The Two Alphas' Fated Witch

Rejection

A wave of dread rakes through my body. My heart plummets as her words sink in. My arms hug me tighter as I try to hold Mrs. Santiago's gaze. "What?"

Shaking her head, she comes closer and puts a hand on my arm. "It's gonna be okay, Ali. This may just take a bit longer than we thought. But it's the only thing that makes sense right now."

"What do you mean, it rejected her?"

We turn to face Joey and Eric, who are looking confused, as well as concerned. The usual combo when it comes to me, apparently.

"It's hard to explain, as I've only heard rumors of such an occurrence." She sighs. "But imagine if your inner wolves decided to stop listening to you. You couldn't shapeshift. You couldn't mind-link. You would be practically human."

The boys are now looking at her with eyes filled with shock and horror. They look the way I feel, just at hearing what I am apparently going through. "So what does that mean for me?"

"For witches, such a rejection limits our magical abilities greatly. There are certain things all witches can do, but our Spirit Animals are our main source of energy. If yours continues to reject you..."

I understand, and another chill courses through my veins. If my Spirit Animal completely rejects me, I won't be a real witch. Just a fraction of one. Then, as I look up, two pairs of eyes remind me of real another issue this brings. I snap back to Mrs. Santiago. "If it keeps rejecting me, does that me I won't be able to break the bond?!"

Seeing and hearing the panic such a thought has brought, she rubs my arm a bit, trying to warm me up. But even she can't deny the truth. "If this continues, then yes."

I turn back to the boys as the blood drains from my body. I can already see it overwhelming them: the despair. We thought this would be temporary, but now...

"But maybe we can change its mind."

A glimmer of hope shines in the oppressing darkness that has come over me. "Really? How?"

"There are two reasons I can think of why your Spirit Animal is rejecting you. Most likely, it is because you have taken so long to accept it, due to my and your mother's continued suppression over the years, as well as your lack of magic use."

A growl escapes Eric's throat. "So this could all just be because you hid her identity from her for so long?"

She glares back at him, but does nod. "Putting it lightly, yes. Though there were ample reasons why we did so. Surely you two can see why it may have been necessary?"

They hold her gaze, but there's still a small flinch made visible by her accusations. Even they can see why hiding a witch in city full of werewolves would be a good idea.

But I'm still wondering about something else. "And what's the other reason it could be?"

This causes Mrs. Santiago to immediately give up her glare in order to look at me. The expression on her face is hard to discern, and it only remains for a second before her usual kind smile washes away whatever it was. She rubs my arm once again. "Don't worry too much about that one, okay sweetie?"

"But-"

"How's this?" She stops me. "We'll give it a month for the suppression magic to fully wear off. During that time, I'll teach you a few spells that don't require a sync between you and your Spirit Animal to perform. Then, if you're still having the same issues, we'll..." She sighs. "We'll deal with it when we get there. Alright?"

I look into her eyes, searching for the reason she would want to keep me from understanding this rejection. However, all that I find is hope, and it's rather contagious. I have no other choice but to give in and nod.

"Good. Now," she gets up and claps her hands. "I think that's enough for today. I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Ali?"

Her decision to end today's lessons here shocks me, but Eric beats me to the question: "Aren't you going to continue training her today?"

She glares at him. "I believe Ali's been through a lot already, and I would rather not over do it, Mr. Clawthorne."

He stares at her irritatedly, but she ignores him and heads out of the room. I get up, a little unsteady at first, and we follow her to the front door. As she opens it, she turns around and faces me with the sweetest smile imaginable. "Please don't worry about this too much, Ali. Everything is going to be alright."

I sigh and nod, but I know we both know that's easier said than done. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's worrying. She smiles one last time before walking out. Leaving the three of us alone.

It all starts raging back as her presence disappears. I can't even look at the guys. How must they be feeling, knowing that they may be stuck with such a useless witch as a Mate? And when I was only just beginning my training, too! Gods, I'm so pathetic.

