Page 14 of The Alpha's Fated Bond

That has to be it!

I can feel something pure inside me. It’s similar to the energy I felt when Lily was casting her spell to stop the zombie wolves. But it’s deeper, cleaner.

My eyes fly open, and Lily is speaking to me, looking shocked. The air around me is filled with those same golden orbs of light, but this time, my hands are also glowing. And all the orbs are coming into my hands.

I stare at my hands and then look at Lily, stunned.

“Well, what do you know,” she says, gaping at me. “You were doing it right the whole time. I shouldn’t have expected you todraw energy from your surroundings like we witches do. This is fascinating.”

I watch as the orbs completely vanish into my hands. “I’ve done it then?” I ask her as I look up.

“Yes.” She’s still staring at me as if I’ve suddenly grown two heads. “You actually did it!”

Alex is beaming at me, a proud look on his face.

“So, these orbs…?” I question Lily.

“I guess that’s how you source your power.” She has a curious expression on her face. “I’ve never seen anything like this before, but then again, it’s not like I’ve got a lot of experience, do I?”

I look around at everyone watching me and feel stark relief. If I’ve found my magical core, that means I’ll be able to help them.

“What’s next, then?”

Lily smiles at me. “Now that you’ve been able to find your core, you have to strengthen it first. Then, the easiest thing to do is to create a barrier, like I’ve shown you before.”

“And to do that, do I have to speak words like you did back when we were fighting the zombie wolves?”

She grins. “No. Those were spells. Spells are incredibly powerful and can only be cast using the old language. You can use your magic without speaking. Magic is internal. You have to draw it out of you and manipulate it. Spells are usually used by older witches and are meant for powerful purposes.”

I tuck my tongue in my cheek and consider the situation. To unlink the pups from Karina’s people, I doubt it’s going to be as simple as manipulating my magic. There’s a good chance that I’m going to need spells for that. And if so, I will need Lily’s help.

We spend the next hour trying to create a barrier. I manage one, but it’s quite weak. Still, Lily is impressed. “It took me months to learn how to create my first barrier. You may be new at this, but you’re progressing faster than normal. Maybe you have a lot of raw potential.”

“Or my magic is simply different, like you said,” I respond.

She nods in agreement, then says, “I think we should call it a night for now.”

Everybody is tired, and as I curl up on the forest floor, Alex next to me, I stare at the sky, thinking about the difference between spells and internal magic. As I sleep that night, I see a silver wolf in my dreams again. It’s not my first time seeing her, and I feel despair at the sight of her.

She’s quiet and curled up in a ball.

I wish she would wake up and look at me, but she doesn’t.

***

Alex’s entire pack lives in a small village. This is odd because usually packs live spread out in towns throughout their territory. But according to Saul, all their territory was seized, and they were forced into this one village.

It takes us a week to reach the place, mostly because Alex slowed down our pace. He hasn’t said anything, but I think he’s trying to buy time for my magical abilities to grow stronger. By the timewe are approaching the village, I am able to create barriers, but that’s about it. Lily has taught me a few other tricks, but she wants me to perfect one thing before moving on to the next. She insists I play with my magic to get more familiar with it.

As we reach the edge of the village, Alex stops us.

“I need to have a word with you, Sophia.” Alex’s voice is grim. “We are going to have to keep your identity a secret. Even about us being—”

He doesn’t get a chance to finish what he is saying because shouting is heard in the distance. People are running toward us. I instantly have my guard up, but Patrick stops me.

“That’s your new family. They must’ve been keeping watch.”

I glance at Alex, but his eyes are fixed on the people coming in our direction, and he seems to have forgotten what he wanted to say to me. There’s a look of yearning and happiness in his eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an expression on his face before.

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