Angel Blackwood

by Sophie Summers

  ****

  I feel Johnny’s presence as soon as he enters the bedroom. I look up to see his frown. He looks down at the photo then back at me.

  “I need to tell you something,” I say, looking up at him. I shouldn’t be scared of my mate, but right in this moment I am.

  He sits on the bed next to me, taking my hand in his. Concern is etched all over his face. God, I love this man so much. I feel the concern he has for me through both our mate and the pack bond.

  “What’s wrong, baby? Angel will come back to us and I’ll apologise. I don’t know what I was thinking talking to her like that. She’s my baby girl, I would never hand her off to someone she doesn’t love. I don’t even know why I said what I said. I was so angry at her for defying me and going to see those witches.” I place my finger over his lips when he spits the last word out.

  “Stop, honey. I know you didn’t mean what you said. I wouldn’t have allowed the marriage to Caspian either way. she loves the twins and even if she doesn’t want to admit it yet, I know it’s true.” I shake my head and drop my hand which he picks up entwining our fingers.

  “There’s something else I need to tell you,” I say softly.

  He sits silently looking at me with loving eyes.

  “I should have told you a long time ago, but I was so scared to tell you-” He interrupts me.

  “You don’t ever have to be afraid of me, baby. You know that?”

  “Shh… Please let me finish before I lose the nerve.” He nods.

  “My mother was a… Witch.” I spit it out, and once I start I can’t stop the words that flow. “I was going to be one too when I turned eighteen, I was meant to be one. I grew up with Noelle in the witches compound, she was like my sister, we were always together.” I feel his hands turn stiff into my own, but I squeeze them tighter and continue to talk.

  “My father was human but my mother was a witch, so was my grandmother and hers before her. Not all siblings carry the ability to perform magic, James didn’t have the ability, but I did. The Wicca don’t follow rules or leaders, we tend to keep to ourselves, but there is one rule that we’re all meant to follow. Only once a witch turns eighteen are they be able to use the magic they have within them should they be lucky enough to carry the ability. At eighteen years, the ancestors believed that a witch should be wise enough and mature enough to make the right decisions when it comes to learning the way of the Wicca. My mother started teaching me when I was seven. I knew I had power within me, and even though it wasn’t as strong as what it would’ve been when I turned eighteen, I still felt it and learnt a few tricks.” Johnny pulls his hands from mine and stands up abruptly.

  Only now looking up at him do I see how livid he is. He’s absolutely fuming, his eyes pulse black and blue and his face is red as the veins stick out off his forehead.

  “You’re a fucking witch?” He roars.

  I stand up quickly and rush up to him, but he puts his hand out. “Don’t you dare put your hands on me, Alexandria.” I back away suddenly, my wolf crying inside of me.

  “I’m not a witch, honey.” I shake my head as I use my calmest voice.

  “You just said-”

  I shake my head. “I should have been one, but I met you instead. When I turned eighteen I turned into a wolf, remember? I tried using any abilities, tried some of the spells my mother had taught me, but it was gone; the magic I had before was gone.”

  “You lied to me! I’m your mate and you fucking lied to me!” He uses his hand and pushes the set of drawers beside us to the floor. I wince and step away from him.

  “I know, Johnny. I know I lied and I’m so sorry I kept that from you.” I try to control my tears, but I just can’t anymore.

  “What the hell, Alex? Is that why Angel survived the pregnancy ? Because she has magic flowing through her?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Johnny. Maybe that could have aided her. I don’t know.” I look down at the broken set of drawers scattered on the floor.

  “Jesus, you’ve kept this secret for nineteen fucking years! Why are you telling me now?”

  “Because Angel knows. Noelle told her.”

  “When Angel was hurt, you told me you needed Noelle. Is that why you called her? You knew Noelle would be able to heal her.” It’s not a question, but I still nod my head.

  “Fuck it, Alex. When you saw Angel’s ability to heal, did you know then that it was because she was a witch?”

