Page 19

I take a sip of the amber liquid, letting the whiskey burn my throat.

I almost wish it burned more—alcohol doesn’t have much of an effect on shifters, but we do enjoy the initial buzz.

We just metabolize it too fast to enjoy the lingering effects humans do.

Right now, I could do with a bit of oblivion.

Ryan sits across from me, looking equally grim. The quiet of my office is only punctuated by the sound of him slamming his empty glass down.

I’ve decided what my least favorite alpha responsibility is: telling families that their loved ones died defending the pack.

After collecting what was left of Sean’s body from the dunes, we brought him back to town, and I headed straight to tell the family.

It’s going to take a long time to wash his blood from my soul.

I grew up with Sean. His entire family relocated to the western shore when I became alpha so he could take up his rightful position as one of our leaders. He was a great man, a great beta.

It takes a lot to kill a shifter. Those were monsters, not just rogues.

I stand and walk to the window. Looking down, I see Emily sitting on the back steps, engrossed in a phone call.

I imagine it’s with Ava. I only wrapped up my own call with Callum and Aiden a few minutes ago, one filled with anger and a whole load of trepidation over what Malik has coming our way next.

If he can turn rogues into those monsters, we’re almost out of time to figure out what the hell to do.

I note Emily’s hand resting on her still-flat stomach and feel my heart race. Despite all she’s going through, I can see how focused she is on our baby, keeping them safe. A thought hits me: she’s going to be an amazing mother, like, really incredible.

She’s nodding at something Ava has obviously said, and I can see the determination in her expression.

She seems a lot more grounded since her magic unlocked.

I still can’t get over her sheer power on the beach.

It’s going to take some time to process everything we witnessed.

The only thing I know for sure is that more of us would have been dead without her.

We were completely unprepared for the rogues possessing new powers. That can’t ever happen again.

“She okay?” Ryan says, refilling our glasses and coming to stand next to me at the window.

I nod. “Yeah, she’s something else,” I reply, knocking back the whiskey.

“Never thought I’d hear you say that about a witch,” Ryan chuckles, genuinely amused. “You gonna be able to trust her with all that power?”

“Ironically, I’m more concerned with her trusting me at this point,” I say quietly.

Ryan looks confused. “Trust you in what way?”

“To keep her safe? Our baby is safe. To keep the whole damn pack safe when we don’t know what Malik is going to unleash next,” I reply.

Having just spoken to my brothers, I know these are the issues weighing on everyone’s minds.

Even Marian is proving her worth as a leader in ways I never anticipated.

Shifters have ruled this island for millennia.

My father always made it sound as though we tolerated the witches out of some kind of charity and that their magic was annoying and devious at best. Having witnessed Marian and her sisters in battle, I can’t believe I ever thought their magic was limited to trickster spells and bewitching.

Given that Ralph claimed to know witches all too well , I can’t help but wonder why he never shared the extent of their power.

Or that the covens are just as loyal to each other as shifter packs are.

I’m starting to question if Emily, or her coven, ever bewitched me. Is it really possible that what I felt in the forest that day was the mates bond? And I’ve just been blowing it all along? I down the rest of my glass, this time relishing the tiniest of rushes as it hits my system.

“Tristen, mate, you all right?” Ryan asks, concern etched on his face.

He’s never seen me this out of sorts. It’s a feeling I could do without. The truth is I’m terrified not just for Emily and our unborn child but for everyone. We’ve always known Malik was coming for us, but now I realize we have no idea what he’s truly capable of.

“Better than Sean or his family,” I reply grimly.

Knowing I need to change the subject before I dwell too much, I ask for an update on the emergency patrol we sent out with some witches to reinforce the runes, including along the beaches.

My brothers are doing the same, though I feel for Aiden.

So much of the mountains is inaccessible to witches, and is barely even accessible to shifters.

On one hand, there’s no way the rogues are traveling in and out of those areas, but Malik?

With his shapeshifting abilities, we’re beginning to narrow down where he might be living, and the mountains are the most obvious choice.

Ryan looks at his phone, pulling up our tracking app and messages. “They’re at one of the final checkpoints,” he says. “Everything looks good so far.”

I turn to look at the map on the wall, my stomach in knots.

“We need to organize more patrols. They are getting bolder and bolder. We can’t risk another ambush like that.

We need to hunt them down before they come for us.

” Then, sighing, I add, “I’m going to go and check on Emily. Let me know if you hear anything.”

“Will do,” Ryan says as I walk out of the office, leaving him to check on the other patrols—and hopefully not finish my whiskey. Sean’s death has hit him hard, too.

Grabbing a coffee from the pot on my way through the kitchen, I take a long drink as I walk out onto the patio to chase away the last of the whiskey. Emily appears to have just finished up her call as she turns to me, the phone still in her hand.

“Ava okay?” I ask, knowing how stressed out Callum is, waiting for the birth.

Emily nods thoughtfully, “I think she’s handling it better than Callum and Harper, they’re too impatient.” She smiles at that, and, despite her weariness, it still lights up her whole damn face.

I can’t help glancing at her stomach, considering that we’ll be the ones waiting for our pup’s arrival soon.

I run a hand through my hair, well aware I haven’t even combed it today.

My stubble is days old, and I must look feral.

Emily, on the other hand, looks radiant despite all she’s been through.

Her long red hair is falling in tantalizing waves almost to her waist, and my fingers are itching to reach out and touch it.

“Are you okay?” she suddenly asks, taking me by surprise.

I don’t feel ready to answer that, afraid of what the truth might actually sound like if I were to utter it.

I look away, over the backyard and toward the meadow and forest beyond.

In the distance lies the outline of the mountains that mark the beginning of Aiden’s territory, where I fear Malik may be hiding.

