Chapter 16
CAESAR
1 barely get the chance to roll off the bed when an eerie, cold wind sweeps through the room. Thankfully, the only item of clothing that I took off was my suit, and 1 hurriedly put it back of before checking on Amaya.
“Shit!” The cuss word involuntarily slips past my lips when I place a palm against her forehead. She’s burning up again.
Hotter than ever.
Just then, Henry rushes into the room.
“The witches are here, sir. You need to vacate the room right now.”
“But Amaya..”
“Miss Amaya is safe, but you won’t be if you stay here for much longer.” He cuts in, his voice dripping with panic. “The East Coast witches and Blue Rivers werewolves are not exactly friends. They could hurt you. We need to leave. Now”
I throw one last glance in Amaya’s direction, unable to understand the painful feeling that unfurls in my chest as Henry pulls me away from her.
Suddenly, it hits me with startling clarity that I don’t want to be away from her. What if something bad happens? What if the witches are unable to help her and she only gets worse?
When we finally arrive outside Grandma Gina’s rickety house, I stop in my tracks and look up at the heavens, my mouth slacking in awe.
“Storm clouds, sir. It means the witches are here.” Says Henry,
“Storm clouds” is an understatement. It looks like the heavens are mourning
The sky is gray and swirling, producing lightning sparks and rumbling thunder by the second.
It resembles a scene from Harry Potter come to life.
“Sir, you need to get in the car. The witches are close by,” Henry sounds panicked. I ignore him.
My skin pickles with awareness. I know they’re close by. I can feel them.
Just then, Grandma Gina appears on the porch, followed by Jayli who looks worried sick. Then the witches finally make their appearance.
Henry sounds like he’s on the verge of tears.
“Sir, you’re not safe here. Please come with me?” He half–yells.
But I can’t move. I’m fixed to the spot as I watch the procession of ethereal beings slowly emerge from the woods.
It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before. The lightning and rumbling of thunder become louder and more frequent, bathing the darkening atmosphere in shards of eerie gray light.
The surge of energy in the air is so palpable, so powerful, I can almost taste it. It suddenly dawns on me that there’s a very valid reason for the Blue River Pack’s continuous hatred for the East Coast witches. These witches are powerful. Too powerful.
A handful of them could raze my pack to the ground.
Chapter 16
They appear in a straight file, All ten of them. They’re led by the Chief Sorceress, Hermoine. She’s an elderly lady in her sixties who doesn’t look like she’s above the age of twenty.
The witches are all beautiful, Blindingly so. Hut none of them str my heart the way Amaya does.
1 expect them to recognize my wolf aura andl strike me dead on the spot, but they all walk past me like I’m invisible. Their blazing eyes are firmly fixed on Grandma Gina’s house. On Amigra
Five minutes later, their procession is complete and they’re all safely inside the house. Sunshine suddenly peeks from behind the clouds, gradually bathing the earth in brightness once again.
A minute later, everything returns to normal. It’s almost like a grand procession of witches did not just hold.
“Sir, it’s still not safe here. They could come back for you. We have to leave.” Henry insists.
I sink my hands into the pockets of my slacks and lift a brow at hun.
“I’m not going anywhere until I’m sure that Amaya is okay.”
He frowns at me. “I don’etinderstand, sir. I thought you didn’t like her.”
His words are like a fireball straight through my heart
Henry’s got a point. I thought I didn’t like Amaya. But why does my heart hurt at the thought of her in pain!
Why can’t I bring myself to walk away and leave her behind?
AMAYA
I never felt a single iota of pain throughout the night. In fact, I slept like a baby. But right now, I’m certain that I’m burning in hell.
My entire body hurts. I want
scream and cry, but my my own body. I can’t speak. I can only endure.
y mouth refuses to obey the orders from my brain. I’m trapped insi
1 hear viscous chants above me, chants that call to
my soul and awaken my spirit.
“Guardian spirits set her free.
Guardian spirits guide her soul.
Guardian spirits lead her path; to the light, spirits, we pray..”
Suddenly, it feels like my soul is tearing through my body, struggling to escape a trap of some sort.
The pain becomes so unbearable that I finally surrender. I can’t fight anymore. I’m weak. I’m exhausted.
This is the end…
CAESAR
It’s been five hours. Five bloody hours since the witches made their appearance. Five hours since they went in to cure Amaya. And during this time, the house has been as silent as a tomb
I’m one hundred percent certain they must’ve cast a sound proof spell on the house because the silence is unnatural
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12:53 Tue, Dec 3
Chapter 10
Just when I’m about to lose any ever loving mind, the door open once again and Grandma Gina appears on the porch. I get off my perch on the car and calmly walk towards her, my heart dipping when I notice her unhappy expression
“How is she?” I ask as calmly as I can.
“She’s good. The witches were able to drain the poisonous potion from her blood”
I almost do a double take.
“Wait. Did you say poisonous potion?”
Her eyes darken with anger and it suddenly hits me that her unhappiness is directed at me. What the hell did I do
“Come in. The Chief Sorcerss would like to have a word
Without waiting to see if I’d actually oblige, she turns around and walks inside.
ny need to
I can feel Henry’s judgemental stare on the back of my head and know I should be hesitating, but my burning know if Amaya is really okay takes over and I walk into the gloomy room.
There are three people in the sitting room when I walk past the door- other witches are nowhere to be seen.
the Chief Sorceress, Grandma Gina and Jayla. The
“Mr. Manchester.” The Chief Sorceress says authoritatively, pinning me in place with her sharp green eyes.