  I can’t answer him. I knew it, deep down I knew it, but I still kept it from both of them.

  “Answer me!” He screams. I burst out into a sobbing mess, nodding my head quickly.

  “I… I knew,” I stutter.

  “Fuck! She was scared and confused! You knew and you didn’t tell her. Fucking hell, Alex! You could have prevented this entire situation if you’d just told the truth from the start. She wouldn’t have felt the need to defy me, she could have come to you for answers!” He starts cursing and kicking at the set of drawers on the floor. I cower away in the corner, covering my face from flying pieces of wood. I’m crying so hard I can’t even catch my breath. The room turns quiet and all that can be heard is my sobbing.

  His warm body envelopes me and he pulls me onto his lap.

  “Shhh, come here, baby. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He cradles me and rocks back and forth slowly.

  “I should have told you, I’m so sorry… Now she’s gone and it’s all my fault. I’m a terrible mother,” I sob, holding tightly onto him.

  “Don’t say that, it’s not true. We’re both to blame for the choices we’ve made in the past. All we can do now is make sure we make better decisions in the future.”

  Chapter 19

  Angel/Lexi POV

  I wake up surrounded by Jax’s scent. Opening my eyes to darkness, I feel the soft sheets that surround me. Luckily I’m alone in his bed and still fully clothed. My eyes are still adjusting to the dark room as I climb out of the bed, tripping over something on the floor and stumbling to find my way to the window to open the curtains. Flipping the curtains open and letting the moonlight in I come face to face with Jax to my right.

  “Jesus, Jax!” I stumble backwards, holding my hand against my chest trying to catch my breath.

  “Have you been standing there the entire time?” I stand upright pulling the curtain fully open and trying to act like he didn’t just scare the bejesus outta me.

  “I see you haven’t developed all your wolf abilities yet,” he states, folding his arms over his chest.

  “It’s taking sometime, but I’m getting there.” I look around his room searching for the light switch.

  “Why the hell are you lurking around in the dark like that anyway?”

  “I can see perfectly in the dark and you needed your sleep. I didn’t want anything or anyone to keep you from getting your rest.” I hear him moving behind me and then the little lamp next to his bed turns on. Sitting on his bed he looks up to me, watching my every move as if I may flee again.

  “Well…” I don’t have any snarky comeback as I look around realizing we’re alone in the same room. All of a sudden I feel nervous.

  “Thanks for letting me sleep, but I… uh… Where’s Ronny? I need to see Ronny before I go.” I move towards the door.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Lexi,” he says firmly, looking at his hands.

  I stop dead in my tracks and lift an eyebrow turning to look at him. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. It was different before, you were human…or I thought you were.” He shakes his head and his green eyes find mine from across the room.

  “Now you’re wolf, you belong to a pack. You’ve crossed territory lines not once, but twice now and there are repercussions for that.” His tone turns foreign as if he’s speaking to a stranger.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I huff out loud, looking at the ceiling. I run my hands through my hair and let out a deep breath.

  “Do these repercussions involve sleeping
in the Alpha’s bed? Because if it was such a big deal, I should’ve been put in a cage or something. I highly doubt this is typical punishment for someone who broke the rules about crossing territories,” I say sarcastically, gesturing toward the bed he sits on.

  “You’re only in here now because of who you are and our history. If you were any other wolf, you’d be in the cage in our basement awaiting your punishment,” he growls, standing up and stalking towards me; I hold my ground.

  I have to bend my neck to look up at him. Our chests are almost touching and I swallow down the butterflies in my stomach as I look into his sparkling emerald eyes.

  “So I get special treatment because I’m your ex-mate?” He winces at the words and I watch as his jaw ticks and his eyes turn dark.

  “If that’s the case, let me go. I didn’t cause any harm. I just needed to see my Mo… I needed to see Georgina. I didn’t know where to go and I had unfinished business with her.” I take a step back. “Just let me go and you won’t have to see my face again, Jax. I’ll go back to my territory-” The word isn’t fully out of my mouth before he roars.

