Page 19

River

I shrug. It’s worth a go. With the others on the rock still doing their thing to try to distract whoever is watching, I take off at a run.

Reed and Griff launch themselves back into the air and follow me from there.

I put on a burst of speed and then launch myself toward its head, landing in a crouch.

With my head still bowed from where I landed, I say quietly, “Thank you. Pick up the others from the rock and then take us over to the shore to safety.”

It begins to move immediately, and I stand up, finding my balance.

I may be using my alpha voice, but that doesn’t mean that I have to be a dick about it.

When we get to the guys, Van raises his eyebrow questioningly, and I tilt my head to the side slightly in acknowledgement of his question, the movement telling him and the others that it’s safe to climb on board.

They cautiously climb onto the snake’s head, and then the snake immediately starts to take us toward the shore, and the closest point to the glowing dot in the distance.

The dot that we are assuming is the portal to take us back home.

Everyone is silent as the snake’s body weaves from side to side behind us in the lava, keeping its head above the lava and ensuring our safety.

Ransom carries on chanting and moving his hands in a similar way to the way that normal warlocks use their power, and I smirk.

He’s pretty fucking awesome for making sure that people are at least confused about who has managed to control the lava snakes.

When we get off on the bank, Ransom positions himself next to me so that when the snake bows its head, it looks like it’s bowing to him and not just me. It then dives back under the lava and disappears.

Once it’s gone, I turn around to face the others, and we all share a look. I can see it in their expressions that they desperately want to ask me all sorts of questions, but we are all very aware that we’re being filmed, and so everyone wisely keeps their mouths shut.

“Good job, man,” Van says, clapping Ransom on the back.

“Thanks,” Ransom smiles, looking amused. “I am so ready to get out of here. Let’s find that portal and get back to the castle.”

“Agreed,” Reed says.

We all head into the trees that are lining the bank.

From what we could see from our vantage point on the rock in the middle of the lake, the portal is somewhere in these trees.

At least we are assuming that it’s a portal, for all we know it could be a trap or another fucking level to this trial or something.

We saw Neith’s last trial, obviously, and she had multiple levels to pass in one trial, so it’s not entirely unheard of, and it could be what’s happening here.

I really fucking hope it’s not though.

I’m sore, I’m tired, and I know that I’m not the only one.

I’m also really fucking hungry. I’m not used to using my alpha magic, which is completely separate from my usual magic.

It has made me feel a lot more tired than I usually would, but the effects of using it are already lessening, even though that was only the second time that I used it.

So I am pretty sure that the next time that I use my alpha magic, it will be as easy and have as little effect on me and my energy levels as my usual magic does.

The problem with seeing that the portal was in the trees from the rock platform, is that it looked a lot closer than it actually is. We have to trek further than I thought we would have to.

“Are we sure it’s even in this direction?” I ask after we’ve been walking for a while.

Ransom shrugs, “Well, it looked like it was. It’s possible that it may have moved.”

Griff nods in agreement, “Give me a second, and I will fly up and see if I can see anything.”

“Be careful,” Van warns.

We stop moving as Griff takes off through the trees, and wait until he lands again before we start walking again, just because we don’t want to lose sight of him.

As soon as he lands, he smiles, “It’s literally just on the other side of those trees, and is definitely the portal.”

“Thank fuck,” Doc grins.

We all take off at a jog and don’t stop when we see the portal, heading straight through it.

Neith

“T hey’re coming back,” I say in relief, slumping back against the couch.

Ribit squeezes my hand, “See? I told you that they would be fine. They are crazy strong. I have never seen an alpha with the strength of yours, those lava snakes should not be able to be controlled by an alpha, that’s not how it usually works.”

“Ah shit, that’s going to cause issues isn’t it?” I ask her.

“It shouldn’t do. I mean, he’s already the alpha of his territory, so I shouldn’t imagine that it will change anything,” she replies, trying to reassure me.

I shake my head and grimace, “He’s not the alpha of his territory, and he has no desire to be.”

