Alliance of Shadows: NEIL

Imposter Among Us

Um… In what alternate reality do plants lean toward someone humming? Clara said her niece wasn’t what she appeared to be, so what was she? What was that Bitchy Witchy stepmother of mine even talking about?

Don’t get your panties in a twist. I say that about Clara because she’s, well, an actual Witch. I didn’t know much about her sister, but I knew that there were times when a magic-users family birthed a dud. A child who, despite their powerful parents, was born without a trace of magic in their blood. Her coven, Starlight, was one of the other seat-holders at the Alliance table.

The Alliance itself consisted of the groups in the immediate vicinity. Those were the Witch coven, Starlight, the Druid coven, Sacred Heart, and the Werewolves of Shadow Storm. Any people who wanted to come join, had to prove they were capable of upholding our shared laws. Each separate group voted for an ambassador. For my people, it was my father. Clara was chosen to represent her coven, and Dreson was the Ambassador for Sacred Heart.

The Mate bond pulled at my soul each time I saw her, my wolf snapping and growling as he tried desperately to take over my body and go to her. I couldn’t risk it. Not since Clara explained that she’d been hurt before coming to our land. She never went into detail, but the truth was written between the words she did say.

An unspoken, heavy truth lay between us like a chasm. Wide, gaping, and it burned my ass to know there wasn’t much I could do about it. I hid my desire for her away. I locked it down tight, keeping it on a short leash, but I knew that if she spoke even one word to me or got a little too close, my perfect control would shatter.

It was agonizing, but I continued to watch her while keeping my distance to avoid an accidental encounter that would literally undo me. Ice cold showers had quickly become my best friend during that time.

My wolf wasn’t helping, either. He was bashing his head against the inside of mine, growling out warnings and begging me to just touch her. Just to feel the electric shock that reinforced everything. The jolt of realization as two souls aligned perfectly, melding and matching their Fated Mate’s wavelengths.

Each day I followed Clara's Grand Luna order to watch her niece from the shadows, the deeper into the pit of desire I fell. Just like when Colt met Daisy, and their bond was tested in the worst of ways, my interim strength was now getting put through its paces.

The tension gnawed at me relentlessly, a constant reminder of what I couldn’t have. I grappled with my emotions daily, torn between duty and the overwhelming desire that threatened to consume me. It was a struggle that left me exhausted, yet I couldn’t let my guard down, not even for a moment. If I did, then I would make the biggest mistake of my life, only to lose it when my father found out.

Months of patience, months of waiting, but I never got the result I was aiming for. It was a clear reminder of the fact that some lines, no matter how faint, should never be crossed.

It was her birthday, a milestone that had her hedging on the border between a girl and a woman. a time when I really, really should have just left her alone. She was sixteen when she arrived, but now? Now she was seventeen, and that much closer to being legally mine.

I should have stayed away from her. Yet, in a moment of pure stupidity, I grabbed a bottle of Baby Duck champagne, two glasses, and what little courage I had left. Clara and dad were gone to the monthly Alliance meeting. The Omega’s had all retreated to their own homes, and I was alone with the little mouse.

She wasn’t tame, but she wasn’t demure, either. Her fire was there, just below the years of doubts and uncertainty that ate away at her self-worth. I just had to find a way to unlock it. To bring it out and let her shine.

That… that was my wolf talking. I… yeah, no. I can’t lie. It was me.

With the bubbly in hand, I whistled while I walked. Making my way to her bedroom door, I knocked, waiting for her to answer. Her timid call of “wait a moment” sent shivers down my spine while the latch came undone. She opened the door, her smile fading to a shocked, fear-filled expression. “Um… hi.”

“Hi, can I come in? I, uh, I wanted to, um, apologize. For a few months ago.” What the hell? Why was I stammering?

“Okay…” she replied. “Well, if we’re going to start with apologies, I should-”

I felt like an imposter in my own life. Like someone else was in control of my body as I smiled at her while leaning against the doorframe. “Stop, Izaria. You only reacted to what I said. I was the one being an asshole to you, and I… I’m sorry.”