“Did you pay for our flight to New York?”
I nod. “I did.
Her eyes
“Why?”
I do not even hesitate. “I did it for Amaya.”
She smirks and looks away in disgust, spinning a tiny dragon ball between her thumb and forefinger over and over.
someone who plans to cause her pain, you sure are great at pretending to care.”
“For s
Annoyance shoots through my bloodstream.
“If you have a point, I suggest you get to it quickly.”
She turns those strange eyes to me once again and a shiver snakes up my spine.
“I’ll go straight to the point then.
I want you to understand that the fire bond we cast on Amaya is the only reason she’s alive today. If we had cast the spelli minutes later, she would never have made it out alive and it’s all because of you and your people.”
The shock in my system gradually mixes with anger, making it difficult to breathe or even think properly. What the hell does she mean by that?
“We found traces of a very powerful and poisonous potion in Araya’s blood. Not just that, the potion was directly targeti at her blood cells, instead of her organs, making it clear that this act was carried out by someone who knew exactly what: was doing.”
1 freeze.
The easiest way to kill a witch is by poisoning her blood. And only werewolves who are high in rank are pi
information.
to that
Chapter 16
The Chief Sorceress is mot done;
“We made further investigations and found out that the potion was laced in a cake that was given to her by a member of your staff. Your housekeeper to be precise.”
I blink in shock, trying hard to process the information I just heard.
My housekeeper. There’s only one housekeeper at the penthouse where Amaya and her children stayed. Laila.
“So you’re saying that Laila poisoned Amaya?” I ask, my voice biced with disbelief.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Now, a housekeeper would not have any motive for poisoning her boss‘ wife–to–be, so I reckon she must’ve been acting according to the orders of a higher power.
This unfortunate incident happened to Amaya while she was under your watch, and I suggest you get to the root of it as soon as possible, before we’re forced to step in.”
I nod, fisting my fingers as anger swirls through my veins.
1 could never belive in aghousand years that Laila was capable of poisoning anyone, but here we are.
“That’s all the information we were able to get, unfortunately.” The Sorcerss says, getting to her feet. “However, we’ve been able to restore Amaya’s memory of that night. When she wakes up, she should be able to tell you everything that happened.” “What kind of potion was given to her?” I ask suddenly
The Midnight Jade. It’s a rare potion that not only causes the quick death of a witch, but also causes memory loss. I have no idea how our Amaya survived but she’s insanely lucky.” Grandma Gina replies.
“And being rare, it can only be accessed by top–ranking werewolves and witches. How exactly did a housekeeper have access to it?” Jayla asks no one in particular.
The atmosphere is swaddled in a thick layer of mystery as we all get lost in our thoughts.
If Laila was working for someone, who was it? All I know is that anyone who tries to kill Amaya is an enemy of mine. End of
story.
“The witches cannot waste another minute here.” The Chief Sorceress suddenly says. “It’s not safe. We need to leave.”
She turns t
to leave but I stop her.
“Wait.”
She pauses and turns to me. “Yes?”
“Why aren’t you blaming me for poisoning Amaya? I mean, we’re not exactly paddies. This could be my fault.”
She holds my gaze for a moment, her eyes darkening with an emotion I don’t quite understand.
“Trust me, Alpha Caesar, if you were responsible for Amaya’s situation, you would not be breathing right now…”
AMAYA
I struggle to peel my eyes open, feeling like I was run over by a truck.
A wince slips past my lips as my sore muscles protest when I try to lift my head. Five seconds later, I give u the white painted ceiling, struggling to gather my thoughts.
I just stare
12:53 Tue, Dec 3 GB.
Chapter 16
Suddenly, the door slams open snd footsteps pound in my direction. I smell her before she jumps atop the bel Jayla,
“Amaya? Are you awake?” She asks urgently, pausing by my bedle.
I gently turn my head in her direction and her eyes fill with happy tears.
“You’re awake! Oh, goddess, I’m so relieved.”
Paying no attention to my screaming bones, she dives atop the bed and wraps her arms around me, burying her face in my neck.
“I’m so happy you’re back. You have no idea how worried you made us. Don’t you dare do that to us again!”
Despite the fog of pain that clouds my brains, I cannot help my smile.
“I missed you, too, pumpkin. How are my babies? And Grandma
“They’re perfectly fine.” Suddenly, she leans back and frowns. “We asked him not to, but Caesar went ahead and hired a nanny to look after Heaven and Neveah around the clock. That man is as stubborn as a mule.”
At the mention of Caesar’s name, my stomach clenches in awareness and the smile on my face disappears.
“What are you talking about?”
“That stubborn arse man!” She snaps. “You’ve been out cold for three days, Amaya. During that time, Caesar barely went home. He literally camped outside in his car the entire time.
Not just that, he keeps stocking the house with groceries and food, and he keeps trying to convince grandma to give him permission to move her to the city! The nerve of that man. Unfortunately, I think grandma is starting to like him.”
I struggle to sit up and Jayla immediately tries to help me.
The moment my back hits the headboard, I freeze as the memones
s comes flooding in.
Memories of that night.
The car ride. The driver, Elle. The second car.
Pain explodes in my head and I wince as I lower my face to my hands. I can remember everything-
“Amaya, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Jayla asks urgently.
I lift my head and hold her gaze.
“Elle, Cesar’s ex–wife. Everything that happened that night was her doing..
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