“But to stay with you, she has to choose between you and magic.”
“No, she can choose whatever she wants. I’m letting her decide who she will become. If she chooses magic, she will remain as she was. If she becomes like me, that’s her choice. Laura is strong of will and heart, and she burns brighter than any star in the universe. I’m giving her the power to choose what she wants to be. I’m giving her a second chance at life.”
Laura
I heard them whispering, or at least I thought it was whispering. Darkness surrounded me, and yet there was a light just out of my grasp that I couldn’t reach. Avery’s magic held me here that much I could sense, but I wasn’t alone. The silver-eyed hybrid who had sired me sat in the shadows, watching me.
“I am your father,” he informed me as if he could hear my thoughts. “I assure you, in this realm, I can hear you, and I can feel you.”
“You tried to have me murdered,” I accused softly, uncertain if I blamed him for trying.
“Your mother intended to wield you against my family and me. I had little knowledge of what you were or what you would become. You were strong enough to kill my line should you have wished to do so. So I sent a berserker after you, intending to end the threat before it ever reached my shores. Imagine my surprise when my most fierce and loyal berserker did not carry out my order and instead fell in love with my daughter. I came there intending to carry out what he had failed to do and found you with him. You loved him blindly, without damning him for what he was. You didn’t care that he carried the lycan gene, or that he was Viking. You loved him because he was gentle. So I left you there with him, alive. I make no apologies for what I am, or what I tried to do, girl. As a king, we have to make choices for the good of those we rule, and my sweet daughter wouldn’t have lived if you’d come for her. Brigid was gentle and everything sweet. You were ruthless, and tales of you reached my shores, and while they made me proud, they also gave me worry. The Red Witch who slaughtered both Vikings and werewolves without prejudice. You slaughtered innocents without blinking. I assumed you were like the murderous bitch whose womb had grown you. I was wrong.”
“You weren’t; I would have come for you and your people, eventually. I am sure she intended me to. I love Braydon with my entire heart. That doesn’t explain why you’re still here.”
“I’ve come to tell you that Mary was sent to find you at my behest. I want my line to live. You’re the last one who holds my blood, and yet the magic within you is strong enough to hold the lycan virus at bay. You can choose, live as you have with your magic from your mother, or become like Braydon.”
“Why can’t I be both?” I asked.
“Because the magic within you will not allow it,” he explained carefully. “The hybrid gene is a mutation. It’s a virus that changes your genetic makeup. Your magic sees it and attacks it to heal you. You can never be both,” he breathed slowly, watching me.
“If I choose magic, I lose the babe I created with Braydon, don’t I?” I countered.
“Yes, the magic will attack him to protect his mother. He is of my line and is his father’s child and yours. Unfortunately, you created him without magic inside of you. If you keep your magic, it will attack the lycan virus within you, and then your child. You will lose him, but Braydon will love you either way.”
“I don’t know how to live without magic,” I admitted softly, letting my hand slide over the smooth stomach that didn’t appear pregnant. “I am Queen of the Witches of the North, and I cannot rule them as a lycan.”
“You are a queen by birth, Laura. Whatever you choose, I want happiness for you. She has cursed you for long enough, and even I tried to murder you. You’ve earned your time on this earth, so whatever you choose, I hope it brings you happiness. Now, for the real reason I am here. I want you to release your mother from the curse.”
“No,” I said without hesitation.
“Just listen to me before you ignore my request. I have waited a very long time to get my hands on her. I have made deals with the devil himself to get her. The only thing preventing me from having my revenge is you. You’re so fucking powerful that not even the devil can pull her from that river for more than a few moments. I chose a realm in hell that is filled with lycan and Vikings who wish to play with her for eternity. You have my word, and that of the King of Hell, that she will never escape. Give me this, daughter. She took you from me, ruined your life and any chance of happiness you and Braydon could have, and she only drowns once a year in the river.”
“She’s supposed to drown for eternity,” I grumbled.
