Hybrid Warrior Luna

Oi, Just What She Needs

"This b*tch," Alina declared with a roll of her eyes, getting up and heading to her office to trace the magic that sent the message. She grabbed her supplies as she summoned Bryn. Bryn appeared a few moments later as Alina began the trace, followed by Dasia, Kat, Anthony, and Liam.

"Fill us in," Dasia said as they circled the desk, joining Alina to strengthen the search, Liam standing slightly behind them. Alina filled them in on the message and everything else they knew so far, with Ryan on speaker phone, so she didn't have to do this twice.

"Why does it keep failing?" Liam questioned as the spell failed for the fourth time.

"Whoever she's working with must be powerful. I don't believe she could cloak it this well on her own, which could help us narrow down who's working with her, but if it's a lone witch from another Kingdom we still won't know. She's never seemed that powerful though. I assumed it was because she wasn't trained," Alina answered.

"Untrained witches with a powerful line tend to be the most dangerous though," Dasia warned. Kat nodded in agreement beside her, a look of concern on her lightly tanned face.

"Let's have a larger group at the coven work on the spell. We can give them totems to pull from us, and hopefully, the combined power will break the cloaking," Bryn suggested.

"I can bring everything to them," her dad offered with a kind smile that matched his sister's.

"Thanks, Uncle Ant," Alina smiled at him and produced a totem for him to give the coven. The other witches added theirs, and Ant headed off.

"I'm heading to check on some of our groups, keep me updated," Ryan said on the phone before hanging up.

Alina sighed and sat heavily in her chair. "This chick needs to get the f*ck out of my Kingdom. Like yesterday."

Kat chuckled and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Yes, yes she does. And you and Ryan will make sure that happens. You're going to handle it and we're all here to support you."

"Exactly," Liam chimed in. "You've been making these decisions for years, you simply had me standing in front of you telling you it was right. You know how to do this, and so does Ryan."

"Thank you both," Alina said quietly, eyes watery. They hugged and her parents and aunt excused themselves from the office. Bryn was concentrating by the window, her ochre brown skin glowing in the sun as the light bounced off the sparkle on her baby pink top. Alina pulled up the coven registry and searched for powerful witches, and more importantly, powerful witches who left (or were removed) from their coven. Bryn joined her after a few, pointing out witches she'd heard of causing issues - coven affiliated or not.

In the end, they had a list of ten possibilities, and Bryn went back to the coven house to have them work on tracing the movements of each based on their magic trail. If anyone was cloaking themselves, it would give them a good start. Alina checked in with Bryson, and checked on the arrangements for the meeting, knowing she'd spend much of the next day working from the meeting hall to ensure everything was ready.

As she headed to dinner, her phone rang and it was a retired Alpha from a pack that moved to the Kingdom under her parents. They were not happy in the Kingdom to the West of them and requested lands here to move to. Her parents had accepted this, as they were a strong pack with strong farming skills that added to the Kingdom's goal of self-sufficiency. Alina remembered visiting as they got settled in, but she hadn't interacted with anyone except the now-retired Alpha in years. She knew the current Alpha's reputation, but never saw him at meetings.

"Alpha Lucas, how can I help you?" she answered the phone, pausing in the hallway, convinced the goddesses had decided she didn't need food today.

"Queen Alina, I'm actually calling to help you. Drayden has just received word that he's invited to a meeting tonight. Our neighboring pack and two local covens have also been invited. They all came to tell Drayden, and he wanted to let you know right away, but he's still dealing with the other leaders and I already know you, so here we are."

"Thank you Declan, I appreciate that. Did anyone accept or decline yet?"

"No one responded yet, Drayden said they should wait and see if you needed the meeting as a trap."

"Smart of him, that's exactly what I want. I'm going to send Beta Lincoln and a group of warriors to you, and I'm heading over as well, as soon as I shove some sort of food into my system. What time is the meeting set?"

"It's set for 9 pm in a clearing of the woods between the two packs that are invited."

"Perfect. Have everyone respond yes. I'll see you shortly!"

"See you soon."

They hung up and Alina called Ryan and Bryson on her way to the kitchen, explaining what was happening and her plan. She was handed a container of dinner as she walked into the kitchen, catching her off guard. "Oh! Thank you! Mind readers, are we?" She laughed and thanked the Omegas who had given it to her, complete with a giant bottle of water.

"We try," Celina laughed, her light khaki skin freshly tanned from the beautiful weather this week.

"Thank you! I'm off. I'll be back as soon as I can. If anyone needs anything, call me but get my father if it's urgent and requires a presence!" The wolves nodded in understanding and Alina could hear them broadcasting the message for her as she headed to the car. This pack was too far to run, and with no food, using her magic to appear there wouldn't be smart. Besides, it was only 5:30 and she could eat on the way if she drove. Alina hopped in the driver's seat, pushing start as she settled her food on the passenger seat and plugged her phone in, turning the music up. She opened the container to take a bite, the smell of the spicy chicken and rice making her realize how incredibly hungry she was.

The drive took nearly an hour, even with how fast Alina tended to drive. She checked in with people as she drove, music blasting and relieving some of her stress temporarily. Ryan and several of their groups had already arrived at the pack, and Bryson would arrive shortly after Alina, with the groups he was leading.

As soon as she entered the pack's lands she felt it. It had been described to her so many times in her life. She was positive about what it was immediately. "I do not have time for this!" She said aloud in the car, frustrated that the Goddesses would choose *now* of all times. She took a deep breath and continued through the lands until she reached the pack house. She hadn't been here since she was a child accompanying her father. She pulled her car up next to the house and turned the engine off, unplugging her phone and taking a big chug of water as she let Ryan know she was here using their mindlink.

"Oh s**t. That explains Drayden's face. Are y-"

"Yes, yes, I felt it. Thanks for narrowing down the who. I don't have time for that right now. I'm heading in, we have a trap to prepare."

She closed the mindlink to shut Ryan out as she got out of the car and headed toward the door. Declan greeted her on the porch, a knowing look on his face.

"Yes, yes, I feel it, but we have business to get to."

"Such focus, Queen Alina," the retired Alpha chuckled.

"Clearly, the Goddesses have a sense of humor with their timing," Alina rolled her eyes and stepped into the pack house.