The Predator's Invincible Heir

Chapter 6: The Witch's Price

Did I stop going to school after the humiliation in the principal's office? No. I refused to give Tanya the satisfaction of watching me break.

Did the brutal bullying stop? Only when Liam was around to cast his massive, protective shadow over us.

When Liam returned to school on Monday, his silver-gold eyes scanned my face intensely, sensing the lingering tension, but I purposefully chose not to tell him about the nightmare that had unfolded on Friday. I didn't want to be a weeping baby anymore. I was tired of being the damsel in distress who constantly needed a knight in shining armor. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to learn how to take care of myself.

Besides, all my desperate hopes were pinned entirely on our upcoming visit to the legendary Seer in the deep woods. In my mind, that meeting would be the final cure to all my misery. I viewed it exactly like going to see a doctor when you are desperately sick. When you're ill, a doctor diagnoses the root cause of your pain and prescribes the exact medication to make you better. That was precisely how I felt about the Seer. I convinced myself that she would look into my soul, pinpoint the exact reason why I was born a genetic anomaly, and offer a mystical solution that would finally awaken my inner wolf. I wanted to feel the scratch of claws. I wanted to be normal.

That Monday afternoon, tucked away in our secret corner of the rooftop, Liam and I finalized the arrangements. We were going to venture deep into the forbidden, uncharted woods on Wednesday after classes to hunt for the woman.

"Just promise me you won't put all your hopes up, Aria," Tiffany murmured quietly the next afternoon, her voice laced with anxiety as we walked home from the academy. "Morrigan was banished from this territory for a very dark reason."

"Morrigan?" I repeated the name, a cold shiver sliding down my spine just speaking it out loud. "She was banished? Why?"

Tiffany stopped walking, pulling her backpack straps tighter against her shoulders as she cast a wary glance over her shoulder toward the distant, shadowy mountains. "She used to be the official Blackwood Pack Witch. She served the pack for decades as our high Seer and primary healer. She isn't a werewolf, Aria. She is a high-profile, ancient witch whose magic runs deeper than the roots of these trees. But she was ruthlessly exiled from the pack eighteen years ago... on the exact day Liam's mother died. The three days after Liam was born."

My breath hitched. "Liam's mother?"

Tiffany nodded grimly, her voice dropping to a solemn whisper as we continued down the path. "When Luna Selene was closer to her due date, the baby inside her womb suddenly stopped kicking. Days passed, and the silence from her belly grew terrifying. The pack doctors were rushed to the pack house, and after hours of testing, they delivered a crushing, fatal verdict to the Alpha line: the unborn pup was dead."

A gasp escaped my lips.

"It was a devastating blow," Tiffany continued, her copper eyes filled with sorrow. "Alpha Michael and Luna Selene were utterly destroyed. Desperate, the Alpha summoned Morrigan to the pack house. She placed her hands on the Luna's swollen belly, used her ancient magic, and confirmed the awful truth. The baby no longer breathed. There was no heartbeat."

"'What can be done?' Alpha Michael had demanded, his voice breaking with a father's agony," Tiffany narrated, perfectly channeling the history passed down by the pack elders.

"'Deliver the dead child, Alpha,' Morrigan had replied with a heavy heart. 'Let the pup be laid to rest, and perhaps the Moon Goddess will bless your bloodline again.'"

"'Noooo!' Luna Selene had screamed, her voice echoing through the pack house in pure, unadulterated torment. 'I will give birth to a live baby! Only a live baby! Please, tell me there is a way... another way. I will give anything. I will pay any price! Please, let my son live!'"

"Alpha Michael, broken by his wife's tears, looked at the witch. 'Is there any other way, Morrigan?'"

"The witch hesitated, her ancient eyes filling with warning. 'There is a forbidden way, great Alpha. But there is always a severe price to pay. The universe can return the soul of your son to his body, but you must give something equally precious in return. You must exchange his life with something of equal weight.'"

"The Alpha was skeptical, his predatory instincts warning him of danger. 'With what?'"

"'I do not know, Alpha,' Morrigan had warned cautiously. 'The cosmic scales are absolute. The universe takes whatever she pleases if she grants you a miracle of this magnitude.'"

"'I don't like this,' Alpha Michael had stated firmly, wanting to pull back."

"But Luna Selene was completely blinded by a mother's fierce love," Tiffany sighed. "She believed the universe would strip her of her wolf spirit, or perhaps take her royalty. She was entirely ready to let go of her powers, so long as her son was born breathing. After hours of bitter desperation, the Alpha finally caved. He commanded Morrigan to perform the ancient, dark incantations to resurrect the dead pup."

I listened intently, the rustling pine needles above us sounding like whispers from the past.

"The very next morning, a miracle occurred," Tiffany breathed. "Luna Selene felt a faint, fluttering heartbeat beneath her ribs. Over the next few weeks, the kicks returned to normal, stronger and more vibrant than before. The entire pack rejoiced. It seemed like a flawless victory—nobody had lost anything, and the dark bargain was pushed to the back of their minds. When the day of delivery arrived, the labor progressed beautifully. Within a short time, a gorgeous, bouncing baby boy was born. Liam."

