“She already does,” Cora assured him. “We practice by pulling the curtains back half an hour earlier each evening. She says my eyes just need to get accustomed to bright light slowly.”
“Huh. Smart.” Steven didn´t know what else to say; how to broach the subject of his visit when he was the one in the wrong. The Princess though didn´t have such qualms, her heart to mouth filter nonexistent.
“Here, let me see.” She reached for his t-shirt trying to pull it up like it was the most casual thing in the world.
The Alpha tensed under the sudden touch despite the fact that the forwardness was to be expected after their previous meeting. “What are you doing?” He gaped at her, gobsmacked.
A quizzical look came over her face as she felt his skin pulling taut over the hard muscles of his stomach under her hands. “I wanted to see if you were healing,” she said, voice tinged with uncertainty.
He could feel the heat from her palms seeping through the fabric of his t-shirt. Pure, unadulterated horror nearly stopped his heart in his chest. What the hell was wrong with him? He should have just thanked her and left. She might have saved his life but that didn´t mean he owed her anything more but an acknowledgement of the fact. It was time for a tactical retreat but his side was throbbing and a part of him was curious about what she would do. So he reached for his t-shirt, his fingers twisting around Cora´s and keeping away from her searing bracelets, and pulled the fabric up. She smiled encouragingly and hesitantly ran her fingertips over his wound, a simple touch that still managed to soothe the deep-rooted pain. Her fingers wandered further thoughtlessly, over his sculpted chest and towards his belly button.
“So what´s the verdict?” There was teasing in his voice, agitation along with it. She dropped her hands immediately as if his abs had turned into hot iron and turned away, twin spots of pink on her cheeks. “Will I live?” He was having difficulty suppressing a smile, eyes flashing in merriment. She was twenty years old but he knew that, due to her circumstances, her sexual awakening would be slower and certainly well past her teenage years. Now seemed like a good time and opportunity. He was no stranger to other women -even more mature ones- throwing themselves at him, so having this kid crushing on him wasn´t a surprise. He knew he needed to dissuade her for both their sakes but, dipping into his emotional reserves, he realised he was attracted to her too, the fact that she was supposed to be the enemy notwithstanding. Later, he would be angry at himself for allowing such thoughts, but at the moment he couldn´t stifle a laugh at the rapid beating of her heart.
She turned sharply to look at him. “Are you mocking me?”
He stood up and braced both hands against the back of the chair on either side of her head and leaned close. “What if I am?” He buried his face in the crook of her neck and took a deep breath, her scent burning him all the way down his throat.
Cora felt the walls closing in on her, though she didn´t let him see how he was affecting her. Her hands scrambled to find purchase on the arms of her chair as irritation bubbled in her chest, but when she heard his breath hitching the moment the smell of her desire hit him, she didn´t hide her smug smile. “Perhaps I should mock you back.”
“Perhaps you should.” Steven´s mind was a goner. She had elicited unwanted lust in him and he was unable to draw away. He perched his mouth at the spot where Jen´s hand had drew blood and murmured, “What the hell are you doing to me?”
Cora remembered herself and her body went completely rigid. What if this wasn´t happening out of his own free will? What if her magic was doing something to him and she didn´t know what it was and how to stop it? She needed some space to think, but he wouldn´t stop placing butterfly kisses all over her neck and over her throbbing pulse point, heartbreakingly sweet. She tried to push him away but her hands inadvertently were drawing him closer where he was chasing away hard bites with soft kisses. With a final push and pull he settled between her thighs and she felt her stomach jump with excitement. She was strung tight with desire and so was he, but she needed to be the one to keep it together. He would never forgive her otherwise.
“Stop,” she finally managed, hoarse and sick with herself. Steven unlatched his mouth from her neck and gripped her by the upper arms, resting his forehead against hers.
“The next time I see you,” he said between clenched teeth, “you won´t speak to me, you won´t look at me, you won´t fucking breathe my way. Do you understand me?”
