Hated By The Alpha

Chapter 10

I stared at Alice as if she were an alien.

“Where did you get this stuff…”

“You want the truth, don’t you? Then listen to the end without interruptions.”

I nodded in agreement, limiting myself to silence. If she wanted quiet to spin some fantastical tale, I’d give it to her.

“You descend from a line of powerful witches, just as I come from a long lineage of werewolves,” Flora continued this time.

“Your name is Bridget Bishop, in honor of your great-great-grandmother, the first witch tried and condemned in the Salem witch hunts.” Agnes stepped forward, puffing out her chest and speaking with pride. “She became famous, and with her ashes, we managed to channel even more power to our clan.”

“I what?”

“Your mother was also a witch, but she never told you anything. She didn’t think it was fair to fill a child’s head with ideas like her mother did before her, so she chose to wait until you turned eighteen to tell you the story of our people.”

“The problem is she never even made it to your fifteenth birthday.”

“Quanah Parker, or just Parker as you know him, is the Alpha of our pack.” My confused expression must have given me away because Flora quickly explained. “He’s also a werewolf, and together, you two broke the curse!”

I laughed, unable to control it, my laughter bursting out. No one could make up something more fantastical than that! I’d already figured out I wasn’t dreaming, so there was only one explanation for this nonsensical conversation—they were all crazy, or I was the one who’d lost it.

“Show her! Show her your power!” Flora growled at my disbelief.

All three stared at me, and I stopped laughing, waiting to see what they’d come up with next.

Then Alice began speaking in Latin. I knew it was that language because I’d heard my mother sing in Latin before.

She joined her index finger and thumb, and the trees outside started shaking. A fierce wind burst into the house, flinging open doors and windows, knocking over vases, and making the old wood creak with its force.

I turned to her, startled by it all. It couldn’t just be a weather coincidence or a mere trick—the entire house was being battered by a gale.

Alice’s eyes were completely white, but not a dull, lifeless white; they glowed, their light spreading around the edges of her eyes, spilling out like a misty glow around her gaze.

“Alice!” I shouted for her, and with a few more words, she made all the wind vanish. “What… What are you?”

Her eyes returned to their natural brown instantly, and she smiled at me, proud of her power. I would’ve been too, if I weren’t terrified by the discovery.

“I control the air, just as Grandma Blanca has dominion over the earth, and you over fire.”

I swallowed hard and slumped into the chair. It wasn’t possible that I controlled an element, let alone fire. I’d never been good with anything involving fire. How could I master that element?

“I know what you must be thinking, dear. You don’t control it yet, but you will, because you have the power to command fire within you. But like everything in life, it takes practice.”

“Did my mother control fire too?”

“No, some of us are born without the power of the elements, but we learn to conjure forces over time.”

I was confused, unsure what to think of it all. A witch? Me, a witch? I couldn’t believe that was possible.

“But there’s more…”

“Enough, Alice, we’ve told her too much already!” Agnes protested, and maybe she wanted to protect me, but I needed to know the whole truth. It was time to end all the secrets.

“I want to know! I want to know everything!”

“She’s right, Agnes.” Grandma Blanca spoke, silencing the others. “It’s time she knows her role.”

“Many years ago, a witch fell in love with a Lycan. Our peoples were always enemies until the two met and, unaware of each other’s origins, fell in love. When they decided to marry, their parents and all the people were against it. They tried to make them see reason, but when they couldn’t, they resorted to drastic measures.”

“They sent Sannah on a mission across the Atlantic and told Mary he had died.” Alice continued the story. “In her fury and despair, she cursed both peoples. All the witches of Salem could no longer practice magic, while the Lycans’ punishment was to live apart, their pack unable to unite, and no new Alpha could rise.”

“Mary gave all her life’s power to ensure the curse lasted forever.” Flora spoke, and even her sweet voice couldn’t stop a cold shiver from running up my spine. “That’s when something dark came to Earth, fueled by all the love that turned to hate.”

“Unknowingly, Mary had given not only her life but the life of the child she carried. So, in her final breath, before that horrific creature took her, she declared the curse could be broken when the descendant of the first Wolf joined and had a child with a descendant of Bridget, her own lineage.”

I couldn’t even blink, feeling that if I did, I’d miss part of the story. How could someone have loved so much, and what had the hatred between the two peoples led them to?

But then…

“Parker, you mean Quanah, and I are those descendants? And—” my hands flew to my belly. “This baby is the prophecy’s child?”

My breathing quickened, and I kept staring at my belly. There was nothing there yet; it was still flat, no sign of a baby. But even so, I felt the need to touch and protect it in that moment.

“The moment that child was conceived, the entire curse ended! That’s why I can finally practice magic!” Alice said excitedly, a wide smile on her lips.

“Many of us went through generations without being able to practice, born and died without knowing what it’s like to control our power.” Grandma Blanca spoke, and I—

“And the Lycans? Are they finally united again?”

Silence fell, so heavy that if a pin dropped, we’d hear it.

It took a long time for Flora to finally give me an answer.

“It’s a bit more complicated. We can now gather and be a pack again, finally. But it’s something new, completely different from what we were used to. Let’s just say we’re in a process of adaptation.”

I felt she had more to say, but who was I to force her to open up? I didn’t understand their customs, not even those of my own people.

“Do you understand why it’s essential now that we take you to Quanah? You need protection.”

Agnes snorted and slammed her hands on the table, startling me.

“Enough, Alice! Stop talking; do you want to scare the girl?”

I just ignored her, already understanding that Agnes preferred to keep me in the dark.

“Why do I need protection?” Alice looked hesitantly at her mother and then at Grandma, but no one spoke; they all kept staring at me. “Can someone tell me why I need protection?”

“Because we don’t know what could happen if you… lose the baby.” Flora was the only one brave enough to speak. “William already tried to kill you; we can’t take risks.”

“But we can use magic for that; we don’t need him!”

“It’s more complicated than you think…”

“Can you please stop treating me like a child? Tell me already!”

“The night the curse was broken, a creature came to Earth. We believe it’s the same creature that came for Mary.”

“We believe?”

As if everything they’d told me wasn’t bad enough, all the things I needed to process now, learning to use my powers, and now they were saying they believed a creature from the dark was after me and my baby?

“We all felt its presence, like it’s a force above any of us.”

“Staying here is waiting for death. We may not know what it wants with you, but we’re sure it’s not anything good.”

Grandma Blanca stood from her chair and looked at me with the most frightening eyes I’d ever seen.

“The first time, it came here driven by Mary’s hatred, so we know what moves it! Do you want to stay and risk your life and your child’s? The choice is yours.”

I swallowed hard, wanting to go back to sleep, back to a week ago when I was unconscious in that bed, or better yet, back to four weeks ago when I met Quanah Parker.

It was obvious I had only one option, no other choice. I needed to face Parker, tell him about the baby, and get his protection.

“Then I think we’d better pack our bags. Let’s go talk to Parker!”