Broken Curse

21

“But you won’t stay to start a family?”

“No.” I couldn’t lie, not to her. “Jacob made it clear that Aidan wouldn’t be welcomed anyway. My home is with him, and you know two alphas can’t live together.” Sam and I would be at each other’s throats.

“I feel like I’m losing you,” she whispered.

“No, you aren’t.” They’d been there for me and taken me in as part of their family. “Think of it as us growing. You’ll visit us all the damn time. Just give me more time to finish this.”

“Okay.” She cleared her throat. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I wished I could be there for her and comfort her more. I had to end this soon so we could move on with our lives. I ended the call and stared out the window.

Everything will be okay, Aidan said, trying to comfort me.

We were on the main interstate, leaving Athens behind us and heading back to the coven. I’d hoped to feel more relaxed the farther we drove, but it was the opposite. The girl would wake soon, and Barry could track her with the pack link. We had to figure something out fast. “Is there a way to block pack magic?”

Amethyst shifted, squirming away from Samuel, who sat in the middle. “What do you mean?”

“Ugh,” Gabby groaned. “The alpha bond. He can find her if we don’t do something.”

“That’s why you don’t take someone against their will.” Coral sighed. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“You didn’t see her,” Aidan said, coming to my defense. “Her dad has her brainwashed. She wants to die because she’s part-witch.”

“Well, that’s sunshine and rainbows.” Samuel turned toward the backseat and glanced at her. “Holy s**t, is she bleeding?”

“We had to knock her out.” Logan sneered. “It’s just a little blood, and she’s already healed. It could’ve been much worse.”

“He’s right.” The witches still hadn’t warmed to Logan and Gabby, and I couldn’t blame them. “And it was a good thing you guys didn’t stay at the hotel. Our room was ransacked.”

“Why the hell did you go back to the hotel room?” Coral gaped. “That was stupid.”

“The alpha obviously didn’t mind screwing a witch.” Gabby wrinkled her nose. “He wanted to have a hybrid to sink his claws into and brain f**k them. If he’d go that far, he also wouldn’t mind using a witch to locate us.”

“That’s so sad.” Amethyst frowned and shook her head. “Let me call Mom and see what she can find. I’m sure there’s something we can do.”

“It needs to be strong enough to hold until we can deprogram her.” I had no clue how long that would take, and we were already running out of time.

A little after eleven, we pulled into the coven. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far away from Athens, but we still had a lot of work to do before bed.

The others had arrived only a few minutes before us. They were at the back of the vehicle, pulling out the luggage, with Beatrice, Sage, and Rowan standing around.

Our group, except for Logan and Endora, got out of the car.

“Did you find a spell that would work?” Amethyst asked.

“Yes, we think we did.” Beatrice pulled her daughter into a hug. “Where’s the girl?”

“In the back with Logan,” Gabby said and moved the seat forward so Logan had more room to climb out. “She’s been out for several hours.”

“Someone needs to perform a perimeter spell in case this doesn’t work.” Beatrice looked at Rowan. “Can you and Coral handle that while we get the girl set up in the house?”

“On it,” Rowan agreed and grabbed Coral’s arm. “Let’s get Finn to help too. It’ll go faster.”

Aidan held his hands out toward the backseat. “Here, give her to me.”

The girl’s head was jostled from side to side as Logan placed her in Aidan’s arms.

Samuel cringed. “She looks pretty out of it. I bet she’ll feel it in the morning.”

“If her neck doesn’t snap first.” Beth held Endora’s head in place. “I mean, she looks like a bobblehead.”

Ada chuckled and covered her mouth with her hands. “I’m so sorry. That was inappropriate.”

Honor slapped her friend on the arm. “Behave.”

“If that’s the worst thing she experiences, it will be a blessing.” Amethyst turned to her mother. “Is there anything we need to get for the spell?”

“Just her blood.” Beatrice didn’t appear happy. “It links her to her pack magic.”

Sage said, echoing her son’s sentiments, “Against her will?”

“It’s not ideal.” Beatrice headed toward the house. “But it’s our only option unless you’d like to lead The Hallowed Guild wolf packs here. I’m sure the entire pack will come looking for her.”

“Point taken.” Sage nodded. “Let’s get her in before she wakes up.”

Logan jumped to the ground from the backseat, and he and Remus grabbed our bags before following us.

“For her to appear so small, she’s stout.” Aidan laid the girl on the couch.

Logan placed the bags by the door. “And I had to run with her to the Suburban, so I don’t want to hear it.”

“In all fairness, you didn’t ask for help.” Remus dumped the luggage and made his way next to Ivory.

“Well, it’s a weakness.” Logan stood straight and avoided our gazes. “Just forget I said anything.”

Maybe she’s not the only one who needs deprogramming. I huffed into Aidan’s head.

It’s part of the alpha males’ nature to feel that asking for help makes us appear weak. Aidan brushed his hand along my arm. So, give him a little slack.

Valid point. “What do we need to do?”

“There’s a small black bowl next to a dagger sitting on the kitchen table.” Beatrice grabbed a pillow and placed it under Endora’s head.

I found the items and brought them back to her.

“Mom, are you sure about this?” Amethyst tapped her foot. “I mean, she should have a choice.”

“Her choice would be not to do it.” Sunny patted her shoulder. “Believe me. We’re protecting her. I promise.”

Endora groaned and moved her head to the side.