Fated to the tainted blood

“What is it you want from the witches' coven? Speak and it shall be granted accordingly” Donovan, one of the sons of the alpha, had secretly left the pack for the witches' kingdom in search of a cure for his father’s strange ailment. As he sat in the midst of the four witches he felt a sense of unease. He felt like he was not supposed to be there, but his father had been sick and all efforts to heal him had failed, and the witches were his last and only hope. He wouldn’t have been there if he had not gone through the books of history to see how alphas used to consult the help of witches and how powerful they were. He also needed their help to become a powerful alpha, but he was not the king’s star. “That is not the only request you have to make, or is it?” One of the witches with big brown eyes and silver hair spoke up. Her hair was as if glitter were sprinkled on it, and it felt like it would shine in the darkest of night. “Definitely not” Another with pitch black hair and blue eyes spoke up. There weren’t any similarities between them. Donovan would have thought they were sisters, but that thought of them being sisters was lost on him. “Allow him to speak, would you?” The oldest of them all spoke up. She looked old enough to be their mother, but then she didn’t even look like any of them. Her hair was covered up, so he wondered what color of hair she had on her head, or maybe she was bald. The old witch stood up and then walked up to the pot of hot steaming potion at the far end of the room. His eyes followed her figure, and then he got a clear glimpse of how the room looked. All along while he was in the room, he had not noticed the cobwebs hanging freely at every side of the room or how dusty the shelves were or how the pot the potion contained was so black that it was certain to leave a stain on the palms. “Boy! Are you here for answers or are you here to inspect where we live? Your eyes are dancing around as if you have never heard of the witches' nest.” The fourth witch who had been quiet all this while spoke up suddenly. Her hair was a deep shade of red and blond mixed together. Donovan was convinced that these witches were just occupants of the building and not related by blood, or maybe they were, and they just happened to have different shades of hair, he thought. His eyes found the table that was separating him from where he sat from that of the witches. “You want to be the next Alpha” The older witch spoke up “Yes, but I do not possess the star of the king.” Donovan feels a sense of apprehension after he had stated his main purpose of seeking the witches' help. “The one who possesses the alpha’s star will have to die for you to become the next alpha” The older witch spoke up again and gave her portion one last stir, while Donovan shook his head in agreement to what the witch said without giving it another thought. He didn’t care if there would be any consequences, he was in desperate need to become the next alpha and not just any other alpha, but a powerful one at that, so he was going to do anything to sit on the alpha’s seat, including killing his brother. “Sacrifice has to be made within the vicinity of your pack to make it more effective” “Is that all you will be needing?” Donovan spoke up again, wondering if there was not a price to be paid at the end, but then again, as he recalled from the books in the witches who had helped the past alpha had not asked for anything in return just for a safe land to live with their lineage. “For now, no, but when we ask for more, do not deprive us of the opportunity of granting our request because the consequences would be more brutal than we did to your brother.” Donovan felt a cold run through his spine, but he was not going to go back on his decision on wanting to become the new alpha. In fact, more than ever he felt he deserved the seat, and he was supposed to be the rightful heir because of the risk he could take for his pack and people. After all, he felt that the pack would need an alphabet powerful like what their ancestors had and not the calm, loving person his brother was. “When will the sacrifice take place?” The witch with white hair smiled at him. They had thought that he would chicken out on his claim to the throne. “Whenever you’re ready boy,” ******* Donovan arrived at his pack to find out that his father, who was sick when he had gone to search for a cure, had been healed suddenly. His mind quickly went to the witches. Maybe they had healed him, and then he quickly went to his father’s chambers to see if his father had truly been healed of his ailment. On getting to his father’s chambers, he realized that his father had resumed his duties as the alpha and even heard the news of witches sneaking into the kingdom. “How did they gain entrance?” The old man screamed at the top of his voice. Donovan stared behind a pillar, trying to listen to the conversation his father was having with his councillor. His father could be terrifying at times, but Donovan had forgotten about how terrifying he was due to the nature of the sickness he had just recovered from. “We do not know, my lord.” “Don’t tell me that” he screamed again and, his voice holding so much power in them, “I want all of them killed and wiped out from the surface of the earth”, fear gripped Donovan, for he had only just brought them to the pack. He didn’t think his father would find out soon or even at all, because the witches had promised to keep a low profile, but now what was he going to do? They were no longer his business, so he thought. They had already done for him what he wanted from them, and he was not to be held responsible for their safety. Some years later As Donovan walked about the pack, inspecting the activities going on. He takes note of his son Luther practicing the act of combat, and he is impressed with how strong his son had turned out to be over the years, but suddenly he gets injured and his Beta Veryl rushes to him. He notices the exchange from afar, seeing that Veryl had put some enchantment on Luther and the boy had gotten healed immediately. Alpha Donovan immediately leaves the scene, and then he calls for one of his guards to look into the history of Veryl. As suspected. He came from the witch bloodline. He thought that his father had wiped them out, he thought they were no more. “I need to end their lineage” he said to himself. He believed that if they continued living among them, they would rise against him in the future. So he told his guards to call for a meeting with the other Alphas.