by Celeste Raye
“I know that we have scattered many, many times before because of the Stein witches, but this is the last place that we have. Whatever happens here, is going to dictate our clan’s future.”
There was an agreement that rippled throughout the meeting area. The room was packed with well over two hundred shifters. Some had traveled long distances to get there; some were attached to the alphas that were planning it all. The only consensus that was clear was the fact that Marl Stein had to die.
Justin went on for a little bit, talking about how she had been alive for over a thousand years and nobody had managed to kill her. He was convinced that today or tomorrow, whenever she came, they would be ready, and they would take her out once and for all.
“We are going to do what nobody else has been able to do for all that time. We are going to take out the enemy to us all for good. We can’t have a future with Marl dogging our every step.”
That was the rallying cry, and everyone stood up with their fists in the air. Broch could feel the unfettered hate in the room, but he could also feel the surge of hope that went through the people that were there. They were convinced that this final stand was going to be the one that they needed. Then they would be able to get rid of Marl and move on with their lives.
That was the hope anyway.
One thing was for certain though. The shifter certainly didn't want to sit back and let the witches have all of the fun. They were proud men, strong men, and they certainly weren’t going to hide behind women. It did not matter that witches were stronger, especially this one. Many of the people in attendance were starting to have their own plans talked about.
They couldn't let the fate of their existence fall on the shoulders of women. Broch could hear another consensus rising up: the shifter men had to find their own way to end it. They wouldn’t let the women be the heroes of the day.
Beyond that, no one seemed to think that the four women could do what they said they could.
Chapter Twenty
“You seem nervous about this, Cira.”
“I am already part of a coven. I'm part of the one my mother has been in for, you know, her whole life, her mother and so on. It is a big deal to leave all that behind and to enter a coven with you guys. I have been nothing but welcome to your home, and you don't know how much I appreciate it. But at the end of the day, I don't know if I'm ready to walk away from everything else that I know.”
Connie was the first to speak up because she and Cira had the tightest bond.
“Just because you enter the coven with us doesn't mean that you lose the one with your family.”
Dahlia piped up and disagreed. “That's actually exactly how it is. If she goes with it, then she loses the bond that she has with her family and coven. That's just the way it goes.”
Cira smiled at Dahlia. “You're right. You can't be part of two at the same time. I know that this is necessary, or I wouldn't even be thinking about it. I am just worried about losing that bond with my mother and the rest of the women in my family. I think it will feel empty.”
“We could add one more person if we had more time, but all of the people in that coven are too far away. They wouldn't be able to get here before Marl shows up. This is something we have to do, and we have to do it now. Every minute that we are wasting is one that we could be attacked and not be ready for her.”
Cira nibbled on her lower lip out of nerves. She didn't know what to say about all of that. She wasn't sure if this was the only option. There could be a better choice, one where she didn't have to lose a lifelong bond that she had with her coven sisters. The very idea of losing it was enough to make her pause about everything. But she couldn’t come up with an alternative.
Then she thought about Broch and the fact that Marl Stein had an obvious intent towards him. How was she supposed to just walk away from that?
“Are you sure there is no other way?”
Cira wasn't necessarily pleading, but there was a hint of something akin to that in her voice. She could hear it, and she didn't like the sound of it. But there was no stopping it. She just wanted any other option than that.
The other three other women agreed that there wasn't another option available. This was the best thing they could do. Connie touched her hand softly and told Cira that she would not suggest it if there were another way.
“I know that your coven means a lot to you and when this is all over, if you choose to go back to them, there will be no ill will towards you if you do. We all know how you feel, and we just hope that you would give us a chance for now. We need to take this witch down, and we need your power. You’re very strong, Cira.”
Cira sighed, but she wouldn’t argue one way or another about it. She did have quite a bit of power for her age, but that came from her family bond and her blood. Cira wasn't sure how much of it she was going to lose if she broke the bond. She mentioned it, but none of them thought that it was going to be even negligible.
“Well, I guess we're going to have to do this then.”
There was a little bit of a celebration with the rest of the women, but Cira was still feeling sick to her stomach. She kept telling herself that she could do this. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine, and her mother would know that it was just a bond break, not her death. Cira wished she could talk to her but knew that it wasn’t the time nor the place. She didn't even know what she would say to her anyway. Maybe some form of goodbye, but that would be it. Even if she did have time to get them there, Cira didn’t want any of them involved. She didn’t want her mom anywhere near her right now.
The women sat around the circle and started to prepare for the bonding. The new coven was going to be small but powerful. They were all focused on one thing. One end goal, and that was to rid the world of Marl Stein.