“A guy who knows how to apologize? That’s a new one,” she commented dryly before another wave of fear hit her.

“No, don’t be afraid,” whoops. Better cover my tracks. “I mean, uh, of me. Don’t… Seriously speaking, Can I come in? I know you’re only seventeen, but I brought some, um, champagne. You know, to celebrate your birthday.”

Her eyes darkened, and I couldn’t help feeling that there was something familiar about them. “As you said, I’m seventeen. If you hadn’t noticed, there’s this little thing calls laws we have to consider.”

“Laws were made to be broken, weren’t they? Besides, it’s one little drink with me, not like I’m asking you to chug the whole bottle.” I advised.

Bold? Definitely. Brazen? Hell yeah.

Safe from my father’s temper if he ever found out? Not bloody likely.

She opened the door wider, showing the scarcely decorated room behind her. “Well, I guess. I mean, I’m on my own tonight. My aunt went with your dad on a date or something.”

I raised a brow, cautiously entering the room as I looked around. Nothing – absolutely nothing – was on the walls. There was nothing on the shelves, and barely anything in the closet as far as I could see. “Um… where’s all your stuff?”

“You’re looking at it.”

Those four words made regret become the prominent emotion in my mind. Opening the bottle, I set the glasses on the bedside table, pouring one at a time to the halfway mark. I didn’t feel pity. Not smug, nor satisfied that she was living day-to-day with almost nothing to her name.

No, it was more of a weird sense of awe at her situation. A sense of protection, of wanting to spoil her with things as beautiful as she was.

Goddess, dad was right. I needed to get it together. She was still technically a minor, but she was, however, old enough to speak her own mind, to say no to anything she didn’t want. Whether or not she did so was entirely on her. If I played along? Well, that was on me.

“I kinda feel bad for how I’ve been, um, treating you,” I said, handing over her glass.

“It was one conversation,” she countered. “And it’s not like you yelled at me.”

Glancing over at her as I stood at the window, is sighed. “It’s more than that. I’ve been actively avoiding you, Izaria. I just, you know, felt like you were moving in on my territory. Childish, I know, which is why I’m here right now. To man up and actually humble myself long enough to apologize.”

She set her glass down, barely more than a sip taken out of it. Sighing, she sat on her bed. “I knew you were avoiding me. Aunt Clara told me you might. I didn’t really care as long as no one here tried to hurt me.”

The dark, foreboding way she said “hurt me” told me something mentally debilitating had been done to her. Something that could potentially change everything for me. For us.

My own mind was fractured, especially after the attack that took almost half the pack from my father when I was a child. We’d lost so many, including my Human mother and my paternal grandfather, Alpha King Christopher Dane. Dad was a prince at the time, and I was just his pup, a child just learning how things worked.

Shake it off, I thought. This was no time to be taking a pity party. “How’s the bubbly?”

“It’s not something I’m used to, but thank you for thinking of me. Even if you are a few days late,” she… Did she just tease me?

That was new.

“Neil, how old are you? I mean, you act like you don’t have a care in the world. Yet, there’s something… different about you. Something… lost,” she said.

Getting to her feet, she moved to the dresser. Picking up the multicoloured, multi-faced cube commonly known as Rubix. That’s when I realized she wasn’t just actively helpful. Izaria was smart, kind – things that would made any Alpha proud to call her Luna.

There I go getting ahead of myself again.

“I’ll be twenty-one in a few weeks. Most people use a stress ball,” I commented, hoping to take the tension out of the room.

“Not me,” she answered. Standing in front of the window with me, her fingers began flying nimbly as she went through the motions of solving it.

Dre and Kaden would totally get a kick out of this. I mused, so absorbed in watching her that I didn’t see she was distracting me. Before I knew what was happening, her lips were on mine. Was it the champagne? Her own choice? Or was this a new ploy to get me in s**t with her aunt and my father?