The Alphas Shadow

Chapter Fifteen- Heat

Maya sat across from the new couple, her fork poised mid-air as she watched her father—the man who usually ate like a soldier on a deadline—carefully blow on a spoonful of soup before offering it to Elara.

​This is actually happening, she thought, her brain still struggling to reconcile the "Big Scary Alpha" with the man currently nuzzling Elara’s ear. My best friend is my Luna. My dad is... well, he’s gone full-blown territorial psycho. I’m going to need so much therapy for this.

​But as she watched Elara’s gold eyes shimmer, a cold realization settled in Maya’s stomach, cutting through the humor of the situation.

​Does he even know? Maya’s fingers began to twitch, a nervous habit she’d had since she was a pup. Dad was focused on the mating bond, on the scent, on the physical claim. But Elara was more than just a lucky Omega. She was a ticking time bomb of ancient blood. Did Silas know about the coven? Did he know that the "working" trips Elara’s parents took overseas were actually a desperate game of hide-and-seek with a group of witches who wanted Elara’s head on a platter?

​Maya pulled her phone out under the table, her heart hammering. She needed to do what Elara was too distracted to do.

​To: The "Archaeologists"

Subject: CRITICAL UPDATE - BRP

​Guys, stop digging for a second. The transition happened. Elara shifted, and she didn’t just wake up—she awakened. Gold eyes. The whole bit. And it gets crazier. She mated. With my father. Silas. He’s marked her, but I don't think he knows what she's hiding from. The scent is going to be a beacon now. You need to get back here. The coven isn't going to miss this.

​She hit send, a heavy sense of dread settling in her chest. She looked up just in time to see Elara give Silas a shy, adoring smile, completely oblivious to the shadow hanging over her heritage.

​Maya forced a chuckle, trying to mask her anxiety. "Seriously, Dad, if you get any more protective, you’re going to start growling at the furniture."

​The elders are going to have a stroke, she thought absently, her eyes trailing to the Thorne family crest on the wall. Her kind sitting on the throne? The daughter of the ‘forbidden’ bloodline ruling the Black Ridge?

​The world was about to change. Dad thought he was just claiming a mate, but he had no idea he had just declared war on a coven that had been waiting for this moment for centuries.

​Maya looked at Elara, then at her father’s iron-tight grip on her waist.

​"God, I hope you’re ready for this, Father," she whispered under her breath. "Because once they find her, being an Alpha won't be enough."