The Beta's Witch

Chapter 10: Witches and Wolves

AIDEN'S POV

The sun was already creeping over the horizon, blazing orange rays peaked through the curtains in Lucas’s enormous study. Elijah had convinced Lucas to not kill Adriana and get to try to get to the bottom of what was happening to my mate. I owed him big time. I was half out of my mind seeing Adriana under Marcus, Carson’s second.

Unfortunately, Adriana’s story had left more questions than answers. She stared quietly at her hands, her curls forming a curtain around her face. I tucked the rebellious strands behind her ear. Tobias purred at the contact. He didn’t think any of this was a big deal, she was our mate and that was all that mattered to him.

She looked so tiny in the cushioned visitor chair in front of Lucas’s desk. Normally, when we interrogated potential threats to the pack, we did it in the cells. Instead, Lucas had Carson escort Adriana up to his office on the top level of the pack house. I appreciated it immensely.

I stuck by her side, while I waited to hear if Elijah was okay, more than a little surprised when he walked into the office behind Lucas. He collapsed on the decorative couch, disrupting the carefully placed pillows. Lucas’s office was healthy mix between comfort and class. It was a study to be envied, that is if the ranked members didn’t each have one of their own.  

Lucas parked himself behind the desk, elbows on the tabletop, fingers interlaced in front of his face. He focused intently on Adriana. Carson’s gaze was fixed on her too, probably memorizing every detail she revealed, though he never moved from the door.

When she finished her speaking, Lucas was ready to pounce. Elijah beat him to it.

“Aiden told us about the letter and your memories.” He informed, trying to be gentle. How he was calm when something had literally used his body like a puppet, I had no clue. “I wish you had told us sooner, Adriana, we could have helped. Though I understand why you didn’t.”

“I had to keep Daniel safe,” she whispered.

I inhaled sharply through my nose. Adriana presents with the same fiercely protective instinct I had seen in many shewolves over their pups. Realizing she had isolated herself to keep Daniel safe only made me wish I had found her sooner, maybe I could have done something. Though things were starting to make a little more sense.

“So, Daniel is your brother?” I asked.

She nodded, almost reluctantly. I don’t think any part of her saw Daniel as a little brother, she had raised him and kept him safe like any mother would. I only hoped Daniel would feel the same way.

“That’s not really important right now,” Lucas cut in impatiently, still cross that a witch had lived under our noses for so long. “What happened after the ritual?”

His tone sent me teetering on the edge, close to losing myself to rage. Adriana wasn’t a threat, but the fact that she was a witch sparked memories of an old rivalry in our Alpha. The feud between Witches and Wolves was long dead. The two never intersecting.

Lucas continued to his assault, hurling questions at the poor girl. I stood, moving myself in front of Adriana, daring to face my alpha.

“Ease up, Luc.” I warned.

I was almost too distracted by our stare down, to notice the lights flickering and the room tremor slightly. Spinning around, I realized immediately what happened. Adriana covered her ears with her hands, squeezing her eyes shut. She curled into a ball on the chair, shaking. I could smell her fear. Lucas’s barrage had triggered something for her.

I leaned over, scooping her out of the chair, and taking her seat instead. Warm sparks erupted over every inch we connected, calming my rage as I knew it was calming her fear. Caramel and Roses filled my senses, making me wish we were anywhere but here.

The room eventually returned to its sedate form.

“I apologize, Adriana,” Lucas said quietly. “I know this must be hard for you, but we need to know what happened.”

She shifted in my lap but didn’t get up. I relished having her so close, not sure if I would have it again any time soon.

“When Elijah touched me, I felt this awful stinging feeling,” She shivered at the memory. I growled, frustrated that I wasn’t there to keep her from harm. “Then I had these flashes of memories. My memories.”

She looked at Elijah, studying his face. “You were being affected by very dark magic. The only way I knew how to get rid of the spell was to overwhelm it with light magic. I’m sorry if I hurt you,” she said in a small voice. She had saved Elijah, and yet she was still worried she hurt him. My mate was amazing.

The incredulous look on Elijah’s face told me he was thinking along the same lines.

“You didn’t hurt me Adriana, you saved my life.” He said gently. “I couldn’t be more grateful. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I hate the idea it was my hands that caused you to suffer in anyway.”

He stopped, jaw tense. I had a feeling they had both come close to not existing. We needed to figure out if this attack was Sofia, or something worse.

Adriana nodded. “Five hundred years ago,” she started suddenly. “A bargain was struck between witches and wolves, banning all witches from establishing covens greater than three and wolves from actively hunting witches for sport. At that time wolves were nowhere near large enough to pose a significant threat and a centuries long war between Werewolves and Witches came to an end. We refer to the treaty as the Accords”

We all nodded, familiar with the history.

“That’s when the Elder Counsel of Wolves was founded,” Lucas recalled.

“It was also when some of the oldest, and most powerful covens disbanded. Scattering witches across the globe. Centuries have passed and our numbers are pitiful. Some witches practice polygamy and hide away, just to survive.” She said bitterly.  

“I can’t say I’ve ever met a witch before now,” Carson admitted. My eyes snapped to him, still standing guard at the door. I had almost forgotten he was here.

Adriana stared at him for a few seconds longer than I liked, before nodding her head. “I don’t imagine you would have. My Nana raised me to believe wolves cheated us.” She shook her head. “The Accords may protect the packs, but I never believed that wolves were our enemies.”

“What was the ritual for, Dri?” Elijah asked, trying to focus the conversation. I glanced at Lucas, he was losing patience with the history lesson.