"The Alpha was overjoyed, the Luna was glowing, and the pack celebrated for three straight days. But on the evening of the third day, the cosmic debt came due." Tiffany's voice turned chillingly cold. "Luna Selene suddenly began to bleed profusely out of nowhere. The pack doctors were summoned frantically, but before they could even step foot into her chambers, the Luna's heart stopped. She died in her husband's arms."

A wave of goosebumps broke out across my arms.

"The celebration instantly turned into a horrific funeral," Tiffany said softly. "Alpha Michael was driven completely insane by grief and rage. He summoned Morrigan to the throne room in chains."

"'She delivered successfully! She was perfectly healthy and the baby was fine!' the Alpha had roared, his aura threatening to bring the ceiling down. 'What is the meaning of this?!'"

"'The universe takes what or whoever she pleases to balance the ledger, Alpha,' Morrigan had replied calmly, standing tall despite the guards holding her."

"'You never said it would involve taking another life! You didn't say it would cost me my wife!'"

"'I warned you that the price would be precious, Alpha. I honestly did not know what the cosmic scales would demand.'"

"'Get out!' Michael had bellowed, his wolf practically tearing at his skin. 'If it were not for the fact that my son breathes because of your magic, I would execute you right here for the murder of my Luna. Get out of my sight! The day your feet ever touch Blackwood territory again is the day you die.'"

"And Morrigan?" I asked, completely spellbound by the tale. "What did she do?"

"She just bowed gracefully, completely devoid of fear or emotion, and walked out into the shadows," Tiffany said. "Since that tragic day, her very name became an absolute taboo in the Blackwood Pack. Nobody speaks of her. No one visits her, and she visits no one."

"But... she did warn them," I murmured, a knot of sympathy forming in my chest for the exiled witch. "It wasn't her fault."

"A grieving, broken Alpha doesn't care about warnings, Aria." Tiffany stopped, turning her gaze directly onto me, her expression dead serious. "And now, Liam wants to take you to see her? Do you have any idea how furious his father will be if he ever finds out?"

"He would be completely enraged," I whispered, the weight of Liam's actions crashing down on me.

"Exactly," Tiffany said, a soft, knowing smile finally breaking through her serious expression as she searched my face. "It shows just how deeply Liam cares for you, Aria. This isn't just him being a nice guy or protecting a weak student. There is something much, much bigger happening between you two."

I looked away, my face flushing as I struggled to find words. I was a swirling vortex of confusion, excitement, and sheer terror. I was exhilarated that a magnificent, powerful future Alpha King could care for a broken girl like me enough to defy his own father's ultimate law. But I was terrified because if Alpha Michael ever discovered that his precious, purebred son was harboring a wolf-less liability, the consequences for my aging parents would be catastrophic.

"But Aria, for what it's worth," Tiffany added softly, nudging my shoulder as we walked, "I can also feel a strange, electric energy radiating from you sometimes. I truly believe there is something ancient and powerful hiding deep inside your soul... just waiting for the exact right moment to explode."

I offered her a quiet smile, keeping my thoughts to myself. We were approaching the edge of the tree line near my house. Whenever Liam wasn't walking us home, we always took the hidden path through the dense woods to avoid any public confrontations with Tanya or the twins.

I was still deeply lost in thought, turning Tiffany's words over in my mind, when my body suddenly jolted violently.

SMACK.

Air exploded from my lungs as my chest collided head-on with a solid, freezing structure. The impact sent me stumbling back into the dirt, my hands scraping against the pine needles.

Tiffany gasped, skittering to a halt beside me. "Aria! Are you okay? What happened?"

"The wall..." I choked out, pushing myself up, my eyes wide with panic as I stared at the seemingly empty air between two redwood trees. "It's back. The invisible wall from last week."

But this time, something was profoundly different.

The air didn't just feel cold—it began to ripple. Right before our eyes, the empty space between the trees began to distort, twisting like heated asphalt. A low, terrifying, gravelly growl vibrated through the earth beneath our feet. The invisible barrier was breathing.

Tiffany's copper eyes violently changed color, bleeding into a fierce, glowing amber. The sweet, timid omega girl vanished in a heartbeat. Sensing the immediate, lethal danger threatening my life, her predatory instincts took complete control.

Crack. Snap.

With a sudden, breathtaking burst of fur and muscle, Tiffany's bones shifted seamlessly. Within seconds, a beautiful, sleek light-brown wolf stood directly in front of me, her lips pulled back into a vicious snarl as she exposed razor-sharp fangs.

She sensed the entity, too.

With a fierce, loyal howl that echoed through the quiet forest, Tiffany coiled her powerful hind legs and launched her wolf form directly at the invisible, growling creature blocking our path.