“I don´t understand what´s happening.” The Alpha´s heart leapt at her pleading tone but he braced himself against the onslaught of emotions.
“I do. You are all the same. You play with people and when you have them where you want them, you humiliate them. You won´t stop until you finally break them.”
“Who is we? What are you talking about?” She was clinging desperately to him, needing an answer in order to figure out what was the best way to approach him.
“Stop playing games with me! I can hear you and I can smell you and I can fucking feel you. You want me to stop? Liar!”
Jason, driven by his Alpha´s struggle, flicked the door open with a bang against the wall. He looked hurried, always trying to be at the right place at the right time. The sound of his friend´s raised voice upon entering the corridor where Cora´s room was, only served to make him hasten his step. “Everything alright in here?”
Steven and Cora shot away from each other and the Alpha turned to leave, but not before his eyes flicked down to the girl one last time, schooling his expression into a look of absolute impassivity. “I hope Jen gets rid of you soon.” He left without sparing his friend a single glance and Jason looked at Cora whose eyes were closed against the threat of tears.
“Are you okay?” He asked, hovering a few steps in front of her.
She tilted her face up and whispered her confession. “It´s my fault.”
“I´m pretty sure that´s not entirely true.” Jason squatted right in front of her with a wary expression on his face.
“How can you say that? He´s your Alpha.”
“True. But he´s also an asshole.” Cora´s laughter pealed throughout the room and the man smiled at her. “Look, I´ll talk to him okay? Figure out what´s wrong with him.”
“Don´t get into trouble for me.”
“Don´t worry about it. Just... Don´t let him get into your head. And don´t try to get into his. Sometimes it´s an ugly place.”
Jason left and Cora peeled back the curtains. It was six thirty. Time to face the world.
9. MISTAKES
“So,” Jason started once they were far enough from the town and its prying ears.
“Interesting day yesterday,” Danny said, cutting off whatever Jason was about to say.
“I don´t think I have ever smelled anything more... stimulating,” Erin smirked, unable to let anything go; especially something she deemed embarrassing enough for her Alpha.
“We could all do with less testosterone,” the usually quiet Ian added making everyone chortle.
Steven´s steps didn´t falter in front of them. He was leading them into their next mission before he was completely healed after the last ordeal and he was already in a bad mood. But he couldn´t stay in the lair any longer, so his sister´s sudden interest in the northern villages and whether they had enough provisions for the winter suited him just fine. He could read between the lines though and understood what Jen had silently asked him to do. Figuring out where the attacks were coming from and how the Magics were managing to pass the border almost every night undetected, seemed a time consuming job so he jumped at the opportunity. Lynn´s and Mark´s objections regarding his overall wellbeing hadn´t fazed him, too sure of his own strength and too pigheaded to admit his need to run.
“It certainly didn´t hurt you two,” Danny threw back at Ian and Erin.
“Enough!” Jason interrupted in a stern voice. The Betas could be so childish sometimes and this conversation wasn´t supposed to go that way. Their Alpha´s ire had reached exploding lev
els so he needed to derail any further attempts at making light of the situation.
“Finally,” Steven uttered under his breath.
“You need to stop doing this. Can´t you understand it affects all of us?” Jason stopped walking and the Betas gathered around him, silently watching the ground as they -at last- sensed the grey cloud above their Alpha´s head.
“Oh, I´m sorry,” Steven mocked, keeping his distance from them. “Am I inconveniencing you? Because it sure is so pleasant for me having you two,” he gestured towards Ian and Erin, “smelling like sex all the time and you two,” his gaze shifted towards Danny and Jason, “reeking of want and lust and faking shyness.”
Danny shot a sour look at him. “Not fair, man.”
“Not fair? Do you want to know what´s not fair? Me being stuck with a bunch of ungrateful, whining children.”