“My grandmother said it was meant to channel more power from Selene” her eyes became unfocused, as if the memories were pulling her away from us. “But they were actually taking our magic. Thirteen powerful young witches from thirteen of the purist Wiccan bloodlines left. Nana and her coven would have had all that power and still be within the boundaries of the Accord.”

“But you stopped them,” I said.

“I think so.” She whispered.

“What does that mean Adriana?” Lucas snapped. I tensed once more, ready to defend my mate.

“I don’t know Lucas,” she snapped back, surprising us all. “Whatever block is affecting my memory is still there! All I know is my magic doesn’t feel right.” She flexed her fingers; with our closeness I could feel the unfamiliar prickle of magic emanating from her.

‘Can’t you just wave your hand and make the block go away? Like you did with me.”

She scowled. I suppressed a smile. “No. I don’t think I’m the person that put the block there, so I can’t undo it. And no, I can’t do what I to you.” She continued quickly when Elijah opened his mouth again.  “Magic has rules, it requires balance. Light magic and Dark magic cancelled each other out in your case.” She touched her temple. “This isn’t dark magic.”

Lucas still looked like he had reservations.

“Think, Adriana,” I urged. “Is there anything else you can remember?”

She was already shaking her head. “The spell was only slightly disturbed. I can already feel it trying to repair itself.”

“What?!” My blood ran cold, hoping that didn’t mean what I thought it meant.

“I fear I’m having trouble holding on to the memories I’ve already shared.” Her voice shook slightly. I tightened my grip on her, feeling helpless. I didn’t know how to protect her from magic. My duty as her mate was to protect her and I was already failing.  

Lucas sighed, “Well we will figure this out, but for right now, Dri, I think you should get some rest. Aiden assign tighter rotations around the packhouse. If Adriana leaves the house, she will be accompanied by two people at all times. We don’t know if these witches can affect more than one person at a time.”

“No.”

. . . .

ADRIANA'S POV

“No.” I said firmly.

“Excuse me?” Lucas said bewildered. I slide out of Aiden’s lap closer to the door, which Carson was still blocking.

“I don’t understand how I ended up in the wolves’ den.” I rubbed my temples, evading. 

“Ha ha” Elijah said sarcastically, “After Sofia targeted you it was the best option to keep you safe. For all we knew you were a human, and Aiden’s mate. It wasn’t the first time a human was introduced to our lifestyle.”

“Now we know I’m a witch and it would be safer for everyone if Daniel and I left,” I said quietly, “Also, I’m not his mate.”

The men in the room look bewildered, Aiden looked at me in shock. I forced myself to look elsewhere, pressing on.

“His real mate, Sofia, tried to kill me and we already know why. If I leave and stay away from him, she’ll leave me alone and I can start over somewhere else.”

“As a witch you may not be familiar with the mate bond­­­­­-” Lucas started.

“I am plenty familiar with wolves and their practices. I was exposed to other supernaturals prior to my departure from the mythical world,” I said mysteriously, “Though you’re right, I am still a witch, and we don’t mix with wolves. Never have.”

“You’ve met other wolves?” Elijah asked curiously.

“Who hasn’t?” I said sweetly. This was dangerous territory. I wasn’t ready to reveal my past connections to the pack back home. They didn’t know my best friend was a wolf, I had left that out of the story.

There were a few things I had left out. . .

“Don’t be difficult pumpkin, the attitudes of witches against werewolves is outdated. We don’t have to be at odds. The moon goddess is just as much our deity as she is yours.”

“Witches are a matriarchal community, Elijah. Growing up in the coven, born into one of the oldest and strongest families, I was raised to be a leader. Wolves are a patriarchal society and your women are the homemakers, supporters and raise the babies. We don’t condone each other’s way of life.”

“Being a wolf’s mate doesn’t mean you sit around barefoot and pregnant for the rest of your life!” Aiden said angerly. I opened my mouth to reply when Lucas cut me off.

“Enough,” the steel in his voice making me lift my chin and hold his gaze.

“Adriana,” he said gently, “Have you considered that maybe the Goddess paired you with Aiden to begin to heal the biases that our people have against each other?”

That was rich coming from him, not too long ago he was voting to kick me off the island.

“I have thought about why Selene would draw me to Mr. Matthews. His drama started a chain of events that restored my memories before I got tangled up with more witches.”

“You’re acting like an entitled hag, Adriana.” said Carson in a flippant tone. The derogatory term for witches set me on edge. Slamming my hands on the back of the empty chair, I barely noticed the lights flickering and faint white glow surrounding me.

“I won’t sit here while our future and safety are decided by mutts.” I shot back.

The tension in the room was palpable. It took longer than I cared to admit, to reign my emotions in. Once my magic was under control, I took a few more deep breaths to make sure I was calm.

“After everything I’ve gone through, I can’t deny that it would be nice not to be alone in this,” I conceded, “But I can’t allow you to shoulder my burden. It’s too dangerous and you have no idea what’s really happening here. I have no idea what’s really happening here!”

I shook my head.

“If these witches are working for Sofia, then my departure should satisfy her. Daniel and I will be safe. But if they are connected to my past, I need to find out why. I need my memories,” I stressed. “The three of you have made the last few years bearable. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

I forced myself to keep my eyes off Aiden, giving Lucas my resignation before slipping past Carson.

It was time to find Daniel and leave. I had a pretty good idea who had blocked my memories, I just had to reach them before I forgot they existed.