The Weakest Wolf's Revenge

Chapter Four

Roxie's POV

"My mother is dead." The words came out hollow, even as my glowing blood told a different story.

The ancient voice laughed in our minds. "Dead to the wolf world, perhaps. But very much alive to us."

Raptor grabbed my bleeding hand, wrapping it quickly. The moment his skin touched mine, the voice shrieked and vanished.

"What did you do?" I gasped.

"Iron nullifies witch magic." He showed me his palm—a tattoo of iron dust embedded in the skin. "Old precaution."

"You knew about witches?"

"I know about threats." He turned to Katya. "How many?"

"Thirteen." Her fingers flew across the tablet. "They're surrounding the compound."

"They can't enter," Raptor said. "The walls are lined with iron."

"But we can't stay trapped forever," Katya pointed out.

My mind raced. My mother was alive. A witch. Which meant my father had lied about everything.

"I need to talk to them," I said.

"Absolutely not." Raptor's tone left no room for argument.

"They want me. Maybe I can—"

"Can what? Negotiate with beings who see you as property?" He moved closer, and his presence made my wolf purr despite everything. "You don't understand what witches do to hybrids."

"Then explain it to me!"

Before he could answer, Tor burst in. "Boss, we have a problem. The witch leader—she's requesting parley."

"No," Raptor said immediately.

"She's offering information," Tor continued. "About Roxie's mother. And about the curse."

Raptor went still. "What curse?"

"Your curse." Tor glanced at me. "She says she knows how to break it."

The room went silent. I watched emotions war across Raptor's face—hope, suspicion, anger.

"It's a trap," Katya said.

"Obviously." But the Raptor was already moving. "Set up the parley circle. Iron boundaries, neutral ground. And Roxie stays here."

"No." I followed him. "If this is about me—"

He spun, pinning me against the wall. Not violently, but his body caged mine completely. My wolf should have felt threatened. Instead, she wanted to bare her throat for him.

"You stopped my episode earlier." His voice was rough. "No one has ever done that. Which means you're either very powerful or very important to my wolf. Either way, I'm not risking you."

"I'm not yours to risk."

"Aren't you?" His hand came up, hovering near my face without touching. "Your wolf recognizes mine, even if you won't admit it."

"The mate bond is broken—"

"With Marcus, yes. But not with me." His golden eyes held mine. "You feel it. The pull."

I did. God help me, I did.

"Mates make you weak," I whispered, throwing his own philosophy back at him. "Remember?"

Something shifted in his expression. "Maybe I was wrong."

Before I could process that, he was gone, leaving me breathless against the wall.

"He's not usually like this," Katya said, studying me. "Raptor doesn't do emotion. Or connection. You're changing him."

"I'm not trying to—"

"Doesn't matter." She pulled out a syringe. "We need more of your blood. For testing."

"Why?"

"Because if you're really a hybrid, your blood might be the key to everything. Including his curse."

I let her take the sample, watching my blood glow in the vial.

Twenty minutes later, we stood at the edge of the parley circle. Raptor had refused to let me participate, but I could watch from the security room.

The witch leader materialized from smoke—literally. She was younger than her voice suggested, maybe forty, with silver hair and eyes that shifted color like oil on water.

"Beta Raptor," she said smoothly. "Still fighting your nature, I see."

"State your business, witch."

"Such hostility." She smiled, revealing too-sharp teeth. "When I come bearing gifts. Information about your little hybrid's mother. Would you like to know why she ran?"

"Talk."

"Twenty-three years ago, a young witch fell in love with a wolf. Forbidden, of course, but love makes fools of us all." The witch circled the iron boundary like a predator. "She became pregnant. The coven wanted to terminate the abomination, but she fled. Hid among wolves, binding her magic and the child's."

"But the binding is breaking," Raptor said.

"Clever boy. Yes. The moment the child felt true betrayal, the binding cracked. Her mate's betrayal started it. But it was her father's that shattered it completely."

My father knew. He had to have known.

"What do you want?" Raptor asked.

"The hybrid, of course. She belongs with her kind."

"She's a wolf."