“She does; once a year she’s pushed beneath the cold waters until she drowns to death. It is repeated on the next Samhain, which prevents her from coming here, as she did this year. Something changed, though; my guess is it was you. Your magic was taken, and therefore she was able to come here. Consider it at least, for I fear her curse is coming undone with yours.”
“Fine, but I’m going back now,” I stated, regarding him carefully. I looked nothing like him, which probably saved my life. Had I looked like him, I doubt my mother would have allowed me to live long.
“So you are, I wonder, which will you choose, daughter?” he asked.
“I guess you’ll just need to visit us on the next Samhain to see?” I smirked, turning to mist as I returned to my body.
Chapter 19
Beneath the blood-red moon, I saw the resignation in Braydon as he nodded solemnly. His Nordic blue eyes held mine before dropping to my stomach. He understood my choice, and though it was hard to stomach for both of us, he respected it. Tears swam in my eyes, blurring my vision as I watched Hope, Avery, and the others making their way to me.
“You’re sure, little one? If you do this, we cannot undo it.”
“I’m aware,” I stated firmly.
Stepping away from him, I made my way to Hope and hugged her tightly. She allowed it, pulling away to stare at me before she too shook her head and tried to sway my choice.
“I don’t want you to do this. Please, please don’t do this. You can’t ever undo it.”
“I know what I am doing. I know the cost, and I can live with it.” I reached up, wiping away the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
“If you change your mind, I will move mountains to undo it. I swear this to you, Laura,” Avery said solemnly. “I respect your choice, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.”
“I choose my child,” I said firmly. “To finish transforming into a lycan, I have to give the magic to someone else. I also owe a sacrifice to keep you and me safe from the curse, and this is what I have chosen. I prefer my magic to remain within our line. Hope will become queen someday soon. She will need the power I can no longer hold to rule. Her road will not be an easy one, considering she is what she is. If I thought I could keep both the babe and the magic, I would, but I know the magic that I love would murder the sweet son that grows within me. I choose the life that was stolen from me. I choose Braydon and our unborn son. I am given, and I have been since the first moment I met him. You cannot take my magic, Avery, as the unborn babe in your belly would be placed in jeopardy. Hope has her entire life ahead of her and loses nothing by accepting my magic.”
Avery’s hand cradled her tiny bump protectively. “Fine, but for the record, I don’t like it. I prefer you to remain as you were created to be.”
“Life dealt us shit hands, and yet we stacked the deck in our favor. We’ve been handed a second chance at happiness, Avery. I won’t walk away from it now. I’ve never even allowed myself to consider having a child, and now one grows inside of me. You, you lived in the shadows of this world, hiding the damage that had been done to you. You are pregnant, and we get to be pregnant together. I’m only a phone call away, and you can visit whenever you want.”
“It’s far away,” she uttered crossly. “You guys co
uld always move to the mountains. It’s actually safer up there. I don’t like leaving you here, knowing you have no magic.”
“You don’t like leaving me here period,” I returned, pulling her against me to hug her.
“That too,” she whispered thickly, her emotions on overload.
“I love you, you know that. I’m never that far away from you.” I said, smiling while I released her from the hug as Mary moved into the clearing.
It had only been a month since I’d come back to life, and while I enjoyed everyone being here, I wanted to be alone with Braydon. To get there, I had to end the question of who would receive my magic, or if I’d push it back into the leyline. Mary had agreed to hold the magic that had been released from the hex once I’d died. I had spent the last month in the arms of my soulmate, and we’d hardly left the bedroom during that time. Lately, I’d been eating non-stop, unable to ever feel full. I’d dealt with tears, emotional overload at the idea of being separated from Avery after being stuck to her side for so many years.
She had Conner, though, and was expecting their son, who would be born months before mine. They needed their space to learn each other again, as did Braydon and I. Plus, I couldn’t stay off of him, and even though he no longer needed to knot me to satisfy my hunger, his cock was my addiction, and I craved him and it embarrassingly so.
