The Beta's Witch

Chapter 11: Missing Pieces

ADRIANA’S POV

This child is heavy.

Daniel had refused so much as to open his eyes when I grabbed him from Henry's room. I was forced to carry him, knowing he would resist leaving this way. We didn't have the time . 

I replayed the memories of my life over and over in my head as I struggled down the stairs, forcing myself to listen to every scream, laugh and cry of my past from as far back as I could remember to the ritual I wished I didn’t have to remember. Already some of the details were fuzzy. 

Our bags dangled over my shoulders, as I carried the nearly comatose child toward the exit. The house was massive, I only vaguely remembered where it was. Bright eyed, kitchen staff watched my curiously as I made my way through the halls. None of them spoke, though I could tell by their glances they would have a lot to say when I was gone.

I finally found the right hall leading to the huge foyer of the craftsman style mansion, belatedly realizing the lights were not on, when a cold voice cut through me.

“Were you really going to steal away with my son’s new best friend in the middle of the night?” the voice scolded from the shadows.

An extremely annoyed looking Taylor stepped out of a dark corner, shadows clinging to her from. The way she stalked forward, gracefully unlike any other supernatural in this house, was eerily similar to a mountain lion.

“I, uh, what?” I stuttered. One, it was early morning, how late did these women sleep? And two, I couldn’t form another rational thought quick enough before Mrs. Thomas was on me.

Her speed was incredible. I barely had time to register what happened next. Taylor quickly transferred the sleeping child, barely jostling him, then zoomed up back the way I came. No doubt putting him back in bed next to Henry where I had found him. I whirled around, frantically trying to follow her movements; instead, coming face to face with Aerin Grey, the Luna of Midnight pack.

Aiden had yet to explain to the human me how packs worked, but with some of my memories returned I had the decency to feel suitably chastened. The meaning of her title slammed into me, forcing my eyes down in respect. I could feel the power of the Luna radiating off of her.

Wolf magic inherent to ranked members of packs affected other wolves in a subtler fashion, influencing loyalty and obedience. As a human I could just barely feel it. Though as a witch, I was more sensitive to the feel of magic, even if I wasn’t completely influenced by it. If I was a wolf, I wouldn’t be able to refuse submitting to the Luna, as it were, witches had a bit of wiggle room. I had a choice.

Wolves may favor the authority of the Alpha male, but I had been raised to respect the matriarchal line. My knees buckled slightly under her intimidating glare.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

“Leaving,” I gasped, the confidence in my choices completely undone by the judgment in her tone.

She shook her head. “Not like this, Adriana. Not in the wee hours of the morning, with no goodbye, and nowhere to go.”

I had somewhere to go, but I wasn’t sure I should tell her, fearing the repercussions of inciting yet another time old feud. The longer I stayed the more likely I would forget how to help myself.

I stared at her, considering. “It’s not safe for us, or you. Elijah was attacked because of me.”

“Elijah was attacked off pack grounds. You’re in the middle of Midnight pack territory, the safest place you and Daniel could possibly be.” She lectured harshly. “I don’t like being woken up early for things that can wait until a saner hour of the day. Go back to bed Dri.”

She stalked toward the stairs, leaving me staring at the spot she had once stood in. I had, maybe, a few days before the forgetful spell forced itself back into place. Whether or not I would remember everything after the spell was placed was tricky. Magic could be unpredictable, and very soon I could be left with no memory at all.

Realizing I hadn’t moved, Aerin threw one final command at my still from. “I don’t care what you do Adriana, just don’t leave the property.” Her voice softened, “Not until we have a chance to figure out what’s really going on.” She studied me for a few more seconds, as If waiting for me to respond. When I didn’t, she sighed, continuing up the stairs.

Well f**k.

….

….

After the unexpected confrontation, I found myself back in the guestroom. The floor was silent, I figured Aiden was probably still in Lucas’s office with the guys. I dropped the bags at the door and curled up on the bed. I was too exhausted to hold back the emotions threatening to consume me. Sobs wracked my chest, making it difficult to breathe. It felt like cathartic and painful at the same time. I cried until I had no energy left to cry.

Then I pushed myself up and wiped away the tears. That was all the time I would allow myself to cry. I robotically took a shower and got ready. I grabbed a pair of black jeans and snug-fitted black shirt. Similar to what I used to wear growing up. Black was far from my favorite color, but my Uncle had said you never knew when you needed to do some sneaking around.

I don’t know how long I sat staring at the floor before I heard a knock on my door. 

“Come in.”

Aerin and Taylor walked into the room, showing none of the annoyance from out earlier interaction. 