“Well shit,” she replies. “In that case, yeah. I would think that whoever is in charge of the territory that you guys live in is going to have something to say. But your warlock was working really hard at making sure that people thought that it was him who had gained control of the beasts. I would have thought that it was him if you hadn’t said River and looked at your alpha. ”

“Really? Or are you just trying to reassure me?” I ask, raising my eyebrow and imploring her to give me an honest answer.

She chuckles, “I don’t do that. I tell it how it is. I’m not saying that someone might not have noticed, but I am saying that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t had you next to me.”

I sigh, “Okay, thanks, Ribit. You won’t say anything?”

She shakes her head, “No, I wouldn’t anyway, but remember no one but you can actually make out what I’m saying.”

“Oh yeah,” I reply, frowning slightly. It must be really lonely not being able to talk to anyone. “I will come back and see you soon.”

She smiles, “You better. Now go and check on your men. They didn’t look like they were in the best of shape, and I’m sure that they will be worrying about you and how your trial went.”

“Thank you for staying with me,” I say gratefully, as I stand up.

She smiles, “Any time.”

With a final wave, I head out of the door, ready to go and find my men and make sure that they’re okay.

I also want to see just how much trouble River could be in if someone else picked up on the fact that he could use his alpha voice on beasts that he really shouldn’t be able to.

I know that Ahren knows exactly how strong River is, or at least that River is stronger than he is, but if Ribit is right, then he just showed a level of alpha magic that goes way beyond that.

I know Ahren. I have known him for years, and I know that he would be fine with it, especially since River has no intention of taking over the packs in Ahren’s territory, but Ahren’s beta is an absolute asshole and will insist on things being handled the traditional way regardless.

I have never understood why Ahren keeps him around other than the fact that it’s just how the packs work, and that despite his faults, he is a good beta. Apparently.

He’s an asshole. One that has always had a problem with me and has ignored me completely because I am human and therefore beneath him.

Even if I were a supernatural, he would still have a problem with me because I’m a woman.

I am friends with the woman who ranks just underneath him and has almost as much power as he does, and yet he will only acknowledge her existence in front of Ahren.

Ahren is aware of the shit he does, but because he hasn’t crossed the line and is only playing with it, his hands are tied.

The beta dick is incredibly good at toeing that line.

The last time that I was at the compound, I couldn’t help but notice that although the other shifters gave him respect, very few actually liked him, and there was a sense of relief whenever he left a room.

He's a dick.

If he has noticed that River controlled the lava snakes, then Ahren is going to have a hard time convincing him to rein in his reaction.

As I pass the portrait of my parents, I wave at them and then feel like an utter idiot for doing so.

Thankfully, I’m the only one up here, so I don’t have to worry about anyone else seeing me make an idiot of myself.

It’s amazing how many times I find myself grateful that no one can see me because I’ve done something ridiculous.

As I get to the bottom of the staircase, I frown when I realize that the doors are closed.

I can’t remember closing them, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t.

I had other things on my mind when I came up here.

If I’m being honest, I have other things on my mind now, I want to get to the guys to see if they’re okay.

It’s because of this reason that I don’t pause for long, or at all, actually, I just carry on my forward trajectory and open the doors.

That was a mistake.

As soon as I step through the door, I find myself in some kind of woodland. It’s still nighttime, the same as it was at the castle, so I’m hoping that means that we’re in the same realm, but realistically, it doesn’t mean anything at all, and I could be anywhere.

I frown as I look around the seemingly quiet woodland and call Asael to me just in case.

I can’t see anything that would immediately say that I’m in danger, and I didn’t feel the usual tug of the portal when I stepped through the door, but as I said before, I was really focused on checking on the guys, and I could have just not been paying enough attention.

I never expected to get pulled into another trial on the same day that I’ve just done one.

No one warned us that it could happen, but then again, maybe they didn’t warn us because it was just one of those things that they couldn’t tell us about?