Joey clears his throat, and I immediately tense up, prepared for the worst. "Ali..."

I turn to face him, and the inevitable rage or sadness that they'll both have in store for me, but he blocks my vision by lifting a plastic bag in my face. I hadn't even noticed he was carrying it until now.

"I got that latch you wanted. I can install it now, if you want."

Oh, right. The lock. At least that's one good thing. However, looking at the size and weight of the bag... "Is that all that's in there?"

He puts it down and sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "Well, no. I had to get the tools and a manual on this kind of thing..."

Based on that bag, I'd assume he bought way more than that. There's got to be twenty tools in there at least! I glance between Joey and Eric, who are now both avoiding my gaze, and what's really going on is made completely obvious. I can't help but grin.

"You have no idea how to install that thing, do you?"

As if my words had broken the damn, Joey releases a heavy exhale before admitting, "No, not a clue."

Oh gods, this is too much! Even as I try to stop it, a fit of giggles escapes my lips. Now I have before me a slightly red Joey, and an angry, yet also embarrassed, Eric, who shouts, "Hey, it's not that funny!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I apologize in between spats of laughter. I try to calm down. At least, enough to hold a valid conversation. "I guess it makes sense. Why would two CEOs ever need to install their own locks, or do any handy work?"

"We know other things, you know!" Eric defends themselves, seemingly insulted. "Like how to make a cellphone, and fix a computer, and run a Pack, and-!"

"Alright, alright." I stop him before he ends up creating a verbal, three-paged list of all the stuff they can do. "Here, I'll help you out. Come on."

We head back to my room to install my latch. Sure enough, not only did Joey buy a nice, easy sliding bar one, but an assortment of screws, nails, and tools, as well as an actual Do-It-Yourself manual. The thing only needs six screws, and the man practically bought the entire store! Nevertheless, I've made fun of them enough, so I just get to work. I show them how to line up the latch, marking where the holes need to go. Then, with a bit of elbow grease, I screw the pieces in slightly, checking my work in case of needed adjustments. Once I'm satisfied in the placement, I force the screws the rest of the way in and test the whole thing out. It's rather secure, and I'm kinda proud of my work. Especially when I see the admiration coming from both the guys' facial expressions.

"See? Told you it was easy."

"How did you do that so fast? It hasn't even been ten minutes!"

I blush a little at Eric's compliment, but a growl from below stops me from responding. Instead, I laugh and look to Joey. "Alright, now that I've shown you one of my mad skills, time for you to work yours. What's for lunch?"

We all laugh at this as I undo the latch so we can head to the kitchen. I grab the unnecessary extras Joey bought and begin sorting them out while he makes us some BLTs with this morning's leftovers.

"Why did you buy a wrench? What, did you think we'd need to bolt it into place?!"

"I didn't know what we were going to need." Joey responds from the fridge as I finish putting away everything. "I'm just glad you knew what you were doing."

"Where did you learn to do workshop stuff like that, anyway? Did you take a class or something?"

As I join Eric at the bar, Joey finishes up our meals. Damn, do these sandwiches look good! "Well, I did take Tech Ed back in middle school. But I actually learned this stuff from my Dad. I used to help him out a lot around the house when I was younger."

Joey joins us at the bar as Eric starts gorging himself. "You don't really talk that much about your family. What's your Dad like?"

His question freeze the sandwich from entering my mouth. I pull it away a moment afterwards, but I can tell the guys saw my hesitation. "He's the usual, I guess. Not really much else to say."

And with that, I stuff my face full of bread, lettuce, tomato, and bacon, focusing fully on the flavor and not the topic that lingers in the air. Luckily, the boys must realize that I'm unwilling to discuss my father right now, because they leave it alone and start eating themselves. But based on that shared glance, I can tell this won't be the last time they ask. And I'm not looking forward to this topic in the future.