The Beta's Witch

Chapter 13: Safety First

ADRIANA’S POV

Lucas walked into the room, taking a seat at the head of the table. He’d said he had to take care of something and would meet us in a few minutes. As soon as he sat down, Elijah pounced.

“I still don’t see why my mate is the best choice for this mission.” He growled.

“I think you’ll find that Taylor is uniquely qualified to handle this situation.” I said sweetly. I knew I was being a brat, but Taylor was far from delicate. I had a bruised shoulder to prove it.  

We had moved back to the pack house. All six of us sat at a long oak conference table in another impeccably decorated room. I imagined this is where the pack conducted business with outsiders. Despite the décor, it was far too practical for anything else. I admired the deep blue accented chairs. Lucas hadn’t spared any expenses, if the large flat screen behind the head of the table meant anything, this room was fully equipped to run a rather smooth operation.

The orchids in the center of the table were distracting. They were slightly withered from over-watering. Seeing them felt like an itch I just couldn’t scratch. I did my best to explain everything about Joseph Castor I had left out, while eyeing the plant.

“So, let me get this straight,” Lucas said. “Your Uncle, who was a warlock and is now a vampire­­­-”

“Still a warlock.” I interjected.

“-has been masquerading as a newbie lawyer in my company-”

“A rather flamboyant, newbie lawyer, I might add.”

“-and somehow managed to hide his vampire nature, so he could watch you for the past six years?” the Alpha finished. I could tell he was glaring at me from the corner of my eye, but those damn flowers were still bothering me.

“Sounds about right.” I confirmed, distracted. It felt like the plant was beckoning me. I felt a tug in my chest, pulling me towards the center of the table. Leaning over the table, I grabbed the pot and dragged it toward me, then dug my fingers in soil. So far, the magic that I had used didn’t require complex skill or concentration. Fortunately, the orchid knew exactly what it needed, giving me what it didn’t need and taking what it did.

Unfortunately, I still didn’t have the control I needed. Its leaves perked up, and the orchid bloomed fully, more vibrant, and alive then it had been moments before. Then it kept growing; new flowers budded, and the stem grew thicker and longer, blocking my view Taylor who sat across from me. I snatched my hands away before the roots broke the pot.

Although it wasn’t what I had intended to happen, I heaved a sigh of relief. Suddenly it felt like I could breathe more easily. I met Aerin’s gaze across the table. Her eyes were filled with wonder and, I sensed, a bit of longing. She picked up the plant and moved it to a shelf that lined the far wall.

I hoped that I could fix my memories as quickly as possible; I really wanted to help her.

“Oookay,” Elijah said, eyeing the plant suspiciously.

“Please continue,” I quietly directed at Lucas. Aiden got up and grabbed a napkin from the neatly organized shelves along the wall. He handed it to me, then took a seat on my right.

“None of this makes sense!” Elijah exploded, as if nothing had happened moments before. “Why would your uncle allow you and Daniel to masquerade as humans in wolf territory? We very easily could have become enemies.”

I shrugged, wiping the last of the soil from my hands, missing it almost immediately. “How should I know? I’m losing memories as we speak.”

The Gamma fell silent, as if he suddenly realized how insensitive he sounded. I sighed. “Look. I may have the answers to the questions you keep asking, but we won’t find out until I get my uncle to remove the spell. If he’s even still in Emberton.” I finished fearfully.

The possibility that Joseph Castor fled at the first sign of trouble was suddenly too real. He had always taught me that the best advantage you could have on an enemy is not getting caught. My uncle would have left and reevaluated from a more secure location at any sign of danger.

“Even if he left, I could still find him.” Taylor reassured me. Knowing a vampire vampire hunter definitely had its perks.

Strangely, Aiden had been very quiet during this entire conversation. I looked at him questioningly.

Lucas voiced what I had been wondering. “What are you thinking, Aiden? From the looks of it we don’t have a lot of time to waste.” The Alpha stared hard at Aiden, as if silently commanding something. I suddenly realized that was a very real possibility. Wolves could communicate to other members of their packs telepathically.