Cira felt a different sort of power coursing through her after the dead feeling that she got when she broke the bond with her other coven. She had felt empty, but now she was filled with a new and young vibrant type of power that was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She now had a little bit of Stein power in her as well, and her skills were heightened almost immediately.
Jazz was happy too. She had no problem showing her feelings about it though. She was smiling from ear to ear, talking about how good it felt to have some new power in her veins.
“This is perfect. Really, it is. Now I feel like we can go up against anything, even my aunt.”
The four women sat and talked for a while, as well as practiced a few group spells to see how their new powers worked. Cira felt a decided difference, as well as the potential of what she could do with her new powers. She had been so worried about losing a bond and losing powers, but realized that she had gotten far more power than she had from all the rest from her old coven.
Cira paused with that last thought. Old coven. That had happened quite quickly, the change in attitude towards it all.
“I thought I was going to have to work on you. Last night you were not willing to even talk about it for a while.”
“I got a lot of new powers today, and there's no sense of being afraid of anything anymore. Everything feels so much more intense. My senses are heightened; touch is stronger than ever before. There is nothing else that I want to do right now but make love to you, Broch. I bet you’ll feel insane inside of me.”
“How can I argue with that?”
Cira told him that it was a good idea not to argue with her. They both wanted the same thing.
“If you know what is good for you, Broch, you'll just hush and give me what it is that I want.”
“I think I can do that for you, Cira.”
He started to kiss her, and Cira’s senses were taken over with Broch. They stayed in bed for several hours, missing dinner and sneaking off into the kitchen later to grab some leftovers.
Cira felt like she had a whole new lease on life. It felt different. She felt new, and she wasn't sure if it had to do with the new coven bond that she had just started
with her new friends, or if it was the pleasure that she found in the arms of a new man. Whatever it was, Cira felt like everything was somehow going to work itself out. No matter what they were up against, it was all going to be okay.
Somehow.
Chapter Twenty-One
Broch went out later that evening to get some air. He ran into Dennis and was told that his presence was wanted not too far from there.
“I thought we were going to do the meeting tomorrow?”
“That is for the witches. Our wives have some announcements to make, but this is for something different. This is for the shifters only, and you’re an alpha.”
It was just the way that he said it that made Broch pay attention.
“Are you telling me that there is another plan in place?”
Dennis was clear that he knew what would happen if Jazz or the other women found out about their other plans. They had tried doing it separately before, but it never ended well.
“Something like that. Consider it more in conjuncture with what the women have planned. You know how we are; it is hard to sit around and let women handle things for us. I think that if we all get together and work on a plan, even if we don’t follow through with it, it will help get rid of some of the restlessness that everyone is feeling right now.”
“So, do the women know about it?” Broch had a bad feeling about it, and he wondered what Cira would say if she found out that he went.
“No, and I would like to keep it that way. Like I said, it is just something to make us feel like we're not sitting here twiddling our thumbs all the time. We need to feel like we’re doing something.”
“I understand that. I can't help but feel that way myself. But I will be honest with you, Dennis; I don't think that there is much that we can do. A whole damn ton of us still wouldn’t be able to take her down. From what I hear, you’ve tried several times before, and you haven't been successful.”
Dennis nodded.
“I hear that your mate is quite strong. She is the niece, correct?”
Dennis agreed, and he had a bit of a smile on his face.
“So after being under Marl Stein’s control, I will be the first to say that I think we need the women. I don't think there is a way for us shifters to do it ourselves. I like and respect the idea of making a plan and feeling like we are in control. At the same time, though, I think that we need to wait for the women. Then we can make a plan together. That just seems to make more sense.”
Dennis told him that he felt the same way, but it wasn't just the mates of the witches that had to be considered. It was all the other clan people as well. The Stein witches had hurt so many that people wanted to get revenge. If they weren't given their revenge, they were going to act out in other ways.
“So, as you can see, we don't really have a choice, Broch. We have to do something, and I would like you there to help mitigate the damage.”
Broch agreed to go to the meeting, but he wasn't planning on getting involved all that much. The small clan that he had left was not going to go to war unless they had to. He hadn't even considered what was going to happen after all of this was over. How was he going to be able to move forward knowing that so many of them have lost their lives so needlessly?
He listened to what was said, and there were several good ideas that were thrown around. Ideas that were a little open to interpretation. Broch got a bad feeling. He did not want to be there at some point because there was a little bit of a kerfuffle about the witches taking care of things. Not everybody believed that they should fight a witch problem with more witches. Witches were not always looked upon in the best of ways. Broch had known that, but there was a little extra vitriol in the men’s tones that evening.
As they were leaving, Broch caught up with Justin and asked him what he thought of the plans.
Justin shrugged. “I don't think that the shifters will get a chance to do much. The girls will take care of it.”
