Obsessions

by Bryce Evans

  “I know what they are, and now I know what you are too. You might be a witch, but after tonight you won’t be anything. I can’t wait for that. I plan to get my job back after you’re dead, by compiling documents that say before you killed yourself you needed to confess how you treated me, and that you hoped that I would forgive you.” Roxie clasped her hands together as she shared her messed up plan. She was so excited, but London knew that Metilda would never let the other woman live. She knew too much and as much as London hated for someone to die, she really didn’t care about Roxie. She made her bed, now she was going to lie in it.

  “Baby girl, can you hear me? If you can hear, clear your throat.” London heard Donnie speaking to her in the earpiece, and she cleared her throat to let him know that she was listening to him. “Keep her talking. Your man is on his way with the cavalry. They are taking the north end of the property on foot so nobody will see them leave. Lots of them are coming, so keep that bitch talking, and if you don’t kill her, I will when I see her.” London wanted to grin but she couldn’t risk showing any emotion.

  “I can’t wait to see them cut you up into tiny pieces. That’s what she’s going to do, and she wants the necklace.” Roxie laughed, and then ran toward London to hit her again.

  Nope, not this time. London kicked her before she knew what was happening, and Roxie flew through the air hitting the ground hard. She rolled over on her side gasping for air. London figured she’d kicked the bitch hard enough to break some ribs, but that was the least of her worries.

  “Enough.” Metilda got up and walked over to where Roxie was lying on the ground. “You have guts, but you’re stupid, and you talk too much.” Metilda leaned down and pointed to one of the wolves. “Kill her.”

  Roxie looked on in shock at Metilda who was backing away from her, before she glanced back at the wolf ordered to kill her. Its mouth was dripping with saliva, and its back was hunched up ready to attack. Before London could tell Roxie to run the wolf attacked, ripping Roxie’s throat out. For a moment, her body lay twitching on the ground, and then nothing.

  London jerked her head up when Metilda started laughing. She was mad! Crazy as a loon! She just hoped Ryder would hurry because the wolf was starting to circle her now.

  She could see Zoey was moving around, and London knew she was working to get out of the ropes binding her. When they trained in college, London had spent a lot of time showing her how to get out of ropes if she was ever tied up. She needed to get the attention on her and off Zoey so she could get her hands untied. A moment later, Zoey nodded letting her know that she was free.

  “Metilda,” London kept her eyes on Metilda and Penny who sat silently watching. “What is it you really want? I mean if you’re going to kill me then at least tell me what the hell you want.” London prodded Metilda trying to get her to talk, allowing Ryder and the others enough time to get here. Hopefully, the crazy bitch was in a talkative mood so she would get the answers she needed.

  “I want the Tree of Life. You have no idea how powerful it is. With that—” Metilda pointed to her shirt where the necklace lay underneath. “I will be the most powerful witch ever, and my mother will soon know that too.”

  “How did your mother know that my mom had the Tree of Life?”

  “Everyone knew. Many times my mother asked her to sell it. She went to your mother’s home with money and every time she said no, but on one occasion you came home from school, and my mother finally had something to bargain with. She tried to run and hide you, but we always found them.” Metilda dropped the bomb on London, smirking as she spoke.

  “My mother almost had the pendant once, when they ran your parent’s car off the road, but the car exploded before she could rip it from your mother’s dead body. She thought it was lost in the fire, but mother was wrong. She should have gone down and checked. Now I will have the Tree of Life, and I will rule the Blackwood Coven. Then my mother will see who the strongest witch is.”

  London could feel rage building inside her, and she was about to blow when a calming wind blew against her face. She inhaled deep breaths as the cool breeze continued to swirl around her. It had to be the Tree of Life.

  “London, Ryder is almost there, but he said he heard someone screaming. Clear your throat if you can hear me.”