"She's both. And neither." The witch's smile widened. "But I'm willing to trade. The hybrid for the cure to your curse."

My heart stopped.

"My curse can't be cured," Raptor said, but I heard the hope he tried to hide.

"Can't it?" The witch pulled out a vial of silver liquid. "This would give you complete control. No more episodes. No more killing innocents. No more being a weapon instead of a wolf."

Raptor stared at the vial. I could see him wavering.

"He won't trade me." The words left my mouth before I realized I'd spoken into the intercom.

The witch's eyes snapped to the camera. "Ah, the hybrid speaks. Tell me, child, do you know what you're capable of? What power runs through your veins?"

"I don't care."

"You will." Her image flickered. "When the moon turns black in three days, your full power will manifest. And when it does, every supernatural creature within a thousand miles will feel it. They'll come for you. All of them."

"Then we'll fight," Raptor said.

"You'll die." The witch's expression turned serious. "Unless she comes with us. We can teach her control. Keep her safe."

"Cage her, you mean."

"Perhaps. But a gilded cage is better than a grave."

"The answer is no."

The witch sighed. "I hoped you'd be reasonable. But I suppose we'll do this the hard way." She vanished, but her voice lingered. "You have three days. When the black moon rises, she'll beg to come with us. And you'll beg us to take her."

The parley circle went dark.

Raptor stood there for a moment, then crushed something in his hand. The vial. He'd taken it and destroyed it.

He'd chosen me over his cure.

I ran from the security room, reaching him just as he turned from the circle.

"Why?" I demanded. "That was your chance—"

"To be free?" He laughed bitterly. "I wouldn't be free if I traded you for it."

"But your curse—"

"It is mine to bear." He walked past me. "Get some rest. If the witch is right, we have three days to prepare for war."

"Raptor, wait—"

He stopped but didn't turn. "Don't make this more than it is, Roxie. I protect my pack. You're pack now. That's all."

But his wolf told a different story. Even from here, I could feel it reaching for mine.

"Katya found something," Tor interrupted, running up to us. "In Roxie's blood."

We followed him to the medical wing where Katya was staring at a computer screen.

"This is impossible," she muttered.

"What is?" Raptor demanded.

She turned the screen toward us. "Her blood doesn't just have witch markers. It has something else. Something ancient."

"What do you mean, ancient?"

"I mean pre-curse ancient. Before the Great War that separated witches and wolves." She looked at me with something like awe. "Your bloodline goes back to the Original Pack."

"The Original Pack is a myth," Raptor said.

"Is it?" Katya pulled up another screen. "Because, according to this, Roxie isn't just a hybrid. She's a descendant of the Moon Goddess's first children. The ones who could shift between all forms—wolf, witch, human, and..."

"And what?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Dragon."

The word hung in the air like a bomb.

"That's why everyone wants her," Tor breathed. "If she can access that power—"

"She could destroy or unite all supernatural races," Katya finished.

I stumbled backward. "No. That's not... I'm weak. I can barely shift—"

"Because the binding suppressed everything," Raptor said quietly. "But it's breaking now."

As if in response to his words, my skin began to glow. Not just my blood—my entire body emanated soft silver light.

"It's starting," Katya whispered. "The awakening."

Pain shot through me, dropping me to my knees. But it wasn't normal pain. It felt like something inside me was trying to claw its way out.

"Make it stop," I gasped.

Raptor knelt beside me, pulling me against him. The moment he did, the pain lessened.

"How?" Katya asked.

"The mate bond," Raptor said grimly. "I'm anchoring her."

"But that means—"

"That without me, she'll lose control when the black moon rises." He met my terrified gaze. "And with me..."

"With you, what?"

"With me, we're bonded forever. True mates. No breaking it. No walking away."

The pain surged again, and I pressed closer to him, feeling our wolves connecting in a way that transcended the physical.

"Choose," he said roughly. "Bond with me, or face this alone."

But before I could answer, another voice filled the room. Male. Familiar.

Impossible.

"Hello, daughter."

I turned to see a man I'd only seen in pictures. A man who supposedly died before I was born.

My real father.

And his eyes were glowing with the same silver light as mine.