  “This…” He gestures wildly around the room, his eyes turning darker “…This should be your territory! This is your home!”

  He points towards his bed. “That should be your bed. You should be with me!” His Alpha tone echoes throughout the room as he roars. I can’t help the tremble in my body as I back away from him. I call to my wolf for the strength to stand up to him, but I can’t hear her. Thinking back, I haven’t heard her since I landed on Georgina’s doorstep.

  He lowers his voice, but I watch at a distance as his fists clench tightly at his side. “You shouldn’t have to run from your pack, Lexi. You should never feel unwanted. Your pack should feel like your home.” He moves closer and I curse as I bump into his dresser behind me.

  He lifts his hands up in surrender and says with words so soft and gentle, “I won’t hurt you. I’m sorry I lost my temper, my wolf is calmer now.”He looks down at me and I force myself to look at his chest.

  “I have to go back, Jax,” I whisper.

  “You can’t,” he says just as softly back, moving a piece of hair out of my face.

  “Why?” I look up at him frowning.

  He looks down at the piece of hair he’s now twirled in his finger. “I don’t want you to.”

  I place my hand over his, the same one that holds the strand of hair.

  His eyes find mine. “I’m sorry I entered your land, Jax, but I needed to see Georgina. I should have asked for your permission before I crossed borders, but my head was all over the place and I just didn’t think. I’ll stay here until the morning, but then I really need to get back to Fort Hills. I need to face my problems head on.”

  He nods his head in understanding. “Your mates are there too?”

  “They are.” I nod, looking down at my hands now. My mates. Just repeating those words in my head causes a pain of longing in my chest for them. The distance between us has caused a physical pain in my heart.

  I jump when he moves the hair away from my shoulder, pushing against his chest to get distance between us as his other hand cups the back of my neck holding me in place. His thumb moves gently along the side of my neck.

  “They still haven’t marked you?” His eyebrows knit together.

  I don’t have an answer to that, so I just shrug.

  Just then there’s a knock on the door, I step away from Jax as he calls to whoever is behind the door to come in.

  Ronny’s head pops in with a smile beaming on her face as she looks between the two of us.

  I look her in the eye trying to get into her head. “Get those thoughts out of your head. Nothing is going on between us.”

  “Sure looks like there is something going on there.” She lifts a brow looking between Jax and I.

  Jax walks past saying,“Lexi, you can stay here for however long you need. I’ll tell the pack this was a planned visit, let them know you’re not a threat.” Then he looks me in the eye and forces himself into my thoughts. “This conversation isn’t finished, we need to talk.” I nod my head and he leaves.

  “Wow! You two still have that I’m-gonna-jump-you-when-no one’s-lookin’ chemistry going on.” She looks at the door Jax just left through and then back to me. I push her arm walking past her.

  “Oh please.” I roll my eyes blushing. “Where’s Chloe?”

  We head out of the room and down the stairs towards the main living room. It’s crowded with people, but I don’t feel any animosity coming for the other pack members. I’m welcomed and greeted with nothing but happy familiar faces.

  Chloe squeals when she sees me. “You’re awake!” She wraps her arms around me, squeezing me tight. Her excitement at seeing me makes me giggle.

  “We missed you so much!” She tugs on my hair. “Next time, answer our calls and reply to our messages! We didn’t know if you were alive or dead!” Guilt engulfs me; I’ve caused so much worry for my friends because of my constant need to flee.

  “I’m so sorry for the way I left.”

  Ronny folds her arms over her chest and huffs.

  “You tell us you’re half wolf, perform some heavy witchcraft shit on Chelsea, then you up and leave. We didn’t know whether you’d survived the shift or not. Never do that again, Lexi. I swear to God, I will come after you and I won’t let anyone get in my way.” Ronny’s voice is firm as she says this, I know she’s deadly serious.

