up for the day, with our betas using some new runes provided by the witches to supercharge our fighting abilities.

Part of me wants to be pissed at Marian, but I know she’s trying, and I understand loyalty all too well myself.

“Tristen,” Aiden calls out, running back over, “you gotta hear this.”

He comes striding back over, holding the phone aloft and indicating it’s on speaker. “Byron, tell him what you just told me.”

I listen as one of Aiden’s most trusted betas, who’s currently on patrol along our border, comes on the line.

“Sure thing, Alpha,” he replies, clearing his throat.

“We were trailing a couple of rogues along the ridge. Think they were out scouting; they don’t seem local.

Mainland, I think. To be honest, we were about to take them out when I heard them mention a bounty. ”

A bounty?

“On who?” I ask, even though I suspect I already know the answer deep down.

“They said Malik wants the special red-haired witch,” Byron says, confirming my worst fears. “Sorry, Tristen. But Aiden mentioned she’d been targeted before.”

I close my eyes to quell the banging headache, threatening to descend as my wolf begins to stir, agitated beyond belief. I turn, rubbing my hand across my stubble to ground me.

“Tell him the rest,” Aiden tells Byron grimly.

“There’s more?” I growl, and Aiden nods solemnly.

Byron sighs before continuing, “One of them asked if they’d get more if the witch is really pregnant. Two for one.”

For once, I feel completely speechless. Instead, my wolf does the talking.

With my claws extended, I turn and punch the cabin wall, the wood giving way to a shower of splinters under my clawed fist. I dimly hear Aiden hanging up the call, and I feel his presence behind me, waiting to calm down.

Eventually, I turn around to face him. “I need to speak to those rogues.”

Aiden shakes his head. “They refused to be taken alive; Byron had no choice.”

Cursing, I grab my keys. “I need to see Emily. Double security.”

“Good idea,” Aiden agrees, walking with me toward my truck. “You know, if Malik is that desperate to get her, bringing in mercenaries and a bounty, it means something. We’re not getting anywhere in tracking him down, just fending off attacks. Maybe she’s the key to all this.”

“She has no powers, Aiden. She’s completely vulnerable,” I snap.

Aiden stands by as I start the engine.

“Seems like she might, though,” he says as I pull away. I pretend not to hear him, but his words echo in my mind all the way back into town. For Malik to recognize her power, it must still be there. And how the hell does he know she’s pregnant?

I’m still mulling over those questions as I pull up to the house.

Pausing as I take the steps toward the door, it becomes apparent I have visitors.

So I’m not surprised when I open the door and immediately spot several familiar-looking witches gathered in my kitchen, the smell of potions hitting my sensitive senses like a slap to the face.

The funny thing is, this is what I assumed it would be like when Emily became my luna—a house full of witches and the constant aura of magic.

I didn’t count on her distant position within the coven.

Now, I strongly suspect Marian did that on purpose, perhaps out of guilt or to keep her potential type of magic a secret.

But with a bounty on her head and Malik hunting her down, that’s clearly not going to work.

As I stride into the kitchen, I catch snippets of conversation between the witches. They talk in hushed tones, casting nonchalant glances my way before returning to their mixing bowls and ingredients. I clear my throat, and they all turn in unison, completely unbothered by my presence.

I raise an eyebrow at the mess in my kitchen. “What’s going on here?” I ask warily.

A witch with long, black hair steps forward. “We’re just…mixing potions for Emily,” she says quickly, gesturing to the back patio. “She’s outside.”

I nod, deciding not to say more to the witches currently trashing my kitchen, before heading out to find her.

The sun is still shining, and Emily is standing underneath a tree with Marian, deep in conversation.

Her hair is blowing in the wind, and she looks so radiant that it almost takes my breath away for a moment.

I know I need to tell her about Malik, so I let out a breath and walk towards them. They both seem to spot me at the same moment, Marian turning to look at me with the same aloof expression as usual, but unless I’m mistaken, there’s a note of mutual understanding there now that feels new.

“Tristen,” Emily says, her face lighting up as I approach, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Marian can’t help rolling her eyes at that. “Yes, apparently, we need to talk to you first,” she says dramatically.

Emily glares at Marian, which surprises me. “I…we…have been talking about unbinding my powers,” she tells me. “I-I can’t be vulnerable, and my powers might help us defeat Malik. If we understood what they are.”

I’m not sure what she’s expecting me to say, but she looks concerned.

Marian simply studies me, waiting for my reaction.

I let out a long breath. “We just received word that Malik knows about the baby and is actively hunting you,” I tell her, hating the way her eyes go wide with fear, and her hand immediately flies to her stomach as if to protect our child.

“If unbinding your powers will keep you safe, then it might be worth a shot.”

Marian nods. “I told you wolves can be reasonable when they try,” she says dryly, which I ignore.

“But what about the baby?” I ask. “Will Emily and the baby be safe?”

I notice Marian’s demeanor shift slightly, looking more humble as she nods.

“I believe we have more resources at our disposal than when we dealt with this issue before,” she says carefully.

“Plus, Emily already carries this magic within her, whereas her mother did not. And the child, too, as well as being a shifter—I believe they are already designed to survive it.”

“And if you’re wrong?” I ask, my blood running cold.

Marian looks directly at me, the power in her eyes flashing silver to emerald in defiance of my question. “I won’t lose them,” she says finally. “I promised her mother I would keep her safe, and I will not fail.”

I look at Emily and see the certainty in her eyes; in my head, I know she’s right.

But my heart is just filled with fear. The thought of losing either of them suddenly feels crushing.

But the knowledge that Malik could find a way to break through our defenses again and attack at any moment is all too real.

I have no choice—for once, I have to trust the witches.