  London cleared her throat before she spoke. “Oh, so this is the way you impress your mother. Wow, no wonder you’re fucked up in the head if all you think about is killing and stealing something that doesn’t belong to you. If there was any doubt in my head whether or not you were crazy,” London pointed at Roxie lying on the ground. “This proved it. The Tree of Life doesn’t belong to me. It binds itself to the person it wants, not the other way around.”

  Metilda frowned for a moment, as though considering London’s words.

  “You’re evil and crazy as hell. I bet your family reunions are a blast. What do you, and the other Coven members do? Sit around and kill animals or cut up people. Hey instead of a game of volleyball everyone we are going to cut up people.” That did it. Metilda eyes were like fire. If she wasn’t mad before, now she was pissed, which is exactly what she wanted.

  “Hold her.” Metilda yelled at Penny Sanders as they both grabbed her arms. Metilda reached in and pulled the necklace off of her. Penny held London’s hands behind her back as Metilda draped the necklace around her own neck, before lifting up the pendant and smiling down at it. “You're mine now, so you will do what I say.” Metilda ordered the pendant.

  London watched as Metilda stroked the pendant for a second, before she put her hands in the air and started chanting.

  “Ryder is there, London.” Donnie repeated over and over in her earpiece. Penny had her arms wrenched behind her back, but London knew how to get away. She dropped one of her feet back toward Penny and flipped her over her back before kicking her hard in the side.

  The wind started blowing harder and the air shimmered. Metilda held her hands toward the moon, and continued chanting. Ryder and the others broke through the trees just as the witch was drawing the magic to her. Everyone else’s attention was on Metilda, but London knew Ryder only saw her, by the look of relief on his face. He was a sight for sore eyes. She wanted to run to him, but everything was happening so fast. The wolves jerked around when they realized the Alpha’s were there.

  They rushed out of the trees in a solid wave of muscle. Brody King was the biggest grizzly bear, London had ever seen, but it was Judd Walsh who picked Penny Sanders up from the ground and held her so she couldn’t run.

  London glanced over at her grandmother and Meryl who came to stand beside her. They grasped each other’s hands for support.

  “I can feel its power. It’s mine, mine!” Metilda screamed to the sky, her hair blowing in the wind. She was a pretty woman, seeing her body shimmer with magic was weird.

  “I take your power from the Tree of Life. I command you to release into me from the power of the Old Ones. Come into me.” Metilda held the pendant up as it glowed in her hand.

  “Yeah, like that is going to happen,” London whispered.

  Me-Len and Meryl both turned to her. “What?”

  Before she could respond the wind stopped blowing, and Metilda screamed out, “I command you.” Nothing happened as they all watched her.

  “Metilda,” London yelled at her trying to get the witches attention. “Didn’t I tell you that you can’t command the Tree of Life or make it do anything for you? Yeah…I think I did.”

  Metilda looked confused as she gripped the Tree of Life in her hand. Nothing happened, but she continued to try and make the pendant work for her.

  “Girl, you aren’t the swiftest one in the bunch are you?” London cracked. Metilda’s face turned blood red, but she continued, “Are you fixing to explode?”

  Me-Len turned and stared at her. Nobody else had figured it out yet. Now was as good a time as ever to let her know what just happened. She took a few steps forward and Ryder’s arm encircled her immediately.
/>   “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  “I’ve got this. Trust me.” Ryder took a deep breath, and nodded as he reluctantly released her. She could see his struggle when he let her go, but he needed to trust her like she trusted him.

  Everyone stared at London as she walked toward Metilda, who lifted her hand and threw it forward toward her.

  “What’s wrong Metilda? All that power, and you don’t know how to use it?” Metilda couldn’t control her rage as London taunted her. She thrust her fist out trying to hit her in the face. Missing, London knocked her hand away and grabbed her by the back of the hair to slung her forward knocking her to the hard ground.

  “I believe this is mine.” London couldn’t stop the fury she had for this woman. She grabbed the necklace from Metilda’s neck, and pushed her forward where she landed head first on the ground. Metilda looked up surprised.

