by Tay T
Maya frowned deeply as her chest heated with exasperation. She raked a hand through her tangled hair and flopped back down on the other side of the bed, kicking the sheets away.
The time continued to tick in her head, trickling along, as Maya laid in the dark for who knew how long. After a moment, she lifted her head and conjured a wristwatch in the palm of her hand.
3:39 A.M.
Ugh.
With a groan, she tossed the contraption aside and slammed her head back on the pillow. Just when she was about to flip around on her back, light knocks sounded on the door and reverberated in the room, disturbing the silence.
Maya could smell the Alpha’s scent seeping into the room and straight to her nose. As her lungs filled to the brim with Xavier Thaeos, her eyelids immediately lowered and her stiff body sagged. She didn’t even want to breathe out because of how euphoric his fresh scent was compared to the stale one on his pillow.
Maya’s fingers danced on the silken sheets, leaking black magic from the tips, and the door unlocked from the inside before swinging open as if to invite the Alpha in. Then, she continued to play dead.
The Alpha entered the room in long, sweeping strides, and the heat of his aura licked across the surface of Maya’s skin, dousing her agitation in calming sweeps.
Still so stubborn, Xavier thought.
He had waited and waited for Maya to come to him, counting the minutes slowly trickling by like the little grains of sand in an hourglass.
But his patient waiting had been for nothing. Not even a peep from her, other than the sounds of her sighs and tossing and turning.
His little sorceress refused to go to him, refused to admit she needed him just as much as he needed her. It was driving him nuts; even though, it was one of the qualities he loved most about her.
But despite how stubborn she was, he couldn’t find it in him to be upset at her.
Perhaps, he should take things one step at a time and gauge the level of which she was comfortable and try not to push the boundaries too far.
He figured that if his little sorceress didn’t bend for him, he’d have to bend himself for her.
“Can’t sleep?” Xavier took a seat on the edge of the bed, watching her body relax as their proximity increased.
“You either?” Maya lifted her head, brushing her hair off her flushed face, and glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
The Alpha was still half-naked. His black pants hung dangerously low on his hips and his washboard abs were on full display.
Though his facial expression was calm and neutral, she noticed the droplets of sweat dripping down the sides of his face and collecting on his forehead, nose, and upper lip. Even his breathing seemed more labored than before.
But as far as she knew, the house remained moderately cool throughout the day, and Xavier hadn’t been doing anything other than lying in his bed. Maya could hear every movement he made. So there was no reason for him to be sweating and breathing so heavily.
Upon closer inspection, Maya realized the bond did, indeed, affect him. He just had a better way of hiding his pain compared to her.
A wide grin spread across her rose-colored lips, and her eyes gleamed in the dark, watching as the tall Alpha untangled the covers from her long legs and repositioned her body on her side of the bed. He then climbed under the covers next to her and wrapped his left arm around her tapered waist before setting her delicate head onto his right arm.
In seconds, they laid on their sides, intimately pressed against each other.
The instant warmth and security swallowed her whole like a safety blanket of tranquility, and the bond calmed underneath her skin, purring in a type of contentment only Xavier Thaeos could give.
When Maya made a move to get up, he held her to him and ordered, “Sleep.”
His hot breath ruffled the fine hairs at the top of her head and his deep voice made gooseflesh form on her skin.
“I thought we were sleeping in different beds,” she tried to mock, suddenly finding her eyes too heavy to keep open.
“Let’s not argue about this. You need the rest.” He pressed a delicate kiss on the crown of her head and murmured into her ear, “Sleep.”
_______________________
Light rain sprinkled down upon a forest of shadowed trees, trickling slowly like morning dew on yellow leaves.
The constant flutter of struggling wings echoed in Everette’s ears as she tried to avoid the drops of rain pelting her body. Most of her feathers were gathering liquid and becoming too heavy to continue flight, but she pushed forward with all she had.
After another thirty minutes of piteous flying, she quickly transformed back into her humanoid body.
Her white hair seemed almost silver now that it was wet, sticking to the contours of her face and flattening against her skull. Her red eyes gleamed eerily in the dark and her lashes danced upon her frozen cheeks, collecting rain droplets at every chance it got.
“Damn it,” she muttered lowly, pulling her sopping foot from a deep hole in the muddy ground. Her white knee-length dress had long become waterlogged, clinging to her thin and frail frame in wrinkled abundance. “Why am I even going to such lengths?”
Ever since Maya had disappeared from the apartment, Everette had spent quite some time moping in the dark sorceress’s home and contemplating if she should come to the rescue.
The dove-shifter didn’t know if it was even necessary.
What if the dark sorceress wanted to stay with the Alpha? What if she ruined whatever devious plan the sorceress had concocted by showing up?
There were too many “what if’s” she had created as an excuse to keep herself from going.
Eventually, Everette had scrapped all her excuses and decided it was best to go see if the sorceress needed help. If Maya didn’t, Everette would head back home and get a good shot of whiskey from her grandpa’s collection. If she did, Everette would find a way to help, even if it’d be damned near impossible.
