Shadow Witch

Chapter Three

    I stop in the middle of the clearing about a half of a mile into the thick forest. When I would come out to watch the felines of the pack, this tended to be their favorite spot. The early morning sun shined here unobstructed.

    Now with the sun setting, darkness crept in.

    Closing my eye I try to feel for Maddie's magic. I need to know that she at least made it this far.

    "Was she here?"

    I spin around and gasp for breath, "Stop doing that asshole."

    "Not my fault you weren't paying attention. I knew exactly where you were because of the bond."

    "Well, I was trying to feel for your sister."

    He steps up next to me, closer than normal. Something shifted in the last hour. If I didn't know any better I would say the Alpha was in fact jealous of the Shadow. There of course wasn't much to be jealous of, Dante had been there to help me through the first few times I had visited the Shadow Plane. He had been able to show me the ropes and even how to protect myself from those that could care less what happened to me.

    "She was here, but not for long." I walk the outskirts of the cleaning, closer to the trees. 

    "How do you know it was her?"

    "You all have very distinctive magic."

    "I didn't know that."

    "Well if you weren't so busy being you, you might have."

    He ignores my jab, "What do we feel like?"

    I shrug, "Sammy is like mine, I could pull his out in a line up of a hundred shifters. Maddie is sort of like a soft light. I always say she's sunshine and rainbows."

    He smiles, "And me?"

    I blow out a breath and contemplate lying to him. I'm still unable to understand why I could always feel the slightest bit of his magic. At first, I thought it was because of his Alpha status, but after being around other Alphas so much I realized that was not the case. I'm too chicken s**t to even think the truth let alone say it out loud.

    "Yours is pretty strong. I don't know how to describe it because it's always around."

    "Even without the bond?"

    I nod, "Yes."

    "Why?"

    "If I knew I'd tell you."

    "Are you sure about that?"

    I stop when I get a feel of Maddie from the south, "Yeah Ryhes I would tell you."

    I turn and start through the trees. We walk in silence. I can feel his eyes on me as I follow the thread of Maddie. When we both spot a pool of blood in the snow I stop and feel him press against my back, breathing deeply.

    "It's hers." He says, teeth clenched.

    I reach behind myself and grab for his hand, "It doesn't mean anything."

    His breath tickles my ear as I close my eyes. I allow Ryhes to hold me, trusting him not to let me fall. The farther south we go the stronger her magic is. We step out of the trees to one of the service roads.

    The magic stops completely.

    "They must have put her in a car," I say eyeing the tire tracks in the otherwise undisturbed snow.

    "Great job detective."

    I ignore the jab because his sister is missing and he's upset. I have to dig my nails into my palm to do it but I get there nonetheless. 

    "Not human, but not a shifter." I walk back to the tree line. Aside from myself and my mother, I've only ever been around one other witch. I take out my phone and dial the number.

    "Who are you calling?"

    "Your uncle, he shoulder be here. Your brother too." The phone rings twice before Ryker picks up.

    "Hello, sweetheart."

    I smile because while Ryhes and I have been butting heads, Ryker and I are usually always together when I visit the pack estate. 

    Ryhes growls and I turn to ignore it.

    "I need you and uncle Ryan at the south service road behind the estate."

    "Is everything okay?" Is my brother with you?"

    "No and yes."

    "What's going on?" I can hear him going down a set of stairs, probably the back steps to get to his uncle's lair. A door slams before he calls out to his uncle.

    "Ryhes will explain when you get here." I hang up the phone before he can push it.

    "Thanks for throwing me under the bus." He washes his hands over his face and through his hair, causing the long wavy brown locks to stand up for a few seconds before dropping back into their disheveled state. He stops pacing to look at me.

    "Welcome."    

    His eyes go vacant as he looks past me and to the entrance we came out of. Anger and fear rush through me in waves.

    "I need you to relax Ryhes."    

    "Sure I'll get right on that."

    "No need to be an asshole, I'm just trying to help."

    "Well then help. You haven't done s**t but state the obvious."

    "Well welcome back Alphahole, I wondered how long you would last." I turn and pace the side of the road.

    His big body blocks my path. We stand in a face-off, arms crossed. This is why I rarely did a bond. It f***s with your head till you can't tell who was feeling what. Especially when you still hadn't admitted to yourself that you might actually like the Alphahole.

    "I'm sorry."

    "It's fine."

    "It's not fine Summer. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

    I look into his swirling amber eyes and instantly relax. He reaches out a hand to cup my cheek, and fire ignites inside me.

    "Ta bron orm."

    "Of course your accent is perfect." I scuff making him smile. We both turn at the sound of snow crunching under tires.

    Ryker steps out and watches us. I try to put distance between us by turning but Ryhes just follows.

    "What's going on?"

    I wait for him to speak up and when he doesn't I jab him with my elbow.

    He grunts but answers, "Maddie is missing."