“I agree with Elijah,” Aiden said, looking directly at Lucas. “Neither of the ladies should go. It would be much safer if a small group of wolves retrieved Mr. Castor and brought him here.”

“Are you out of you mind?” I yelled, panicked. “You would risk a violent altercation with my uncle, to keep me from leaving the territory? What if one of your wolves were hurt? It would ruin any thought of peace between my people and yours.”

He had to realize that his protectiveness could mean the death of another wolf. I would rather wander Emberton aimlessly, with no memory at all, than allow someone else to get hurt because of me.

“Why don’t we call him and explain everything instead.” Aiden countered stubbornly.

Taylor cut me off before I could respond. “Vampires are cautious creatures, witches, even more so. Inviting him onto wolf territory would either put him on high alert or cause him to run. If Adriana asked for his help, without mentioning her memory loss, he won’t realize anything is wrong and we can corner him on much friendlier terms.”

“He won’t attack me.” I promised adamantly.

Aiden shot a glare at Taylor, before turning in his chair to face me. “I won’t risk you getting hurt. This isn’t a simple trip to a friend’s house. Joseph Castor is a combat trained vampire who wields magic. You don’t even know if he’s still on your side. We also have Sofia and these other witches to worry about. They could attack as soon as you step foot off the territory.”

Lucas tensed, then attempted to cover the action by leaning back in his chair. “Aiden has a point. We, unfortunately, still don’t know where Sofia is, and she doesn’t seem likely to stop hunting you.”

“I can help with that,” Carson said, walking into the room. He laid four phones on the table, then turned to Lucas. “I installed my tracking software into our phones. All we need to do is reach Sofia and get her to stay on the phone for at least a minute. Then I can trace the call to the exact spot she’s located. Most software like this has to bounce off of cell towers and will give you a general location, mine will scan every IP address in her area until we lock on her phone.”

“Can we do that?’ I asked no one in particular.

“Legally, no.” Carson replied. “But pack’s follow their own laws. Besides, I programmed Sofia’s device, like all ranked members, so I’ll only be pinging off of other cellphones until we match hers to the one in my system. Assuming she’s using the same phone.”

“Let’s find Sofia first.” Lucas decided. “Then we can revisit this conversation.”

“I don’t have time!” I argued. At the rate, the spell was eating my memories I would be having more frequent periods of memory loss followed by a total memory wipe. It would take maybe 24 hours before the spell righted itself, taking everything I knew with it.

“Give us 8 hours, Dri,” Elijah reasoned. “If we can’t bring Sofia in by then, I’ll support your plan.” He paused. “On the condition that a few wolves are in the area in case things go south.”

I huffed, but eventually nodded.

“If you’ll excuse us, ladies,” Lucas said, dismissing us. Taylor, Aerin and I left the room together.

As soon as got into the hallway, Aerin grabbed my arm, swinging me around to face her. “How did you do that?” she demanded.

“Do what?” Taylor asked incredulously, gently prying Aerin’s fingers off my arm before it bruised.

“The plant,” I explained, grinning. “Witches are keepers of the balance. When I walked into the room, I sensed something was wrong with it. The orchid knew what it needed, I just provided that magic.” I studied the Luna for a few seconds before coming to a decision.

“Though I supposed you sensed it too,” I said softly.

. . . . .

AIDEN’S POV

We all stared at the phones Carson had brought in.

“We only have one shot at this.” Carson informed. “She may get suspicious if we all blow up her phone. I downloaded the software onto each of our phones, because I wasn’t sure which one of us would make the call.”

Lucas absently stroked his beard. “I doubt she will answer a call from anyone other than Aiden.” The Alpha surmised. He scooped up my phone and tossed it to me. I caught it easily. “Call her. Pretend you miss her and that you want to meet up.”

“After everything she’s done, do you really think she’ll fall for that?” Elijah asked dubiously.