Since she deemed herself to be a good friend, she had to stick to the code of honor.
Another mile of walking in the rain was enough to calm Everette’s frazzled nerves. She had been hyperventilating earlier at Maya’s apartment, before she drank a cup of whiskey and decided to hell with it all. Now, her anxiety had eased up and she was calmer than a clam in the big wide ocean—a little drunk, even.
Within minutes, Everette spotted the borders of the Southern Land. Her red eyes glanced past a grove of tall trees to her left, and she noted the empty expanse.
With a pair of binoculars, the dove-shifter had surveyed the borders of the Southern Land earlier this morning, trekking mile after mile at a far distance. This particular side of the woods seemed to be a blind spot and didn’t have any border patrol guarding. It was the only opening she’d found mighty plausible.
Although Everette could start a fire to distract the guards, she knew their defenses would not falter with her simple ruse. And if she were to try to poison or drug them, her sentence would be far from kind and gentle when they caught her.
Everette was too scared to do anything stupid.
She had no help.
No magic.
Nothing.
She was a one-woman army, and the odds were against her. So, she chose a rainy night to try to sneak past the borders, hoping the rain would wash away her scent before the werewolves would notice her.
Perhaps, this was a bad idea, after all, Everette mulled.
Her hands curled into fists and bony fingers stabbed into the thin flesh of her palms. She immediately reverted into her bird form to make it harder for the werewolves to spot her.
As Everette tried to keep herself above ground, her little body moved to and fro as flying became extremely difficult with the wind and rain growing stronger and stronger by the minute.
Just when Everette flew past the barrier between heaven and monstrosity, a hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed her entire body.
The dove-shifter�
��s eyes bulged from their sockets, and her heart constricted in her chest. She squawked and squeaked, pecking at the hand twice her size, to no avail.
“Caught a pretty little bird, Dan,” the male holding her announced to his partner, waving poor Everette around like a dripping white flag of victory.
“Pretty, but not enough meat to spit roast,” Dan commented flatly.
The men were drenched from head to toe, standing guard several miles away, when they saw the dot of white wiggle around through the heavy downpour. It didn’t take but a couple of seconds for Carl, the brawny brute, to launch himself in the air and catch Everette in the palms of his hands.
Carl shook the still bird. “Well, are you going to shift or do we have to make you?”
His fingers tightened around Everette’s tiny form, squeezing moderately around the ring of her spindly neck. When Everette’s body expanded, he opened his fingers and dropped her on the ground.
A wet thwack rang in the clearing, and Everette knew she was done for.
“Please don’t eat me. I-I-I’m looking for m-my friend,” she tried to explain.
Her beady red eyes glistened from the rain and her frail body trembled pitifully on the ground.
Carl’s deep blue eyes leered down at her, a canine-filled grin adorning his lips. “It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for. You’ll have to check yourself into our dungeon until Alpha Xavier has the time to deal with you.”
Everette gulped.
CHAPTER 23
Dan grabbed Everette by her shoulder and lugged her with him through the mud and rain.
In only a handful of minutes, Everette found herself seated inside a cold, damp, and barely lit dungeon. She could smell old blood, rotting organs, and other disturbing things she didn’t want to name.
Well, at least Maya’s not down here, she thought, flicking a piece of hay off her knee.
Everette curled into herself, sitting in a fetal position with her chin set on her knees. She remained in that position for almost five hours, solemnly waiting for someone to come for her. But as the minutes drifted by, she got antsy and paced from wall to wall.
The dove-shifter would rather have her neck snapped in one go than to suffer for days on end, waiting for a death that had no date.
It was way too torturous, and she couldn’t take it any longer.
Everette smacked her head against the icy wall.
What made her think getting a little buzzed would help anything?
She groaned.
As her thoughts became more and more derailed, the locked door at the top of the stairs clicked and squealed as it was pushed open.
Dan led the imposing Cardinal Alpha down the flight of stairs to the cell where Everette was kept captive.
“The dove-shifter has been down here since last night,” Dan said.
Upon notice of the Alpha’s monstrous aura, Everette floundered in her spot and tried hard not to pee herself. Her face became paler, almost transparent like a ghost, and her whole body quivered uncontrollably.
The hairs on Everette’s neck stood on end and the urge to vomit rippled in her upset stomach.
“Open the door,” the lethal Alpha ordered.
Dan immediately unlocked the cell and stood behind his Alpha, waiting for the next commands.
“I-I’m looking for Maya,” Everette squeaked, trying very hard to keep her voice level.
At that moment, the flight or fight instinct became solely flight, except Everette knew she couldn’t escape no matter how hard she tried.
The Alpha’s golden eyes flickered over her face for a split second before darting away. “Dan will show you the way.”
Just that one glance was enough to make Everette realize she was still just a grain of dirt beneath his majestic feet. She was still unworthy and unimportant to him.
Everette swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, bringing her gaze down to her feet.
_______________________
Maya’s slim fingers danced on the crisp pieces of yellow paper stacked neatly one on top of the other.