“Mrs. Grey, Mrs. Thomas,” I exclaimed, more than a little surprised to see them. 

“Adriana, we’ve known each other for years,” Aerin chided, “Call us by our names.”

“Right. Sorry.” I watched them carefully, unsure what was happening. They didn’t look angry or hostile. I couldn’t begin to imagine what they were all doing here.

“I had an omega take Daniel to school. Elijah said it was unlikely he was in any danger, but Carson has some of his best men watching the school just in case.”

I nodded, unable to find my voice. Even though I had quit and tried to sneak out without a goodbye, they were still looking out for us. That was more than I had ever expected. The last six years had affected me a lot more than I cared to admit, even more now that I remembered what it was like to have a family.

I wondered where my parents were now. 

“I’m Adriana Ryder. I work at Grey Enterprises with Mr. Grey and Mr. Thomas.” I said cheerfully, introducing myself.

Aerin’s and Taylor’s eyebrows went up. I walked to the unfamiliar bed in the center of the room. The two women followed, piling on the bed like it was a slumber party. So weird, I didn’t remember coming here. 

“I’m Taylor. This is Aerin. Elijah is my husband. And Lucas is Aerin’s.” Taylor explained patiently. Her thick Spanish accent drew me in. She impatiently tossed a lock of her auburn hair over her shoulder, golden eyes intently focused on me. Her brows drew together, concern marring her beautifully regal features.

I gasped, clutching at my head as I mentally pushed back at the encroaching magic. The spell was overriding my current memories as well. This wasn’t good.

Taylor winced slightly. Aerin smiled sympathetically, tugging at my hands before I pulled my hair. I felt a familiar spark at the contact. I made a mental note to come back to that when I wasn’t fighting to keep my sanity. When the dizziness passed, I straightened my spine, chagrin.

“So you’re both wolves?” I asked breathily, fishing for a distraction. Much to my relief, they played along.

“I am.” Aerin confirmed. “My father is the Alpha of a pack in Massachusetts. Lucas and I met at a Wolf Summit of the New England packs, a little after my eighteenth birthday. I came here shortly after.” She smiled delicately; her eyes slightly unfocused as if recalling a memory. Lucky her.

“I’m not,” Taylor chuckled at my puzzled expression. “I’m a vampire.”

“Really?” An idea was forming in my head.

“She was also a bad ass vampire hunter,” Aerin sighed wistfully.

I stared at her dumbfounded. “A vampire that hunts vampires?”

She shrugged, then smiled, revealing perfectly sharp canines. She was definitely a vampire. “Not just vampires. I took it upon myself to put those who stepped out of line back in their place,” she explained in mock modesty. I’m she was compensated generously for her troubles.

Her grin widened when she caught me staring. It wasn’t just the pointy teeth. She was drop-dead gorgeous. If I didn’t have this weird thing going on with Aiden, she could have convinced me to switch teams.

“Wait a minute. I thought wolves only mated with other wolves.” This was getting freaky.

“I thought the same, until Elijah felt the mate bond with Taylor.” Aerin said casually, picking at a rogue strand on the comforter.  Taylor looked at me strangely.

“A wolf and witch pair is no less strange.” Taylor joked. 

My face grew hot. “Actually-“

“Adriana,” Aerin cut in, drawing my attention, “Lucas told me you were thinking of leaving. I thought maybe there was a chance we could convince you and Daniel to stay?”

I was already shaking my head, “I don’t know how much he told you but it’s too dangerous. I don’t want your family to get hurt because of me.”

“You may not realize it yet, but you are our family too.”

“What?” my voice broke as I looked at the Luna. There was no deception in her eyes. Just love. Looking at Taylor, I could tell she felt the same way. They didn’t know me and yet they had already accepted me. Only because they think I’m Aiden’s mate, I realized.

“You don’t really know who I am. You don’t want me here.” I looked down at my hands. No matter what they said, I had a feeling once the truth had revealed itself, they would kick me to the curb. The smell of death was something I could never wash away.

“Adriana,” said Taylor carefully, “We aren’t the only ones who want you to stay. The guys want you to stay too. And Aiden.”

Aiden. Everything in me wanted to run into his arms and block out the rest of the world. The strength of our connection was undeniable and yet, something was still bothering me.

“Aiden has a mate.” I said roughly, “She may be a little crazy, but they are mates.” I couldn’t let myself get worked up over a guy that was claimed. I wasn’t even a wolf. It was unheard of for a wolf to find his mate in a witch.

Taylor and Aerin exchanged looks before she spoke again. “We don’t think Sofia was ever Aiden’s mate.”