  “The Tree of Life doesn’t answer to just anyone. It decides who it will bond with. So, before I got here I did a reverse spell, and the Tree of Life took your magic.” London thought she would get joy from telling Metilda that she took her magic away from her, but Kenny Davis had died with that magic and she couldn’t celebrate his death.

  Metilda got up, closed her eyes, and started chanting. This woman had killed a pack mate. She didn’t deserve to live. She needed to die.

  “You don’t deserve prison. You just need to die.” Before London could hurt her further, Ryder pulled her back.

  “You’re not a killer, my love. Being in prison without her magic will eat her alive, and you wouldn’t feel any better if you did it. Trust me mate.”

  “What will happen to her?” London demanded.

  “She will spend the rest of her life in prison.” London and the others jerked around to see the two Sentinels. Nobody had seen or scented them, but they were standing directly behind the Alphas.

  “Jackson.” Ryder acknowledged his friend. He walked over and shook the Sentinels hand. “Thank you for coming.”

  London couldn’t stop staring at this man named Jackson. He was beyond good looking, he was simply angelic. She was drawn to him for some reason. Ryder growled when he saw she was staring at the stranger, and she lowered her eyes.

  “We will take her,” Jackson stated. No one thought to argue as he walked over, and picked the confused Metilda off the ground. Her eyes appeared lost. “No one will know where she is. Our prisons are constantly moving, and living in a prison was more than Kenny Davis got.”

  Metilda was crazy. She never had or would have a stable person in her life. London thought about a quote she had read. “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside you.” Metilda Blackwood was evil on the inside too and although London thought death was a better punishment, maybe spending the rest of her life in prison thinking about what she could never have was punishment enough.

  “What about that one?” Jackson asked as everyone looked over at Penny Sanders. Judd Walsh still held her hostage as her fate was being judged.

  “Zoey, I believe you have some unfinished business with Penny.” London walked over to her best friend. “You’ve got this. It’s just her now. She has no pack to do her dirty work. Remember your training.”

  She watched in pride as Zoey smiled and glanced over at Penny. Her best friend had waited a long time for this moment. Determination and retribution crossed her beautiful face, and London knew that Zoey was going to kick Penny Sander’s ass for all the times she had bullied and traumatized her.

  Moving to the side she nodded at Judd Walsh to let Penny go. He pushed her forward as she and the Alpha’s formed a circle. Kicking off her shoes, Zoey stretched her fingers in and out.

  “So the little sister thinks she can kick my ass. Even on my worst day and one hand tied behind my back would you be able to do that.” Penny taunted.

  Swiftly, Zoey punched forward hitting Penny in the face knocking her head back. Blood gushed out of her nose as Penny’s shocked face looked up at her. She clearly couldn’t believe that little Zoey Malone had just punched her right in the face.

  “Kick her ass Zoey.” Kayden Lynn yelled out, but Zoey didn’t look toward him. London had drilled that into her head when they trained. Never let anyone take your focus away and right now Zoey was in the zone.

  Penny and Zoey began to circle each other waiting for someone to make the first move. She had trained Zoey to get in quick and finish her off. Penny was big and if she didn’t hurt her quickly she would give Penny time to regroup. Zoey didn’t disappoint when she ran toward Penny then dropped to her knees and quickly punched Penny in the stomach.

  She could hear the air leave Penny’s lungs as she dropped to her knees. Zoey didn’t waste the time she had. She slammed Penny backwards to the ground and proceeded to use Penny’s head as a punching bag. Penny never had a chance to fight back. Her head continued to slam from side to side as Zoey intensified her punches. The sound of Penny’s face crunching was loud as Zoey pounded her into the ground.

  Jackson walked forward and pulled Zoey off Penny. “I think she is out now.”

  Zoey was breathing hard from using all of the pent up rage she placed on Penny’s face. Jackson picked up the unconscious body of Penny Sanders and carried her like a sack of potatoes out of the woods.

  London smiled as Zoey looked up at her. She had done it. She beat Penny Sanders fair and square. Pride showed on her friends face. “I always knew you could do it.”

