The Nighshade Chronicles: Book 1 - The Alpha Witch

Chapter 4: The Void - Kaelen

Running the pack borders always calms me. Running calms me. I think over the meeting with my father, the imposing reminders to select a mate, the importance of it being fated. The logistics of the alliance for Renni. The duty of an Alpha-Heir. I feel the wind in my fur, I smell the steel of the Spire. When suddenly I smell the faint hit of honey and shea butter and the ozone of a coming storm. I look up to see if there are clouds brewing and then, in an instant, everything disappears. The world, didn’t just end, it was, deleted. Gone.

Instantly I felt so alone, cold and unnerved. I have fan the border a million times and never have I ever come upon this place. I remember running where I think I am, the scorched earth where a witch was incinerated many moons ago. So when I crossed the veil, a veil that should not have been there and ended up in this darkness, I was immediately stunned. This place is void of all sounds, smells, sights, even the air feels different. No low hum of the Spire, no percussive beat of drums anywhere. The silence was physical, heavy. Absolute.

Diagnostic. Now. My mind immediately defaults to training, searching for a logical answer. A flashbang? A neuroshock? s**t, a stroke? Did I die?

My wolf should be scared, should be on high alert, but instead he just wants to stand here. Stay here. Wait. For what, I do not know.

Panic. Cold. Sharp.

Then I hear it, clear as day, in my head. Her voice, different, far away, almost like a mindlink, but not possible.

“This is the disturbance. He is the disturbance.”

“Hello?” I ask, “Who is this? How are you in my head?” There is no answer. Just more silence.

“Is he the reason for my braid? How did he get to grandmother's cabin?” The voice continues.

“What braid?,” I look around trying to see her, to see this cabin she talks about. But all I see is darkness. All I hear is more silence. I inch forward hoping that I can find her, or the cabin, but it’s just more darkness, more silence.

I try to link Vada, nothing. Remi. Silence.

“Dad? Are you there?” The hairs on my neck stand up as I realize I cannot reach any of them. Not even Dad, he never blocks me. The Alpha to Alpha son link is sacred. First I am blocked from him in sleep now HE is blocked from me in this place. This has to be the witches. But then why can I hear her. Why her? Who is she?

I have to leave this place. I have to go back to the pack. I have to talk to Vada. She is the only one that can help me. She will figure this out. I backpedal hoping a quick retracing of my steps will lead me out of the void.

I pushed at the boundaries. Testing the void. It was like screaming into the heart of a dead star. There was simply nothing there to receive the connection. I was nowhere. Nothing. This cannot be. I am an Alpha. I am linked to 1500 wolves. My mind is never completely silent. Never completely alone.

But I am stuck. No matter where I go it is just the void. I begin to whine, fear finally reaching my wolf.

“Ask her," Kyro murmurs in the far corner of my mind.

“Kyro, really, who’s her? Do you see anyone? How?”, I chastise. Usually he is my perfect half, giving sound advice, but how do I ask someone who isn’t even real? How do I ask, when all connections are lost.

“Ask her. Out loud. Ask her to release you.” He shrinks back further in my mind, I feel my body start to shift. The void is affecting him. He can’t stay here. But he knows something. He feels something.

“Kyro what is it?”

“Kael,” his voice nothing more than a whisper, “We.. are.. Blocked. Not by iron. By root. Ask her.”

I decide to try. To trust him. Anything. Something is better than nothing. “Root Mother, Father Wolf, I ask you to release me. Let me return to my pack. My lineage. Help me escape this place.”

I wait. Silence. Then as if the earth itself has shifted, I see an amethyst light surround the space and hear in my mind, “The Magic is Broken. We are one.” In my head. The same voice. The same girl. She heard me. I look around and find that I am returned to my pack border. To my left is the scorched earth of the witch's lands. I submitted. I broke Alpha code. And yet, I never felt more in control.

I begin to run, run as fast as my paws can carry me. “Vada, Remi, my office now,” I link my friends.

“Yes, Alpha,” comes to mind, strong, involuntary. It is only then that I realize that I used my alpha command. Damn it. I didn’t mean it. I’ll explain. They will understand. I run. Fast. As the woods begin to thin and the pack house starts to come into view, I shift mid-run, a feat only the strongest of Alphas can do. I pull a pair of shorts that I keep hanging on the hollowed out tree at the treeline closest to the back entrance to the pack house. Without stopping I pull the shorts on and sprint to the door. Not stopping I run through the back garden giving courtesy head nods to all whose paths I cross. I barely notice how they all bow in submission and show me their necks. I don’t have time to pull back my Alpha aura, even though I know I will hear it from my dad later. He will have questions. I will need answers. But I cannot tell him about the void. Vada. Vada will have the answer.

I fling open my door. Vada is searching the surveillance feeds across the packlands looking for the problem. Remi is picking out combat gear from the chest of arms, playing curiously with a pair of silver spike knuckles and throwing stars, his preferred fighting style.

“Shit.” I say outloud finally pulling back my Alpha aura. Kyro gives a low, grateful whine matching my relief. He’s already curling up in the back of my mind, exhausted. Secure in the knowledge the we are safe, home and that my Beta and Gamma got my back.

“Kael, I don’t see the disturbance? Which camera is it? How far should I go back?” Vada asks without even glancing away from the screen for a second.

“Sorry guys. Its not that kind of issue.”

“Ahh Man, I was ready to f**k things up,” Remi plops down on the couch still playing with his toys, seriously sad that his can’t use them irl.

Vada sighs and pushes away from the computer screens and looks at me deeply. Scanning me for any injuries. “Spill.”

I tell them everything, about the voice, the dream, the void, my wolf and most importantly about the silver haired girl who seems to center around it all. We sit in silence for a moment, absorbing the moment.

Finally Vada speaks, “First, Let me link your dad. I’ll tell him that your wolf had a pre-mate spike. Power fluctuation in preparation for the fate mate connection. Let him think that your mate just came of age and is near-by causing Kyro to go into overdrive. It happens, and it will make him happy that you already have such a strong connection to your mate. Let’s just hope that when you find her, she’s powerful enough to cause this spike or that your dad conveniently forgets about it.” Her eyes are back on the computer screens as she speaks. All business, the perfect Beta.

“Vada…”

“What Remi?”

“What if it it is his mate?”

“Best Case scenario, Remi. Best Case.”

“Ok. That works. So, what about the rest of it?”

“Vada, could it be something with the witches?” Kael asked curiously.

“I just scanned the cameras and you were close to the border. But Kael, you were literally just standing in the middle of the scorched part of the woods. A part you shouldn’t have been even able to enter. This has the witches, written all over it. Are you sure she “released you?” Vada lifts her left eyebrow, her characteristic look of skepticism.

“Yes. What can it mean?”

“I don’t know, yet. I have access to the archives. I go immediately and search for answers. We will figure it out.” I look over at my Beta and smile. I know that with her by my side I can handle anything.

“And if it is the witches messing with our Alpha, I will fight them to the death!” Remi stands and mocks various martial arts moves with surprising accuracy. Vada and I lock eyes and burst out into laughter, breaking the mood.

“Right Remi.” I joke as I throw a stress ball from my desk at him, which he stabs with his silver spikes triumphally.