My traitorous heart leapt. If I wasn’t being drawn to Aiden to help Sofia, then could it be that we really were mates? That left me with more questions than answers. Who helped Sofia fake the mate bond? How were the three of us connected?

And why was my best friend trying to kill me?

While I mulled over Sofia’s betrayal, Taylor clapped her hands together, startling me back to reality.

“Why don’t we have a girls’ day? Massages, spa treatments, and pedicures,” She grinned, eyes sliding between me and Aerin, who also seemed on board.

“I have a better idea.” I grinned impishly. My deviousness must have been infectious, the mischievous glint in their eyes most definitely matched my own. They leaned forward eagerly as I told them what I had in mind.  

. . . . .

CARSON’S POV

The Alpha, Beta and Gamma had been debating for a few hours. Breakfast had been delivered to the office, the omegas had set up an elaborate tray of breakfast foods, something they did every morning. The pack had more than enough money, to eat lavishly, as well as abundantly, and wolves ate a lot.

I was picking at the mountain of bacon on the tray, half listening to the conversation. Part of me still wanted to help Adriana, but it seemed she belonged to my brother now. A flash of jealousy stung me in the chest. I shoved it away, not willing to revisit those feelings. 

 “What’s the plan Luc? We can’t just leave her like this,” Elijah demanded, scowling hard at the door like it would reach Adriana.

Lucas hadn’t stirred since the witch’s display of power, chin resting in his hand staring pensively ahead.

“We’ve haven’t encountered witches before, let alone an entire coven,” Lucas mused, distracted. I walked back to my spot at the door. The Alpha was cautious and very protective of his pack, in a way we all were. Even though leaving Adriana to deal with Sofia or anything else, felt wrong, the pack always came first. 

“Come on, man. How long have we known her? She’s like a little sister to us. Our kids love her!” Elijah argued, gesturing wildly. The Gama was usually animated, his passion regarding the people he loved was honorable.

“But up until this point we knew nothing about her,” I countered.

“That wasn’t entirely her fault!” Aiden argued angrily.

“Enough,” the Alpha called tiredly, rubbing his temples.

“First and foremost, Aiden how are you feeling? This has been one thing after another regarding the issue of who you mate is.”

The question took Aiden by surprise. Most times Lucas was a hothead, determined to protect the pack, but he did care about his friends.

“Not gonna lie man, I’m stressed the f**k out. I finally found my mate, but she’s a witch and someone is trying to kill her. Then on top of that she doesn’t even believe she is my mate!”

I scowled at the floor. The issue of my brother’s mate hit close to home. It was something I didn’t allow myself to focus on for to long. 

“Are you sure she’s your mate?” I asked before I could stop myself. Two pairs of wary eyes shot toward me. I was sure the Alpha and Gamma knew my brother and I didn’t really get along, but they didn’t know why. Not even Aiden knew why. 

Aiden growled, sounding more wolf than man. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

I held his gaze, challenging his stare. We hadn’t been close for years; rarely ever did we see eye to eye. He may have been my Beta, but Lucas had named me Captain, an official overseer of the packs training and guard. At times, the lines between my position and the roles of the Gamma and Beta blurred, allowing me to speak more freely than other pack members. Much like my brother, I challenged authority just as quickly, and I didn’t back down.

Elijah cut in before our stare contest turned into something worse.

“She’s family,” he said firmly. “Even before Aiden realized she was his mate, if Adriana had asked for help, I would have done anything to make sure she was good. I know she would have done the same for us.”

Lucas nodded in agreement. Adriana had been climbing the company ladder at Grey Enterprises for almost five years. She was good at what she did, and my research indicated she had caught Lucas’s attention pretty early. Part of me still believed I knew her better than all of them. Even though she revealed to Aiden the secret that had been frightening her all these years before me. Driving her home had been the closest I’d come to breaking down her walls. She used to shut down when people asked questions about her life. Because of that I had gotten really good at picking up on the things she didn’t say.

Adriana had left something out of her story, and it wasn’t because of her memory. She was hiding something.  

“Carson,” Elijah said slowly, severing my train of thought. “How do you know Adriana?”

The three of you. She had said three of us made her life bearable. She hadn’t known Aiden for long, so the only other person she could have been talking about was me. I hadn’t meant to keep it a secret, I just wasn’t as close to the Alpha and Gamma as my brother. If I had begun asking around, things would have become very uncomfortable for Dri. If the others started looking into her as well, she may have run.