She inspected the wet cryptic symbols scrawled in a foreign tongue on the papers, waiting for them to dry before folding them into little stars, triangles, and squares. This would help her differentiate the spells and make it easier to grab the correct one when necessary.
She’d been working on them for almost four hours, adding to the collection she’d been building over the years.
Although Maya had been prepared for a long while, there was no harm in going the extra mile. She didn’t want there to be any mishaps because that could cost her a lot more than she was willing to lose.
As her fingers picked up the dip pen on the table, Maya smelled the scent of creamy vanilla and marshmallows.
Everette.
The corner of her mouth quirked upward, and she continued to draw the symbols on the paper.
Before long, the sound of wings fluttering dizzyingly in the chilly morning air became prominent in Maya’s ears. She stood up and moved to the window, unlocking the latch and pushing it open.
“Maya!” the dove exclaimed excitedly, poofing into her human form and attaching herself to the sorceress. “You don’t know how scared I’ve been for the last twenty hours just trying to come look for you! The stupid guards in this pack locked me down in their nasty dungeon! I swear, if I didn’t get out sooner, I was going to have a stroke or puke so much I would die. And you know how much I hate the thought of dying…”
“I can imagine how bad it must have been,” Maya replied, waiting for Everette to breathe in between her words to speak.
Since Maya didn’t notice any wounds on the dove, she figured the dove-shifter was ranting again.
“Wait. What’s going on with you and the Alpha? His scent is all over you, like you mate—oh my goodness!” Everette’s mouth clicked shut. Her red eyes were awfully wide as shocked coursed through her entire body, filling her head with preposterous ideas.
“You mated with Xavier Thaeos!” she accused, pointing her index finger at Maya’s pretty face, as if it were blasphemy for such a thing to happen.
Maya didn’t deny or acknowledge it, choosing to keep her silence. But Everette already knew the answer.
“Is the Alpha keeping you captive here?” Everette breathed, “Did he force you?”
Maya sighed. “No. He didn’t.”
It got quiet after that.
“Well, this is awkward,” Everette muttered, clearing her throat. “Um, anyway, I have some news for you. The Coven has plans to relocate your mother from under the lake. It might be later next week when they start the move.”
Maya’s face darkened.
“Just keep a close eye on them. If you see anything, use this to notify me.” Maya handed Everette a yellow pentagon with red circular symbols drawn across the top.
The dove-shifter tucked it into her pocket and nodded. “Alright, I’m going to go back and keep watch.”
Since she’d already confirmed Maya’s wellbeing, there was no point in sticking around on the predator-filled land.
“Wait a second, have you seen Druid lately?” Maya inquired before the dove could fly off. She had plans to involve Druid in her battle with the white witches, and hoped he would be willing to help.
“I forgot to tell you this, but he’s out of the country with his boyfriend on a cruise vacation to some island resort,” Everette said, crossing her arms over her body as her nose scrunched in disappointment. She hadn’t been invited to go with them.
Although she would have said “no” if they invited her, the thought would have counted. If they had even thought about her.
Everette huffed.
“Boyfriend?” Maya repeated, eyebrows knitting together in mild confusion, unsure if she’d heard right.
“Yes. He’s dating that guy Marion set him up with.”
An incredulous look plastered itself on Maya’s face. “Still? Even after everything?”
Everette nodded, breaking i
nto uncontrollable giggles because of the face Maya made.
“Who would have known? Marion’s a matchmaker now,” Maya chuckled, “I guess I’ll have to congratulate Druid when I see him.”
_______________________
When Maya awoke this morning and found Xavier gone from their bed, she’d eaten the breakfast he’d left on the table and ventured out of the villa, counting the steps she could walk away from him. Today, she was able to walk a little more than four hundred steps.
Once she came close to five hundred steps, the uncomfortable burn in her chest came back. It was just a slight sting not worthy of mentioning. But she could tell it was trying to warn her of her upcoming humiliation if she were to walk any further. Maya turned around and went back to the Alpha’s home after that.
Perhaps, another day.
Maya sat in front of the dining table filled with yellow stacks of paper, red inkwells, and a small pile of differently shaped origami. She had a dip pen in her hand and was jotting down a spell on the yellow paper.
Too immersed in her writing, she completely overlooked the towering Alpha several steps behind her.
“What are you doing?” he asked, glancing over her bare shoulder to read the strange symbols scrawled on a rectangular piece of yellow paper. From her memory, he was able to read and understand the dark necromancy spell she had written.
Without looking back at him, she answered, “Preparing for battle.”
“I can easily obliterate the Coven for you,” he suggested, taking a step closer to his little sorceress.
“I fight my own battles, Alpha,” she sniffed, calmly dismissing the strange flutter of her heart. “And just so you know, you werewolves won’t stand a chance against their magic. I’ve seen what happens to a wolf pack chased off their own land by the Coven. Most of them run with their burnt tails between their shaking legs.”
“My warriors are not regular werewolves,” he chuckled, amused by her words. “They would rather die than run from a fight.”
Maya skeptically raised a defined brow. “Either way, I don’t like the smell of burnt fur or roasted dog.”