  “No more running. I promise.” I grab both of them and hold them tight.

  We move to sit outside away from the crowd.

  “Do these parties happen often?” I ask, gesturing towards the noise coming from the house behind us.

  The girls look at each other then back at me. “Straight after you left, Jax was made Alpha. When our parents left to travel to our ally packs, the parties began.”

  Chloe butts in, “I think it helps to keep his mind off of you.”

  I look back at the house and see Jax standing on one of the balcony’s with a drink in hand looking down at us. I turn quickly to look at the girls, I’m pretty sure he just heard everything we’ve said so I try to change the topic.

  I look to Chloe. “Why aren’t you a wolf?” Looking at Ronny I ask, “Thought you were gonna turn her after graduation?”

  They’re both silent for a few seconds, I’m starting to suspect that this is a sore subject between them.

  Chloe blurts out, “She’s scared she’ll kill me.” She rolls her eyes and when Ronny covers Chloe’s hand with hers, Chloe pulls her hand away and folds her arms. I sense the hurt of rejection as Ronny’s eyes find mine.

  “I’m scared she won’t make the shift.”

  I look to Chloe who refuses to look at either of us. “That’s a reasonable excuse, don’t you think Chlo?” I don’t get a response from her, but I can feel the tension building between the two of them and I’m thinking it’s best I stay out of this one.

  “I don’t want to see you in pain, sweetie. You have so much to think about before you make a decision. What if you don’t survive the shift? What am I supposed to do without you?” Ronny’s voice breaks as she says the last word.

  Chloe turns her head, tears fall from her face. “You said I was meant to be your mate! You said you would turn me, now you’re afraid I’m not strong enough to survive! How will we ever know if we don’t try!” Chloe doesn’t wait for a response; she stands up and walks away. The sound of her sobs and the sadness and love shining through Ronny’s eyes as she watches her girl walk away makes me miss my mates.

  “Go after her, Ron.” She squeezes my hand then takes off after Chloe.

  I sit there alone for a few moments before getting up and heading down to the edge of the woods. Making my way to the fountain, I keep an eye open for Drake. I haven’t seen him since I arrived here, hopefully Jax has him locked up somewhere, preferably in those cages in that basement he mentioned earlier.

  I climb onto the boulder I used to sit on s
o often when I lived here and look up to the starry sky. I close my eyes and let out a deep breath. The sound of the water trickling down the rocks and into the water is tranquil, but the sound of footsteps and a branch snapping has me turning to look behind me.

  Chelsea comes out from the shadows. Her bleached hair is the first thing I notice, the tears running down her face and smudged makeup has me on high alert. I’m pretty sure the cause to all her tears is lurking around here somewhere. I see blood on her yellow top and all over her hands.

  “Please help me, Lexi,” she sobs, falling to the ground. I jump off the boulder and run over to her. There’s blood all over her back, my hands are shake as I try to calm her.

  He must have whipped her like he did me. I don’t have any love for the girl, but that doesn’t mean I won’t help her get away from that monster.

  “He did this to you, didn’t he?” She continues to sob.

  “Roll over let me see how bad it is.” I move her carefully, trying not to cause her anymore pain. The back of her shirt is full of blood, a rusty smell fills my senses, but something about the smell is off. I slowly peel away the shirt that covers her back.

  “What the,” I whisper out loud. There’s nothing. No lacerations, no bruises, nothing. I look at the blood that covers my hands, then watch Chelsea’s shoulders shake.

  She’s laughing. I back away and stand up fully. My back pushes against something hard; I don’t need to turn around to know who’s there.

  “You’re such a stupid fucking bitch,” Chelsea says, sitting up straight and wiping away the mascara that has run down her cheeks. I let out a low growl as I realise my mistake.

  This was a set up.

  When Drake’s hands snake around my right shoulder, I move away and come face to face with his black eyes.