I clear my throat. “I’ve been better,” I finally admit. “But right now, I’m more worried about you and the baby.”

Stepping forward, I take her hand and lead her over toward the bench seats that line the patio. She sits and looks at me quizzically. We don’t do this. We don’t sit and talk. There’s always too much, either unsaid or hurtful—too many things that shouldn’t be said.

But I can see how foolish that is. How foolish I’ve been, holding onto my preconceived ideas about witches and not seeing what’s right in front of me.

When Emily unleashed the most powerful demonstration of a witch’s magic I’ve ever seen, instead of putting me off, I only felt proud. And full of awe.

“What is it, Tristen?” she asks, her eyes beginning to look glassy. “You’re making me nervous.”

I squeeze her hand, “No, no, it’s nothing like that,” I say quickly, “I just...” I don’t know how to find the words.

“It’s okay,” she says, giving my hand a squeeze. “You don’t have to say anything.”

But I do. I need to.

“I was wrong,” I begin. “I don’t think you bewitched me.”

Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t say anything, as if waiting to see what I’ll say next, her walls firmly still up. I sigh, “Ralph always told me th—”

Before I can say another word, Ryan suddenly comes crashing through the doors.

I’m about to tell him to fuck off, but as I turn, I see the fear in his eyes, and my heart drops.

“They’re h-here,” he stammers for the first time in his life.

“I can’t reach the patrol; all the signals are down.

They’re literally heading into town…the rogues. ”

Emily gasps, the color draining from her face. But instead of fear, I only feel rage. This ends now. “Sound the alarm,” I say firmly. “Everyone knows what to do; we’ve planned for this.”

And we have. Emergency scenarios to protect the most vulnerable and mount a defense.

Even with the one patrol out missing, we have enough betas and witches in town to follow our emergency protocols.

I stand firing off the pre-written alarm to my brother’s packs; I’ve no idea if they’re under attack, too, or if they can send help.

“What can I do?” Emily asks.

The plan always involved her helping the vulnerable and pups get to the pack hall and being there to distribute runes.

But as I look at her now, I can feel her new powers brewing, the gentle sparks dancing on her fingers, and her emerald eyes glowing with magic.

But I can’t risk her, not after what we witnessed on the dunes; what if her ability to control her magic was just a one-off?

“Stick with the plan, Emily,” I say, adding, “please.”

I think she’s going to argue for a moment, but then she nods. “Okay, but once all the children are safe, I have to help, too,” she replies, and I nod, hoping that we’ll have it under control before she’s finished at the hall and that it won’t come to that.

It’s only when we get out onto the main street, pack members already rushing down the street toward the hall in a panic, that I realize the scale of the fight we’re going to have.

In the distance, I can already see smoke billowing from several of the businesses that lie on the road toward the mountains, and the sound of fighting ahead.

“Emily, get these people to the hall,” I yell, as my betas begin to shift and my wolf begins to take over. “Activate all the runes, every single one. Call for reinforcements.”

She nods, but I can see the fear in her eyes.

Still, she steps up immediately, encouraging the pack members to move faster.

The hall up ahead is a hive of activity as the witches staying there pour out to help with the children and start activating the defenses that have been designed to provide a sanctuary area in the heart of the town.

A scream sounds from somewhere behind me as the first rogues appear along the long main street.

“Everyone back,” I yell as I let my wolf take control, my bones snapping and contorting as the power surges through me.

Leading the way toward the rogues, I summon the wind to push the giant magic-infused beasts back, giving us the advantage.

They fight against the pressure of the wind, almost standing still as we attack.

I tear into the first one, grateful to have Ryan by my side as he intercepts another, trying to bite my flank.

Once one of them falls, the magic shrivels away, and the dead, mangled rogue is left lying in the street.

For all their ferociousness, they aren’t any harder to kill—just a hell of a lot bigger.

I look to my side and see Ryan and James taking down another of the rogues together, blood flowing down the street as they both tear into the beast until he slumps to the floor, transforming back into a man in his final moments.

I’m so engrossed in the moment, giving my wolf free rein to do what he needs to do to protect the pack, that I don’t even notice the commotion behind us until Ryan yanks me back.

As I turn, I’m greeted by a sight I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with.

Emily is standing in the street at the center of a group of witches, her hands holding a ball of dark energy.

“What are you doing?” I growl, looking over my shoulder as another rogue barrels toward me.

“I can do this,” she says simply, and before I can protest, she sends a blast of power toward the rogue that had been about to tear into me. It slams him into a bench with enough force to shatter it but not kill him. “I’m not going to let them attack us like this.”

The fight rages on around me, and I realize there’s little I can do without turning my back on the rogues.

Besides, her power really is incredible.

I watch as she fires a volley of dark energy over our heads toward a group of rogues advancing from the side of the square, and I watch them writhe in pain as the magic tears into their skin.

I turn to look back at Emily in awe, but she’s not there.

I desperately scan the street until I see her red hair running through the crowd toward two small children, frantically ushering them away from oncoming rogues.

I will her to use her magic on them, but she seems to falter for a moment, and then a rogue moves fast, throwing something over her, almost like a translucent net.

“No,” I roar, tearing toward them, but the battle has shifted as if being orchestrated; more and more rogues appear in front of me. I look at Ryan, who is just as confused. “They’ve got Emily. I need to push through.”

As seconds begin to feel like hours, I fight against the tide of rogues, but it’s becoming clear that they’re less interested in defeating us and more in slowing us down.

Some of the witches have tried to intervene but are also being repelled.

I watch helplessly as Emily is picked up and carried away, disappearing down one of the streets that lead directly to the forest trails.

My initial desperation slowly gives way to complete and utter rage. I begin tearing out the throats of every rogue I can reach, an absolute bloodlust taking hold at the thought of them taking Emily, my mate.