I cursed the Gamma’s intuition. He was uncharacteristically wise when he wasn’t being such a clown. I grudgingly respected the man. Elijah understood people, picking up on the little things that no one noticed, even from a young age. His research ability and knowledge of history had come in handy more than once in the past years. 

But right now, it sucked.

I shrugged, deciding the less information I gave the better. “When I first leased my floor in Grey Enterprises, I found her hiding in an empty office. Told her to come back when she needed. She did.”

Elijah nodded, realization dawning on him, as if I had answered a particularly difficult riddle he couldn’t quite solve.

At my questioning stare, he elaborated, “I realized she was disappearing for short periods of time while at work. I just didn’t know where.” I imagined he knew something was wrong with Adriana as well, but probably hit the same roadblock I had. There’s only so much digging you can do into someone who doesn’t want to be found out.   

“Aiden, does Sofia have any friends you never met? Did she ever disappear and not tell you where she went?” asked Lucas suddenly. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to make any possible connections.

“Uhh, yeah. Actually, we argued about it a lot.” Aiden recalled. “Wait, you think Sofia is orchestrating all this? That seems a little extreme.”

“She might not have, but if she got a witch to help her get to Adriana, they might have been able to identify her as a witch.” Elijah interjected. And that was why he was considered the best strategist in the pack.

Sofia had caused a lot of issues in my brother’s life over the years, but I was starting to see she may not have been alone.

“A witch could have helped her imitate the mate bond. Though why she did it remains to be seen.” Lucas’s eyes darkened. Having a rogue pack member was an Alpha’s worst nightmare; it was his job to keep his pack safe and in line. Sofia was reaching a point of no return, if she caused any more issues, Lucas may need to kill her. Which went against everything he believed in.

“It seems weird though,” I mused. The three men tensed slightly. “If whoever did this wanted her dead, they could have easily had Elijah kill her by the pool.” Aiden growled, not liking the thought of someone wanting his mate dead. I ignored him. “They wanted to lure her off the grounds instead. Sofia wouldn’t have a need to keep Adriana alive.”

“Unless they didn’t know where she was until she got here. In which case, someone must have tipped them off. Sofia isn’t dumb, she would have known we would take Adriana here to keep her safe,” Elijah countered.

“The patrol searched the northern border where Elijah was taking her. There were no signs of intruders,” I reported.

“Could someone have identified Adriana as a witch before today? Someone from her past?” Aiden questioned, worried for his mate. Grim determination set his features, I had no doubt he would eliminate anything that was a threat to his mate. 

Lucas’s frown deepened, “Elijah do you remember anything about who attacked you?”

“No. The last thing I remember is leaving the office. I was walking to my car when it felt like something hit me in the head. I remember bits and pieces of attacking Adriana. I wasn’t fully conscious until she threw me against the tree.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“Taylor has experience hunting witches. I can fill her in after the meeting,” Elijah offered reluctantly.

His wife had retired from mercenary work shortly after they had found each other. I suspected he had a hand in that, all male wolves felt overly protective of their mates. Having an assassin for hire and a mate had probably given the Gamma a heart attack. Taylor was badass, and more than capable of taking care of herself, though I understood Elijah’s need to keep her safe. He loved her. I clenched my jaw.

“Thanks, man.” Aiden said quietly.

Lucas got up and sat next to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out, man. At least there’s a bright side to all this.”

“What the hell is that?” Aiden asked incredulously.

“You know who your mate is.”

HIs face lit up, then fell once more.

“She wants to leave. None of this will matter because she doesn’t want any of us involved. My mate doesn’t want my help.” He looked like a five-year-old who was just told Christmas was cancelled. 

‘Everything she has right now she’s had to build on her own. As long as I’ve known her, she’s never once complained, and picked up our slack when we wanted to spend more time with our families. She was raising her brother at the same time. Doing things by herself is all she’s ever known, Aiden.” Lucas said gently.

“Besides, man. She just remembered her seriously f****d-up past, and then had to relive it all for us again. Having this s**t bottled up so she didn’t have to work through them, isn’t helping her now. It’s going to feel like all those things happened yesterday. She shouldn’t be making any major life decisions right now,” said Elijah firmly.

“Agreed. She’s not going anywhere,” stated Lucas. My eyes widened in surprise.

“It’s not like we can force her to stay,” I argued.

I looked over to see Lucas smile grimly.  

“When those witched attacked Elijah, it became this pack’s fight too. Adriana is stubborn, but so are am I. Let’s let Aerin and Taylor work on convincing Adriana to stay, while we figure out how to find Sofia.”

“You’re up Geek Squad,” Elijah said cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes. “Give me your phones.”