“Do you think it is as silly as I do to even try to go against her with just the packs?”
Broch knew that Justin had been under the woman's spell as well. He knew that Justin, if nobody else, would truly understand her power and what she was capable of. There was just something so intimate and knowledgeable about having someone in your head. It made it hard to think of them as somebody that could be beaten.
How could you beat someone when they could take over your very mind?
“I think that Marl Stein is not going to be beaten by shifters. She will be taken down by her nieces and Dahlia and Cira. Everything has come together this way for a reason. I think all of this, the last year or two, has been leading up to this fight. So no, I don't think that we can do this as a pack. We need to do this the way that the witches want to do it. We need to fight fire with fire.”
“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear you say that. Everyone at the meeting tonight was freaking me out. Do you really think that they could find her?”
Justin shrugged. “I don’t know, but if they do find her, they will regret it. I will be keeping my people, or whoever wants to stay here. Marl Stein is coming here, so there is no need for her to be tracked down. We have what she wants, so she will be here soon. The hardest thing for me honestly, is to not take my child and my pregnant mate and take off. I just want them to be safe, but no one is until we handle her. I don’t care how it happens. Ego be damned, I want it over.”
Broch could see the intensity on the man’s face, and he knew that he was saying all that he could without giving out insults. Broch wanted to say more, but he spotted Cira, and suddenly he wasn’t worried about anything but talking to her and seeing how her day was going. He didn’t want to know what reaction she was going to have to the shifter plans, or if he should even say anything about it.
“You look like you have something on your mind, Broch.”
“When I am around you, Cira, there is only one thing on my mind. Why don’t we go upstairs and take a little nap?”
She giggled and pushed him back like he was being silly.
“You know, I don’t think I have ever been so tired before, naps and all.”
“Is that right?”
Cira agreed, and Broch just smiled. Why did he like the sound of that so much?
Chapter Twenty-Two
There were several days that nothing happened. Everybody was anxious, prepared, ready, but nothing happened. No big bad witch came to blow their houses down and nothing got burnt in a fire. Everything that was supposed to happen, wasn't. It was starting to make people restless, and after a couple of days, there were several clans that decided the best thing to do was to go after Marl Stein themselves.
Almost thirty shifters left in the middle of the night, going towards the place where Broch had been saved. Nobody quite knew where they were going, but there were tracks to follow.
Cira didn't know about it until Broch finally told her. He seemed guilty that he hadn’t told her sooner, but she could understand why not. There was a lot of pressure on everybody, especially the men. It was their job to keep everybody safe, which was something that was a lot harder to do now. It wasn't as cut and dry as it used to be, and they were floundering.
“Well, I'm glad that you didn't go with them, Broch. I would have to go get you from her again.”
“To be honest, I wanted to go with, but I don’t think they are going to get very far. I told Justin about it; he agrees with me that they are most likely going to be killed, but they need to do something. They're getting stir crazy, and maybe that was her intention. All she had to do was get enough pressure on us and leave it to us to crack. Is that not what is happening right now?”
“I won’t say that we're cracking, but we certainly aren't being very smart about it. I don't know how we're going to figure this all out. Seems rather stupid that they left. I can understand the feeling of wanting to do something, but to what end? The only way we’re going to get the results that we need is to work on this together.”
> “That is what I am afraid of, Broch. It doesn't seem like people are willing to work together. They are too worked up on everything else, of who is going to be the hero. She is going to come soon for us, but I am afraid that the people that left are never going to come back.”
He frowned for a moment. “Is that one of your premonitions?”
“No, not at all. It is just a feeling that I have inside of me and I really hope that I am wrong.”
Broch felt bad for her because he could see that Cira had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He wanted to take it off of her, and give it to somebody else, take it himself, but all he could do was support her.
“This is all going to work out. I know it, Cira. And when this is all over, we're going to talk about us getting mated. You probably already have my baby in your belly.”
He said it a little too nonchalantly for Cira's liking. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to such a thing. How would he know that she was already pregnant? Was she?
“How would you know that, Broch? We’ve only been together a few nights.”
“What can I say? Just a feeling.”
Cira did not feel nonchalant about it at all. She sat up and looked at him a little worried. “You don't mean that, do you?”
“I do. I can just tell these things, and we're going to have a baby together. That's all I'm focused on at the moment. The rest of this will all come together. We will take care of the wicked witch, and then we can move on to what life is going to be like for us. For our little family.”
Cira backed up like he was moving way too fast. He was so sure of himself. Cira didn't want to prove him wrong. She wanted what he said to be true and for them to be together. She wasn't sure about the whole baby thing, but she knew that eventually it would come to pass.
