The smoke inhalation had killed her. She’d spent too long looking for me. I’d always blamed myself, because if I hadn’t hidden we would have gotten out in time.
“Your son killed my mother?”I shrieked, lunging forward.
I was blind with rage and had no idea what I planned to do, but thankfully Chiga caught me and held me back.
“I know. It is such a shame, isn’t it? I don’t even remember the last time there was a dryad running around in these parts.”
Some small part of me couldn’t help but question what the hell a dryad was, but it was buried under the torrent of exponential hate burning through me. I had always felt bad for Leo and his pack for being preyed upon by the brothers, but it turned out one of them had orphaned me.
“This does indeed complicate things, doesn’t it?” the witch mused as if we were having a normal conversation. “I came here seeking to even things out, but as it were, you were merely retaliating for things my sons did to you. Wicked, cruel things you didn’t deserve.”
Was… was she about to call it even?
“I hope that finding out about your heritage and knowing what happened brings you peace. I do wish you the best in your journey, and honestly, it would be a shame for it to end so soon. I am not an unreasonable woman. I know my sons got what was coming to them, but you must understand, I loved them. They were all my babies. And blood demandsblood.”
Her gaze turned to the wolf in front of me, whose hackles were raised in warning. I hadn’t even realized Leo was standing between all of his charges and the witch who could easily destroy us all.
“Ah, you’re the alpha. I’d know that posture anywhere. Let me propose a deal. I will take care to personally destroy every single member of your pack in the most violent way possible, especially that lovely dryad of yours.” What? That soundedcompletely at odds with what she’d just said! “Oryou can submit yourself to me to experience every one of my sons’ deaths over and over again until even your healing magic won’t save you.”
What?!
“Don’t do it, Leo,” I cried, struggling against Chiga’s grip. “Fuck her!”
“The choice is simple really, but I will not pressure you. You have one week to decide and complete anything that may be on your bucket list.” She flicked her hand, and a shining gem fell to the ground, bouncing right up against the line of dill I had thrown.
“This will lead the way for you. If you choose not to surrender yourself, you may run, but know that I will find you. I will spend every ounce of power within me hunting down all you’ve ever loved, and I’ll make you watch as I destroy them.”
Slowly, she began to rise into the air again, but she paused a few feet up. “I apologize for interrupting the party. It did smell quite lovely.”
Without another word, she continued her ascent and disappeared into the clouds, leaving the lot of us devastated and in shock.
What the fuck were we going to do?
42
LEO
Ven was a dryad.
That was about the only good news that came out of our unexpected encounter with the most powerful witch on the continent. It answered a lot of questions, and I was glad she had those answers just in case…
Well, just in case something happened to me.
How could I not sacrifice myself to keep everyone I loved safe?
“Come on, one of us has to have a connection withsomeconclave of witches!” Ricky barked, slamming his hand on the table. Normally, I wouldn’t let him disrespect Ven’s furniture like that, but Ven didn’t have any kitchen furniture anymore. Mostly because she didn’t have a kitchen.
When Katarina had first left, we’d all been paralyzed by the sheer shock. Ven had been the first to move, screaming her cats’ names and running into her destroyed house. I feared the worst, but somehow, despite all odds, she found all three of them. They’d been clustered together under her bed, tails wide and bushy, the whites of their eyes showing. They were doing muchbetter now in the greenhouse with their food, litter boxes, and Ven’s mattress.
“It’s called a coven, actually,” America corrected, but she sounded more weary than anything else. “And no, none of us do. Most magic users left this area when Katarina’s sons rose to power. And even if there were some lingering around, most of us would avoid them like the plague for obvious reasons.”
“Fuck,” Ricky snapped before standing and pacing the room. I hated to see my beta so wound up. He was frothier than I’d seen him in a long time, his scent sour and full of brimstone. “Then, we send word out to every single shifter we can find. She’s powerful, sure, but even the most powerful sorcerers can be brought down with enough numbers. Look at what we did with the brothers. And we fought multiple of them at a time. Imagine what we could do with a hundred of us!”
I admired Ricky’s passion, but I already knew what I was going to do. In my mind there was only one option. I would do what was necessary to save my pack without risking the lives of hundreds.
Besides, I was never meant for the softer, finer things in life. For kindness. For luxury. I was always destined for war, and with all the brothers gone, I’d served my purpose. So, if a simple sacrifice was enough to secure the future of my pack and everyone they knew, it was a no-brainer.
“We have been sending the word out,” Alicia said. “And we have many people coming in. People who owe your pack everything. But I don’t believe it’ll be enough. Katarina Morgana is the most powerful witch alive. So powerful that all her sons combined still didn’t feel comfortable challenging her. Those same brothers who managed to almost completely destroy your pack and enslave goodness knows how many of us. We need to be realistic about our chances.”
