The Ash Witch and the Alpha

Know You

Diana could feel herself growing weaker by the day, her connection with magic becoming more and more brittle. She refused to let Tristan break her, but she needed out of this room, away from the wards that drained her. So when he walked in, holding a plate of food, she gave him a weak smile and after seeing his eyebrow raised asked tentatively, “How come you always bring me food and never eat with me?” It was obvious he wasn’t expecting her to ask that because he froze and finally let out the warmest laugh she had ever heard.

“Because wolves eat more than three witches combined.” Tristan turned and walked to the door, opened it and said something to the person outside, which in turn made her wonder if there was always someone outside, just in case she figured out how to escape, how to pass the magical barrier that prevented only her from leaving. Before she could ponder it further, Tristan went from holding a single plate to a tray overloaded with food.

There was a table in the room but it would be dwarfed by the size of the tray so she stood from her perch on the bed and took a blanket from the foot of it, spreading it on the floor. She sat on one corner and tried to smile and he seemed overjoyed at the small effort she was putting in. Tristan placed the tray between them and sat down, attempting to give her space, which she was thankful for. He had pinned her to the wall when he was frustrated but he made no s****l move towards her, claiming she would be the one to initiate that, which Diana doubted but appreciated none the less.

Diana busied herself with making a plate, filling it up with fruit and taking a bagel and spreading cream cheese across the top. “You don’t like honeydew.” Tristan observed, a bemused smile on his face.

“Does anyone?” Diana asked honestly, crinkling her nose, he laughed. He took a large piece and popped it into his mouth, making a show of chewing and swallowing. “That’s so gross!” Before she could stop herself, she was laughing too. Diana could almost picture them on a normal date, sitting in a park and laughing over lunch. Although if she were honest with herself, she enjoyed her solitary life and would have probably shut him down if he had asked her out.

“You have a nice laugh.” Tristan said softly, “It’s nice to hear it.” Diana looked down, taking a bite of the bagel to have an excuse not to respond.

The silence stretched and she finally said, “I don’t know anything about you.” It had bugged her for weeks, the way he seemed to know small, intimate details about her. The closet had clothes she liked, he always made sure to bring her Dr. Pepper with dinner, even had copies of her favorite books on the shelves.

“What would you like to know?” He was eager to please her and she accepted the small victory and she rewarded him with a piece of honeydew from her plate, placing it onto his and making sure her fingers grazed his thumb. They both nearly jumped out of their skin at the electricity that flowed through them, the sparks that demanded a prolonged touch.

“What’s your middle name?” She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Alexander.” He replied easily, laughing when her mouth dropped open.

“Don’t lie to me!” She was in shock, “My middle name is Alexandra, after my grandmother.” They both grinned, not quite believing the coincidence.

“I…don’t know why my parents picked that for my middle name.” He was laughing more than she had ever heard from him and Diana resented the warmth that filled her everytime she heard it. “Were you close with your grandparents?”

Her face dropped slightly, “They raised me, actually. My mom was obsessed with England and when she got knocked up, her dreams of working abroad were slashed. My grandparents were supposed to just watch me for the night and she never came back…”

The growl that erupted from Tristan scared her slightly, to her it was a fact, her mom didn’t want her and she had no clue her dad was but to him, it was a palpable betrayal. A wolf would never leave their pup, could never fathom it, yet here his mate was, with no family. “Are they still around?” He asked, “Your grandparents.”

She shook her head, “My grandma passed away when I was nineteen and my grandpa….about a year ago now.” Diana slashed her fists across her face, wiping away the tears before they could track down her face. “He…he was the one who taught me magic.”

This surprised Tristan, it was written all over his expression. “I thought men couldn’t perform magic? It’s a woman thing.” His wording was clumsy and she laughed, making him smile.

“It is, women are the only ones who can perform magic and it’s rare for a boy to be born to a witch, but not unheard of. He was the youngest of five and the only boy. Normally, he’d be sought out to strengthen the magic in a bloodline, better to have a baby with magic on both sides, but he met my grandma when he worked in a market as a teenager and said there was no question on who he wanted to be with. My mom was their only child and didn’t have the spark, but I did.” Diana couldn’t hide her pride at that, magic was her lifeline, her connection to her lost family. “My tomatoes won best in show when I was only six. Everyone kept saying I had help but they didn’t know it was my magic manifesting.”

Tristan smiled at her smugness, “So your magic is gardening?” He shook his head at her, clearly amused. “I’d better not piss you off, or you’ll turn me into a pumpkin.”

“If I had access, I could do much more than that.” She wasn’t sure how things took such a dark turn, but there they were. Diana couldn’t hide her resentment, biting angrily into her food. “I could heal or harm, it’s the duality of being a nature witch.”

“You don’t do fire?” Tristan asked with a genuine voice, making her scoff. “That’s the whole ash witch thing, being a spark from the flame and all that.”

“No.” She deadpanned, “It means I don’t have a coven. My great aunts all wanted nothing to do with me as a child, said I was strong enough to be a lone witch, they had no desire to bring me into their coven, considering the matriarch was someone my grandpa rejected for a wife.” Diana tried to hide the sting of rejection but was clear on her face and Tristan squeezed her hand.

“You will always have a place in our pack.” She flinched at his words and he frowned. “You could be their Luna, we could lead them together, as a family.” Diana felt the rage building in her but refused to lose what little ground she had gained. She was getting out of here, she was going to get her magic back and never deal with this rabid dog again. So she put her plate down and didn’t say anything, simply closed the gap between them and kissed him, making him believe that she agreed with him when she said nothing.

Although neither of them could deny the feeling when they kissed, just now right it felt to touch each other, Diana didn’t even protest when he pulled her into his lap, pulling him flush against her. They kissed until she was breathless and when she came up for air he nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent completely. She lost herself in touching him, she had wanted to do this since the first time she saw him, though she had pushed the feeling deep down, refused to acknowledge it. Yet there she was, grinding her core on his lap, panting submissively in his embrace, lost in the moment.

His nimble fingers explored her body, dipping under her shirt and gripping her hips, controlling her movement and making her moan with want. They both needed this, both wanted this, although Diana would never admit it. He kissed and nipped at her neck, causing her fingernails to dig into his shoulders as she gasped and whined.

She wanted him, it had been too long she had been touched like this, but the moment was broken she felt his teeth turning into elongated canines, lingering near where her neck met her shoulder, where he had vowed to mark her. Using all her strength, she pushed him away from her, scrambling back to her side of the blanket.

They were both a mess, panting and eyes wild with want. “I…I think it’s time for you to go.” She cursed herself for getting to carried away and thanked whatever god would listen when he stood up and stormed out without another word.