The Two Alphas' Fated Witch

My Father's Threat

"Seriously? Is that thing able to appear anywhere?" I ask, pointing at the entrance to Mrs. Santiago's workshop incredulously.

"Well, yes and no," Mrs. Santiago answers ambiguously. "I can summon this door in any place I've marked with my magic."

"Wait you marked my wall?!"

Seeing my shifting eyes scrutinizing the door and the wall around it, she softly chuckles. "Not a physical mark. This one is purely magical. Come, place your hand here."

Cautiously, I press my palm on the surface of the door, where she's indicated. But I shake my head. "I don't feel anything."

"Come now, Ali. Have I been training you for nothing?"

Oh, I guess she did say it was a magical mark. I close my eyes and push my energy towards the door. It's like pushing my hand through the wood, feeling around within it. And sure enough, I find another energy source push back against mine. It's much stronger than mine, but it doesn't try to overpower me. It just sits there, like a knot in a tree trunk.

I open my eyes as my energy returns to me. Turning to my mentor, she smiles gently down at me. "You see what I mean?"

I nod and straighten up. My eyes glance over the door, and an unwelcome though comes to me. Cringing a little, I ask quietly, "You can't come in whenever..."

She instantly understands my trailed-off sentence and vigorously shake her head. "Oh no, dear. Although I can summon the entrance here whenever I please, I would not. I know how you need your privacy at times, and honestly, I have no reason to come this way. I would prefer the wolves not know I can do this, so coming by car is much better." She places a hand on my shoulder while holding my gaze with her warm, loving eyes. "I promise you I will never summon my workshop here without your knowledge, Ali."

I exhale a sigh of relief and nod. I trust Mrs. Santiago explicitly, but it's as she said. There are days I need to be alone. I didn't ask the boys for that latch for nothing. I'm just glad it hasn't happened yet.

Keyword being "yet".

"Are we just going to stand here and waste time, or are we gonna actually do this?" Cassie asks, hands onn her hips and eyebrow raised impatiently.

Mrs. Santiago nods. "Cassandra is right. We don't have much time. Our sessions usually take about an hour. After that, the werewolf will start to get suspicious."

She's right about that. Joey has slowly started accepting Mrs. Santiago's presence, but Eric definitely gets antsy the longer my sessions take. And with Joey not here, he'll probably be knocking on my door as soon as time is up.

As my thoughts drift to the boys, that ever-present tinge of guilt resurfaces in my chest. We just talked about my leaving the cabin last week, not to mention Eric's freak out yesterday by the mere mentioning of my car. I didn't make promise or anything this time, but I still feel bad about this. I bite my lip as Mrs. Santiago opens the door, then barely utter the words: "I can't."

They both turned to me, a little stunned. "Why not?" Cassie asks.

"For so many reasons. It's not just the risks. I told the guys I wouldn't leave without discussing first. And I-"

"Wait, you promised?!" Cassie rolls her eyes and groans. "Great, now she really can't leave!"

"Well, not exactly..."

They wait for me to continue, and I sigh. "We were going over ground rules, and that was their number one."

"So, no promise?"

Slowly but surely, I shake my head. A sudden clap from Cassie makes me jump, and just like that, I find my friend has retrieved her excitement once again. "Good! Then let's go."

"Cassie, did you hear what I just said? I told them I wouldn't leave unexpectedly. And so far, other than one incident, they've been keeping their end of the bargain." I subconsciously wrap my arms around my torso. "I don't feel very comfortable doing this, just because I'm a little bored."

Cassie looks at me exasperatedly, then turns to her mother. Mrs. Santiago has been watching me this entire time with a strange expression, and now she sighs. "I understand that, Ali. But you said so yourself. What happens after all this is over? You don't have a job anymore, and you'll need your belongings at some point."

"Yes, at some point. Not now. Besides, maybe I can convince Joey and Eric to let me go, just to grab a few things."

"Not alone," Cassie retorts. "And you know what will happen if your father shows up."