“Then maybe you shouldn´t have turned us in the first place!” Erin spat angrily at him.
“Trust me... If I could turn back time I would let you all die.” Regret wasn´t a strong enough word for what Steven felt the moment the words left his mouth, but there was no taking them back. Everyone stood frozen at their Alpha´s outburst. They understood that if they kept riling him up they would get punished, but they expected an extra hard training session and not this pettiness.
“He doesn´t mean that. He´s just yanking your chain.” Jason´s eyes were kindly intent, concerned, as he turned to Steven. “Tell them you didn´t mean that.” The warning tone he inserted in his voice did nothing to calm down the distraught Betas.
“It´s okay Jason,” Danny said with false cheer, his eyes welling up. “We know he didn´t.”
Steven pivoted on his heel and started walking again, cursing himself under his breath.
“Seriously? That´s it?” Jason trailed behind him. “You are just going to walk away.”
“Look,” the Alpha countered, “I understand your constant need to be in each other´s pocket all the time but when it comes to my personal life you guys keep your mouth shut. It doesn´t concern you and I expect discretion. And that´s an order.”
“She is not her,” Jason stated sombrely and Steven took a sharp lungful of air, freezing in his place. “Whatever else she may be, she is not Kate.” He let the words settle between them before stepping forward, easily bypassing his still motionless Alpha.
Back at the lair Lynn had a hard time concentrating. She was supposed to go over some herbs with Cora but the young Princess was restless, sneaking a peek out of the window every five minutes. Something was bothering her and the healer was swept up in the other girl´s uneasiness.
“Maybe we should call it a day,” Lynn said after half an hour had passed without any progress in cataloguing any new plants and their antidotes. She joined Cora in front of the window and stared at the forest outside the town´s walls.
“The sun has almost set,” the witch murmured.
“What´s wrong?” The redhead asked looking back and forth between the outside world and her companion.
“I´m not sure.”
Ever since Steven left town earlier that afternoon, Cora could feel her magic thrumming underneath her fingertips, making her whole body vibrate with nervous energy. At first, she thought she was feeling the pack´s absence through whatever weird connection she had developed with their Alpha but, as the time passed, she realized that the tingling sensation was stemming from something more sinister. There was another magic user in town and something was about to go down.
“What´s going on down there?” Cora gestured towards the market where a large crowd had gathered.
“It´s closing time. The merchants gather what they weren´t able to sell during the day and give it to poor families for a much smaller price than the original.” Lynn looked at her with concern trying to work out her mood. If she was sensing that something was off then something was definitely off. She was bright enough not to argue with the instincts of a powerful Magic.
Before she had a chance to contemplate whether she should send guards at the market just in case, she noticed a dark-red liquid running over Cora´s lips. “Oh my God! You are bleeding!”
Cora brought her hand up and smeared the small amount of blood that had come out of her nose all over her upper lip.
“Here, sit down,” Lynn urged, pushing the younger girl towards the bed and making her hold the corner of the sheet against her face. Cora looked at her bloodstained hand with horrified fascination. The last time that had happened, she had found herself locked in a cage. She hadn´t regretted her actions that day and the fear of something like that happening again didn´t stop her from running out of her room when the drops of blood landed on her new dress.
“Where are you going?” The healer yelled at her trying to catch up. She stopped a passing guard and asked him to fetch the royal family immediately, but by the time she finished giving the order Cora had disappeared out of sight. It didn´t take a genius to figure out where she was going.
When Lynn reached the market, she found Cora curled protectively around a young boy who looked terrified of the mob that had gathered around yelling at him, hate and repulsion emanating from each and every one of them.
“What is the matter with you?” Cora shouted back at them. “He´s like... eight years old.”
“Step aside witch!” A man from the crowd yelled grabbing the boy by the arm and pulling him towards him. He lifted up a whip and the boy screamed in fear but, at the last second, Cora pushed herself between them and received the painful lash on her shoulder. The kid whimpered and clung to her but she kept her head down, making sure the boy was behind her at all times.