I doubted that Avery or Conner wanted to hear us screaming in the next room. I know that I didn’t want to listen to them going at it like teenagers, and if they were anything like we were, it’s exactly what was going on in their mountain top mansion.
“I have asked the pack to move to Washington,” Braydon stated, and I turned, staring at him.
“Without asking me?” I demanded.
“You are giving up the biggest part of you for me, little wolf,” he murmured, kissing my brow before he pulled me close against him, letting his hand fall to rest on my abdomen. “Once our son is born, we will move to Washington to the mansion being built next to Avery’s home.”
“Yes!” Avery shouted, turning to look at Conner. “You knew, didn’t you?”
Conner kissed her brow and nodded. “I knew, but I wanted to be sure Laura agreed with it before I told you. I have enough room for the pack to run, and your happiness is everything to me, waif.”
“I love you,” I said absently to Braydon, placing my hand over his.
“You guys are so mushy that it’s sickening,” Mayhem cringed.
“I want one,” Hope announced.
“A baby?” Mayhem shouted, staring at Hope as if there was something wrong with her. “They shit everywhere, and don’t even get me started on how much they eat. They scream for no reason other than to scream. Are you insane? Did the hex go to your brain?”
“A soulmate.” She rolled her violet eyes and blushed. “I want love.”
“Like your father will let that happen,” he snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I doubt you’re allowed to date at one thousand years old.”
“Two thousand,” Conner injected.
“She’s old enough to date,” Avery countered.
“You sure we should move next to them?” I whispered, smiling at the banter that had erupted at Hope’s declaration of wanting love. My stomach rumbled, and Braydon patted it, watching my family arguing.
“You’re hungry.” His thumb traced over my flat belly. “I bet we could feed you before they even knew you were gone.”
“Let’s test that theory after I give Hope my magic. Mary is suffering from holding it, and we need her to be at her best since she’s the in-house witch and midwife. Can’t have her weakening when we are only on child one.”
“Child one?” he countered before turning me in his arms, staring into my gaze.
“Oh, we’re having a lot more.”
“Maybe we should wait until after we have one before you decide to have more,” he offered carefully. “You miss being knotted already?”
“Oh, sir, I think you forget yourself. I want you. I want the redheaded daughters and the life you wanted. I want it all.”
“I can’t believe you chose us over your magic,” he uttered possessively, staring through guarded eyes.
“If I had to choose again, I’d still choose you. I want this, Braydon. Not because it’s what you want, but because it is what I have always wanted with you. I was willing to let you go so you could know what this is like. I’m not that person, though. I hated saying it, and yet I would have died for you to have known this kind of love. It’s a selfless love, and I don’t even know his soul yet, but I love him so much it aches. We created life, and if I get to know this little life by giving a piece of me away, then I’ll gladly give it.”
“And if you regret this choice later?” he questioned.
“I won’t,” I said without hesitation. “I get to be a mother. I get to be your wife. From the first moment I met you, it’s all I have ever wanted. I didn’t just decide to give up magic, Braydon. I decided to live. You’re my heart and soul, and without you, magic is empty. I’ve been powerful to protect myself, but I have you. You won’t protect me because I need it, because I am still strong even without magic, but because I am yours,” I exhaled, lifting on my toes to claim his lips. “I could only regret not giving life a chance. I want your babies. I want to wake up every morning and look into your wintery gaze and feel the heat that fills them. This is right; this is our story. We are rewriting it, and this is the perfect ending. If I had to write my story, this would be how I wanted it. I’m your wife, who is madly in love with you. I’m going to be the mother of your children, Braydon. Now kiss me, because I love you.”
“You’re my forever girl, little one,” he uttered.
“You’re damn right I am, Viking.”
~The End~
About the Author
Amelia lives in the great Pacific Northwest with her family. When not writing, she can be found on her author page, hanging out with fans, or dreaming up new twisting plots. She’s an avid reader of everything paranormal romance.
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Wicked Hexes Page 15