I cringe just thinking about it. "I could gain their trust. They already seem to like me enough. Whether it's because of this bond or not is still unclear, but with a little time-"

"You don't have any more time!"

Her exclamation stops me, and I lock eyes with my best friend. She's looking frustrated as all hells, but also worried. I frown. "If you're talking about during this session-"

"No, Ali," Mrs. Santiago interrupts, and I see she's worried as well. "She isn't. If you want to have any of your personal belongings, it is quite literally now or never."

Confused, I glance between the two of them, looking for a sign as to what's going on. "What do you mean?"

Cassie sighs. "Your father finally called."

These words freeze me in my tracks. My father actually called them? s**t, I knew he would at some point, but not so soon. Not that a week is soon,but for him... "What did you tell him? What did he say?" Another question pops into my head: is he worried about me? But I already know the answer. And I'm not really in the mood for any confirmation on that one.

"He asked if you were staying with us. More like demanded to know, actually, but we didn't tell him anything. We said we didn't know what happened to you nor where you were. He didn't really believe us, but he..." Cassie trails off as she recollects on their conversation.

"But he what?"

Mrs. Santiago comes up behind her daughter and, while placing a hand on her shoulder, continues her sentence. "He said that he would destroy everything of yours if you didn't come home."

My heart stops beating. I think about everything I own in that room. Everything I worked so damn hard for. My clothes, my furniture, my laptop. Everything. Then, I imagine it all destroyed. Torn, ripped, burned, discarded. I don't really care about my clothes and such. I can get new ones. But there are other things. My drawings, my sketches. My pictures. Most of them are just landscapes I've seen and thought were nice. But there is Mom's scrapbook...

I shake my head. No, he wouldn't. There's no way he'd get rid of that. Right? But the little voice in my head keeps repeating, over and over. Oh yes he would. He already has. Ever since Mom died, he got rid of all the family photos of her. Every last one, gone. As if she never existed in our lives. That scrapbook was the only thing I could save. Mom had been working on it since they were married. It has photos of their wedding, mine and the boys' births, us growing up. She took pictures of everything. I had hidden it when I realized what Dad was doing. But if he goes into my room and ransacks the place...

"Ali? What's going on in there?"

Knocks follow Eric's questioning as I snap out of my panic. Cassie swears. "Crap, what does he want?"

"He's just worried about me," I respond automatically. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

Like a robot, I make my way to the door, unlatch it, and open it slightly. A wave of deja-vu comes over me as I gaze up at a worried Eric for the second time today. "Ali, are you alright?"

"Yeah," I say with a hoarser voice than I would like. Clearing my throat a little, I try again with a bit more success at keeping it together. "Yes, I'm fine."

His blueish eyes scour mine, and he frowns. "Really, because you look like you're not."

To be honest, I feel like I could crumple to the ground at any moment. But I take a deep breath in. I need him to stop worrying, and to give us more time. However, I can't outright lie to him, or else he'll know something's up. As I exhale, try to smile a bit. "Yeah. We're just...trying something new, and it's a little hard for me..."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be trying this. What if-"

"Eric."

At the sound of me saying his name with this serious tone, he freezes. His eyes lock on mine, and I focus on building my determination. Three things have just become perfectly clear to me, and I need to convince him to leave us alone.

"In order for me to be able to function as a witch, I need to work on my magic. No matter how hard it may be. And right now, I need to do this. Do you understand?"

One: Eric and Joey will never let me out of their sights. Not while this bond has a hold of them. And not willingly.

After a moment of searching my eyes for something he won't find, he sighs and gives in. "Alright. Just...don't push it, okay?"

Two: I can't ever let them meet my father. Especially if he really means what he threatens to do when he called the Santiagos. And he most definitely does.

I smile as best I can. "Thanks. And I'll try not to." I close the door and relatch it as I hear him walk away. Then, I turn back to my mentor and my best friend, still holding on to that determination.

Three: I will not let my father destroy the last piece of my mother that I have.