  “Thank you London, for everything.” She knew what Zoey meant. Looking back at the Alpha’s, she saw the pride on her brother’s face and the lust on Kayden Lynn’s. She didn’t know what was going on between Zoey and Kayden, but she was going to talk to her later about it.

  Ryder chose that moment to grab his sister and hug her. “I’m very proud of you, Sis. I knew you had an Alpha female inside you. You just needed an opportunity to prove yourself.”

  London knew how much Ryder’s words touched his little sister’s heart. She needed her brother’s approval, so that she felt good enough to be an Alpha’s sister. She has always been protected, with someone guarding her back. Now she could stand up beside her brother and be the strong sister he needed.

  Putting his arm around her, Nolan hugged Zoey, “Wow, who knew you had all that bottled up inside you just waiting to get out.” Everyone laughed because tonight was a night of new beginnings. Zoey had a new outlook on life and she had a new family.

  London noticed that everyone hugged Zoey except Kayden. He lagged behind everyone as they walked out of the woods. Ryder held London as he guided her out. She felt like she could sleep for days.

  “Tired, baby?” Ryder asked her sweetly, holding her body against him as they walked out.

  London nodded. She wanted to jump up and down but she was too tired when they got to Donnie’s car. Ryder opened the car door for her helping her in the vehicle. Zoey, Me-Len, and Meryl got in the back as the others transformed and ran back to the house.

  Donnie was waiting outside when they pulled up, and he ran up to her and crash hugged her. If Ryder hadn’t been behind her they would have hit the ground. She giggled as Donnie grabbed Zoey and pulled her into the hug with them.

  “No more going for pizza by yourself. Do you hear me, Zoey Malone?” he demanded.

  “Yes sir.” Nobody said anything for a few minutes as Donnie continued to hug them both.

  “Hey we all need to get inside and get some rest. We need the sleep. Meryl you and Lenny can crash at London’s cabin. It’s too late for y’all to be on the road. Meet here tomorrow evening for steak. I will cook.” She laughed when she heard the Alpha’s cheering about the steak.

  * * * *

  Ryder woke when London moaned in her sleep. Suddenly, she gasped and sat straight up in the bed. “Hey, hey, it’s alright, baby.” He pulled the hair back away from her face tucking it behind her ear. “Bad dream?”

  She nodded, as he helped her lay back down. He kissed her lips, he but could
still see the dark circles under her eyes, so he just turned on his side and pulled her body up against his stomach. She calmed quickly, as Ryder lightly caressed her arm lulling her back to sleep.

  Ryder cuddled and held London tighter as he inhaled her scent, and she dozed back off. She was the most precious thing in his life, and he silently vowed to protect her from the dangers that were coming. This was just the beginning. Claudia Blackwood would seek revenge for her daughter going to prison. She would declare war on Alpha City. What worried him the most was the conversation he’d had with Me-Len while London was in the shower. She said that when London stole Metilda’s magic it would link her to the Blackwood’s coven.

  Me-Len didn’t know to what extent, only time would tell how much, but he would protect Alpha City along with the other Alphas. Danger was coming, and they needed to prepare for the war that was brewing.

  The End

  Coming Soon to Alpha City

  Cravings

  Choices

  Seductions

  Temptations

  Also by Bryce Evans

  The Ashland Pack

  The Trinity

  Big Bad Alpha

  The Love of a Shifter

  Once Forgotten: Twice Loved

  Healing Their Mate

  Shifter Justice

  Co-Written with Author Jana Leigh

  Perfect Reflection

  Infiltrating the Pack

  Keep up with all of Bryce Evan’s new releases via her website:

  www.bryceevans.webs.com

  About the Author

  After working many years as a police officer, Bryce Evans needed another outlet in her life. Reading was her passion, but writing was her dream. Given a once in a lifetime opportunity, Bryce sat down and wrote her first book. The Trinity: The Ashland Pack was published in January 2013 and a new career was born. You can always find some type of law enforcement in her books, as her two passions continue to thrive in her stories.