“She´s no better than him. I say we punish them both,” someone else suggested and the crowd quickly agreed.
“What is going on here?” Jen´s voice covered the uproar.
Lynn saw the rest of the family behind the Alpha and rushed to Joe. “You need to help them,” she whispered, knowing Jen would only take pleasure in Cora´s pain. Joe, ever the diplomat, shushed her and held her close, turning his attention to the scene in front of him. It wouldn´t do them any good to publicly oppose the Queen.
“Well?” Jen demanded.
“My lady.” The man with the whip bowed in front of her while the rest of the crowd turned quiet. “This boy stole from me and the witch is defending him.”
“It was just an apple!” Cora exclaimed. “He´s just hungry, look at him.”
“Silence!” Jen ordered and the man continued.
“He used magic! One minute the apple was on my bench and the other in his hand across the square.”
“You can´t be serious,” Lynn said and Jen shot her a threatening look. The healer stared right back but Joe´s tight grip on her side silenced her for good.
“Did anyone else witness this?” Jen inquired, an affirmative chatter rising from the crowd. “Magics are not allowed in my kingdom under penalty of death.” She motioned for the guards that had surrounded the scene to take the boy away. The kid cried in despair and tried to tighten his grip on Cora.
“I´m a Magic too and yet I´m here under your orders,” the witch protested and whimpered in sympathy when a pair of metal cuffs was locked tight around the kid´s tiny wrists. “This is insane! If he was Human or Werewolf you would just slap him on the wrist and send him home with more food than he could possibly carry.”
“But he isn´t. And you will get your punishment for assisting a criminal too. Take them away.” Jen didn´t linger behind to see her order being executed. The guards dragged the two Magics through the crowd and Cora shot a betrayed look towards Lynn who lowered her eyes in shame. The Queen´s word was law.
For the next three weeks, Mark and Lynn kept trying in vain to sneak into the dungeon where Cora was being held. Fortunately, the boy´s execution was postponed due to Joe´s careful manipulations. The fact that they finally caught the Bay Valley traitor that almost cost Steven and Jason their lives and the chain of interrogations that followed, also serv
ed as a good distraction for Jen.
The first week of Cora´s imprisonment, Mark managed to go as far as the basement where the girl´s cell was while Lynn tried to distract the guards long enough to reach the kid. They got caught though, and Jen´s answer was to reinforce the guard with more Werewolves and confiscate their entire equipment and supplies, not trusting them not to try and break the prisoners out using their measly magic tricks. Even Joe tried once to bypass the security system pretending to be under orders from the Queen. Jen didn´t hesitate to confine him in his room for three days until Moira firstly apologized on her brother´s behalf, and then lectured her daughter on family values and trust. Mark and Lynn thus remained helpless, hearing Cora´s gut-wrenching screams twenty-four hours a day and watching as the rest of the fortress´ inhabitants continued life as normal. Were they the only ones affected by the imminent death of an innocent child? How could the world go on like before, when the sound of torture was being used as background music?
The second week the witch went silent. The healers would have thought her dead if not for the itch at the back of their minds that had established itself there the moment Cora came into their lives. Mark theorized that the Anders land´s magic ran through the Princess as an extension of her own power. It was the only way he could explain how Cora could have sensed the kid using magic. The fact that only Steven´s pack could feel that connection, forcing them in a way to be mellower towards her, proved to him that the man was the rightful Alpha even if he was neither born first nor a female descendant. Times were changing fast and Jen had already demonstrated her inadequacy in keeping the order and the peace. She was war-hungry.
The third week, that itch dimmed and they were afraid that either Cora had lost her spirit after figuring out no one was coming for her, or her life was hanging by a thread. Either way, there was no more time to waste and -since they weren´t sure whether the rest of the pack had felt anything distinguishable- Mark set out to find them.
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