I watched Carson’s jaw harden. Whatever had happened during the time Sofia and I were together made it hard for him to even hear about her. His reaction was so consistent that I couldn’t help but look for it every time her name was mentioned.

“I don’t see why not.” Lucas said, sliding Elijah’s phone towards him. Carson took his as well. “She didn’t confirm that Adriana was really Aiden’s mate before she took her little tantrum.”

“How do we explain how protective Aiden was in the office?” Elijah countered.

“We could say Adriana is Carson’s mate?” Lucas offered. I growled reflexively. The idea of anyone else claiming Adriana made me burn with jealousy. She was mine. An assenting growl reverberated in my head. Tobias was getting impatient.

“Chill Aiden.” Lucas warned. “We just need to tap into her phone. Worse comes to worse, we need you to get her to agree to meet. She won’t if she thinks you’re in love with another woman.”

“But I am in love with another woman!” I argued. “I don’t think I can convince her that I still have feelings for her. Not after everything she’s done to Adriana.”

“It’s not just about you and Adriana anymore,” Lucas said quietly.

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “I noticed you left the pack house early today and you didn’t accompany us to the conference room either.”

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of the ladies.” Lucas explained. “Two other pack members have been attacked. By the same mind control crap that affected Elijah.”

“What?” Elijah shouted. “Why didn’t you link us? What the hell Luc!”

“Calm down, Eli,” Lucas warned. “I didn’t want to cause alarm. Besides, both pack members snapped out of it when they realized they had been caught.”

“Sounds less painful than what Adriana had to do to fix your thick head.” I grinned, looking over at Elijah. Yeah, I was upset Luc hadn’t told us sooner, but none of the members of our pack were harmed so I wasn’t too pissed.

 “You should have told us Lucas.” Elijah continued, ignoring me.

“You’re right,” Lucas conceded. “You had just been attacked less than 24 hours ago and Aiden is still dealing with his mate. I wanted to give you both some time.”

“We are your Beta and Gamma,” I scolded. “It’s our job to support you in all matters concerning the pack. We need to know what’s going on. Elijah and I would drop anything to make sure this pack was safe.”

Lucas nodded gratefully. “Noted.”

Carson finally took a seat, rubbing his face. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste on sentiment. From what Elijah told me, the frequency of Adriana’s memory loss gives us less than a day to make it safe for her to find her uncle.”

“She shouldn’t leave the grounds at all.” I said. “Even if she loses all her memories, we can find another way to get Joseph here.”

I still didn’t see why Adriana needed to leave the safety of the pack house. Losing her memories temporarily would suck, but we could retrieve them when we finally got her uncle here. I refused to lose my mate again.

“You’re an i***t,” Carson growled.

“Want to try that again,” I slammed my hands down on the table and stood. The chair overturned behind me.

Carson acted indifferently, which pissed me off even more.

“You would really keep her locked away like a caged animal?” Carson accused. “She’s terrified, and you would rather let her live her worst fears than to try it her way.”

“What do you know about her worst fears?” I challenged.

“More than you it would appear,” Carson spat.

I saw red. Tobias pushed his way through to the surface, shredding my clothes. In a few seconds we had shifted, an over-sized black wolf in conference room meant for humans. Tobias leapt for Carson. Just as our claws were about to dig into his smug face, something barreled into our side. We landed in a heap on the floor, Lucas standing over us breathing heavy. His eyes burned with anger.

“Shift,” the Alpha commanded. “Now.”

I had no choice but to comply. Just as quickly as we had transitioned from man to wolf, we shifted back. My chest heaved with barely controlled anger. I wanted to glare at Carson, but Lucas was blocking my vision. It was hard to refuse the Alpha my attention anyway. He looked as murderous as I felt.

“Get yourself together Aiden. I understand you have a lot going on with Adriana and Sofia, but the way you’re acting needs to stop. Carson is right. We don’t have a lot of time and Adriana shouldn’t have to lose all her memories, if we can help it. One more outburst and I swear I’ll break your neck myself. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes Alpha,” I heard myself say.

“Good,” Lucas said, “Now make the damn call.”